The influence of formal and content schemata on reading comprehension of the second year students of English department at UNISMA

Widiastutik, Eni Susanti. 2010. The influence of formal and content schemata on reading comprehension of the second year students of English department at UNISMA. Skripsi, English Education Department Faculty of Teacher Training and Education. Islamic University of Malang. Advisor I:  Drs. Alfan Zuhairi, M.Pd., Advisor II: Athok Yusuf Kurniawan, S.Pd

Key words: Formal schemata, Content schemata, Reading comprehension

            Reading comprehension means reading and understanding, process interaction between the reader and the text itself to construct meaning and enhance their understanding where various kinds of knowledge are being used: linguistic knowledge, rhetorical structure (formal schemata) and the familiarity of the topic (content schemata). The basic principle behind schemata theory is that a text does not carry meaning. More information is contributed by the reader than by the text it self because the reader bring information, knowledge and emotion that is schemata.      This study attempts to explore the influence of formal schemata and content schemata on reading comprehension. The researcher formulated the hypothesis as follow: Formal and content schemata correlate significantly with reading comprehension on the second year student of english department at UNISMA. This study was conducted at the second year students of english department at UNISMA as the population and two classes turned out be selected as the sample with total number of 45 students.

            In order to answer the research problem, the researcher used the correlation design and the types of this correlation research is multiple correlation and F-testing hypothesis. There are three variables incestigated in this study, namely: formal schemata and content schemata as indepentdent variables, and reading comprehension as depentdent variable. Three kinds of instrument administered to the students were content schemata test, text mapping as formal schemata test, and reading comprehension test.

            The result of computation showed that the coefficient of multiple correlation among formal schemata, content schemata and reading comprehension (R) is 0, 707 and the computing of the value of F (22, 72) is higher than critical value of F (3, 22) at 0, 05 level of significant. While the contribution of formal schemata and content schemata to reading comprehension is 50%. It means that the alternative hypothesis is accepted. Therefore, it can be conluded that there is high significant correlation.

            The result of this study showed that the student who have high score in formal and content schemata also have high score in reading comprehension. Based upon the finding, the suggestion is offered to the english teachers. The suggestion primarily dealt with the provision of suitable reading material that is needed to optimize students’ schemata. The teachers should considere the ability of the students in selecting the reading material.Moreover, it also dealt with the teachers’ ability to activate the students’ background knowledge through  classroom activities and teaching tecniques.