CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

This chapter presents (1) background, (2) the problem of the study, (3) the objective of the study, and (4) the significance of the study.

1.1 Background
English as an international language is used for communication in most activities and field in the world. English has become a global language, used in communication, education, technical and scientific information and technology. In Indonesia, English is taught to the students of elementary, junior, and senior high school, and even to university students as one of their subject. English instruction at the university level is usually the intensive procedure, which implies close study of short passages, including syntactic, semantic, and lexical analyses and translation into the Ll to study meaning. Chaudron (2004).
It is realized that studying English is not easy for Indonesian students because the fact that English and Indonesian language are very different in term of spelling, sound and pronunciation, vocabulary or lexical meaning and grammar. English like many other languages consists of four skills, listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Among the four skills, reading is one of the most important.
Reading is the skill which may often used and retained the longest. It is an essential foundation of learning and seeking information and knowledge. Someone can increase his or her knowledge by reading many books, newspapers, encyclopedias and so on. The information one gets from reading helps him or her in his or her study and enables them to gain good grades, which are useful to continue their future studies or career position (Cheek, Flippo, and Lindsey, 1989:360).
In reading, comprehension is a very essential thing as stated by Weaver, (1980:133), “…without reading comprehension, there would be no reading.” How ever, when comprehending reading materials, there are many difficulties in comprehending reading material. Among the reason for the students’ failure in tertiary education is the inability to reach the required reading performance on the allocated time. The failure is because reading is a complex task requiring different abilities in a single performance. It is requires a complete command of written symbols, and understanding of words, phrases, and structural or grammatical points. In addition, the previous experiences and the knowledge in the language affect the success and failure in reading. Success in reading greatly depends on one’s vocabulary knowledge in the target language. (Rosenshine, 1980: 535).
The knowledge of vocabulary plays an important role in mastering the four language skills. Students cannot read and understand the text on the books, newspapers, or magazines, without having enough vocabulary. In other words, their comprehensions about reading are hampered by their limited vocabulary. Davies (1984:2) confirms that success (learning) in English requires knowledge of words. One who wants to do well in English must learn the words to pay attention to new words, by providing guidance in multiplying students’ vocabulary that they have already known by aiding students learning the new words they read or study before. Furthermore, Cooper (1988:151) states that the students should recognize and know the meaning of words or lexical as soon as they see them and it is needed to allocate the time to teach how to build their vocabulary.
The students tend to read word by word, stop, thinking, and look up the dictionary and than move on to the next sentences, by the time he or she reaches the end of the sentences, he or she might lose sight of its meaning. He or she is not aware that certain words may have different meaning depend on the context. He or she is unable to recognize that certain words come from other words, through lexical simplification processes.
Lexical simplification involves modify activities that are grammatically focused and meaningfully contextual. Moreover, input needs to be comprehended by second language learners for subsequent acquisition processes to take place. This modification makes the students read a lot and be able to use their understanding of the content to sharpen their comprehension. Therefore, it is theoretical and empirical interest to inquire how input is made comprehensible to learners with limited second language learners’ proficiency.
Urano (2004) states that modification in the extensive reading procedure is to encourage and help the students with their reading, furthermore, it can stimulate and motivate the students to read, so reading can be interesting and enjoyable.
In accordance to above explanation, and having dealt with lexical complexity which as causes the students’ failure in reading, the writer is curious to conduct in investigating further the effect of lexical meaning on students’ achievement in reading comprehension, emphasis on reducing the level of difficulty by means of lexical simplification to the second year students of SMK Negeri 3 Palembang.

1.2 The Problem of the Study
The problem that the writer discusses in this study is formulated in the following question: is there any significant difference of mean score of reading achievement between those who get lexical simplification and those who get original passages?

1.3 The Objective of the Study
Based on the problems above, the objective of this study is to find out whether or not there is any significant difference on reading comprehension achievement of students who get lexical simplification and those who get original passages.

1.4 The Significance of the Study
The writer hopes this study will be beneficial to enlarge knowledge through reading books relevant to this study. He greatly expects that the use of lexical simplification on reading comprehension can be useful for teacher of English in applying the teaching and learning process. He also expects that the students will not find any troubles in reading and have strong basis reading skill to take reading subject at higher level. Hopefully, this information will be useful for teaching learning process and for improvement of the students’ vocabulary and proficiency in reading comprehension and the students achieve a degree of understanding sufficiency for pleasure reading if the student finds the book too difficult to enjoy.

CHAPTER II
LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter describes (1) the concept of reading (2) the concept of reading comprehension, (3) the concept of vocabulary, (4) the concept of lexical simplification, (5) the 1994 senior high school English curriculum, (6) Hypotheses of the study

2.1 The Concept of Reading
2.1.1 The Definition of Reading
Hornby (1994:1425) states that reading is the action of person who reads. Reading is one of four skills in English that the students should acquire. It is a very important skill that the students need for the success of their studies. Zintz and Maggart (1989:15) state that:
Reading is more than seeing word clearly, more than pronouncing printed word correctly, more than recognizing the meaning of isolated word. Reading requires you think, feel, and imagine. Effective reading is purposeful. The use one make of his reading largely determines what he reads, why he reads, and how he reads.
As stated above, reading is not just seeing and pronouncing words in the text. Many experts have defined the definition of reading. Rubin (1997:3) states that reading is a complex, dynamic process that involves bringing of meaning to and getting meaning from the printed page. Furthermore, Lapp and Flood (1986) cited in Gunning (1992:19) state that reading is an interaction between the author and the reader. To understand the print message, the reader must perceive, interpret, hypothesize, and evaluate their reading. These processes occur in varying degrees depending on the readers' familiarity with the content of the text and with their purpose reading.
Meanwhile, Smith and Robinson (1980:6) state that reading is defined as an active attempt to understand the writer's message. When a reader reads, she or he interacts with, and tries to reconstruct, what a writer wishes to communicate. For that purpose, the reader must have enough background to make contact with the writer.
2.1.2 Skills of Reading
There are some skills needed to comprehend a reading text (Finochiario, 1989:25):
(1) Scanning
Scanning is a reading skill used to find out specific information from the reading material. In scanning, one only tries to locate specific information and simply lets his or her eyes wander over the text until he or she finds what she or he is looking for, whether it is a name, a date, or an object.
(2) Skimming
By skimming, the readers read the material quickly to get the gist, the essence, and a global comprehension of the paragraphs, for example, getting the main ideas. In skimming, they should not look up any words or stop to ask the meaning of a word.
(3) Predicting
The reader’s sense and experience help him to predict what the writer is likely to say next. The reader who can think along with the writer in this way will find the text relatively easy. The ability to predict depends on both the background knowledge of the reader and the content of the text.
(4) Guessing the meaning
This is the skill of knowing the meaning of a word by considering its context. The reader will be able to do this by guessing the meaning from the context in which the word is used.
(5) Paraphrasing
Paraphrasing is a valuable tool to determine how clear a reader’s understanding is. It is the skill of restating the writer’s idea on sentences in a simpler and more concise way.
(6) Summarizing the writer’s idea
It is a skill of telling the writer’s main point of the text. The readers should tell the purpose of the writer on his or her text.
From the above definitions, we can conclude that the purpose of reading is, principally, for understanding the message in the text. During the reading act, there are four steps that have been identified by Zintz and Maggart (1989:15). Those steps are perception, comprehension, reaction and integration. Perception is the ability to pronounce the word as a meaningful unit. Comprehension is the ability to make individual words evoke useful ideas as they are read in context. Reaction requires judgmental actions and feeling about what the author has said. The final step, integration is the ability to assimilate the idea or concept into one's background experience so that it is useful as a part of the total experience of the individual.

2.2 The Concept of Reading Comprehension
2.2.1 The Definition of Reading Comprehension
Comprehension is “understanding, the ability to get the meaning of something. It is an active cognitive process that requires the construction of meaning from incoming information and prior knowledge” (Bromley, 1992:209). In relation to reading, reading comprehension is “a complex intellectual process involving a number of abilities. The two major abilities involve word meanings and verbal reasoning.” Without word meanings and verbal reasoning, there would be no reading comprehension (Rubin, 1997:315).
In other words, we can say that to get the information that is given by the writer, the reader must have the ability to comprehend the written source. In the process of the construction of meaning through the interaction with the written source, two sources are involved; the new incoming information and existing information. Moreover, Rubin (1993:194) claims:
Reading comprehension is a complex intellectual process involving a number of abilities. The two major abilities involve word meaning and verbal reasoning. Without word meaning and verbal reasoning, there would be no reading comprehension; without reading comprehension, there will be no reading.
Moreover, comprehension cannot be separated from the reading process itself. There would be no reading without having comprehension in it. Comprehension is very essential in reading process. Someone does not really read if he or she does not understand what is being read, even if he or she can pronounce the words perfectly. Smith and Robinson (1980:205) state that reading comprehension means the understanding, evaluating and utilizing of information and idea gained through the interaction between the reader and the author.
Meanwhile, Tarigan (1989:343) states that reading comprehension means the result of comprehending new information to what one already knows and to find the answers of cognitive questions of the written material. Furthermore, MacBride (1983:91) states that reading comprehension is considered as an effective skill besides listening, speaking, and writing in getting information.
From the above definitions, it can be summed up that reading comprehension means comprehending or understanding new information and ideas presented in the printed page and utilizing them as the application of interaction between the reader and the author.

2.2.2 The Level of Reading Comprehension
There are four levels of reading comprehension (Smith, 1969 in Rubin, 1997:317-318):
1. Literal comprehension, the ability to obtain a low-level type of understanding by using only information that is explicitly stated.

2. Interpretation, a reading level that demands a higher level of thinking ability because the material involves is not directly stated in the text but only suggested or implied.

3. Critical reading, a high-level reading skill that involves evaluation, making personal judgment on the accuracy, value, and truthfulness of what is read.

4. Creative reading, a reading level that uses divergent thinking skill to go beyond the literal comprehension, interpretation, and critical reading level.
The lowest level of reading comprehension is literal comprehension. Literal comprehension is getting the primary, direct, literal meaning of an idea in context. The readers are only able to use the information which is stated explicitly in the text. The readers are able to answer such a questions that simply demand them to recall from memory what the exact words given in the book. Although it only needs little or no thinking on the part of the readers, it gives them opportunity to practice in recalling and reproducing statements of facts and have a place in detailed factual reading.
The next level is interpretation. In interpretation readers read between the lines, make connection among individual stated idea, make inferences, draw conclusions, or experience emotional reaction. To answer the questions at the interpretative level, readers must have problem-solving ability and be able to work at various levels of abstraction. Obviously, children who are slow learners will have difficulty working at this level as well as in the next two categories.
Critical reading is at higher level than the other two categories above because it involves evaluation. To be able to make judgement, a reader must be able to collect, interpret, apply, analyze, and synthesize the information. Critical reading includes such skills as the ability to differentiate between fantasy and reality, and the ability to discern propaganda techniques Smith (1980) cited in Rubin (1997:11). Critical reading is related to critical listening because they both require critical thinking.
The highest level of comprehension is creative reading. Creative reading uses divergent thinking skills to go beyond the literal comprehension, interpretation, and critical reading levels. In creative reading, the reader tries to come up with new or alternative solutions to those presented by the writer. Creative reading involves the imaginative treatment of ideas in both inductive and deductive thinking, resulting in new insight, fresh ideas, and new organization or pattern of thought (Smith and Robinson, 1980:225-226).
In order to be able to acquire the four types of comprehension needed by the students to cope with the reading texts, they must be helped to develop and expand their comprehension level. By using the appropriate teaching techniques, a teacher can increase students' reading comprehension level. By doing so, the students can maximize themselves in reading for the purpose of getting information.

2.3 The Concept of Vocabulary
2.3.1 The Definition of Vocabulary
Vocabulary is one of the linguistic components that must be involved in learning English because the knowledge of vocabulary plays an important role in mastering the four language skills. The more words you now, the more clearly and powerfully you will think and the more ideas you will invite into your mind (Funk: 2004). According to Hornby (1994:1425), vocabulary is “the total number of words that make up a language.” Neufedlt and Guralnik (1988:829) claim vocabulary as “(1) all words of a language or all those used by a certain person or group and (2) a list of words usually in alphabetically ordered with their meaning as in the dictionary.” Marksheffel (1996:236) defines as “total number of words an individual knows.”
There are some kinds of vocabulary as explained by Waldron and Zeiger (1981:113):
1. Speaking vocabulary. It consists of the words used in communication and the most limited vocabularies.
2. Writing vocabulary. More extensive than the speaking vocabulary, it consists of the words used in conversations and in writing when the writer has wide reading background.
3. Reading vocabulary is larger than either speaking or writing vocabularies. It contains words which the reader can define when he sees them, even though he neither reads nor writes them.
4. Recognition vocabulary is the largest of vocabularies. It contains, in addition to the other three, those words which one has seen or heard previously, but cannot define.
As the writer mentioned, vocabulary is one of the important aspects of the four language skills for students. Without knowing vocabulary, students will be unable to grasp the idea of reading material, construct a good sentence in writing, or work in the other skills; listening and speaking. Therefore, Lewis (1993) in Moras (2004) suggested that vocabulary should be at centre of language teaching, because a language consists of grammaticalized lexis, not lexicalized grammar.

2.3.2 The Importance of Vocabulary
In learning English as a foreign language, the learner should be able to master a limited number of vocabulary, the structural patterns and the sound system of it. Therefore, anyone who learns a language successful must enlarge his or her vocabulary mastery. This tells us, that the success of the learner in learning a language depends on the size of vocabulary he or she has learned.
The vocabulary mastery is very important in extensive reading. Having a good mastery of vocabulary makes it possible for us to use the language for communication because we are aware of the ideas and attitudes that are represented by words. By developing a greater awareness of words, we become aware of the ideas and attitudes these words represent (Hymanson, 1981:7).

2.4 The Concept of Lexical Simplification
2.4.1 The Definition of Lexical Simplification
In the language learning, simplification refers to an act of rewriting of original text or material to produce simplified reading material suitable for foreign language learning. (Urano, 2004). Parker and Chaudron (2004) define that lexical simplification on this study as substituting unknown words with high-frequency basic vocabulary items. Some foreign language learners still object to read the original material due to their immaturity in learning and they are still inadequate to master the linguistic features. To facilitate understanding, it is worthwhile to simplify the original version which can be used to great advantages with the learner.
In this study the act of simplification is particularly done at the lexical level by means of substituting the easier words for difficult ones. The criterion of easy and difficult word is based on the frequency of the word usage in text. It means that the words are categorized to have low frequency of use due to the fact that they rarely appear on a page. Consequently, the learners who are lack of learning experience will find some difficulties in understanding the meaning of the words. The other hand, the easy words are categorized as high frequency of use because they rarely appear on occasion of reading and thus, enable learners to encode them easily (Urano, 2004).
Hence, the effect of lexical simplification may give a positive effect because the words which use to interfere the reading process have been replaced by the easier ones and accordingly it facilitates the learners to grasp the reading text. In addition, experiments by some experts (Long and Ross, 2004) state that removal of possibly unknown linguistic items from a text may facilitate comprehension. Urano (2004) states that simplification is the process of modification in the extensive reading procedure is to encourage and help the students with their reading, furthermore, it can stimulate and motivate the students to read, so reading can be interesting and enjoyable.
However, the learners who are accustomed to having simplified materials will come across difficulties when they are faced with the original texts. Therefore, lexical simplification should be regarded as a temporarily learning facilitation. The current study aims at obtaining more data on extent of lexical simplification on the text readability measured by reading comprehension.

2.4.2 Type of Modification
Lexical simplification involves modifying activities that are grammatically focused and meaningfully contextual. Moreover, input needs to be comprehended by second language learners for subsequent acquisition processes to take place. This modification makes the students read a lot and be able to use their understanding of the content to sharpen their comprehension.
It is important for theoretical and empirical interest to inquire how input is made comprehensible to learners with limited second language learners’ proficiency. When discusses the role of input modification, it is useful to bear two questions in this study:
(a) what is modified? (Target of modification); and (b) How is it modified? (Type of modification)

(a) What is modified?
With regard to the first question, what is it modified?, Chaudron (2004) has investigated modification at different linguistic levels, for instances; phonology, syntax, lexis and discourse.
In the phonological domain, studies suggest that the teachers speak slowly, speak with clearer articulation, and insert more pauses when they spoke to second language learners. In term of modification of syntax, several studies found that native teachers speak to second language learner in significant shorter utterances then they use with native learners, and the teachers will modify utterances according to the different proficiency levels of the target learners addresses.
At the lexis level, Chaudron (2004) reports that teachers used high-frequency basic vocabulary more often with the target language learners then native learners. The last one, modification at the discourse level is also referred to linguistic modification. The second language teachers will use word repetition for difficult word frequently to improve the second language learners’ comprehension on new words.
b) How is it modified?
To the second question, how is it modified? In modifying the difficult words the writer will analyze based on the context of the paragraph. So context is a part of a sentence, paragraph or writing which come before or after a given passage or word. Rubin (1993:253) says “A context clues is the specific item of information that helps the reader to figure out the meaning of particular word.” And furthermore, Krantz, Joan Kimmelmen (1989:2) cited in Marlinda (2003:6) state “context clues are words or phrase, stated or implied, in a sentence, a paragraph, or passage that help the students understand new and difficult vocabulary.”
In the process of simplification the writer suggests that difficulty words will be simplified or substituted into words in the form of a synonym, definition, example, restatement or elaboration. There are a variety of simplifications that can be used to infer the meaning of difficult words. The following examples display different types of simplification that the writer frequently uses.
1. Synonym Clues
The writer defines the substitution of unknown words with high-frequency synonyms, and as adding synonyms of words in apposition to them. By removing unfamiliar linguistic item, in order to enhance comprehension.
Example:
Becky could not eat that cake because it was too
vight
for her.
Becky could not eat that cake because it was too sweet for her.
Vight = Sweet

2. Definition Clues
The meaning of the difficult word right in the sentence or give explanation for the meaning to be clear.
Example:
When a rock has been changed by heat or pressure, it is called metamorphic

3. Example Clues
It helps the reader get the meaning of a word by providing examples that illustrate the use of the word. An example is something representative of a whole group. There are some words will help the students guess the unknown words or phrases. They are: with, for example, like, e.g., for instance, shows, as, especially, including, such as, as the following example.
Example:
John decided to by a new vehicle
Vehicle for example, Scooter, Motorcycle, Car.

4. Restatement or Elaboration Clues
The reader can find in the same passage a familiar word that relates to a subject in a manner similar to the way that unfamiliar term does. In other words, a synonym is a word that has the same or nearly the same meaning as another word. Authors use commas, dashes, parentheses, or, that is to say, to put in another way. Take advantage of synonyms to help the students understand new words.
Example:
Betty can not draw because her pencil is not moast.
Betty can not draw because her pencil is not moast, or sharp.
Moast or sharp.

2.5 The 1994 Senior High School English Curriculum
2.5.1 The Definition of Curriculum
A curriculum can be defined as a planned and organized series of learning experiences and activities to be made available to students to achieve defined educational objectives (Luhulima, Roesli, and Hamdani, 1987:2).
Meanwhile, Winecoff as cited in Astuti (1997:7) states that a curriculum is generally defined as a plan developed to facilitate the teaching and learning process under the direction and guidance of an educational institution. It means that a curriculum is the teachers' foundation in teaching and learning process. It is designed to enable the students upon completion to continue studying by themselves, develop their skill, and specialize in any aspects of English of their choice.

2.5.2 The Teaching of English Based on 1994 SMA Curriculum
English teaching in senior high school covers skills of reading, listening, speaking, and writing in English which are presented in its integrity (Depdikbud, 1995:1). These four language skills cannot be separated each other. Although in 1994 English curriculum, the teaching of English for senior high school stresses on reading, the other skills cannot be ignored. The teaching of English should deal with the language skills as a whole not only some skills. The teaching of reading, listening, speaking, and writing skills of English for senior high school students are taught by using communicative approach. It is expected that the students will communicate and use English in spoken (Depdikbud, 1995:2).

2.5.3 The Teaching of English Reading Based on 1994 SMA Curriculum
In 1994 English curriculum, there are eight instructional objectives in teaching reading to the second year students of senior high school (Depdikbud, 1995:11). The students are expected to be able to:
1. Find out specific information.
2. Describes the main ideas of the reading material in general.
3. Find out the explicit theme in the reading material.
4. Find out the implicit theme in the reading material.
5. Find out all the explicit information.
6. Find out all the implicit information.
7. Interpret the meaning of words, phrases and sentences on the basis of the context.
8. Enjoy reading.

2.6 Hypotheses of the Study
The hypotheses of the study are:
Ho: There is no significant effect of lexical simplification on students’ reading comprehension at SMK Negeri 3 Palembang
H1: There is significant effect of lexical simplification on students’ reading comprehension at SMK Negeri 3 Palembang.

CHAPTER III
METHOD AND PROCEDURE

This chapter describes (1) the method of the study, (2) operational definitions, (3) variable of the study, (4) population and sample, (5) technique for collecting the data, (6) reliability and validity of the test, (7) technique of analyzing the data

3.1 Method of the Study
The method used in conducting this study was experimental method. Smith (1988:197) says, “An experimental is a functional research design whose purpose is to explain the impact of certain input variable on other outcome variables.” In this study, the writer used one of quasi-experimental designs, that is, non-equivalent control group design. The design involves an experimental group and control group both given a pre-test and a post-test, but in which the control group do not have pre experimental sampling equivalence Campbell and Stanley (1963) cited in Marlinda (2003:13). The design is diagrammed as follows:
O1 X O2
O3 O4
Where:
= dash line presents that the experimental and control groups that have not been equated by randomization.
X = treatment
O1 = pre-test for experimental group
O2 = post-test for experimental group
O3 = pre-test for control group
O4 = post-test for control group
Before the treatment, the writer gave the pretest to the sample students. The writer taught the students 10 times of 90 minutes from February 25 to March 25, 2005. After treatment, the writer gave the posttest which the same as the pretest.
The students of experimental group received the treatment, using lexical simplification, while the students of control group did not they just guess the meaning and discuss about material given.
The procedure of teaching the experimental group is as follows: (1) pre-reading activities: the teacher brainstorms the students by asking the students some questions related to the topic of reading text. (2) Whilst reading activities: the teachers distribute the reading material to the students, each student has the same reading text, and the task may be related definitions, comparison or contrast, chronological list of items and author’s views. During the students work, the teacher observes the students’ activities and asks the students to read silently for about 15 minutes. Here, the teacher asked and gave the list of vocabulary from the text and explained to them how to find the meaning of the vocabulary by using lexical simplification. (3) After all the students have completed their task, they report to the class. Then, other students are free to ask questions or give comments on the information presented by students chosen.
The procedure of teaching the control group is as follows: (1) pre-reading activities: the teacher brainstorms the students by asking the students some question related to the topic of the reading text. (2) Whilst reading activities: the teacher gives the reading text and asks the students to read silently and individually, after that the students try to comprehend what the read. They try to find out the main idea for each paragraph, to understand new words, by guessing the meaning through the context or from dictionary. (3) Post-reading activities: the students answer some multiple-choice and essay questions.

3.2 Operational Definitions
Berenson, Levine, and Rindskopf (1988:139) define operational definition as the concrete and specific definition of something in term of the operations by which observations are to be categorized. The title of this study is The Effect of Lexical Simplification on the Students’ Reading Comprehension.
Effect means the results or the influences of the lexical simplification technique to the students’ comprehension. Lexical refers to all words of a language or all those used by a certain person or group that make up a language (Neufedlt and Guralnik, 1988:829). In this study lexical means the total number of words that used for simplification. Lexical Simplification refers to an act of rewriting original text or material to produce simplified reading material suitable for second foreign language learning. Parker and Chaudron (2004) define that lexical simplification on this study as substituting unknown words with high-frequency “basic” vocabulary items. Some foreign language learners still object to reading the original material due to their immaturity in learning and moreover they are still inadequate to master the linguistic features. To facilitate understanding, it is worthwhile to simplify the original version that can be used to great advantages with the learner.
In this study, the act of simplification is particularly done at the lexical level by means of substituting the easier words for difficult ones. The criterion of easy and difficult word is based on the frequency of the word usage in text. It means that the words are categorized to have low frequency of use because they rarely appear on a page. On the other hand, the easy words are categorized as high frequency of use because they rarely appear on occasion of reading and thus, enable learners to encode them easily. In conclusion, The Effect of Lexical Simplification on the Students’ Reading Comprehension means the action or process to simplify the original version of reading material, particularly done at the lexical level by means of substituting the easier words for difficult ones to facilitate understanding.

3.3 Variables of the Study
There are two kinds of variables in this research: independent variable and dependent variable. Independent variable is the variable which influence other variables, dependent variable is the variable which is affected by the independent variable (Robertson, 1987:30). The independent variable of this research is the lexical simplification technique and the dependent variable is the students’ reading comprehension achievement.
3.4 Population and Sample
3.4.1 Population
Population is all possible units or elements that can be included in research study (Dane, 1990:289). Further Wallen and Fraenkel (1991) cited in Anisah (2003: 17) say that population is the group to which a researcher would like the result of the study to be generalized and which includes all the individual with certain characteristics. The population of this study was the second year students of SMK Negeri 3 Palembang in the academic year of 2004/2005.
This school consists of nine classes. The total numbers of the students are 336 students. Table 1 shows the population of the study.
TABLE 1
THE POPULATION OF THE STUDY
CLASS GENDER TOTAL
FEMALE MALE
II1 28 5 33
II2 36 3 39
II3 35 4 39
II4 35 5 40
II5 35 5 40
II6 35 5 40
II7 26 11 37
II8 24 12 36
II9 26 6 32
TOTAL NUMBER 280
56
336

Source: SMK Negeri 3 Palembang in the academic year of 2004/2005
3.4.2 Sample
Morris (1975:148) states that a sample is a set of elements which is drawn to analyze the characteristics of a population. In taking the sample from population, the writer use judgmental sampling method. In judgmental sampling a writer makes sample selection based on the informed guesses about the most representative cases (Grimm and Wozniak, 1990:204). To get the sample of this study, the writer took two classes which have almost the same characteristics. The writer took class II4 and II5 because the number of the students was the same and both classes were taught by the same teacher of English. To decide which class would be the control group and which to be the experimental group, the writer flipped a coin. Table 2 shows the sample of the study.
TABLE 2
THE SAMPLE OF THE STUDY
No Group Class Female Male Total
1 The Control Group II 4 35 5 40
2 The Experimental Group II 5 35 5 40
Total 80
Source: SMK Negeri 3 Palembang in academic year of 2004/2005

3.5 Technique for Collecting the Data
Test refers to a set of items or questions designed to be presented to one or more students under specified conditions (Wiersma and Jurs, 1990:8). To collect the data in this study, the writer used a test and distributed the questionnaire to find out the student’s opinions about the teaching method and the student’s problems during the treatment. There are 7 questions in the questionnaire.
The test is administered as the instrument because it is considered as the most reliable way and it is easy to be used for getting some information. Webster (1986: 1551) states that a test is something for getting measuring the knowledge, intelligence, ability, etc., of an individual or group. The test consists of 5 passages, 35 multiple-choice items, and 5 questions items. Before the test was administered to sample students, the test had been tried out to 40 non-sample students of SMK Negeri 3 Palembang.

3.6 Validity and Reliability of the Test
3.6.1 Validity of the Test
A good test should fulfill its validity and reliability. Heaton (1975) cited in Gustiani (2003:25) states that “Validity of a test is the extent to which it should measure what it is supposed to measure.” Supporting this idea, Wimmer and Dominich (1987:62)) say, “A valid measuring device measures what it is supposed to measure.” In addition to be valid, a test must be reliable if it is used in a study. A reliable test should posses consistency and stability if it is administered to the sample being investigated in given areas. (Arikunto, 1998:160).
Based on the explanation above, the writer had already tried out the test before it was given to the sample in SMK Negeri 3 Palembang. It was tested to 40 students of non-sample in SMK Negeri 3 Palembang. In order to make the test have a high degree of content validity, the writer devised the test in accordance with the purpose of the test, that is to measure the student’s reading comprehension achievement. Content validity refers to the extent to which a test measures a representative sample of the subject matter content (Hatch and Farhady, 1982:251).

3.6.2 Reliability of the Test
Reliability can be defined as equated with a measuring instrument’s consistency or stability (Smith, 1988:46). To get the reliability of the test, the writer used the split-half method. The split-half method requires the researcher to divide a scale or index containing several items into two sets or halves after the entire set of items has been administered to a group. Results in the two halves are compared; a high correlation between them is indicative of high reliability. (Grimm and Wozniak, 1990:166).
Furthermore, Hatch and Farhady (1982:246) assert that to use split-half reliability, the test must be split into two similar parts. Then the score are correlated on the two halves of the test just as if they were two separate tests. The correlation between the two halves was the reliability for half the test.
By using this method, the writer found that the reliability coefficient of the test was 0.9690. Wallen and Fraenkel (1991:99) cited in Marlinda (2003:20) argue that, for research purpose, a rule of thumbs that reliability should at least 0.70 and preferably higher. Because the reliability coefficient was higher than 0.70, the test can be considered reliable. The computation of the validity and reliability was done by using SPSS and the result of analyzed tried out completely shown in appendix C.

3.7 Technique for Analyzing the Data
In analyzing the data, the data obtained through the test were computed and analyzed by using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS/PC). The writer used paired-sample t-test to find out whether or not there was a significant difference in score between the pre-test and post-test in the experimental group. The writer also used paired-sample t-test to find out whether or not there was a significant difference in score between the pre-test and post-test in the control group. Finally, the writer used independent sample t-test to find out whether there was a significant difference in reading achievement.
There were two tests given to the experimental and control group, that were pre-test and post-test. To test the hypotheses, t-test was used. At the significance level p<0.05 in two-tailed testing with degree of freedom (df) = 78, the critical value of t-table was 1, 980 (see appendix J). If t-obtained was lower than t-table, then the null hypothesis was accepted and the research hypothesis was rejected. If the t-obtained was higher than t-table, then the null hypothesis was rejected and the research hypothesis was accepted.
To determine whether the t-obtained was statistically significant, the t distribution table was consulted (see appendix K). To interpret the table, two valued were required: degrees of freedom (df) and level of probability. For the purpose of t-test, degrees of freedom were equal to n1 + n2 – 2, where n1 and n2 represents the size of the respective groups. (Lary, 1991 cited in Gustiani, 2003:26)

CHAPTER IV
FINDING AND INTERPRETATION

This chapter presents (1) the finding, which include the results of the pre-test and post-test in the experimental group, the results of the pre-test, and post-test in the control group, and the results of the questionnaire, (2) the statistical analyses, (3) the interpretation of the study.

4.1 Finding
This part describes the result of the pretest and posttest of the experimental group and the result of pretest and posttest of the control group. The tests, which were distributed to the sample of the study before and after the experiment. The same test was given twice to the students, one as a pretest and the second as a posttest.
4.1.1 The Result of the Test
This section describes and analyzes the result of the test done before and after the experiment. The same test was given twice as pretest and posttest. The results of the tests were presented in the form of scores. The scoring system used the ranges 0 to 100, the writer used score interval as follows:
86 – 100 : Excellent
71 – 85 : Good
56 – 70 : Average
41 – 55 : Poor
40 : Failed
(Arikunto as cited in Gustiani 2003:27)
4.1.1.1 The Pretest and Posttest Scores of the Experimental Group
Based on the pretest result of the experimental group, the highest score in the pretest was 82.50; the lowest score was 35.00; the mean was 60.88. The highest score in the posttest was 90; the lowest score was 60; the mean was 77.18. (see appendix F). Table 3 shows the scores distribution in the experimental group.
TABLE 3
PRETEST AND POSTTEST SCORES DISTRIBUTION
OF THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP

Score Category Pretest Posttest
Interval Frequency Percentage Frequency Percentage
86-100 EXCELLENT 0 0% 7 17.5%
71-85 GOOD 11 27.5% 23 57.5%
56-70 AVERAGE 13 32.5% 10 25%
41-55 POOR 14 35% 0 0%
< 40 FAILED 2 5% 0 0%

Table 3 shows that in the pretest, none of the students was in excellent category; eleven students (27.5%) got the scores between 71 and 85; thirteen students (32.5%) got the scores between 56 and 70; fourteen students (35%) got the scores between 41 and 55; and two students (5%) were considered failed.
In the posttest, seven students (17.5%) got the scores between 86 and 100; twenty three students (57.5%) got the scores between 71 and 85; ten students (25%) got the scores between 56 and 70; and none of students got the scores lower than 60.
4.1.1.2 The Pretest and Posttest Scores of the Control Group
Based on the pretest result of the control group, the highest score in the pretest was 82.50; the lowest score was 35.00; the mean was 59.13. The highest score in the posttest was 87.50; the lowest score was 42.50; the mean was 68.00 (see appendix G) Table 4 shows the scores distribution in the control group.
TABLE 4
PRETEST AND POSTTEST SCORES DISTRIBUTION
OF THE CONTROL GROUP

Score Category Pretest Posttest
Interval Frequency Percentage Frequency Percentage
86-100 EXCELLENT 0 0% 3 7.5%
71-85 GOOD 10 25% 11 27.5%
56-70 AVERAGE 13 32.5% 19 47.5%
41-55 POOR 13 32.5% 7 17.5%
< 40 FAILED 4 10% 0 0%

Table 4 shows that in the pretest, none of the students was in excellent category; ten students (25%) got the scores between 71 and 85; thirteen students (32.5%) got the scores between 56 and 70; thirteen students (32.5%) got the scores between 41 and 55; and four students (10%) were considered failed.
In the posttest, three students (7.5%) were in excellent category. Eleven students (27.5%) were in excellent category. Nineteen students (47.5%) got scores between 56 and 70; seven students (17.5%) got the scores between 41 and 55; none of students got the scores lower than 42.5
4.1.1.3 Results of the Questionnaires
The results of the questionnaire (see appendix L) shows that 67.5 % of the students said that they liked learning English and 32.5 % of them did not like learning English. 92.5 % of the students said that they liked reading and 7.5 % did not like reading. 37.5 % of the students liked to read in groups while 52.5 % of them liked to read fast and the rest of the students liked to read slowly but understandably. In terms of the reading problems, 12.5 % of the students said that it needed a long time to read and 30 % said that they found it difficult to concentrate, and 57.5 % said that it was very hard to comprehend the text. 32.5% of the students said that they liked to ask the teacher directly when they got difficulties to comprehend the words in the text, 45% of them liked to try to find the meaning of the difficult words from dictionary while only 22.5 % of students ignored the difficult words. 80% of the students like reading by using the Lexical Simplification Method because they could understand the text more easily and they got more new vocabulary; 20% of them did not like the method since it has too many new words to understand, and it is very hard for them to apply the method without English teacher.

4. 2 Statistical Analyses
In this study, the results of the pre-test and the post-test of both the experimental and control groups were analyzed by using t-test. The analyses were done by using the SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) program. There are three statistical analyses in this study: (1) the statistical analysis on experimental group by using paired sample t-test, (2) the statistical analysis on the control group by using paired sample t-test, and (3) the difference analysis on the experimental group and the control group by using independent sample t-test.

4.2.1 Statistical Analysis on the Scores of the Experimental Group
From the result of the pretest and posttest (Table 5), we see that students’ mean scores of the posttest were higher than the mean scores of the pretest. The standard deviation for the pretest was 13.0893 and for the posttest was 8.2155. The standard error mean for the pretest was 2.0696 and it higher than posttest, which was 1.2990.

TABLE 5

From the table 6 below shows that t obtained is 13.172. At the significance level p< 0.05 in two tailed testing and df = 39, the critical value of t-table was 2.042. Since the value of t-obtained was higher than the critical value of t-table, there was significantly different achievement between the pretest and posttest. Therefore, the null hypothesis (Ho) was rejected and the research hypothesis (H1) was accepted. It means that the lexical simplification on students reading comprehension gave a significance effect on students’ achievement.
TABLE 6

4.2.2 Statistical Analysis on the Scores of the Control Group
From the result of the pretest and posttest of the control group (Table 7), the pretest mean was 59.1250 and the posttest mean is 68.1375. The standard deviation for the pretest was 13.6761 and for the posttest was 11.1792. The standard error mean for the pretest was 2.1624 and it higher than posttest, which was 1.7676.
TABLE 7

From the table 8 below shows that t obtained was 7.779. At the significance level p< 0.05 in two tailed testing and df = 39, the critical value of t-table was 2.042. Since the value of t-obtained was higher than the critical value of t-table, the null hypothesis (Ho) was rejected and the research hypothesis (H1) was accepted. It means that the lexical simplification on students reading comprehension gave a significance effect on students’ achievement.

TABLE 8

4.2.3 Analisa Perbedaan Pada Metode Diskusi dan Metode Pemeberian Tugas
Based on the independent sample t-test Tabel it was found the f-obtained was 3.475. We might also see that the value of significance (0.066) was higher than 0.05. The value of t-obtained was 4.120. The significant level of 0.05 two tailed test and the degree of freedom 78, the t-table value was 1.980. Since the value of t-obtained was higher than the value of t-table (4.120 > 1.980), the writer assumes that the null hypothesis (H0) is rejected and the research hypothesis (H1) was accepted. It means that there was a significant difference between the experimental and control group after the treatment was given. In addition, there was a significant effect on the students’ achievement who were taught by lexical simplification.

4.3 Interpretation of the Study.
Based on the analysis of the scores, the writer finds that:
First, when the writer compared the pretest and posttest of the experimental group, the t-obtained was 13.172. This value was higher than t table (2.042). Therefore, it could be assumed that after being treated for 12 meetings (six weeks) by lexical simplification, the students increased their reading achievement significantly.
Second, when the writer compared the pretest and posttest of control group, the t-obtained was 4.521. This value was higher than t table (2.042). Therefore, it could be assumed that there was some improvement in their score, but the means scores of the control group were almost the same. There was no significant improvement on the student’s means scores.
Third, based on the above analysis, the posttest results of both groups were then compared to know whether the groups performed significantly different achievement or not. The mean difference of the two groups was 77.18 – 68.14 = 9.04. The statistical analysis on the mean difference shows that the t-obtained was 4.120 which was higher than the critical value of the t-table 1.980 (at the significance level p<0.05 in two tailed testing and df = 78).
What the writer could observe from the two groups was that the treatment helped the students to comprehend the sentence and the text after six weeks. Lexical simplification significantly improves the students’ reading achievement.
It means that there was significance difference in reading comprehension achievement between the student who were taught by reading comprehension by lexical simplification and those who taught by conventional method.

CHAPTER V
CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS

5.1 Conclusion
Based on the result of the study, the writer concludes that (1) the reading comprehension achievement of the students who were taught by applying the lexical simplification as represented by their scores were better than those who did not get the treatment of the lexical simplification, (2) most of the students in the experimental group made better improvement and more active in discussion because the students already comprehended the material given, (3) the lexical simplification method can improve learner comprehension at the sentence level and trigger the acquisition of the new vocabulary.

5.2 Suggestion.
Considering the results obtained in this study and discussion in the previous chapter, the writer would like to offer suggestions to the teacher of English. Firstly, the teacher of English especially teacher of English of SMK Negeri 3 Palembang should be able to find out an appropriate teaching method to create a good learning atmosphere and help the students learn enjoyably. Secondly, in practice, some reading material available for students can be possibly far below or higher than the students reading proficiency. Therefore extra explanation on difficult words would be beneficial especially for those whose reading proficiency is low. Thirdly, the teachers of English should not only concern about the result of learning, but also care of the process of learning. In this case, the lexical simplification and its methods can be applied. The research proves that lexical simplification has an effect on the students’ reading achievement. However to maximize the better result, further study and better research design need to be done for the future teaching and learning process, especially in reading.

REFERENCES

Annisah. 2003. Teaching Reading Comprehension by Applying the Group Work technique at SMU Negeri 15 Palembang. Unpublished Undergraduate Thesis: Indralaya, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Sriwijaya University.

Arikunto, Suharsimi. 1998. Procedure Penelitian: Suatu Pendekatan Praktek. Jakarta: Rineka Cipta.

Astuti, Retno. 1997.The Application of 1994 English Curriculum at SMU Xaverius 1 Palembang. Unpublished Undergraduate Thesis. Indralaya, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education Sriwijaya University.

Bereson, Mark L., David M. Lavine., and David Rindkorpf. 1988. Applied Statistics: A First Course. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, Inc

Bromley, Karen D’Angelo. 1992. Language Arts: Exploring Connections, 2nd ed. Needham Heights, MA: Ally and Bacon

Chaudron, C. (2004). Models and Methods for Discovering learners’ Processing of Input. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 7, 1-14. Retrieved from the World Wide Web: http//www.yahoo.com/ Urano@Hawaii.edu.html. Accessed on June, 2004

Cheek, Earl H. Jr., Rona F. Flippo, and Jimmy D. Lindsey. 1989. Reading for Success in Elementary School. Forth Worth, FL: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc

Dane, Francis C. 1990. Research Methods. Facific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company.

Davies, A 1984. Simple, simplified and simplification: What is authentic? In C.J.. Alderson & A.H.Urquhart (Eds.), Reading in a Foreign Language (pp. 181-95). New York: Longman. Retrieved from the World Wide Web: http//www.yahoo.com/ EFL Extensive Reading Instruction: Research and Procedure.html. Accessed on April, 2004

Depdikbud. 1995. Kurikulum 1994 Sekolah Menengah Umum: Garis-garis Besar Program Pengajaran (GBPP) Mata Pelajaran Bahasa Inggris. Jakarta: Departemen Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan.

Finocchiaro, Mary. 1989. English as a Second/Foreign Language: From Theory to Practice
Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall Regents

Funk, Wilfred. 2004. Latin and Greek Have Contributed Thousands of Words that Have Become Integrated into English Vocabulary. Retrieved from the World Wide Web: http//www.yahoo.com/ iteslj.org/wordfocus.com. Accessed on July 24, 2004.

Grimm, James W. and Wozniak. 1990. Basic Social Research Methods: A Computer-Assisted Introduction. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company.

Gunning, Thomas G. 1992. Creating Reading Instruction for all Children. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

Gustiani. 2003. Teaching Passive Word Order By Using Color Coding System to the 2nd Year Students of SLTP 50 Palembang. Unpublished Undergraduate Thesis: Indralaya, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Sriwijaya University.

Hatch, Evelyn and Hossein Farhady. 1982. Research Design and Statistic for Applied Linguistic. Rowley, MA: Newburry House Publishers, Inc.

Hornby, AS. 1994. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English, 4th ed... Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Hymanson, M. Caroline. 1981. Connection and Context: A Basic Vocabulary. NewYork: Harcourth Jovanovich, Inc.

Long, M., H., & Ross, S. 2004. Modification that Preserve Language and Content. Retrieved from the World Wide Web: http//www.yahoo.com/ Urano@Hawaii.edu.html. Accessed on April, 2004

Luhulima, C. M. T., Ratna S. R., and Mayang Hamdani. 1987. Materi Pokok Kurikulum 1984, Text Book for SMTS Ping 4444 2 sks/ modul 1-6. Universitas Terbuka, Jakarta: Penerbit Gelatik

MacBride, Sean. 1983. Many Voices One World. New York, NY: UNESCO.

Marksheffel, Ned d. 1996. Better Reading in the Secondary School. New York, NY: The Ronald Press Company

Marlinda, 2003. The Comparison of the Vocabulary Achievement of the Second Year students of SLTP Negeri 7 in Learning English Through Context Clues and Guessing Meanings. Unpublished Undergraduate Thesis: Indralaya, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Sriwijaya University.

Moras, Solange. 2004. Teaching Vocabulary to Advanced Students. Retrieved from the world wide web: http//www.google.com/telus.net/linguistics issues/ moras lexical.html. Accessed on July 24, 2004

Morris, William E. 1975. The American Heritage Dictionary of an English Language. Polo Alto, CA: American Heritage Publishing Co.

Neufeldt, Victoria and David B. Guralnik. 1988. Webster’s New World dictionary of American English Cleveland, OH: A Division of Simon and Schuster, Inc.

Parker, K., & Chaudron, C. (2004). The Effect of Linguistic Simplification and Elaborative modification on L2 comprehension. University of Hawai’I Working Papers in ESL, 6, 107-103. Retrieved from the world wideweb: http//www.yahoo.com /urano @hawaii.edu.html. Accessed on July, 2004

Robertson, Ian. 1987. Sociology. New York, NY: Worth Publisher, Inc.

Rosenshine, B.V. 1980. Skill hierarchies in reading comprehension. In R.J. Spiro, B.C. Bruce, & W.F. Frewer (Eds.), Theoretical issues in reading comprehension (pp. 535-554).JALT Journal, Vol.12, No.12.1990. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Retrieved from the world wideweb:http//www.yahoo.com/Kyoto-su.co. html. Accessed on July, 2004

Rubin, Dorothy. 1993. A Practical Approach to Teaching Reading.Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

Rubin, Dorothy. 1997. Diagnosis and Correction in Reading Instruction. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

Smith, B. Nila and H. Allan Robinson. 1980. Reading Instruction for Todays Children. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall Inc.

Smith, Mary John. 1988. Contemporary Communication Research Design. Belmont, California: Wards Worth Publishing Company.

Tarigan, Henry Guntur. 1989. Metodologi Pengajaran Bahasa Suatu Penelitian Kepustakaan. Jakarta: PT Bina Aksara.

Urano, Ken. 2004. Lexical Simplification and Elaboration: Sentence Comprehension and Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition. Unpublished Undergraduate Thesis: University of Hawaii. Retrieved from the world wideweb: http//www.yahoo.com/urano@ hawaii.edu.html. Accessed on July, 2004

Waldron, Arthur and Arthur Zeiger. 1981. English Made Simple: The Importance of a Good Vocabulary. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Weaver, Constance. 1980. Psycholinguistic and Reading: from Process to Practice. Cambridge, MA: Winthrop Publishing, Inc
Webster, Merriam. 1986. Merriam Websters’ Collegiate Dictionary. 10th ed. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam Webster Incorporated.

Wiersma, William and Stephen G. Jurs. 1990. Educational Measurement and Testing. Needham Height, MA: A Division of Simon & Schuster. Inc

Wimmer, Rogger D. and Joseph R. Dominich. 1987. Mass Media Research. Belmont, CA: A Division if Wadswarth, Inc.

Zintz, Miles V., and Maggart, Zelda R. 1989. The Reading Process: the Teacher and the Learner. Dubuque, IA: Wm. C. Brown Publishers.