CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Research Background

English, which is recognized as one of the international languages, becomes

the subject that must be learned at school. It has four skills including speaking,
writing, reading, and listening that should be mastered by students (Rivers, 2018).
Reading is one of the subjects to get information and knowledge about everything
readers need from the written form. Reading is very important, and it is one of the
four language skills that should be mastered by student for all level. The purpose of
your reading determines how you will read. You are not expected to read every
reading on your reading list carefully from beginning to end, word for word.
Skimming, scanning and careful, deliberate reading, are all skills which can be
applied to reading academic texts, depending on the ‘purpose’ of your reading. There
are various academic purposes for reading, but only two are in evidence in the
modern classroom. The first is recreational. One would think that recreational reading
and academic reading would occupy different worlds, but, in the modern classroom,
they do not. Recreational reading, especially in the upper elementary grades and
middle school, affords the student the sole opportunity to improve his primary
reading skills, especially fluency and comprehension (Nurdiana & Amelia, 2017).

Reading is an ability that has an essential role for students. (Pustika &
Wiedarti, 2019) believes that Indonesian students need to learn English so they can
read texts that have meaning for their career or study. Because reading has become a
part of our daily activity and has included one of skills that students have to learn in
English as foreign language. Besides, through reading activity, students can improve
their language, experience, reading skills, and their minds. Reading is the activity that
students usually learn and do in English as a foreign language. It is used to get a
comprehensive understanding and idea from the text.(Erya & Pustika, 2021).
 Based on initial observations carried out at SDN 196/II Taman Agung on 11-
13 November 2024, with English teacher Novia Wulandari S.Pd., there are several
obstacles in learning English for fifth grade students, including students having
difficulty understanding the text students read or they didn’t know the meaning of the
text. Because basically to learn a foreign language requires the right method become
that students do not easily feel bored and tired when faced with English questions,
where in the learning process the teacher does not use learning media. Only focusing
on practical activities and English questions. The reason the author chose this title is
because it adapts to school conditions in the village and after making observations
with the English teacher, the author asked what was the focus and achievements in
phase C in class 5 at SDN 196 with reading learning material, the class teacher said
that reading comprehension. based on interviews with teachers regarding what kind of
reading comprehension is the focus of phase C at SDN 196 Taman Agung, that is,
students understand the words in the questions contained in the books in the Merdeka
Curriculum, reading comprehension which is the focus in phase C in the teaching
module at SDN 196 Taman Agung is reading comprehension which is simple at the
elementary level, not high level and not complex reading comprehension. Therefore,
the author carried out a pre-test for making 5th grade elementary school questions
regarding reading comprehension and the pre-test results showed that the class
average results were not optimal. Therefore, it can be concluded that the author uses
the storytelling method as a medium to improve the reading comprehension of grade
5 students at SDN 196 Taman Agung.

Storytelling has been recognized as a powerful tool for engaging audiences

and conveying important messages. In education, storytelling has also been linked to
improvements in reading comprehension, particularly for struggling readers and
English language learners. However, there is still much to learn about the specific
features of storytelling that are most beneficial for improving reading comprehension
outcomes and the contexts in which storytelling interventions are most effective.
Stories are valuable in organizing and remembering information, as they provide a
structured narrative framework that aligns with our cognitive processes. Humans’
minds employ schemas (cognitive frameworks) to arrange and understand
information that aid in the organization, interpretation, and direction of our
understanding of various ideas, events, or circumstances in light of our prior
knowledge and experiences (Santoso et al., 2023).

The storytelling in question does not use interactive media but traditional
storytelling such as storytelling, folk tales, fables, fairy tales. Increase confidence in
speaking and writing, improve vocabulary and language skills, foster creativity,
increase understanding, and encourage ongoing discussion of opinions and beliefs.
This means that when teachers provide storytelling activities, children will not only
listen to a story but will also learn various new vocabulary which is an important
component in supporting children's speaking skills, as well as various types of story
concepts so that they have an impact on improving aspects of children's development.
The storytelling activities carried out will encourage children to indirectly build
interaction and communication with the surrounding environment. Stories can
reinforce cultural and even ethical values. This is because in storytelling activities,
there are various types of stories that can be told to children, where the stories contain
meanings or values such as culture, traditions, morals, which can be learned by
children (Rambe et al., 2021).

The storytelling method is one effective way to instill morals in young

children because children can imagine, imitate the characters being played where
these characters will be good role models for children. There are a number of benefits
of telling stories, namely, helping children's personal and moral formation,
channeling children's imagination and fantasy needs, stimulating children's verbal
abilities, stimulating children's interest in writing, stimulating children's interest in
reading, and opening children's knowledge horizons. Stories can stimulate children to
create their own stories. Children are encouraged to use the words they get, and are
encouraged to put words into sentences with the perspective of their own fairy tale
(Mulyani et al., 2018).

Based on the benefits of storytelling that have been described above, it is

known that storytelling is a useful activity for developing children's abilities,
especially speaking, but not only speaking, there are many other benefits that children
can get through storytelling activities, including helping children to develop their
imagination, increasing vocabulary skills. Words and language, increasing children's
curiosity, developing children's ability to tell stories, creating fun learning activities
for children and as an activity that can help children develop their social skills and
can also strengthen cultural and ethical values in children (Rambe et al., 2021).

Based on the problems found by researchers, the method chosen by

researchers is Classroom Action Research (CAR). There is the same research that will
be conducted in research by Santoso et al. (2023) research titled "The Effects Of
Storytelling Teaching Style on Elementary School Students Reading
Comprehension", found that the storytelling method not only increased students'
interest in reading, but also strengthened their reading comprehension through
emotional involvement and story visualization. This finding suggests that the use of
the storytelling method in teaching English can lead to significant improvements in
students' reading skills, and is an important basis for this study. This study is in line
with previous results, emphasizing the importance of the storytelling approach in
improving students' reading skills at the elementary level.

Furthermore, previous research (Rohmawati, 2016) research titled “Improving

Students Reading Comprehension Through Paired Storytelling in SMP N 1
Mojogedang” also provides valuable insights. The researcher analyzed the application
of the Paired Storytelling technique to improve students reading comprehension. The
results of this study provide further evidence regarding the effectiveness of the Paired
Storytelling technique in improving students’ reading skills, as well as highlighting
the importance of a more interactive and collaborative learning approach. This
finding is one of the foundations in strengthening the current research argument,
which shows that the Paired Storytelling method can significantly improve students’
reading comprehension skills.

The other research conducted by Sugiharti et al. (2020) entitled “SQ3R

Method as A Solution To Improve Reading Comprehension Skills in Elementary
School”. SQ3R is an excellent reading method for the purpose of reading
comprehension. This reading method is quite effective for learning purposes. It can
also help readers seek out all the information needed to answer questions about the
content of the reading. Additionally, this method aids readers in creating a framework
of thinking, enabling them to understand anything they read.

The three prior studies share several similarities with the researcher’s work.
First, all of the studies main goal is to improve student’s reading comprehension.
Second, the research method used is classroom action research. Lastly, Santoso’s and
Rahmawati’s research use storytelling as the method to improve reading
comprehension. Meanwhile Sugihartini has different name of method namely SQ3R.
Infact, both storytelling and SQ3R methods require students to actively engage, either
by listening to stories (storytelling) or analyzing texts (SQ3R) which ultimately can
improve reading comprehention. However, the SQ3R method becomes distinguishing
factor compared to what the researcher has conducted. The difference in Santoso's
research lies in the research subjects, which consist of two classes at different levels,
namely 5th and 6th grade elementary school students. Meanwhile, Rahmawati’s
research focus on Junior high school student using paired storytelling method.

This research focuses on the story used in storytelling, which is a fable. This
differentiates it from previous studies. The fable story is chosen because the
characters in the story are animals. Additionally, fables have a simple plot but contain
moral lessons, so students not only improve their reading comprehension skills but
also learn various animal names and moral messages in an enjoyable way.

In this study, the researcher will further examine the application of the
storytelling method to improve reading comprehension at SDN 196/II Taman Agung.
Given the positive results that have been achieved in previous studies, the researcher
feels it is important to continue this exploration in a different context, by
implementing oral storytelling which will be applied by the researcher to grade V
students using gestures and facial expressions, although this method is old and
traditional, the researcher believes in implementing it at SDN 196/II Taman Agung.
because the researcher sees the condition of the elementary school which is still
relatively located in the village, making the researcher more interested in
implementing the traditional storytelling method.
 The purpose of the study to explore more deeply how storytelling, with an
adapted approach, can improve students’ ability to understand reading texts and
develop their literacy skills. Thus, previous studies provide a strong foundation for
this research, while strengthening the belief that storytelling has great potential in
improving reading comprehension.

Based on the explanation in the background above, the research interested in

researching the reading comprehension of students entitled “The Implementation of
Storytelling Method to Improve Reading Comprehension in Elementary
School”.

1.2 Research Question

Based on the background of the problem above, it can be concluded that the
research questions are as follows:

1. How to improve the learning process of students using storytelling method to improve
reading comprehension in class V SD N 196/II Taman Agung?
2. How is the improvement of students learning outcomes using torytelling method to
improve reading comprehension in class V of SDN 196/II Taman Agung?

1.3 Research Objective

Based on the problem statement, the purposes of the research are stated as
follow:

1. To describe the learning process of students using storytelling method to improve

reading comprehension in class V of SDN 196/II Taman Agung.
2. To describe the improvement of students learning outcoomes using the storytelling
method to improve reading comprehension in class V of SDN 196/II Taman Agung.

1.4 Scope of The Research

The scope of the research is limited to improve reading comprehension using

storytelling method in class V at SDN 196/II Taman Agung. The story used in
storytelling is fable.
1.5 Research Benefit

This research is expected to provide the following benefits:

1. Theoritical Benefits

The results of this research are expected to provide information about

learning English, where when conducting this research shows good results in
improving learning processes and outcomes students in learning English reading
comprehension.

2. Practical Benefits

a. Benefits for Students, providing experience of participant activities learning that is

fun and can improve participant learning outcomes educate through storytelling
learning methods.
b. It is hoped that the results of this research will be of benefit to teachers alternatives
for teachers as strategies used in the process learning to increase student activity in
the process and English learning outcomes.
c. Benefits for Schools, application of storytelling learning methods will help improve
learning active, student-centered.
d. Benefits for Researchers, providing experience and insight about English learning
using the story telling learning method to improve student learning outcomes in
reading comprehension material.
1.6 Definition of Terms

To avoid mistakes and misunderstandings, the researcher wants to briefly

explain the meaning of the title. The title consists of the main terms that need to be
explained. That is following:

1. Storytelling

Storytelling is a learning method to interact directly with students (Azhari

& Muassomah, 2024).

2. Reading Comprehension

Reading comprehension is the ability to extract meaning from written text

and interpret it. (Deswarni, 2018).