THE NEEDS OF EFFECTIVE METHOD IN IMPROVING STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION TO FACE ASEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY

Abstract

The role of English is highly important today. A number of development happens in every country. It starts on the agreement of ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) that had been signed by ASEAN countries. Thus, it will impact on the needs of skill and ability in preparing learners to face ASEAN Economic Community. The currents trends on English Language Teaching are developed in goals of creating the latest findings in the field of study. Thus, this research aims to investigate the needs of an effective method in improving students’ reading comprehension to face ASEAN Economic Community. This research was
conducted in the first grade students at YASOIDA Boarding School. It was also to know whether the CIRC technique improved students’ reading comprehension. This study used the class room action research. The sample of this research consisted of one class, the class consisted of 9 students. In the first meeting, the researcher explained about CIRC technique, in the second meeting the researcher is applied the CIRC technique and give post-test, in the third meeting the researcher gave new material with the picture, and in the last meeting the researcher gave post-test. Based on the research that has been done, the
researcher draws some conclusions and suggestions. First, cooperative learning can make learning active in teaching reading comprehension because the students take a large part in learning activity; while the teacher is just as a facilitator and motivator for the students. Second, CIRC is a technique of cooperative learning which the students work in small groups. Besides, there are some suggestions that the researcher can draw from the research. First, the English teachers should use cooperative learning method in teaching
reading in order to create an active learning process. Second, the teacher should use the CIRC technique in teaching English, especially in teaching reading because it can help students accountable to their learning. So, based on the data findings of this study, in the first cycle score 65 and the second cycle score 81. This is showed that the CIRC technique can improve the students’ reading comprehension.