Research in English and Education (READ), 2(2), 144-152

ResearchinEnglishandEducation(READ),2(2),144-152,June2017

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E-ISSN2528-746X

TheCorrelationBetweenStudents’ReadingSpeedAndTheirReadingComprehension

SyuqairaElHumaira1,EndangKomariah1,NurulInayah1

1SyiahKualaUniversity,BandaAceh

*Correspondingauthor:[email protected]

Abstract

This research is aimed to findout if there is a significant correlationbetweenthereadingspeedof theXIIgradestudentsatSMANegeri3BandaAcehwiththeirreadingcomprehension.ThepopulationforthisstudywereallstudentsofclassXIIatSMAN3BandaAceh.Byusingtherandomsampling,theresearcherchose31studentsofclassXIIMIPA6asthesample.Thedatawascollectedbyusing reading speed and reading comprehension test. After the data wascollected,thecorrelationdataisprocessedusingproductmomentformula.TherXY result achieved to 0.74. The result reveals that the rvalue, 0.74,was higherthan the rtable,0.355.Referring to the tableat significant level0.05, theresultmeans that there is a significant correlation between students’ reading speedandtheirreadingcomprehension.

Keyword:Reading,ReadingSpeed,ReadingComprehension

1. INTRODUCTIONReadingisonepartorcomponentofaformofwrittencommunication.

Through reading, one can absorb the information submitted by othersthrough writing. According to Zintz (1981, p. 3), “Reading is a thinkingprocess.”. It requires some kind of response on the part of the reader.PollatsekandRayner(1989,p.23)assumesthatreadingwastheability toextract visual information from the page and comprehend themeaning ofthetext.Byreadingwearealsorequiredtoskimagroupofwordsandareabletoknowthemeaningofthewordsindividually.

Reading speed is a skill to read andunderstand the letter of the textwithhighlevels.AccordingtoWainwright(2006,asquotedinSetyawardani,2013,p.2),readingspeedisusuallyusedtodescribehowfastareaderreadsa text thathasbeenknownby thenumberofwordsperminute.Everyone

The Correlation Between Students’ Reading Speed and Their Reading Comprehension by Syuqaira El Humaira, Endang Komariah and Nurul Inayah

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also has their own way to find and understand the informationcommunicatedbytheauthorthroughthetextwhichisreadbythereader.

Comprehension is as the main important part of reading process.AccordingtoMiller(1971,p.27),“Comprehensionisbuiltuponbothwordrecognition and association and cannot effectively take place unless thereader first isefficient in these twoaspectsofreading”.Readingcannotbeseparatedfromcomprehensionbecausethepurposeortheresultofreadingactivity is to comprehend what has been read. Reading withoutunderstandingisuseless.

The term of reading speed and comprehension are two inseperableelements.AccordingtoNuttal(1982,asquotedinArab,2009,p.29),readingspeedandreadingcomprehensionaretwoelementsthatarecloselyrelated.This concept in accordance with the research that conducted by Arab(2009). Arab said that therewas amoderate positive correlation betweenreadingspeedandreadingcomprehension.

Understandingatextisawaytoanswerthequestionreferred.Nuttall(1982, asquoted inArab,2009,p.29)explains that,whenwe readslowlyand excessively, the understanding of the textwill be hampered. So, ifwereadslowly,comprehensionwillalsobeslow.Especiallyifwereadslowlytoexcess,therewillberegressionorrepetition,wherereadershavetorepeatwhattheyread.Ofcourseitneedsalotoftimeandtheirmindsdonotfocusanymore.

Readingisoneoftheskillsthatneedtobelearnedbythestudents.TheCurriculum2013notestheinterrelatedrelationshipbetweenreadingspeedand reading comprehension. One of the learning objectives in theCurriculum2013ofSeniorHighSchool for the thirdgrade is thatstudentsare urged to read in a high speed to find the main idea (skimming) andspecificinformation(scanning)ofatext.Thehighschoollevelaredemandedtomaster325wpm.(Tarigan,1985,asquotedinJumaidi,2013,p.62).

Pertaining to the theory and the previous research result, thewriterwas interested to investigate wheter there was any correlation betweenreading speedand reading comprehension inwriter context, theXII gradestudents at SMAN 3 Banda Aceh in academic years 2016/2017. Themainquestionofthisresearchis“Isthereasignificantcorrelationbetweenreadingspeed at the XII grade students in SMAN 3 Banda Aceh and their readingcomprehension?”

This research is held to find out if there is a significant correlationbetweenstudents’readingspeedandtheircomprehension.Inthisresearch,theresearcherdidnotexaminethedeepercausesofwhatwascausingthereading speed and reading comprehensionwas lowor high. This researchjust focuses on the correlation between reading speed and readingcomprehensionofthestudents.ThisresearchisconductedinSMAN3BandaAcehattheXIIgradestudentsinAcademicYear2016/2017.Theresearchergives one text taken from "3000 BNC Speed Readings for ESL Learners(2013)" compiled by Millet, was written at the School of Linguistics andAppliedLanguageStudiesatVictoriaUniversityofWellington,NewZealand.The text contains 400 word passages with ten comprehension questionsabout stated detail questions. The readings are on general topics and are


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writtenwithintheBritishNationalCorpus3000mostfrequentlyusedwordsofEnglish.Thegeneraltopicoftextsofthisbookisaboutfactualreporttextswhichare relevantwith thesyllabus.Thegrammarcontentof textsof thisbookisalsorelevantwiththesyllabususedsimplepresenttenseorsimplepasttenseusesscientificterms.

2. LITERATUREREVIEW2.1 Reading

Reading is a very important activity performed by humans. Withoutreading, we will not know what information is happening. Reading skillsmustbemasteredby students, teachers, andotherpublic circles.With theskills of reading,we can also receive informationquickly.Therefore, therewill be no repetition in reading information thatwill only bewasting ourtime.

AccordingtoKamusBesarBahasaIndonesia(2008,p.72),readingistoseeandtounderstandthecontentsofthewrittenandrecitewhatiswritten.Nurhadi (1987,p.13)alsosaid that, reading isacomplexandcomplicatedprocess. Complex means in the reading process involved various internalfactors(IQ, interest,attitude,aptitude,motivation,purposeofreading,etc.)andexternalfactors(possiblyintheformofameansofreading,readingtext,environmental factors, socioeconomic backgrounds, customs, traditionsreading,etc.)reader.Whilecomplicatedistheinternalfactorsandexternalfactors that is related or unrelated, forming a kind of complicatedcoordinationtosupporttheunderstandingofreading.

AccordingtoThorndike(asquotedinNurhadi,1987,p.13),Readingasthinking and reading as reasoning. Itmeans that the process of reading isactuallynotdifferentwith theprocesswhenaperson thinkandreason. Inthe reading process is involved thinking aspects such as remembering,understanding, discriminate, compare, finding, analyzing, organizing, andultimatelyapplyingwhatiscontainedinthereading.

AccordingtoAnderson(1972,asquotedinTarigan,2008,p.8),readingis a process for understanding implicit in the lines. It means reading is aprocessforunderstandingthemeaningcontainedinthewrittenword.FrankSmith(2004,p.68),readingisthe"acquisitionofinformation"fromthetextor, even more specifically, reading is a problem of receiving a particularmessageorafactincorporatedintothetextbyauthor.Itcanbeunderstoodthat reading is a form of communication in which the text was theinformation conveyed by the writer to the reader. In short, reading is acomplex thought process that involves internal and external factors inunderstandingthecontent iswritten,expressor impliedinordertoobtaininformation.

2.2 ReadingComprehensionAccording Yoakam (1951, as quoted in Ahuja, 2010, p. 50), reading

comprehensionisreadbyunderstandingthereadingmaterialinvolvingtheassociationisrightbetweenthemeaningandsymbolsword,theassessmentcontext of meaning are suspected to exist, the selection of the correctmeaning,organizationofideaswhenthematerialisread,safeideas,anditsuse in a variety of current or future activities. So, the meaning of


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comprehension itself is to understand and interpret the word symbolscorrectly,sothattheideaswillappearandbeusedforvariousactivities.

According to Tampubolon (1990, p. 8) reading comprehension is areading activity to develop the power of reason. Reading in the power ofreasoncoachingisanactivityundertakenreadingpersontounderstandanimpliedmeaningintermsofwriting,becauseitistounderstandthemeaningofapersonmustexercisethepowerofreasoninordertocatchtheimpliedmeaningintermsofwriting.

2.3 ReadingSpeedReading speed is understood as the speed of understanding the

materialsprintedandwritten.Nani(2006,p.78)saidthatspeedreadingismore priority reading speed and reading comprehension should not beignored. If someone wants reading quickly, then it must be adjusted theplacesothattheobjectivesandaspectsofreadingisreached.

According to Wiryodijoyo (1989, p. 123) reading speed is adevelopment through the reading skills at students interested in readinghigh and they get sufficient reading like reading books, magazines andnewspapers.Thetermreadingspeedandunderstandingofthereadingsareinseparable elements. As according to Nuttall (Arab, 2009, p. 29), readingspeedandreadingcomprehensionaretwoelementsthatarecloselyrelated.

Alderson(2000,p.3)totallyagreesonthefact thatcomprehensionisthe final goal of reading. It can be said that after we read, there isinformationthatobtained.Itzkoff(1996,p.38),assumesthatwhenwereadanarticle,ourmindarealsolookingformeaning.DechantandSmith(1961,asquotedinArab,2009,p.46)addedthatthereadingspeedshouldrequirea reading level that is concerned with the comprehension because thereading speed is nothing without the comprehension what is being read.Theyalsoexplainedthatthereadercannotreadinahighspeedthantheycan understand; However, a large number of readers indicate excessiveslowness reading than their understanding. According to Tampubolon(1987, p. 7) that ismeant by the ability to read is the reading speed andunderstandingthecontentsasawhole.So,betweenthereadingspeedandcomprehensionbothareinterrelated.

In conclusion, reading speed and reading comprehension are twoelementsthatarecloselyrelated.Whenwearereading,wecertainlylookforthe information contained in the text, whichmakes understanding grows.When we are reading we also have to read it quickly so that there is anadequateunderstanding,becausethemorewereadslowly,thentheslowertheunderstandinggained.

3. METHODSThis correlational study used ex post facto designwhichwas used to

explainor findhowthevariables in thestudy interconnectedor influental.Thevariablesof thisstudyareXasareadingspeed(independentvariable)andYasareadingcomprehension(dependentvariable).

This study used descriptive quantitative method. The quantitativedescriptivemethodwasusedtoprovideasystematicandfactualdescription


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ofthecorrelationbetweenreadingspeedandreadingcomprehensionattheXIIgradestudentsinSMAN3BandaAceh.

4. FINDINGSANDDISCUSSION

Theresearchdatawascollectedusingtest.Therearetwokindsoftestsused by the researcher, those are reading speed test and readingcomprehensiontestinclassXIIMIPA6,SMAN3BandaAceh.

The number of sample taken as a source of research data were 31students. The values obtained from the two types of test are as follows.Reading speed test is a test to measure how fast the students read thereport text given by the researcher. In this reading speed test, besidesmeasuring the reading speed of students, the researcher also measuredwhetherornotreadingspeed levelofstudentsat the levelofelementary,junior,seniororcollagestudents.Thefollowinggraphshowsthestudents’readingspeedachievement.


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Tabel1.TheStudentsReadingSpeedAchievementNo TheNumberof

StudentsPercentages

(%) Wpm Category Percentages(%)

1. 9 29.03 345 SeniorHighStudents 29.03

2. 10 32.26 300 JuniorHighStudents 45.163. 4 12.90 265

4. 8 25.81 240 ElementaryStudents 25.81

Tabledescribes that9outof31studentsor29.03%canaccomplishthehighestnumberofwordperminutes, that is345wpmwhich isatseniorhighstudents’ category. 14 out of 31 students or 45.16 % read at junior highstudents’category;10outof31studentsor32.26%readwith300wpmandtheother4studentsor12.90%readat265wpm.8out31studentsor25.81%can accomplish 240 wpm which is at elementary students’ category. Tocalculate theaveragereadingspeedof students, theresearchermultiplied thereadingspeedachievementwith thenumberof students.After theresearchergot the multiplying result of reading speed achievement and the number ofstudents, the researcher divided the result with the total of students. Inconclusion,theaveragereadingspeedofstudentswas293wpm.AccordingtoTarigan(1985,asquotedinJumaidi,2013,p.62),StandardizeEffectiveReadingSpeedare:

Table2.StandardizeEffectiveReadingSpeedbyLevelofEducationNo LevelofEducation ReadingSpeed

1. Elementarystudents 200wpm2. Juniorhighstudents 250wpm3. Seniorhighstudents 325wpm4. Collegestudents/postgraduate 400wpm5. Adults 200wpm

Referring to Table 4.2, the average reading speed of students at the XIIgrade students in SMAN 3 Banda Aceh was in the Junior High Students’category. Reading comprehension test is a test to measure how students'comprehendthetextgivenbytheresearcher.Therewere10multiplequestionsasked in the test.Thescore foreachcorrectanswerwas1.Theresultsof thistestaredescribedbythefollowingtable.


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Table3.TheStudentsReadingComprehensionAchievement

Table4.2describesthat15outof31studentsor48.38%oftheclasscananswer9questionscorrectly;10outof31studentsor32.26%oftheclasscananswer8questionscorrectly;and6outof31studentsor19.36%oftheclasscan answer 7 questions correctly. To calculate the average readingcomprehensionof students, the researchermultiplied reading comprehensionachievement with the number of students. After the researcher got themultiplying result of reading comprehension achievement and the number ofstudents, the researcher divided the result with the total of students. Inconclusion,theaveragereadingcomprehensionscoreofstudentswas82.90%,whichisabovetheminimumvalueof70%(Tampubolon,1987,p.7).

In finding the correlation between reading speed and readingcomprehension, the researcher used Product Moment Formula. It was foundthat the value rXY is 0.74.The result reveals that there is a strong correlationbetweenreadingspeedandreadingcomprehension.Itisdescribedinthevalueinterpretationof “r”ProductMoment(rXY),asproposedbyArikunto(1997,p.245).

Tosee thesignificant correlation, the researchercompared the rvalue andrtable.Referringtothetableatsignificantlevel0.05withthenumberofsubjectsare 31, it was found that rvalue is greater than rtable, that is 0.74 > 0.355. Inconclusion, there is a significant correlationbetween reading speedat theXIIgradestudentsinSMAN3BandaAcehandtheirreadingcomprehension.

4.2 DiscussionTheresult reveals that there isa significantcorrelationbetweenreading

speedandreadingcomprehension.Thevaluealsoshowsthestrongcorrelationbetween reading speed and reading comprehension. It is in line with Nuttal(1982, as quoted in Arab, 2009, p. 29) who stated that reading speed andreadingcomprehensionaretwoelementsthatarecloselyrelated.Thestudentsreading speed affects the students comprehension achievement. If we readslowly and excessively, the understanding of the text will be hampered. Thefasterweread,themorewecomprehend.

The resultof this researchbrings some insights to the teaching readingprocess in theclassroom.Theteacherhastoconsiderthat theeachstudent’slevelofreadingmightbedifferent.Therefore,theteachermusttrainstudents'

No. NumberofStudents

CorrectAnswers

IncorrectAnswers Score TheCorrectAnswer

Percentages(%)1 15 9 1 9 48.382 10 8 2 8 32.263 6 7 3 7 19.36


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readingspeed.Theteacheralsoshouldbeabletocreateteachingreadingskillsofstudentscreatively.Theteachersareexpectedtoadjustteachingstrategiestotheirstudentlevelofreadingandapplyappropriatestrategiestoboostthestudents’readingperformances.

5. CONCLUSIONANDSUGGESTIONSHavingconductedthestudy, itwasfoundthatrvalue isgreaterthanrtable,

that is0.74>0.355.Atsignificant level0.05with thenumberofsubjectsare31, the researcher concludes that there is a significant correlation betweenstudents’ reading speed and their reading comprehension. From theconclusion itself, there are some suggestions that are suggested by theresearcherasfollow.Fortheteacher,theresearcherexpectsthattheresultofthis study can help the teacher in teaching reading skill. The teachers areexpected to consider that the each student’s level of reading and theircomprehensionmightbedifferent.Therefore,theteachersmusttrainstudents'reading speed and their reading comprehension. The teachers are alsoexpectedtobeabletocreateteachingreadingskillsofstudentscreatively.Theteachers are expected to adjust teaching strategies to their student level ofreading and apply appropriate strategies to boost the students’ readingperformancesandtheircomprehension.

Forotherresearchers,thisstudyis limitedtoreadingcomprehensionindetailinformation.Theresearchersuggestedthatthefutureresearchcanlookinto other skills of reading, i.e main idea, vocabulary, and inference. Theresearcher also expects for the next researcher to examine the external andinternalfactorsofstudentsifthereadingspeedandreadingcomprehensionofstudentsclassifiedasloworhigh.

REFERENCES

Ahuja,G.C.,&Pramila,A.(2010).MembacaSecaraEfektifdanEfisien.Bandung:PTKiblatBukuUtama.

Alderson, J. C. (2000). Assessing reading. United Kingdom: Cambridge UniversityPress

Arab, O. (2009). Enhancing Reading Speed for Comprehension in EFL Classes.(UnpublishedDoctralDissentatin).MentouriUniversity,Constantine

Arikunto, S. (1997). Prosedur Penelitian Suatu Pendekatan Praktek. Jakarta: PTRinekaCipta.

Asnawati,C.(2007).KorelasiKecepatandanPemahamanMembacaSiswaKelasIISMP Negeri 1 Seunagan Kabupaten Nagan Raya. (Unpublished Bachelor'sThesis).UniversitasSyiahKuala,BandaAceh

Budi, A., dkk. (2005). Pelajaran Bahasa Indonesia dan Sastra Indonesia. Klaten:


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IntanPariwara.Depdiknas. (2008). Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia. Jakarta: Gramedia Pustaka

Utama.Efsyarbani.(2013).KajianKecepatanEfektifMembacaCepat(KEM)SiswaKelasXI

SMA Plus Negeri 7 Bengkulu Tahun Pelajaran 2012/2013. (UnpublishedMaster'sThesis).UniversitasBengkuluProgramPascasarjana(S-2),Bengkulu

HS,M.N.(1997).HimpunanIstilahPsikologi.Jakarta:PedomanIlmuJaya.Jumaidi,Atmazaki,&Thahar,H.E.(2013).PeningkatanKecepatanEfektifMembaca

Tulisan Braille Dengan Teknik Dua Tangan Bagi Tunanetra. (UnpublishedJournal). Bahasa, Sastra Dan Pembelajaran, 1(3), 60–70. Retrieved fromhttp://ejournal.unp.ac.id/index.php/bsp/article/view/5016/3968

Miller,W.H.(1971).IdentifyingandCorrectingReadingDifficultiesinChildren.NewYork:TheCenterforAppliedResearchinEducation.

Millett,S. (2013).3000BNCSpeedReadings forESLLearners.Wellington:VictoriaUniversityofWellington.

Nani, D. (2006). Bahasa Indonesia untuk Sekolah Menengah Kejuruan Kelas X.Bandung:GrafindoMediaPratama.

Nurhadi.(1987).MembacaCepatdanEfektif.Bandung:SinarBaru.Pollatsek, A., & Rayner, K. (1989). The Psychology of Reading. Hillsdale, NJ:

LawrenceErlbaum.Purwanto,N.(1998).PsikologiPendidikan.Bandung:RemajaRosdakarya.Smith,F.(2004).UnderstandingReadingSixthEdition.London:LawrenceErlbaum

Associates,Publishers.Soedarso. (2002). Speed Reading Sistem Membaca Cepat dan Efektif. Jakarta: PT

GramediaPustakaUtama.Soedarso. (2004). Speed Reading: Sistem Membaca Cepat dan Efektif. Jakarta: PT

GramediaPustakaUtama.Tampubolon,D.(1987).KemampuanMembacaTeknikMembacaEfektifdanEfisien.

Bandung:PenerbitAngkasaBandung.Tampubolon,D.(1990).KemampuanMembacaTeknikMembacaEfektifdanEfisien

Ed.2.Bandung:PenerbitAngkasaBandung.Tarigan,H.G. (2008).Membaca sebagai SuatuKeterampilanBerbahasa.Bandung:

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Depdikbut.

APPENDICES

APPENDIX1:ReadingSpeedTestUsingFactualReportText

APPENDIX2:ReadingComprehensionTestUsing10MultipleChoiceStatedDetailedQuestions

APPENDIX3:ProgressGraphforReadingSpeedandReadingComprehension

APPENDIX4:TheTableatSignificantLevel

APPENDIX5:TheCorrelationBetweenReadingSpeedandReadingComprehension

Thecolumnsarereferredtoasfollows:1. Columnserialnumberofthesubject2. ColumnXforthevalueofstudents’readingspeed3. ColumnYforthevalueofstudents'readingcomprehension4. ColumnX2forthevalueofstudents’readingspeedsquared5. ColumnY2forthevalueofstudents’readingcomprehensionsquared6. ColumnXYforthemultiplicationvalueofXandYTo analyze the value is to look for a correlation between reading speed andreading comprehension by using product moment correlation formula. Thedataisasshownbythefollowingtable.

No.StudentNumber

X Y X2 Y2 XY

1 16065 345 90 119025 8100 310502 16114 345 90 119025 8100 310503 16164 345 90 119025 8100 310504 16198 345 90 119025 8100 310505 16227 345 90 119025 8100 310506 16233 345 90 119025 8100 310507 16313 345 90 119025 8100 310508 16661 345 90 119025 8100 310509 16673 345 90 119025 8100 3105010 16104 300 90 90000 8100 2700011 16106 300 90 90000 8100 2700012 16230 300 90 90000 8100 2700013 16305 300 90 90000 8100 2700014 16309 300 90 90000 8100 2700015 16178 300 80 90000 6400 2400016 16179 300 80 90000 6400 2400017 16201 300 80 90000 6400 2400018 16208 300 80 90000 6400 2400019 16316 300 80 90000 6400 2400020 16109 265 80 70225 6400 2120021 16347 265 80 70225 6400 2120022 16107 265 70 70225 4900 1855023 16182 265 70 70225 4900 1855024 16192 240 90 57600 8100 2160025 16050 240 80 57600 6400 1920026 16073 240 80 57600 6400 1920027 16094 240 80 57600 6400 19200

28 16062 240 70 57600 4900 1680029 16091 240 70 57600 4900 1680030 16191 240 70 57600 4900 1680031 16218 240 70 57600 4900 16800

Total 9085 2570 2712925 214900 760350

Basedontheresultsoftableaboveisobtained:

N=31𝑋=9085𝑌=2570𝑋#=2712925𝑌#=214900𝑋𝑌=760350

NextwillbecalculatedthecoefficientbetweenthevariablesXandY,asfollows:

r%& = N( XY) − ( X)( Y)

N( X#) − ( X)# N( Y#) − ( Y)#

r%& = 31 760350 − (9085)(2570)

31 2712925 − 9085 # 31 214900 − (2570)#

r%& = 23570850 − 23348450

84100675 − 82537225 6661900 − 6604900

r%& = 222400

(1563450)(57000)

r%& = 222400

89116650000

r%& = 222400

298524,11962854

r%& = 0,74

Documents

Research in English and Education (READ), 2(2), 144-152