An Analysis of the Eighth Grade Students’ Ability in Comprehending Recount Text at SMP N 2 Kinali Psaman Barat.

Abstrak

Recount text is a kind of text that tells the reader what happened in the past. Recount text has different characters from the other kind of texts. It has different purpose, generic structure, and language feature. That is why the students should comprehend the text to be able to differentiate each text.

                 The population of this research was the eighth grade students. The total number of population of this research was 133 students. The researcher applied stratified cluster random sampling to take the sample. The total number of the sample was 30 students. The instrument used is reading test. The test was reliable because the correlation coefficient of the test was 0.75.

                 The result of this research showed that the students’ ability in comprehending recount text was moderate. It is proved by the fact that 60% students had high ability. In specific, students ability in comprehending the orientation of the text was moderate. It is supported by the fact that 87% had moderate ability. The ability of the students in comprehending the event of the text was moderate. It is supported by the fact that 77% students had high ability. The ability of the students in comprehending the reorientation was moderate. It is supported by the fact that 77% students had moderate ability.

     Based on the result of this research, the researcher concluded that the   ability of the eighth grade students’ ability in comprehending recount text was moderate. Dealing with conclusion, the researcher suggests to the English teachers to find and implement the more effective techniques of teaching and give more exercises to the students. The students are suggested to improve their ability by doing more exercises relating to the generic structure of recount text.

Key words: Students’ Ability, Recount Text, Reading Comprehension.