USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS TO
IMPROVE READINGCOMPREHENSION OF GRADE EIGHT STUDENTS
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
In the
English teaching and
learning process, there
are four skills
which are identified as
paramount importance; listening,
speaking, reading and
writing (Brown, 2001). Regarding to its importance of
English, the government of Indonesia puts English as a compulsory
subject for junior high school and senior high
school. In junior
high school, the
students who graduate
from school are expected to communicate in English both
in oral and written form.
The ability
to communicate in
written English is
closely related to the
reading skill, as
one of the
four skills of
English teaching and
learning process. The ability to
read opens up new knowledge and opportunities. It enables students to gain
information, to get
some pleasure, and
do many things
that are part
of modern life, such
as, reading newspapers,
magazines, maps and so
on.
That is why reading
plays important roles
in teaching and learning
process of English. Moreover, the
importance of reading
is also stated in
the School-based Curriculum of
Junior High School (Depdiknas,
2006). The target
of the English teaching and learning is to enable
students to gain the functional literacy which is the ability
to communicate both
in simple oral
and written English
to deal with the
daily life contexts,
such as reading
and understanding news
papers or
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