content analysis of reading materials in...

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CONTENT ANALYSIS OF READING MATERIALS IN ENGLISH ON SKY TEXTBOOK FOR JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL

Final Project

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for Degree of Bachelor of Islamic Education

in English Department

By:

SITI SHOLICHATUN 043411040

TARBIYAH FACULTY WALISONGO STATE INSTITUTE FOR ISLAMIC STUDIES

SEMARANG 2011

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KEMENTERIAN AGAMA

INSTITUT AGAMA ISLAM NEGERI WALISONGO SEMARANG FAKULTAS TARBIYAH

Jl. Prof. Dr. Hamka Kampus II Ngaliyan Telp.7601295 Fax. 7615387 Semarang 50185

ADVISOR APPROVAL

Dear Sir,

Dean of Faculty of Tarbiyah

State Institute for Islamic Studies

(IAIN Walisongo Semarang)

Assalamu’alaikum Wr. Wb.

After correcting it to whatever extent necessary, we state that the final project belongs to

student as bellow:

Name : Siti Sholichatun

Reg Number : 043411040

Department : English

Title : CONTENT ANALYSIS OF READING MATERIALS IN ENGLISH

ON SKY TEXTBOOK FOR JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL

is ready to be submitted to join last examination.

Wassalamu’alaikum Wr. Wb.

Semarang, December 21, 2010

Muhammad Nafi’ Annury, M. Pd. H. Mursid, M. Ag. NIP. 19780719 200501 1 007 NIP. 19670305 200112 1

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KEMENTERIAN AGAMA INSTITUT AGAMA ISLAM NEGERI WALISONGO SEMARANG

FAKULTAS TARBIYAH

Jl. Prof. Dr. Hamka Kampus II Ngaliyan Telp.7601295 Fax. 7615387 Semarang 50185

RATIFICATION


Student Number : 043411040

Tittle : CONTENT ANALYSIS OF READING MATERIALS IN

ENGLISH ON SKY TEXTBOOK FOR JUNIOR HIGH

SCHOOL

Had been ratified by the team of thesis examiner of education Faculty of

Walisongo State Institute for Islamic Studies Semarang on:

Day : Friday

Date : June 10th 2011

The Team of Examiner

Chairman, Secretary,

Dr. Muslih, M.A. Muhammad Nafi’ Annury, M.Pd. NIP. 15027692 600000 1 000 NIP. 19780719 200501 1 007 Examiner I, Examiner II

Dra. Siti Mariam, S.S., M.Hum. Siti Tarwiyah, S.S., M.Hum. NIP. 19650727 199203 2 002 NIP. 19721108 199903 2 001

Academic Advisor I Academic Advisor II

Muhammad Nafi’ Annury, M. Pd. H. Mursid, M. Ag. NIP. 19780719 200501 1 007 NIP. 19670305 200112 1 001

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A THESIS STATEMENT

I certify that this final project is definitely my work. I am completely responsible

for the content of this final project. Other writer’s opinion or finding included in

the final project are quoted or cited in accordance with ethical standards.

Semarang, June 9th, 2011

The Writer

Siti Sholichatun 043411040

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MOTTO

Recite in the name of thy Lord Who created everything. (QS. Al Alaq: 1)1

1 Muhammad Zafrullah Khan, the Quran, (London: Curzon Press, 1985), 3rd Ed, p. 624.

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DEDICATION

The thesis is dedicated to:

1 My beloved father (Supaidi. Alm), mother (Zulifah), and grandmother

(Sakinah) who always support emotionally and materially with prayer, love,

and patience.

2 My beloved sister and brothers, (Sutikah, Khafidhin, Andi Ribowo, and Zaenal

Arifin) who always support and motivate the writer to finish this thesis.

3 My beloved someone, (Ahmad Furqoni) who is always in my heart. Thank

you for your spirit, love and patience.

4 All my best friends, (Mb’atik, Saekul, Ms Silo, Ms Yeni, Rudy, Farik, De’ Ila

and De’ Maftuh) thank you for unforgetteble friendship.

5 All of friends in “Green House” Mb’ Riya, De’ Aya, De’ Sary, De’ Iztie, De’

Eima, Mb’ Asky, De’ Chusnul, Mb’ Ti2k, De’ Runtea, De’ Iif, De’ Aniz, Mb’

Dewi, De’ Dede and Mb’ Uun.

6 All my friends.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Alhamdulillah, the writer would like to thank Allah SWT for blessing,

health, chance, and inspiration given to the writer during the completion of this

final project with title Content Analysis of Reading Materials in English on Sky

Textbook for Junior High School.

Shalawat and salam for the Prophet Muhammad who brings us from

darkness to the brightness.

The writer realizes that she cannot complete this final project without the

help of others. Many people have helped the writer during the writing this final

project and it would be impossible to mention all of them. The writer wishes,

however, to give the writer sincerest gratitude and appreciation to:

1. Dr. Suja’i, M.Ag. as Dean of Tarbiyah Faculty of IAIN Walisongo Semarang.

2. Siti Tarwiyah, S.S.,M.Hum as the Head of the English Department of

Tarbiyah Faculty IAIN Walisongo Semarang.

3. Muhammad Nafi’ Annury, M.Pd as the first advisor and H. Mursid, M.Ag as

the second advisor for their patience in providing careful guidance, helpful

corrections, very good advice as well as suggestion and encouragement

during the consultation.

4. Lectures in English Department of Tarbiyah Faculty for valuable knowledge,

guidance, and advices during the years of her study.

5. The writer’s parents who always support emotionally and materially with

prayer, love, and patience.

The writer realizes that this thesis is still far from completeness, so that the

writer expects constructive suggestion and criticism from all side for the

advantages of the thesis.

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Finally, the writer expects this thesis be useful, especially for the writer

and generally for the readers.

Semarang, June 9th, 2011 Siti Sholichatun NIM. 043411040

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ABSTRACT

Siti Sholichatun (Student Number: 043411040). Content Analysis of Reading Materials in English on Sky Textbook for Junior High School. Thesis. Semarang: Bachelor Program of English Language Education of Walisongo State Institute for Islamic Studies, 2011.

Keywords: content analysis, reading materials, textbook. The background of the study in this research, reading is one of important

language skill that the students have to read English material for their subject, most of students are interested in reading the English written material such as; book, novel, article and text. Based on the phenomena that textbook has a great role in teaching learning, because textbook are important for students to prepare and fulfill experiences in the good process. So, the English teacher should be able to decide whether the contents of the textbook are suitable with the current curriculum or not. In this study, the writer choose content analysis of reading materials in English on Sky textbook because it is one of the genres that must be mastered by Ninth Year Students of Junior High School.

The problems of this research can be stated as follow: 1. What kind of genre contained in the reading passages found in English on Sky

textbook for 9th grade of Junior High School published by Erlangga? 2. What is the lexical density of reading text in English on Sky textbook for 9th

grade of Junior High School published by Erlangga? The objectives of this study are (1) to find out the kind of genre contained

in the reading passage found in English on Sky textbook for 9th grade of Junior High School published by Erlangga, (2) to find out the lexical density of reading text based on English on Sky textbook for 9th grade level of Junior High School.

The research approach used is library research in content analysis. The data collected from reading texts found in English on Sky textbook. There are 10 reading texts which are categorized into different kinds of text.

The result of the analysis showes that there are three genre which are used in English on Sky textbook for 9th grade of Junior High School published by Erlangga. They are procedure, report, narrative text and these genres fulfilled the KTSP English syllabus requirement.

The lexical density of reading text in English on Sky textbook for 9th grade of Junior High School published by Erlangga is around 50%- 60% (quite lexical density). It means that the reading texts are quite lexical densities. It means that the text is not difficult, easy to understand and suitable for students.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE OF TITLE................................................................................................... i

ADVISOR APPROVAL........................................................................................ ii

RATIFICATION... ................................................................................................ iii

A THESIS STATEMENT...................................................................................... iv

MOTTO................................................................................................................. v

DEDICATION....................................................................................................... vi

ACKNOWLEDGMENT........................................................................................ vii

ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................... ix

TABLE OF CONTENTS....................................................................................... x

CHAPTER I : INTRODUCTION

A. Background of Study ........................................................... 1

B. Reason for Choosing Topic................................................... 4

C. Research Questions............................................................... 4

D. Objectives of the Study......................................................... 4

E. Significance of Study............................................................ 4

F. Method of Research .............................................................. 5

CHAPTER II : LEXICAL DENSITIES’ READING MATERIALS OF THE

2006 ENGLISH CURRICULUM

A. Theoretical Review ............................................................... 8

1. Reading .......................................................................... 8

a. Definition of Reading ................................................ 8

b. Reading Material ....................................................... 9

2. Curriculum...................................................................... 10

a. Definition of Curriculum ........................................... 10

b. The 2006 English Curriculum.................................... 11

3. Textbook......................................................................... 12

a. Definition of English Textbook ................................. 12

b. The Functional of Textbook...................................... 13

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4. Text ................................................................................ 14

a. Definition of Text ...................................................... 14

b. Genre ........................................................................ 14

5. Lexical Density............................................................... 17

a. Content Words .......................................................... 18

b. Grammatical Function Words.................................... 20

B. Previous Research................................................................. 22

CHAPTER III: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

A. Research Approach ............................................................... 24

B. Source of Data ...................................................................... 25

C. Data...................................................................................... 25

D. Procedure Data Collection .................................................... 25

E. Procedure of Analyzing Data ................................................ 26

CHAPTER IV: RESEARCH FINDING AND ANALYSIS

A. Kinds of Text in Reading Material in English on Sky

Textbook for 9th Grade.......................................................... 29

B. Analysis of Lexical Density .................................................. 30

CHAPTER V : CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION

A. Conclusions .......................................................................... 42

B. Suggestions........................................................................... 44

BIBLIOGRAPHY

APPENDICES

CURRICULUM VITA

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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of Study

In daily life, language is always used by people for communication. As

human being, people tend to live or interact with other people. It proves that in

general, human beings are social creatures who need each other. As social

creatures, the most important thing is that naturally they are motivated to

interact with other people to express their existence, needs, opinions, and to

influence other people. The importance of language includes all of the aspects

of life because experience, feeling, and idea of someone can only be known by

other people by using language. It means that language is used for

communication.

English is an important means of communication which is used in

many countries in the world. It plays in important role in the process of

modernization as an international language to be taught in schools.1 The

purpose of teaching English is to develop four language skills; listening,

speaking, reading and writing. These four language skills enable students to

take part in information exchange, to establish interpersonal relationship, and

to obtain knowledge as well as to enjoy the language esthetic of English. The

teacher must develop four language skills that their students own, so that they

can use language to communication and to express their mind, their feeling

and their idea.

There are four skills in English, they are listening, reading, speaking,

and writing. Those skills are important to be mastered without ignoring each

other. For many students, reading is the important of the four skills in second

language. As a skill, reading is clearly one of important language skill that

where students have to read English material for their subject. The student

often thought to be easier to obtain information from written text by reading.

1 Ramelan, Introduction to Linguistics, (Semarang: IKIP Semarang Press, 1992), p. 6.

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Reading skill in one language is not necessarily transferred to another

language. The result of teaching reading, however, is still considered to be

unsatisfactory despite how long it has been taught in school and various

techniques of teaching reading used. Most of students face difficulties in

reading English text due to the different English language features from their

first language. Basically, teaching reading is conveying or guiding the students

to gain some important message and get meaning from written text. Most of

students are interested in reading the English written material such as; book,

novel, newspaper, article, text, etc. In the English lesson of Junior High

School the development of reading skills, especially in analyses kinds of text.

Nowadays, the government has arranged the 2006 School-Based

Curriculum named KTSP. It is an operational curriculum which is formed and

practiced by each school Indonesia.2 But actually it does not change the basis

of Competence-Based Curriculum substantially. The aim of English teaching

according to the School-Based Curriculum is that the students of Junior High

School hopefully can achieve that functional level of literacy because they are

preparing to continue their study to the Senior High School. Besides that,

School-Based Curriculum also deals with the four language skills, such as;

listening, speaking, reading, and writing. In reading, it refers to the text. It

means that the students are able to understand and producing various shorts

functional and monologue texts, and essay in the form of narrative,

descriptive, recount, procedure, and report.

The materials can be authentic materials, for example from newspaper,

magazine, recipe or textbook. The English teacher should be able to decide

whether the contents of the textbook are suitable with the current curriculum

or not. Textbooks are important for students to prepare and fulfill experiences

in the good process.

According to Dana Ferris and John S. Hedgcock, “textbooks are so

pervasive in educational systems throughout the world. Indeed, textbooks

2Wikipedia, “Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan”, http://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Kurikulum_Tingkat_satuan_pendidikan, retrieved on 6th July 2010.

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provide the backbone for the courses many educators teach”.3 It means that the

materials in the textbook should help the teacher in conducting teaching and

learning process, so it is important for the teacher to select and to analyze the

contents of textbook.

There are some categories of a good book. First, the contents of the

textbook should deal with the current curriculum; it might be from the genre

with should be available in the textbook. Besides that, the contents of the

textbook also go with the level of study. In the textbook include lexical

density which is measure the proportion content words in a text. The second

category is a textbook should have an interesting display because it can give

motivation for readers to read the textbook. In addition, the language of the

textbook should correct in context and situation. It means that the language

does not enclose ambiguous, so the reader can understand easily.

Based on those explanations, the writer would like to try to analyze the

reading materials found in English on Sky textbook for 9th grade of Junior

High School published by Erlangga. There are several reasons why the writer

chooses the book; First, English on Sky textbook is one of book that suitable

with the current curriculum. Second, English on Sky textbook used for

teaching English to ninth year’s students in Semarang because, it is important

to know whether the reading materials are appropriate with the students’ need.

Third, the writer used this book to know the lexical density of reading text

based on the 9th grade level of Junior High School.

B. Reason for Choosing Topic

The reasons that motivated the writer to choose the topic are as

follows:

1. English is a foreign language; it is understandable that most students face

difficulties in understanding a piece of reading text.

3Dana Ferris and John S. Hedgcock, Teaching ESL Composition: Purpose, Process, and Practice, (London, USA: Laurence Erlbaum Associates, 2005), 2nd Ed., p. 125.

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2. Reading is very important understanding a written text means extracting the

required information from a written text as efficiently as possible.

3. Text is very important in our life because it means transferring message to

the readers or listeners.

4. Lexical density is a measure of the proportion content words in a text.

Content words as opposed to function words are words that carry a high

information load such as nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverb.

C. Research Question

Problems that are discussed in this study can be stated as follows:

3. What kind of genre contained in the reading passage found in English on

Sky textbook for 9th grade of Junior High School published by Erlangga?

4. What is the lexical density of reading text in English on Sky textbook for 9th

grade of Junior High School published by Erlangga?

D. Objective of Study

The objectives of this study are as follows:

1. To find out the kind of genre contained in the reading passage found in

English on Sky textbook for 9th grade of Junior High School published by

Erlangga.

2. To find out the lexical density of reading text based on English on Sky

textbook for 9th grade level of Junior High School.

E. Significance of Study

The writer hopes that this research will be useful for:

1. The teacher

a. The teacher can select the textbook which is most suitable in teaching

learning process.

b. The teacher can apply the result of this study as feedback on their

teaching activities; improve their knowledge and experience in choosing

appropriate book, so that the students are better in reading skill.

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2. The Students

To improve the students’ knowledge and ability in English reading

materials, so that the students are able to understand the meaning of steps

and rhetorical development in written text becomes better.

3. The writer

It would be useful for the writer because it can improve the writer’s

knowledge about the genres and the lexical density in reading materials.

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CHAPTER II

LEXICAL DENSITIES’ READING MATERIALS OF THE 2006

ENGLISH CURRICULUM

A. Theoretical Review

1. Reading

a. Definition of Reading

Reading in language learning plays an important role. It is one

of four language skills students have to learn. It is assumed to be the

central means for learning new information and gaining access to

alternative explanations and interpretations. Reading as one of

language skills, has given an important contribution to human life.

Through reading, people can get many useful and new information,

ideas and inspirations which can enrich their knowledge, and they can

know about things happen in the world recently. Reading can help or

train people to wider their mind and point of views in facing and

solving matters happen in their life.

In the teaching of Islam, reading is also one key word to seek

knowledge. As Allah stated in verse al-‘Alaq 1-5:

Recite in the name of thy Lord Who created everything. He created man from a clot of blood. Recite, for thy Lord is Most Beneficent, Who has taught by the pen, taught man that which he knew not.4

4Muhammad Zafrullah Khan, The Quran, (London: Curzon Press, 1985), 3rd Ed, p. 624.

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It means that the reading is one activity which is very much

suggested by Islam, so that its followers can seek knowledge wherever

and whenever possible.

Reading is an interactive process that goes on between the reader

and the text. In the process of trying to understand a written text, the

reader has to perform a number of simultaneous tasks, decode the message

by recognizing the written signs, interpret the message by assigning

meaning to the string of words, and finally, understand what the author’s

intention was. In this process there are three participants: the writer of

text, text, and reader.5 So, reading is one of the linguistic skills that people

should have in order to communicate in English fluently and it is

important to understand information from the text and interpret its

meaning.

b. Reading Material

As a skill, reading is clearly one of the most important in many

instances around the world. It is the most important foreign language.

According to Harmer, reading is a model of language, reading texts

provide opportunities to study language such as; vocabulary, grammar,

punctuation and the way to construct sentence, paragraph and text.6

From the explanation above, it means that reading is one of

important language that to be mastered by students in the Junior High

School. To enable the students to master reading activity, teacher of

English should provide materials. The teaching materials which are

suggested by curriculum are reading materials which are not only suitable

with the topic which is discussed, but also a good reading for students

from the point of the setting of its message, the plot of the thought,

structure of the text, lexical characteristic and correctness of the language.

5Mariane Celce-Murcia and Elite Olshtain, Discourse and Context in Language Teaching, (United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 2000), p. 119.

6Jeremy Harmer. How to teach English (United State: Addison Wesley Longman, 1998), p. 68.

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Reading material refers to any texts or passage that brings

certain message or ideas to be shared to the reader through the process

of reading activity. In preparing the material there are some aspects to

be considered. The writer emphasizes on the level of the readers

interest as well as the objectives of the reading activity.

Based on the School-Based Curriculum, the basic competence

in reading materials is to understand the meaning and the steps of

rhetoric development in the written text (narrative, descriptive,

recount, procedure, report, etc). Reading is usually conceived of as a

solitary activity in which the reader to interact with the text.

2. Curriculum

a. Definition of Curriculum

Curriculum is the most essential of teaching learning process.

A teacher should teach his/her students according to the current

curriculum because it has been designed on the basis of students’

needs. Feez stated that “curriculum is a general statement of goals and

outcomes, learning arrangement, evaluation, and documentation

relating to the management of program within an education

institution”.7 Curriculum is a plan that gives guidance in the teaching-

learning process activities.8

From the definition above, the writer concludes that curriculum

is a plan that is developed to make teaching-learning activities progress

well. It is kind of guidance in the teaching-learning process. The

reformation of curriculum is sometimes done in order to improve or to

develop the quality of education. The curriculum also contains science,

knowledge, and experience worth giving to the students to obtain the

educational objectives.

7Feez, Susan, Text-Based Syllabus Design, (Sidney: Macquarie University, 2002), p. 9. 8Nana Syaodih Sukmadinata, Pengembangan Kurikulum: Teori dan Praktek, (Bandung:

Remaja Rosdakarya, 1999), p.5.

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b. The 2006 English Curriculum

Since the Indonesian government has designed the latest

curriculum, that is the 2006 English Curriculum or School-Based

Curriculum 2006, it is automatically that all school in Indonesia has to

apply it. The 2006 English Curriculum for Junior High School

(SMP/MTs) students to achieve the competencies that help them to be

able to reflect themselves, their culture, and also others’ cultures.

Moreover, it prepares them to be able to communicate their thoughts

and feelings, to participate in the society, even to make informed

decision about personal and social issues and to discover and use their

analytical and imaginative capacities.

In School-Based Curriculum 2006 for English subject of SMP/

MTs, “SMP” graduates should be able to achieve functional level for

communication spoken and written.9 The curriculum is also intended

to develop skills of communication that is the skills of understanding

and / or creating spoken and/ or written texts which are realized in four

language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing, in order to be

able to communicate fluently and to make discourse in certain level of

literacy.

The 2006 English Curriculum mentions that English subject

has several objectives which can be stated as follows:10

1) To improve the communicative competence both in spoken and

written form in order to achieve functional level of literacy.

2) To be aware of the meaning and the importance of English as an

international language that becomes and importance device in the

global society.

3) To grow the students’ understanding of the relationship between

language and culture.

9DPN, KTSP Mata Pelajaran Bahasa Inggris SD/MI, SMP/MTs, SMA/MA, (Jakarta: BSNP, 2007), p. 277.

10Ibid, p. 278.

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Basically, the content, the target, and the material of School-Based

Curriculum are developing the skills of understanding and/or creating

spoken and/or written texts which are realized in four language skill:

listening, speaking, writing, and reading. They also produce various short

functional and monologue texts, and essay in form of narrative,

descriptive, recount, report, and procedure, and hortatory exposition texts.

Students of Junior High School year IX according to the School-Based

Curriculum are also suggested to learn three kinds of monologue/ essay

texts; report, procedure and narrative texts.

3. Textbook

a. Definition of English Textbook

A medium is a means to help the teachers when the teaching

and learning activities progress. A teacher usually uses some media to

make him or her easier in explaining the teaching materials. One media

which is ordinarily used is a textbook. The textbook is easy to buy, to

carry, and to study. Even though there are so many kinds of media

rivaling the printed materials of communication, the textbook remains

the major source in school.

Textbook is a book giving instruction in a subject, used

especially in schools, etc. According to Thomson, “the textbook is a

stimulus or instrument for teaching and learning”.11 In another

definition, textbook is a manual of instruction or a standard book in

any branch of study which is produced according to the demands of

educational institutions.12

Based on the definitions above, it is important for teachers to

use a textbook when they teach a particular subject in order to help

them when they conduct teaching and learning activities as well as to

reach educational purposes.

11Thomson Heinle, Designing Language Courses: A Guide for Teachers, (Canada: Kathleen Graves, 2000), p. 175.

12Wikipedia, Textbook, http:www.wikipedia.org/wiki/textbook, retrieved on 13th July 2010.

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b. The Functional of Textbook

A textbook has many functions. According to Thomson, the

textbook has many functions as follows:13

1) Individualization of instruction

A textbook helps students to individualize instruction by

enabling them to proceed at their own rate and to a limited extent,

according to what they are interested in studying.

2) Organization of instruction

A textbook helps students to organize instruction by

providing experiences, suggested activities, recommended reading

and question. Written textbook give unity to classroom interaction

and are graded to introduce new concepts or contents they build

upon what has preceded.

3) Tutorial Contribution

A teacher often uses the textbook to help students learn

how to read better, to study, to weigh evidence, and to solve

problems.

4) Improvement of Teaching

Textbook is also regarded as a helpful utility which is used

by teachers to improve their skills in teaching.

From the explanation above, textbook is a kind of visual aid

in teaching learning process. It means that the function of a

textbook is actually as one of the visual aids by teachers, when

they are teach and explain the teaching materials. Besides, it also

helps the students in getting a better understanding of the materials

given by teacher.

13Thomson Heinle, op.cit, p. 176.

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4. Text

a. Definition of Text

A text is very important in our life. We need texts to

communicate with others. Actually, when we speak or write

something, we have made a text. Text is a means of transferring

message to the readers or listeners.

Text is an arrangement of systematically words in a good

diction, without ignore the rule of coherence and cohesive. Text is any

stretch of language which is held together cohesively through

meaning.14 In addition, Halliday and R. Hasan mention that text is

meant any connected stretch of language that is doing job in some

contexts.15

From the explanation above, any instance of living language

that is playing some parts in context of situation we shall call a text. It

may be either spoken or written. Based on the participant there are

spoken and written texts. Spoken refers to language interaction,

including a conversation orally between two persons or more which

their text has a purpose and the written text refers to language text,

including abstract reflection on causes and effects of distance events.

b. Genre

The term ‘genre’ has been used for many years to refer to

different styles of literary discourse. In recent time, the term has been

adapted to refer to different types of communicative events.

Genre is one of the most important and influential concept in

language education. Genre can be defined as a culturally specific text-

type which results from using language (written or spoken) to (help)

accomplish something.16 Each genre is characterized by distinctive

14Feez J and Joyce, H, op.cit, p. 4. 15M.A.K Halliday and R. Hasan, Language, Context, and Text: Aspect of Language in a

Social-Semiotic Perspective, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985), p. 6. 16Linda Gerot and Peter Wignell. Making Sense of Functional Grammar, (North South

waLes: Gerd Stabler, 1995), p 17.

13

schematic structure, that is, by a distinctive beginning, middle, and end

structure through which the social function of the genre is realized.17 It

can be concluded that there are differences between each genre to

another. There are some genres texts: spoof/ recount, reports,

analytical exposition, news item, anecdote, narrative, procedure,

description, hortatory, explanation, discussion, and reviews.

In this study, the writer only discusses the genre that should be

taught to the ninth year of Junior High School students based on

School-Based Curriculum, namely; narrative, procedure, and report.

There are some types of genres commonly used:

1) Procedure Text

The social function of procedure text is to help us do task or

make something. They can be set of instructions or directions. The

generic structure that should be followed when we write a

procedure text are goal (goal states the final purpose of doing the

instructions), materials (materials includes ingredients, utensils,

equipment to do the instructions), steps (a set of instructions to

achieve the final purpose). The lexico-grammatical features of the

procedure text are focus on generalized human agents, the use of

simple present tense and imperative sentence, the use of action

verbs, the use mainly of temporal conjunction (or numbering to

indicate sequence), and the use of adverbial phrases.

2) Narrative text

The purpose of this text is to relate an amusing or unusual

experience in an entertaining way. The social function of narrative

text is to amuse, to entertain, and to deal with problematic events

which lead to a crisis point of some kinds, which in turn find a

resolution.

17Jenny Hammond, English for Social Purposes: A Handbook for Teachers of Adult Literacy, (Sidney: Australian Print Group, 1991), p. 2.

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The generic structure of the narrative consists of:18

a) Orientation: sets the scene and introduces the participants

b) Evaluation: a stepping back to evaluate the plight

c) Complication: a crisis arises

d) Resolution: the crisis is resolved, for better or for worse

e) Re-orientation: optional

Narrative text focuses on specific and individualized

participant. It usually uses material (behavioral and verbal)

processes. It also uses relational processes, mental processes,

temporal conjunction, and temporal circumstance. Relational

processes involve states of being and having. For example:

a) She was an old boy.

b) He has a good job.

There are many verbs which refer to mental processes, they

are thinking, imagining, liking, wanting, seeing, etc. The verbs that

are used in narrative text type are past tense.

3) Report text

Report text is one of text types that taught of Junior High

School. The term ‘report’ is used in everyday language refer to

many different types of factual text, such as news report, science

report, weather report, etc. Report is used to store/or provide

information about class of things accurately rather than a sequence.

As the other text types, report has also the social function,

the generic structure, and also the lexico-grammatical features. The

social function of report text is to describe the way things are, with

reference to a range of natural, man-made and social phenomena in

our environment. The generic structures of report text are general

classification and description (parts, qualities, habits or behaviors,

if living; uses, if non-natural). The lexico-grammatical features of

18Linda Gerot and Peter Wignell, op.cit, p.204.

15

report text are focus on generic participant, the use of relational

processes and the use of simple present tense.

5. Lexical Density Lexical density is a measure of the amount of content information in

a text. Lexical density is calculated by dividing the number of content

words in a clause complex by the number of clauses in the complex.19 It

means that the lexical density measures the density of information in any

passage of text, according to how tightly the lexical items (content word)

have been packed into the grammatical structure. This is a measure of how

much information provided in a particular piece of writing. Lexical words

are perhaps more commonly known as content words or information

words.

Nunan stated that “lexical density referred to the number of lexical

content of function words per clause”.20 Lexical density measures of the

proportion of content words in a sentence or text.21 In addition, lexical

density is a term used in discourse (or text) analysis. It is used to measure

the ratio of content words to grammatical words in any given text (spoken

or written).22

Based on the above explanation, lexical density is the number of

content words as a percentage of the total number of words. Content words

as opposed to function words are words that carry a high information load

such as; nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. Sentences which are long

and lexically densed are more difficult to understand. Those words are

includes content words (nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs), and

grammatical function words (determiners, pronouns, preposition,

conjunctions, numerals, auxiliary verbs). Texts with a lower density are

more easily understood.

19Ibid, p.163. 20David Nunan, Introducing Discourse Analysis, (England: Penguin group, 1993), p. 11. 21Readability, http://www.unisanet.unisa.edu.au/resources/ia/readability/content words and

lexical density, retrieved on 6th July 2010. 22Lexical Density, http://wiki.answer.com/Q/What is lexical density, retrieved on 10th July

2010.

16

a. Content Words

Content words are any nouns, verbs, adverbs, and adjectives which

have suitable and significant lexical meaning.

1) Nouns

Nouns are the names of person, thing or place.23 It may be the

names of persons (Joseph, John), the names of places (countries,

cities), the names of things (book, school), the names of

professions (doctor, driver), the names of animals (bird, fox), the

names of abstract nouns (information, discovery), the names of

activities (athletic, running), the names of days and months

(monday, year), the names of subjects (English, sport), and the

names of families (father, aunt).

Based on the meaning, concrete nouns may be devided into

several classes, they are:24

a) A common noun is the name of a class of objects, it may name

a mass of objects or a material.

Example: cat, tree, boy, insect, girl, teacher.

b) A proper noun is an individual name.

Example: George, Billy (a person), Indonesia, Japan (a

country), May, June (a month).

c) A collective noun is name a group of persons, places, or things

gathered together into a unit.

Example: people, audience, number, nation, class.

2) Verbs

Verb is that part of speeech which expresses action, being, or

state of being. Verbs can be classified as to form and as to

meaning.

23Slamet Riyanto, et.all, A Handbook of: English Grammar, (Yogyakarta: Pustaka Pelajar, 2010), 4th Ed., p.7.

24 Rudi Hariyono, Complete English Grammar, (Surabaya: Gramedia Press, 2002), p.14-15.

17

a) Based on the form, verbs are divided into two, they are:

(1) A regular verb is one which forms its past indicative and

past participle by addition the suffix –ed, or –d.

Example: want, wanted, wanted, ask, asked, asked.

(2) An irregular verb is one that does not form its past

indicative and past participle by adding –ed, or –d.

Example: become, became, become, buy, bought, bought.25

b) Based on the meaning, verbs are divided into two, they are:

(1) A transitive verbs are verbs that express an action and

require one or more objects.

Example: learn, buy, sell, write, bring.

(2) An intransitive verbs are verbs that express an action and

do not require object(s).

Example: come, study, arrive, run, lie, work.26

3) Adjectives

An adjective are words that are used to explain or modify a

person, place, or thing.27 Example: beautiful, good, expensive,

important, ugly, yellow, interesting.

4) Adverbs

Adverbs are words that are used to describe verbs, adjectives or

adverbs.

Type of adverbs can be divided into six kinds:

a) Adverbs of manner

Example: beautifully, well, fast, hard, quickly.

b) Adverbs of place and direction

Example: away, here, west, there, in Solo.

c) Adverbs of time

Example: ago, from, now, last, once, since, then, today.

25 Ibid, p.81. 26 Slamet Riyanto, et.all, op.cit., p.62-63 27 Ibid, p.44.

18

d) Adverbs of frequency

Example: always, never, often, sometimes, usually.

e) Adverbs of degree

Example: indeed, of course, rather, in fact, really, too, very.

f) Adverbs of modality

Example: likely, maybe, perhaps, possibly, probably,

unlikely.28

b. Grammatical Function Words

Grammatical function words create the relationships between the

concepts in a sentence.29 Grammatical function words might be

determiners, pronouns, preposition, conjunctions, numerals, auxiliary

verbs.

1) Prepositions

A preposition links nouns, pronouns and phrases to other words

in a sentence. A preposition usually indicates the temporal, spatial

or logical relationship of its object to the rest of the sentence.

Example: about, above, across, after, at, behind, beside, by, in

into, inside, among, around, before.

2) Pronouns

Common types of pronouns are as follows:

a) Personal Pronouns

Personal pronouns are words that are used to replace a person or

thing.

Example: I, you, we, they, he, she, it.

b) Demonstrative Pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns are words that are used to point out

something.

Example: this, these, that, those.

28Ibid, p.50. 29Readability, http://www.unisanet.unisa.edu.au/resources/ia/readability/content words and

lexical density, retrieved on 6th July 2010.

19

c) Interrogative Pronouns

Interrogative pronouns are words that are used to ask for

questions.

Example: who, what, which, when, where, whose, whom,why,

how.

d) Relative Pronouns

Relative pronouns are usually used in adjective clauses.

Example: that, who, whom, whose, which.30 3) Conjunctions

Conjunctions are words that are used to connect words or a group

of words or sentences.31

Example: although, even, once, as, if, until, when, where, during,

since, for, while, because.

4) Auxiliary Verbs These verbs are called auxiliary verbs because their function is

to help other verbs express different meanings.32

Example: be, do, have, can, may, must, shall, will, could, might,

should, would.

5) Determiners

Example: some, any, many, much, no, few, little, every, all,

several, a lot of.

6) Numerals (numbers)

Numbers can be divided into three that is:

a) Cardinal numbers

Example: zero, one, two.

b) Ordinal numbers

Example: first, second, third.

c) Fraction

Example: a half, a third, a quarter.33

30 Slamet Riyanto, et.all, op.cit., p.36. 31 Ibid, p.85. 32 Ibid, p.213.

20

B. Previous Research In composing this proposal, these are some previous researches related

to this study that can be described as follows:

1. Erma Suryani (2201405626), Faculty of Language and Art, UNNES

Semarang 2008 (The Text Structures of the Reading Text Types Found in

“Contextual Learning: Developing Competencies in English Use”). The

result from this research explained that there were 13 reading texts. As

stated by the Competence-Based Curriculum and School-Based

Curriculum, the choices of text types in the analyzed textbook had fulfilled

the suggestion as narrative, explanation, and discussion texts. The

textbook was relevant to the curriculum because it provided the texts that

were required by curriculum.34 The similarities between her research and

the writer’s were on the reading materials and object of the study (genres).

The differences were on source of data, kinds of text, and data analysis.

2. Nugrahani (2201404114), Faculty of Language and Art, UNNES

Semarang 2008 (The Reading Materials in Look Ahead Textbook for

Tenth Year Students of Senior High School). The aim of English teaching,

based on School-Based Curriculum is that the students of Senior High

School hopefully can reach the informational level of literacy since they

are prepared to continue their study to the university level. As the result of

this analysis, her research found 20 reading material in five genres;

specifically recount, narrative, descriptive, procedure, and news item. The

most dominant was narrative, recount and procedure. She concluded the

textbook was relevant to the current curriculum, in this case was School-

Based Curriculum.35 The similarity between her research and the writer’s

was on the object of the study (genres). The differences were on source of

data, type of data and data analysis.

33 Rudi Hariyono, op.cit., p.45. 34Erma Suryani, The Text Structures of the Reading Text Types Found in ”Contextual

Learning: Developing Competencies in English Use”, Skripsi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, (Semarang: UNNES, 2008).

35Nugrahani, The Reading Materials in Look Ahead Textbook for Tenth Year Students of Senior High School, Skripsi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, (Semarang: UNNES, 2007).

21

Based on the explanation above, this thesis will be different with

previous research. We have some purposes that it will be helpful in improving

students’ understanding on different types of genre. This thesis is expected to

give a brief overview as main point of consideration for the book writers on

designing their book material. They should consider the lexical density as well

in order to make their book suitable for the language users based on their level

of competence.

22

CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

In this chapter, the researcher will present in details the methodology of

the research used in this study. It is divided into several sub chapters. They are

research approach, source of data, data, data collection and procedure of analyzing

data.

A. Research Approach

In conducting the research, the writer uses qualitative approach.

Maxwell stated that “the strength as qualitative research derives primarily

from its inductive approach, its focus on specific situation or people, and its

emphasis on words rather the numbers”.36 It means that the data in this study

is analyzed in the form of description and identification or analysis of the

texts.

Qualitative research gives priority to analyze data. The data in this

study is analyzed in the form of description and identification or analysis of

the texts. In this research, the writer analyzes the lexical density in reading text

based on the 9th grade of Junior High School.

Considering the purpose of the research and the nature of the problem,

the research is basically library research, where the writer attempts to gather

the data from the library as the data sources. It is suitable as the goals of the

writer’s study. Library research used to gain written sources either had been

published or not published yet, by reading and analyzing as the basis of

composing the research. The writer presents and explains the data without

hypothesis test.

This research focused on content analysis of English on Sky textbook

for 9th grade level of Junior High School published by Erlangga. The content

analyzed including procedure, report, narrative text and lexical density of

reading text.

36Maxwell, Joseph Alex. Qualitative Research Design, (London: SAGE Publication, 1996), p. 17.

23

B. Source of Data

Arikunto stated that the data resource is the subject from which the

data can be found.37 In this study, the source of data is the reading texts found

in English on sky textbook for 9th grade of Junior High School published by

Erlangga.

C. Data

In conducting this study, the researcher takes some of reading texts

found in the textbook as the data. There are 10 reading texts which are

categorized into different kinds of text. They are procedure, report, and

narrative texts.

D. Procedure Data Collection

In collecting the data, the writer used documentation study.

Documentation study may refer to technique of collecting data by gathering

and analyzing documents, while document is any communicable material

(such as text, video, audio, etc) used to explain some attributes of an object,

systems or procedures.38 It means that the qualitative data which is drawn with

words and sentences, clustered following its category to gain conclusion.

In doing this research, the researcher uses three steps as follows:

1. Reading

The first step is reading the textbook English on Sky for 9th grade of

Junior High School which is published by Erlangga.

2. Identification

After the researcher read the reading text in the English textbook,

the next step is identify the genre of every text.

37Suharsimi Arikunto, Prosedur Penelitian Suatu Pendekatan Praktik, (Jakarta: Rineka Cipta, 2006), 6th Ed., p. 129.

38Research Documentation, http://www.answer.com/topic/documentation, retrieved on 29th September 2010.

24

3. Classification

The next step of this research is classification. In this case, the

researcher classifies the text based on its genre. The researcher made a

table in doing the classification.

No. Genre Number of page Sum

The first column used for numbering of the data. The second

column for the name of genre that found in English on Sky textbook for 9th

grade of Junior High School. The third column used for the number or the

page of text.

In doing the research, the researcher need some reference that

related to the study. There aimed to help me in analyzing the data. There

were several steps that the writer did in collecting the reference, as

follows:

a. Looking for any materials related with the study from internet.

b. Looking for books related to the study from library.

c. Looking for any thesis related to the study from library.

E. Procedure of Analyzing Data

In analyzing the data, the writer used text analysis or discourse

analysis as the technique. Discourse analysis is minimally the study of

language in use that extends beyond sentence boundaries.39 It means that

discourse analysis is concerned with the study of the relationship between

language and the context in which it is used.

39Mariane Celce-Murcia and Elite Olshtain, Discourse and Context in Language Teaching, (United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 2000), p. 4.

25

Here, the data that had been collected and classified are then analyzed.

The analysis includes the lexical density of the reading text. For this research,

lexical density will be measured by:

1. Identifying which one includes the content words and which one includes

the grammatical (function) words in a sentence.

2. Counting the number of content words and the number of grammatical

(function) words.

3. Counting the portion of lexical density by employing the following

formula:

Lexical density = 100WordsofNumberTotal

WordsContentofNumber

4. Analyzing the data to know the lexical density of the reading text based on

the 9th grade level of Junior High School.

As a guide, lexically dense text has a high lexical density of around 60-

70%, quite lexical density measures of around 50-60%, and those which are

not dense have a lower lexical density measures of around 40-50%.

26

CHAPTER IV

RESEARCH FINDING AND ANALYSIS

This chapter is going to deal with the finding and analysis of the research.

This is possible to be done after the researcher completing the analysis. In this

regard, the researcher has High School published by Erlangga.

There are five units reading materials which will analyze in this chapter.

All of these reading texts are collected 10 reading texts from “English on Sky

Textbook” for 9th grade of Junior taken from the reading passages, excluding

some sub reading texts in every unit.

The following are the list of reading text titles which will be the data for

analysis:

Table 1: Main Reading Passages in Each Unit of 9th Grade

No. Title of Reading Text Unit Grade

1. Eight glasses of water a day keep the doctor away 1 IX

2. Snowy Owls, Large Prey Birds 2 IX

3. Kangaroo (Macropus rufus) 2 IX

4. DURIAN 3 IX

5. Coconuts 3 IX

6. The Nile River 4 IX

7. The Bengawan Solo 4 IX

8. River and Speed of Flow 4 IX

9. The boy who cried “wolf” 5 IX

10. The Fox and the Crow 5 IX

27

A. Kind of Text in Reading Material in English on Sky Textbook for 9th

Grade.

From all above reading texts, the researcher will classify some types of

reading text from every unit as can be seen below:

Table 2: Types of Genre in Each Unit of 9th Grade.

No Title of Reading Text Genre Unit Page Grade

1. Eight glasses of water a day

keep the doctor away

Procedure 1 40 IX

2. Snowy Owls, Large Prey

Birds

Report 2 66-67 IX

3. Kangaroo (Macropus rufus) Report 2 68 IX

4. DURIAN Report 3 96 IX

5. Coconuts Report 3 97 IX

6. The Nile River Report 4 134 IX

7. The Bengawan Solo Report 4 136-137 IX

8. River and Speed of Flow Report 4 139 IX

9. The boy who cried “wolf” Narrative 5 164 IX

10. The Fox and the Crow Narrative 5 165-166 IX

Thus, it can be seen that the number of each reading types is:

Table 3: Total Number of Each Genre

No. Genre Sum

1. Procedure 1

2. Report 7

3. Narrative 2

28

Based on the above table, it can be seen that there are three text

types found in analyze textbook. The dominant is report text, and then

continued by narrative and procedure texts.

In English on Sky Textbook for 9th grade level of Junior High

School, there are three types of texts; procedure, report and narrative.

B. Analysis of Lexical Density

To analyze the lexical density, this analysis will measure it with

counting the number of content words as a percentage of the total number of

words. The researcher used the technique of marking kinds of content words

and grammatical function words in the sentences. The content words were

marked in bold and grammatical function words were marked in italics.

Text 1


the grammatical function words in a sentence.

Eight Glasses of Water a Day Keep the Doctor Away

Water is very important for any kinds of living things. Humans can live more than two weeks without food. However, they can only live for eight to ten days without water. Water goes around the body through blood. It carries oxygen and food for cells. It cleans the body by bringing the waste in sweat or urine. It also keeps the balance of minerals in the body. Most parts of human body use water to work. Someone cannot move well if there is not enough water in his or her body.

Sixty five percent of human body is water. To keep that amount of

water in the body, someone must drink an average of eight to ten glasses of water each day. How much water does a person need every day? It depends on the volume of urine and sweat. An athlete who does a lot of physical exercise certainly needs to drink more water than a bank manager who spends most of his time in the office. Besides drinking, many kinds of food are also a good source of water. Fruit and vegetable, for instance, is eighty to ninety five percent of water.

29


function words.

Text 1 had 97 content words and 102 grammatical function words.


formula:



10010297

97 xdensitylexical

10019997 xdensitylexical

%74.48densitylexical 4. Analyzing the data to know the lexical density of the reading text based on


Based on the result above, text 1 had 48.74 % lexical density. It showed

that text 1 had lower lexical density.

Text 2



Snowy Owls, Large Prey Birds

Snowy Owls or Nyctea scandiaca are large prey birds. They are diurnal, which means they are active during the day instead of night. Snowy owls breed in remote areas or Artic and Sub-Artic regions, mostly North America.

As their name suggests, snowy owls have dark white feathers with dark brown markings. Their feathers are thick covering even its legs and feet. They weigh around 1.6 kg to 2 kg and they stand about half a meter tall with the wing span of 1.5 meters. They have a round white head, a black curved beak, yellow large eyes, and strong black claws.

Snowy owls eat small mammals, such as rats or rabbits and birds, such as geese and ducks. It always swallows its prey whole and uses the juice in its stomach to digest the flesh.

A snowy owl can swivel its head because its eyes don’t move in its sockets. A snowy owl can also detect its prey in the dark because it has excellent hearing.

30

In terms of personality, snowy owls are generally silent and shy. Yet, they can be very aggressive if human or other animals approach their nest.


function words.



formula:



10080114

114 xdensitylexical


%76.58densitylexical




that text 2 had quite lexical density.

Text 3



Kangaroo (Macropus rufus)

The Kangaroo is a common Marsupial from the islands of Australia and New Guinea. Marsupials are animals with pouch. They carry their babies in a pouch in the mother’s abdomen.

Kangaroo have two strong legs with two long feet. They have a muscular long tail, large ears and a small head. They have short arms with clawed hands. The soft, woolly fur can be blue, grey, red, black, yellow or brown, depending on the species. Females have a pouch in which the young live and drink milk.

31

These herbivores (plant-eaters) eat grass, leaves, and roots. They swallow their food without chewing it. Kangaroos need little water; they can go for months without drinking, and they dig their own water wells.

These shy animals live about 6 years in the wild and up to 20 in captivity. Most kangaroos are nocturnal (active at night). Kangaroos can hop up to 74 kilometers per hour and go over 9 meters in one hop.


function words.



formula:

100xWordsofNumberTotal

WordsContentofNumberdensitylexical

1007090

90 xdensitylexical


Lexical density = 56.25 %





Text 4



D U R I A N

Durian is classified as Durio zibethinus. It is native to Southeast Asia. Durian is known as ‘King of Fruits’. It is not only the most expensive fruit but also the most controversial fruit. It is the only fruit which is banned from airline cabins, hotels and some public transports.

The durian tree is large and very tall. It can grow up to 25 - 50 meters and it has green elliptic leaves. A durian tree

32

usually can bear fruit after four or five years. The durian fruit, which can hang from any branches, matures in about three months after pollination. The fruit can grow up to 30 centimeters long and 15 centimeters in diameter. The husk is covered with sharp thorns. The color of the husk ranges from green to brown. The flesh is pale yellow. It is very soft but not juicy. When it is ripe, it tastes sweet and smells very strong.

Durian contains a lot of sugar, vitamin C, and

potassium. Durian is also a good source of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. Durian is usually eaten fresh. Sometimes it is also cooked to make ‘dodol’ or jam.

Durian used to be grown from seeds, but now it is propagated by grafting.


function words.



formula:



1009660

60 xdensitylexical







33

Text 5



C o c o n u t s

Coconut is a common name for the fruit of a tree of the palm family. It is classified as cocos nucifera. People usually call the tree coconut palm. Coconut palm trees grow well in tropical countries. They grow especially on sandy soils.

The trees can grow up to 30 m high. They have a single cylindrical trunk. At the top of the trunk, there is a crown of leaves. The leaves are long, about 3 to 4.5 m long.

The fruit grows in clusters. In one cluster there are about 5-20 coconuts. The fruit is oval and about 30 cm long. It has a thick husk and a hard shell. Inside the shell there is white oily fresh. Inside the shell there is also a sweet fluid.

Coconut is high in sugar. It also contains a lot of fat, protein, and vitamin. The young coconut water can be very refreshing drink which contains a lot of minerals.

Coconut palms are very useful plants. People can use every single inch of the tree. They dry the coconut meat into copra. After that, they can get oil from it and use it for daily cooking or make it into soaps or candles. People also use the trunks to build houses. For the roof, they dry the leaves. People can also make rope and doormats from the coconut’s husk.

Coconuts are usually propagated by seeds, but experts have been trying to clone coconuts or propagate them by tissue culture.


function words.



formula:



100116126

126 xdensitylexical



34





Text 6



The Nile River

The Nile River is the longest river in the world. Its length is around 4, 180 miles. It flows through Uganda, Sudan and Egypt. It has two main tributaries. They are the Blue Nile and the White Nile. The White Nile starts in the Great Lakes region of central Africa. The Blue Nile begins at Lake T’ana in Ethiopia. These two rivers meet near Khartoum the capital city of Sudan.

There is another shorter tributary. It’s the Atbarah River, or

also known as the Black Nile. However, this river flows only while there is rain Ethiopia and dries very fast. The Nile River ends in Mediterranean Sea.

The Nile River is important for agriculture, food,

transportation and tourism. Farmers grow wheat, sorghum, citrus fruit, sugarcane and cotton along the Nile River, and they use the river to water their crops and plantation. People also fish this river. The river is used to transport goods to different places along its long path. The ships can travel up using the sail, and down using the flow of the river.

Tourism is another main advantage of the Nile River. Some

special places to visit are Aswan, Luxor, Giza, Cairo and Khartoum. People who like adventure will find traveling this river exciting.


function words.


35


formula:



10088121

121 xdensitylexical







Text 7



The Bengawan Solo

The Solo River or the Bengawan Solo River is the longest river in Java Island. Its length is about 540 km. This river has its source at Mount Lawu, a quite active volcano in Central Java. It flows passing through the Sewu Mountains, the Kendang Mountains and into the Solo valley.

There are two main tributaries that from this river. They are the Madiun and the Brantas Rivers. It ends in Java Sea near the city of Surabaya. The Solo River is not only important for farmers, but also for paleontologists. Scientists have made a lot of discoveries on the early human fossil in several places along this river. This fossil is known as Java Man Skull.

In some places people still use the river for transportation. Small boats are used to carry goods from one place to another.


function words.


36


formula:










Text 8

1. Identifying which one includes the content words and which one

includes the grammatical function words in a sentence.

River and Speed of Flow

The greater the speed of flow, the greater the amount of energy is produced. Like the volume of flow, the speed of flow is usually affected by a combination of factors.

These factors include the gradient of the river, texture of

the river bed and banks, depth of the channel and the wetted perimeter. The wetted perimeter is the part of the river channel that is in contact with the river water.


function words.


37


formula:



1004037

37 xdensitylexical







Text 9



The boy who cried “wolf”

A shepherd boy was looking after his sheep on a hill. He felt bored being alone on a hill. Then, he thought of a way to make some fun.

While the villagers were busy working, they heard a boy

shouting, “Help! Help! Help! A wolf is attacking my sheep!”. “That sounds from the shepherd boy. He is in trouble. Let’s go and help him,” said the villagers and rushed toward the hill. They were very surprised when they did not see any wolves on the hill. “Where’s the wolf?” they asked.

The boy fell back and started laughing. The villagers

realized that the boy had played a trick. They were angry and went back to work.

The next day, the villagers heard the shepherd boy shouting for help again. They rushed towards the hill, and again the boy laughed at them.

On the third day, a wolf really came and attacked the sheep.

38

“Help! Help! A wolf is attacking my sheep!” shouted the boy at the top of his voice. But nobody bothered him this time. The villagers thought that the boy was trying to fool them again. The boy watched sadly as the wolf killed all his sheep.


function words.



formula:



10098105

105 xdensitylexical







Text 10



The Fox and the Crow

One bright, sunny morning, an ugly black crow perched on the branch of a tree. She had just stolen a tasty piece of cheese and was about to enjoy it.

Just then a dark brown fox passed by. He was very hungry. Then he saw the food in the crow’s beak. His mouth watered, so he thought of a clever plan to get the cheese.

The fox looked up at the crow, he said, “I have always admired your beauty, with your soft, shiny feathers and nice beak. If your voice is as fine as your looks, you could be Queen of the Birds!”.

39

The crow wanted to be the queen. So, to prove that she could sing, she opened her beak and made a loud “Caw!” Of course, when she opened her beak, the piece of cheese fell to the ground.

The fox happily snatched up the cheese and laughed. He

said,” My dear crow, your voice is fine but your opinion is not. You shouldn’t believe everything you hear! Thanks for the cheese!”.


function words.



formula:



1008790

90 xdensitylexical







40

CHAPTER V

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

A. Conclusion

The findings reported in the four chapter discussed previously have

given us a description about the result of this research. Here, the researcher

will draw some concluding remarks based on the statements of the problem of

this research. They are:

5. The writer found that the English on Sky textbook contained three genres.

They are procedure, report and narrative. The dominant text on this book is

report text. The writer found seven report texts. Furthermore, the writer

found only one procedure text in this book.

6. In addition, the writer analyzed the lexical densities. After analyzing, the

writer concluded as below:

No Title of Reading

Text Genre Unit Page CW GFW

LD

(%)

1

Eight glasses of

water a day

keep the doctor

away

Proce-

dure 1 40 97 102 48.74

2

Snowy Owls,

Large Prey

Birds

Report

2 66-67 114 80 58.76

3

Kangaroo

(Macropus

rufus)

Report

2 68 97 70 56.25

4 DURIAN Report 3 96 60 96 39.10

5 Coconuts Report 3 97 126 116 52.07

6 The Nile River Report 4 134 121 88 57.89

7 The Bengawan Report 4 136- 74 64 53.62

41

Solo 137

8 River and Speed

of Flow

Report 4 139 37 40 48.05

9 The boy who

cried “wolf”

Narrati-

ve 5 164 105 98 51.72

10 The Fox and the

Crow

Narrati-

ve 5

165-

166 90 87 50.85

CW= Content Words

GFW= Grammatical Function Words

LD= Lexical Density

Qualification of Lexical Density

No Title of the Reading Text High

(60%-70%)

Quit

(50%-60%)

Lower

(40%-50%)

1 Eight glasses of water a

day keep the doctor away

√

2 Snowy Owls, Large Prey

Birds

√

3 Kangaroo (Macropus

rufus)

√

4 DURIAN √

5 Coconuts √

6 The Nile River √

7 The Bengawan Solo √

8 River and Speed of Flow √

9 The boy who cried “wolf” √

10 The Fox and the Crow √

42

From ten of the reading texts, there are three lower lexical densities

(easily to be understood), seven quite lexical densities. However, there is no

the high one (difficult to be understood), most of them have quite lexical

densities. It means that the texts are not quite difficult to be understood.

B. Recommendations

After drawing the conclusion, then the writer present some

recommendations as follows:

1. Since the writer just analyzed the lexical density in reading text, it gave

little explanation about genre and lexical density. So, this study can be

used as comparison for another study which is related to the lexical

density.

2. For the authors, they can use this study to present the textbook with

balance composition between content words and grammatical function

words of lexical density in order the students can understanding about the

reading text.

3. For the English teachers, they can apply the result of this study as

feedback on their teaching activities; improve their knowledge and

experience in choosing appropriate book, so that the students are better in

reading skill.

Finally, the researcher realizes that this final project is far from being

perfect. Because of limiting condition, constructive critics and advice are

really accepted for the perfection of the final project. Hopefully, this final

project will be useful for all of us. Amen.

43

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Arikunto, Suharsimi, Prosedur Penelitian Suatu Pendekatan Praktik, Jakarta: Rineka Cipta, 2006, 6th Ed.

Celce-Murcia, Mariane and Olshtain, Elite, Discourse and Context in Language Teaching, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 2000.

DPN, KTSP Mata Pelajaran Bahasa Inggris, SD/MI, SMP/MTs, SMA/MA, Jakarta: BSNP, 2007.

Ferris, Dana and Hedgcock, John S., Teaching ESL Composition: Purpose, Process, and Practice, London, USA: Laurence Erlbaum Associates, 2005, 2nd Ed.

Gerot, Linda and Wignell, peter, Making Sense of Functional Grammar, North South Wales: Gerd Stabler, 1995.

Hamalik, Omar, Dasar- Dasar Pengembangan Kurikulum, Bandung: Remaja Rosdakarya, 2007.

Hammond, Jenny, English for Social Purposes: A Handbook for Teachers of Adult Literacy, Sidney: Australian Print Group, 1991.

Hariyono, Rudi, Complete English Grammar, Surabaya: Gramedia Press, 2002.

Harmer, Jeremy, How to Teach English, United State: Addison Wesley Longman, 1998.

Hasan, M.A.K Halliday and R., Language, Context, and Text: Aspect of Language in a Social-Semiotic Perspective, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985.

Heinle, Thomson, Designing Language Courses: A Guide for Teachers, Canada: Kathleen Graves, 2000.

Joseph A. Maxwell, Qualitative Research Design, London: SAGE Publication, 1996.

Khan, Muhammad Zafrullahs, the Quran, London: Curzon Press, 1985, 3rd Ed.

Lexical Density, http://wiki.answer.com/Q/What is lexical density, retrieved on 10th July 2010.

Mukarto, et.al, English on Sky SMP Book IX, Jakarta: Erlangga, 2007.

44

Nugrahani, The Reading Materials in Look Ahead Textbook for Tenth Year Students of Senior High School, Skripsi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, Semarang: UNNES, 2007.

Nunan, David, Introducing Discourse Analysis, England: Penguin Group, 1993.

Ramelan, Introduction to Linguistics, Semarang: IKIP Semarang Press, 1992.

Readability, http://www.unisanet.unisa.edu.au/resources/ia/readability/content words and lexical density, retrieved on 6th July 2010.

Research Documentation, http://www.answer.com/topic/documentation, retrieved on 29

th September 2010.

Riyanto, Slamet et.al, A Handbook of: English Grammar, Yogyakarta: Pustaka Pelajar, 2010, 4th Ed.

Sukmadinata, Nana Syaodih, Pengembangan Kurikulum: Teori dan Praktek, Bandung: Remaja Rosdakarya, 1999.

Suryani, Erma, The Text Structures of the Reading Text Types Found in ”Contextual Learning: Developing Competencies in English Use”, Skripsi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, Semarang: UNNES, 2008.

Susan, Feez, Text-Based Syllabus Design, Sidney: Macquarie University, 2002.

Textbook,http://www.textlib.net/ctm/english/user/tour/tour001_View02.jsp?menu_ code=TOUR&sub_ type=001, retrieved on 6th November 2010.

Wikipedia, “Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan”, http://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/ kurikulum_Tingkat_satuan_pendidikan, retrieved on 6th July 2010.

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45

CURRICULUM VITAE


Place and date of birth: Kudus, July 29, 1987

Original Address : Undaan Lor Rt: 2/III, Kec. Undaan,

Kab. Kudus

Mobile Number : 085641163404

Education : 1. SDN 4 Undaan Lor

2. SMPN 2 Undaan Wates

3. MA Nahdlatul Muslimin Undaan Kidul

4. IAIN Walisongo Semarang

Semarang, June 9th, 2011

Siti Sholichatun 04341104

46

Appendices

LIST OF READING TEXTS WHICH ARE ANALYZED

IN THE RESEARCH

Eight Glasses of Water a Day Keep the Doctor Away

Water is very important for any kinds of living things. Humans can live

more than two weeks without food. However, they can only live for eight to ten

days without water. Water goes around the body through blood. It carries oxygen

and food for cells. It cleans the body by bringing the waste in sweat or urine. It

also keeps the balance of minerals in the body. Most parts of human body use

water to work. Someone cannot move well if there is not enough water in his or

her body.

Sixty five percent of human body is water. To keep that amount of water

in the body, someone must drink an average of eight to ten glasses of water each

day. How much water does a person need every day? It depends on the volume of

urine and sweat. An athlete who does a lot of physical exercise certainly needs to

drink more water than a bank manager who spends most of his time in the office.

Besides drinking, many kinds of food are also a good source of water. Fruit and

vegetable, for instance, is eighty to ninety five percent of water.

Snowy Owls, Large Prey Birds

Snowy Owls or Nyctea scandiaca are large prey birds. They are diurnal,

which means they are active during the day instead of night. Snowy owls breed in

remote areas or Artic and Sub-Artic regions, mostly North America.

As their name suggests, snowy owls have dark white feathers with dark

brown markings. Their feathers are thick covering even its legs and feet. They

weigh around 1.6 kg to 2 kg and they stand about half a meter tall with the wing

span of 1.5 meters. They have a round white head, a black curved beak, yellow

large eyes, and strong black claws.

47

Snowy owls eat small mammals, such as rats or rabbits and birds, such as

geese and ducks. It always swallows its prey whole and uses the juice in its

stomach to digest the flesh.

A snowy owl can swivel its head because its eyes don’t move in its

sockets. A snowy owl can also detect its prey in the dark because it has excellent

hearing.

In terms of personality, snowy owls are generally silent and shy. Yet, they

can be very aggressive if human or other animals approach their nest.

Kangaroo (Macropus rufus)

The Kangaroo is a common Marsupial from the islands of Australia and

New Guinea. Marsupials are animals with pouch. They carry their babies in a

pouch in the mother’s abdomen.

Kangaroo have two strong legs with two long feet. They have a muscular

long tail, large ears and a small head. They have short arms with clawed hands.

The soft, woolly fur can be blue, grey, red, black, yellow or brown, depending on

the species. Females have a pouch in which the young live and drink milk.

These herbivores (plant-eaters) eat grass, leaves, and roots. They swallow

their food without chewing it. Kangaroos need little water; they can go for months

without drinking, and they dig their own water wells.

These shy animals live about 6 years in the wild and up to 20 in captivity.

Most kangaroos are nocturnal (active at night). Kangaroos can hop up to 74

kilometers per hour and go over 9 meters in one hop.

(Source: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/mammals/marsupial/)

D U R I A N

Durian is classified as Durio zibethinus. It is native to Southeast Asia.

Durian is known as ‘King of Fruits’. It is not only the most expensive fruit but

also the most controversial fruit. It is the only fruit which is banned from airline

cabins, hotels and some public transports.

The durian tree is large and very tall. It can grow up to 25 - 50 meters and

it has green elliptic leaves. A durian tree usually can bear fruit after four or five

48

years. The durian fruit, which can hang from any branches, matures in about three

months after pollination. The fruit can grow up to 30 centimeters long and 15

centimeters in diameter. The husk is covered with sharp thorns. The color of the

husk ranges from green to brown. The flesh is pale yellow. It is very soft but not

juicy. When it is ripe, it tastes sweet and smells very strong.

Durian contains a lot of sugar, vitamin C, and potassium. Durian is also a

good source of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. Durian is usually eaten fresh.

Sometimes it is also cooked to make ‘dodol’ or jam.

Durian used to be grown from seeds, but now it is propagated by grafting.

(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durian)

C o c o n u t s

Coconut is a common name for the fruit of a tree of the palm family. It is

classified as cocos nucifera. People usually call the tree coconut palm. Coconut

palm trees grow well in tropical countries. They grow especially on sandy soils.

The trees can grow up to 30 m high. They have a single cylindrical trunk.

At the top of the trunk, there is a crown of leaves. The leaves are long, about 3 to

4.5 m long.

The fruit grows in clusters. In one cluster there are about 5-20 coconuts.

The fruit is oval and about 30 cm long. It has a thick husk and a hard shell. Inside

the shell there is white oily fresh. Inside the shell there is also a sweet fluid.

Coconut is high in sugar. It also contains a lot of fat, protein, and vitamin.

The young coconut water can be very refreshing drink which contains a lot of

minerals.

Coconut palms are very useful plants. People can use every single inch of

the tree. They dry the coconut meat into copra. After that, they can get oil from it

and use it for daily cooking or make it into soaps or candles. People also use the

trunks to build houses. For the roof, they dry the leaves. People can also make

rope and doormats from the coconut’s husk.

Coconuts are usually propagated by seeds, but experts have been trying to

clone coconuts or propagate them by tissue culture.

49

The Nile River

The Nile River is the longest river in the world. Its length is around 4, 180

miles. It flows through Uganda, Sudan and Egypt. It has two main tributaries.

They are the Blue Nile and the White Nile. The White Nile starts in the Great

Lakes region of central Africa. The Blue Nile begins at Lake T’ana in Ethiopia.

These two rivers meet near Khartoum the capital city of Sudan.

There is another shorter tributary. It’s the Atbarah River, or also known as

the Black Nile. However, this river flows only while there is rain Ethiopia and

dries very fast. The Nile River ends in Mediterranean Sea.

The Nile River is important for agriculture, food, transportation and

tourism. Farmers grow wheat, sorghum, citrus fruit, sugarcane and cotton along

the Nile River, and they use the river to water their crops and plantation. People

also fish this river. The river is used to transport goods to different places along its

long path. The ships can travel up using the sail, and down using the flow of the

river.

Tourism is another main advantage of the Nile River. Some special places

to visit are Aswan, Luxor, Giza, Cairo and Khartoum. People who like adventure

will find traveling this river exciting.

(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nile)

The Bengawan Solo

The Solo River or the Bengawan Solo River is the longest river in Java

Island. Its length is about 540 km. This river has its source at Mount Lawu, a quite

active volcano in Central Java. It flows passing through the Sewu Mountains, the

Kendang Mountains and into the Solo valley.

There are two main tributaries that from this river. They are the Madiun

and the Brantas Rivers. It ends in Java Sea near the city of Surabaya. The Solo

River is not only important for farmers, but also for paleontologists. Scientists

have made a lot of discoveries on the early human fossil in several places along

this river. This fossil is known as Java Man Skull.

50

In some places people still use the river for transportation. Small boats are

used to carry goods from one place to another.

(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Bengawan_Solo_River)

River and Speed of Flow

The greater the speed of flow, the greater the amount of energy is

produced. Like the volume of flow, the speed of flow is usually affected by a

combination of factors.

These factors include the gradient of the river, texture of the river bed and

banks, depth of the channel and the wetted perimeter. The wetted perimeter is the

part of the river channel that is in contact with the river water.

The boy who cried “wolf”

A shepherd boy was looking after his sheep on a hill. He felt bored being

alone on a hill. Then, he thought of a way to make some fun.

While the villagers were busy working, they heard a boy shouting, “Help!

Help! Help! A wolf is attacking my sheep!”

“That sounds from the shepherd boy. He is in trouble. Let’s go and help

him,” said the villagers and rushed toward the hill. They were very surprised when

they did not see any wolves on the hill. “Where’s the wolf?” they asked.

They boy fell back and started laughing. The villagers realized that the boy

had played a trick. They were angry and went back to work.

The next day, the villagers heard the shepherd boy shouting for help again.

They rushed towards the hill, and again the boy laughed at them. On the third day,

a wolf really came and attacked the sheep.

“Help! Help! A wolf is attacking my sheep!” shouted the boy at the top of

his voice. But nobody bothered him this time. The villagers thought that the boy

was trying to fool them again. The boy watched sadly as the wolf killed all his

sheep.

(Source: The Boy Who Cried Wolf and other stories, Words and Wisdom Sdn.

Bhd)

51

The Fox and the Crow

One bright, sunny morning, an ugly black crow perched on the branch of a

tree. She had just stolen a tasty piece of cheese and was about to enjoy it.

Just then a dark brown fox passed by. He was very hungry. Then he saw

the food in the crow’s beak. His mouth watered, so he thought of a clever plan to

get the cheese.

The fox looked up at the crow, he said, “I have always admired your

beauty, with your soft, shiny feathers and nice beak. If your voice is as fine as

your looks, you could be Queen of the Birds!”

The crow wanted to be the queen. So, to prove that she could sing, she

opened her beak and made a loud “Caw!” Of course, when she opened her beak,

the piece of cheese fell to the ground.

The fox happily snatched up the cheese and laughed. He said,” My dear

crow, your voice is fine but your opinion is not. You shouldn’t believe everything

you hear! Thanks for the cheese!”

(Taken from The Fox and The Crow in The Grasshopper and The Ants and other

Stories, Kohwai and Young, 2003)

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