Exposure Journal 184

INTERACTIVE STRATEGY TRAINER FOR ACTIVE READING AND

THINKING (ISTART) FOR THE STUDENTS’ READING
COMPREHENSION

Hasnawati Latief, Khaerunnisa, Radiah Hamid

English Education Department, Universitas Muhammadiyah Makassar
Kaimuddin,
English Language Department, Universitas Negeri Makassar
[email protected]

ABSTRACT
This research aims to find the improvement of the students’ reading in literal
comprehension especially main idea and supporting idea in reading
comprehension use of ISTART Strategy at Class VIII.5 of SMPN 2 Sungguminasa
in the 2012/2013 Academic Year. The researcher used a Classroom Action
Research (C.A.R). It was consisted of two cycles. In each cycle consisted of four
meetings. The research subject was the students in class VIII.5; it consisted of 35
students with 18 men and 17 women. The researcher obtained the data by using
reading test and observation sheet. The research findings indicates that using
ISTART Strategy could improve the students’ reading comprehension, from table
1 indicated that there was improvement the students’ Main Idea from cycle I to
cycle II, where as in cycle I the students’ achievement main idea in reading was
6.65, but after evaluation in cycle II the students’ main idea in reading became
7.36. The other hand the students’ supporting idea in reading was improved cycle
I to cycle II, where as in cycle I the students’ supporting idea in reading was 6.78
but after evaluation in cycle II the students’ supporting idea in reading became
7.38. It means that the use ISTART Strategy could improve the students’ reading
comprehension at VIII.5 Class of the second year students of SMPN 2
Sungguminasa.

Keywords: Reading Comprehension, Interactive Strategy, Active Reading,

Thinking Strategy

INTRODUCTION
In learning English, there are four skills we must comprehend. They are
listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The four skills mentioned are divided
into receptive and productive skills. Speaking and writing are productive skills,
while listening and reading are receptive skills. Beside the four language skills
above, reading is of great importance to student show mother tongue is not
English, because they almost do not have opportunity to hear or to speak that

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language (Richard, 1998:35). Reading is also one ways to get information and it
can improve people knowledge. By reading, people are able to know many things
happen around them even they do not have to see it directly and through reading
people can speak and write. Reading can make people become wide minded.
Comprehending English is a difficult thing for students if they are does not
have basic knowledge, especially in comprehending reading text. According to
(Nuttal, 1988:89) reading is a flexible for the students, because they can get
information from the text they have read. Reading also is an active
process identifying important ideas comparing.
Goodman (1973:6), states that reading is a psycholinguistic process by
which the reader, a language user reconstructs, as best he can a message which
has been encoded by a writer as a graphic display. In teaching reading, teacher
should introduce other materials as an alternative to give various situations to
student in classroom process. These materials can be a media; it can be create a
comfortable atmosphere interest and to stimulate the students’ motivation during
the classroom process. In the other hand, most high motivation is needed to learn
reading.
Related to the statements above, the researcher did observation that was
done at Class VIII.5 of SMPN 2 Sungguminasa the researcher faces many
problems in teaching learning English. The researcher found that the skill of
students in reading is still low in literal comprehension, especially main idea and
supporting idea. Where the researcher had done on observation for three days.
The first day the researcher introduce an narrative text to the students, the second
day the researcher asking question to the students about narrative text itself, and
the last day the researcher did diagnostic test. The diagnostic text was asking the
students to read the topic about narrative test. The result of diagnostic test proved
that the students still low in reading comprehension. Most of the student’s score it
is about 4.12 but the standard curriculum 6.8.In this study, the researcher wants
to solve this reading problem until the students have a good score between 70.
Based on the explanation and observation result above, the researcher
conducted a research entitle “Improving Students’ Reading Comprehension

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through Interactive Strategy Trainer for Active Reading and Thinking (ISTART)
Strategy at Class VIII.5 of SMPN 2 Sungguminasa.

CONCEPT OF READING COMPREHENSION

According Mikulecky and Jeffirs (1986:1), reading helps the students learn
to think in the new language, builds a better vocabulary, and makes them more
comfortable with writing English. As ability in reading increase, individual learn
to adapt their reading strategies in matching with the purpose for reading and the
limiting material. The reading activity reader must understand or comprehends
what the reader read. This process calls cognitive process. Furthermore, Reiking
and Scheiner as quoted by Kustaryo (1988:2) suggest that reading is an active
cognitive process on interacting with print and monitoring comprehension to
establish meaning. Reading is the process of putting the teachers in the contact
communicating with ideas, reading could be defined as meaningful interpretation
of writing symbols.
Comprehension always directed and controlled by the needs and purpose
of the readers. Therefore, the readers cannot read with good comprehension if the
subject of the text is one who does not know and has not real interest in it
Hornsby (1995:25) State that reading comprehension is a term to identify those
skills needed to understand and apply that information contained within written
materials. Reading comprehension is a complex process the reader constructs
meaning by interacting with text using his or her knowledge and experience the
information that can be found in the text.
According Kustaryo in Miftayana I, (2010:11) Reading Comprehension is
an active thinking process, which not only depends on comprehension is understa
nding what has been read. But also the students’ experience and prior knowledge
comprehension involves understanding vocabulary. Seeing the relationship among
words and concepts meaning judgment and evaluating.
Simanjuntak, et. al (1988:3) State reading is a process of putting the reader
in contact and communication with ideas’’. Kustaryo (1988:2) States that reading
is stagnations recognition of various written symbols with exiting knowledge and

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comprehension of the information and ideas commutated while good

comprehension is the act of understanding the meaning of printed or spoken
language. Through the definitions we may understand that comprehension
involves both oral and written language while reading is finding information from
printed word only.
Sangkala, I., & ul Haq, M. (2014) Innovating new technique in teaching
reading is vital to address the nowadays students’ need and problems in reading.
Conventional technique such as lecturing has been inadequate to make the
students understand and read well. More techniques are needed by the teachers to
vary their teaching technique or using multimedia.
Reading Comprehension is the purpose of understanding and constructing
meaning from a piece of text. Connected text is any written materials involving
multiple words. That forms coherent thoughts, phrases, sentences, paragraphs and
so on are examples of connected text can be read with comprehension.

Levels of Comprehension
Burns in Rauf (2012: 20) devises that reading comprehension skills is
divide into four categories in the following bellow:
1) Literal Comprehension
Literal reading is the skills or getting the primary, direct literal
meaning of a word, ideas, and a sentence in context. It is a little thinking of
reasoning for it merely skill of finding what the author says some specific
reading skills at the literal level of comprehension are: understanding of main
idea and supporting idea.
a) Main Ideas
The main idea of a passage or reading is the central though or
message. In contrast to the term topic, this refers to the subject under
discussion; the term main idea refers to the point or though being
expressed. Once you can find the topic, you are ready to find the main
idea. The main idea is the point of the paragraph it is the most important
thought about the topic. The author can locate the main idea in different

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place within the paragraph. The main idea is usually the first sentence of
paragraph. The author gives supporting information first and then makes
the point in the last sentence.
b) Supporting Idea
Supporting idea is statement are support your topic or theme. You
support your main idea by explaining it, describing it, defining it, or
otherwise giving information about it. You will usually need to actually
look up or search this information! When you are writing an essay or
report, each paragraph after the introduction should discuss one supporting
idea. Depending on how many paragraph you want to include, you can
have any number of supporting idea. This detail are than repeated or
rephrased in your including paragraph, to restate the fact that they support
your main idea. Give more information about the topic and or details or
information that backs up a sentence.
2) Interpretative Reading
The next type of comprehension is interpretative reading. Interpretative
Reading is based on a literal understanding in the text; students must use
information from various part of the text and combine them for additional
understanding. The students have to put together two piece of information
that is from different part of the text.
Interpretative reading involves thinking skills in which readers identify
ideas and meaning that are not stated explicitly in the written text, so
interpretative reading is higher that literal reading, in which readers may make
generalization, determine cause and effect, identify motives and may make
comparisons. In cause effect is an action reaction combination the cause is that
thing which makes something else happens. The effect is what it is that
happens as a result of the cause so there is always a relationship between
cause and effect
3) Critical Reading
Critical Reading is the ability to evaluate the credibility of piece of
writing. All writers have a purpose when they write, and usually a writer will

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choose or emphasize facts and details which support his or her purpose, ignore
facts which do not support his writing. As a good reader, we need to be aware
of that. Critical evaluation occurs only after our students have understood the
ideas and information that the writer has presented, the students can be tested
on the following skills:
a) The ability to differentiate between facts and opinion
b) The ability to recognize persuasive statements
c) The ability to judge the accuracy of the information given in the text.

The Concept of ISTART Strategy

Interactive Strategy Trainer for Active Reading and Thinking (ISTART)
Strategy is a picture sequence based tutoring system designed to improve student’
reading comprehension by teaching self –explanation (McNamara, et al, 2004:7).
Unfortunately, many students have difficulty understanding what they read,
particularly in challenging textbooks such as those used in science course (Snow,
2002:2).
Some of these difficulties stem from students’ lack of knowledge about
and failure to use metacognitive comprehension strategies while reading their
course material (Cottrell & McNamara, 2002:9). Interactive Strategy Trainer for
Active Reading and thinking (ISTART) Strategy, which is an interactive reading
strategy trainer that utilizes picture sequence to provide reading strategy
instruction.
All of the students then self-explained a text about heart disease and
answered text-based and bridging-inference questions.
From a reading perspective, there are two general classes of reading
deficits:
1) Decoding problems, such that the individual is not able to convert
the written word to its phonological or semantic referent.
2) Comprehension problems, such that the reader is unable to integrate
the words and sentences into a coherent understanding of the text.

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This study focuses on the latter problem students who can read the words,
but who do not fully comprehend what they read. The purpose of this study is to
examine the effectiveness of an automated reading strategy intervention called
Interactive Strategy Trainer for Active Reading and Thinking (ISTART) Strategy;
(McNamara, et al, and 2004:12) in helping adolescent readers learn reading
strategies, and improve their comprehension of science text.

The Step of Implementation

According to (McNamara, et al: 2004:78) there are five steps considered
important in the implementation of ISTART Strategy:
1) the trainee is provided with instruction concerning self-explanation and
reading strategies
2) The researcher show that picture sequence reading to the student in the form
of reading text
3) The researcher give the students chance to read the text given in pairs and
monitoring students error in reading
4) The researcher provided instruction concerning self-explanation and reading
strategy.
5) Called practice and the students make inferences about the material.
The goal is to help the trainee acquire the skills necessary to integrate prior
text and prior knowledge with the sentence content.

ISTART Strategy in Reading Text

Thus, in ISTART Strategy, the students are taught reading strategies to

improve their ability to self-explain. In turn, the process of self-explanation helps
the students learn how to use the reading more effectively.
According to (e.g., Kintsch, 1998:8). The ISTART Strategy coaches
student in five reading strategies:
1) Comprehension monitoring, enables the reader to recognize a failure of
understanding and it is this recognition that triggers the use of additional
active reading.

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2) Paraphrasing essentially helps students remember the surface structure

of the text by transforming it into more familiar ideas.
3) Making bridging inferences improves comprehension by linking the
current sentence to the material previously covered in the text.
4) Prediction, Students may also use prediction to anticipate the content
of subsequent text, either by guessing what is coming next or by reminding
themselves to watch out for some particular item that will aid
comprehension.
5) Elaboration, readers may associate the current sentence with their own
related prior knowledge using a strategy Comprehension monitoring.
Elaboration essentially ensures that the information in the text is linked to
information that reader already knows.

Post Training ISTART Strategy in Reading Text

After the training phase, the participants ISTART Strategy (without being
provided feedback), which is described the various causes and forms of common
heart diseases. The passage is an excerpt from the low-cohesion version of the
heart-disease text used in McNamara, et al. (1999:2).
Students’ comprehension of the text is assessed with nine open-ended
comprehension questions. Five of the questions are bridging inference questions,
and four questions are text-based. Bridging inference questions require the reader
to bridge information across two or more sentences to form a correct answer.
In contrast, the text-based questions can be correctly answered using
information from a single sentence. An example of a bridging-inference
question is “Describe how a coronary thrombosis affects the heart”; while an
example of a text-based question is “What causes rheumatic fever?” The answer
to the former bridging inference question required four sentences to answer.
The underlying assumption of ISTART Strategy are that instruction to use
more effective reading strategy will improve readers’ ability to read the text and in
turn, that externalization of the reading strategy with the ISTART Strategy.

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The method that used a classroom action research (C.A.R). It conducted
through two cycles to observe the students’ ability to read English through
Interactive Strategy Trainer for Active Reading and Thinking (ISTAR). It consists
of planning, action, observation and reflection. The classroom action research is
carry out by researcher and English teacher as collaborator. The following are the
variables of the research:
Remembering that variable is one of the very important elements of
research, the research used two kinds include of variable. Those variables can be
divided into two variables. Those are dependent variable and independent variable
that is the variable that influence the other variable.
1. Independent Variable
Independent variable of the research is the use of ISTART Strategy in
teaching reading comprehension.
2. Dependent Variable
Dependent variable is increasing the students’ reading in literal
comprehension. The Indicators are:
1. Main idea in narrative text
2. Supporting idea in narrative text.
The subject of this research is the students at class VIII.5of SMPN 2
Sungguminasa in 2012/2013 Academic Year. The Instrument used, there are:
1. Observation
Observation that used to watch out the situation of teaching and learning
process which covers the method applies by a teacher in the class.

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Table 1. Scoring Rubric of Students’ Activeness

No The students’ Active Score Indicator
Participation
1 Very Active 4 Students’ respond to the material very
active
2 Active 3 Students’ respond to the material actively

3 Fairly active 2 Students’ respond to the material just

once or twice.
4 Not active 1 Students just sit down during the activity
without doing something.

2. Reading Test
Reading test aims to test the students’ basic competence in
comprehending a reading text.

Table 2. Scoring Rubric of Reading Comprehension

No. Criteria Score

1. The meaning and structure are correct 4

2. The meaning is correct and some errors of 3

structure
3. Some errors of meaning and structure 2

4. The meaning and structure are incorrect 1

5. No answer 0

Depdikbud (2005:27)

3. The Students’ Reading in Literal Comprehension:

Table 3. Scoring Rubric of Main Idea
No. Criteria Score

1. The answer includes a clear generalization that states or 4

implies the main idea
2. The answer states or implies the main idea from the 3
story
3. Indicator inaccurate or incomplete understanding of 2
main idea
4. The answer include minimal or no understanding of 1
main idea
5. No answer 0

Harmer in Rauf. (2012: 32)

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In collecting the data, the researcher that used two instruments i.e.
observation sheet, and reading test. The type of data collection consist of
quantitative data in which the instrument used test and qualitative data in which
the instrument used observation and questions.
The way to take data as follows:
1. Observation sheet; the observer was observed the students’ activeness and
presence in the teaching and learning process by using observation sheet.
2. The Researcher was given reading test to the students in order to read the text
to their improvement after taking actions in cycles.

DISSUSION
The results of the findings indicate that teaching reading comprehension
through ISTART Strategy can improve the students’ achievement in literal
comprehension. Further interpretations of the data analysis are given below:

The Students’ Improving in Literal Reading Comprehension

The improvement of the students’ literal reading comprehension, which
focused on main ideas and supporting idea as indicators at Class VIII.5 of SMPN
2 Sungguminasa as result of the students’ assessment of cycle I and cycle II, is
described as follows:
Table 4. The Students’ Improvement Main idea and supporting Idea
Indicators Score Improvement(%)

D-T Cycle I Cycle II DT – DT-

No.
CI CII

1. Main Ideas 4.28 6.65 7.36 23.7% 30.8%

2. Supporting 4.42 6.78 7.38 23.6% 29.6%

Idea
∑X 8.7 13.43 14.74 47.3% 60.4%

X 4.35 6.71 7.37 23.65 30.2%

%

Based on the table above, it indicates that there was an improvement of the
students reading in literal comprehension which consists of main idea and
supporting idea in each test. The mean score of the students in diagnostic test was

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4.35, but after applied ISTART Strategy in the first cycle as a strategy to improve
the students reading in literal comprehension, the mean score of the students
increased to 6.71 or 23.65% higher than the last test. There was also significant
improvement of the mean score at the first cycle test to the second cycle test. It
was 6.71 to 7.37 or 6.6% higher than the last test. It means that, there was 30.2%
improvement from diagnostic test to cycle II.
As clearer data of the students’ reading in literal comprehension, the
researcher also presented the data by using chart; the data could be seen in this
following chart,

40 30.2
30 23.65
20
10 4.35 6.71 7.37
0

Chart 1. The Chart of Indicators of Literal Reading

in Cycle I and Cycle II

The chart above indicates that the score of D-test (4.35%) is fewer than
score of cycle I (6.71%). It means that the students’ gain improvement, even
though it is still classified as fair. This also means that the target in cycle I has not
achieved yet. So, the researcher has decided to organize cycle II with several re-
correcting activities and the result of cycle II (7.37%) which is greater than D-Test
and cycle I. It is classified as good. This means that there is improvement of the
students’ literal comprehension (30.2%) and the target can be achieved. Finally,
the ISTART Strategy is effective for students.

The Percentage of the Students’ Literal Comprehension in Reading

Comprehension

The following table showed the percentage of student’s literal reading

comprehension especially main idea in D-Test without the application of ISTAR
Strategy, cycle I and cycle II with application of ISTART Strategy.

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Table 5. The Criteria and Percentage of the Students’ Reading in Literal

Comprehension
Classification Score Non ISTART The Application of
Strategy ISTART Strategy
D-Test Cycle I Cycle II
F P (%) F P (%) F P (%)
Excellent 9.6 -10 0 0 0 0 0 0
Very good 8.6 -9.5 0 0 0 0 0 0
Good 7.6 -8.5 0 0 0 0 11 31.43%
Fairly good 6.6 -7.5 0 0 25 71.43% 24 68.57%
fairly 5.6 -6.5 0 0 8 22.86% 0 0
poor 3.6 -5.5 31 88.57% 2 5.71% 0 0
Very poor 0 -3.5 4 11.43% 0 0 0 0
Total 35 100% 35 100% 35 100%

The table above showed that the percentage of the students’ reading in
literal comprehension in Diagnostic test indicated that 4 students (11.43%) got
very poor, 31 students (88.57%) got poor and none for the other classification.
After taking action in cycle I, there were 2 students (5.71%) got poor, 8
students (22.86%) got fairly, and 25students (71.43%) got fairly good and none
for the other classification. Continued to the next cycle, it was cycle II there
was24 students (68.57%) got fairly good, and 11 students (31.43%) got good and
none for the other classification.
The researcher also prepared the data in chart to know the percentage of
the students’ reading in literal comprehension clearly, the data presented in
this following chart:

very poor poor fairly fairly good good very good

100.00%

80.00% 71.43% 68.57%

88.57%
60.00%

40.00% 31.43%
22.86%
20.00% 11.43%
5.71%
0.00%
D-Test Cycle I Cycle II

Chart 2. Students’ Reading Comprehension Improvement

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The chart above showed that the percentage of the students’ reading
comprehension in cycle II was highest than Diagnostic test and cycle I where the
students’ reading comprehension percentage in cycle II was 31.43% categorized
as good, and 68.57% categorized as fairly good. While the percentage of the
students reading comprehension in cycle I was 71.43% categorized as fairly good,
22.86% categorized as fairly and 5.71% categorized as poor. But, the lowest
percentage was showed in diagnostic test where 11.43% categorized as very poor,
88.57% categorized as poor.
After evaluated all of the result of the students reading in literal
comprehension in diagnostic test, cycle I and cycle II. It was clearly that the
students reading in literal comprehension were improved by using this strategy. In
this section, the researcher also presented the data of the students reading
comprehension improvement commonly from the first cycle to the second cycle.
It was aimed to see the differences of the result in each cycle, weather the students
reading in literal comprehension improved or not by using ISTART Strategy the
data could be seen in this following table:
Table 6. The Student’ Reading Comprehension

No. Variable Cycle I Cycle II Improvement

Score Score
1. Literal 6.71 7.37 6.6%
X 6.71 7.37

Based on the table above, it indicates that the mean score of the students
reading comprehension in the first cycle to the second cycle was improved. In the
first cycle, the score 6.71 and the next cycle the mean score was 7.37. It means
that the standard minimal achievement in the school is reached. Where the
standard minimal achievement is 6.8 and the students’ achievement in the last
cycle was 7.37.
For the clearer data of the standard reading comprehension improvement,
the researcher presented the data into a chart; the data could be seen in this
following chart,

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Cycle I Cycle II Improvement

9

7
7.37
5 6.71 6.6%

3
1
Reading Comprehension

Chart 3. The students reading comprehension achievements during the cycles

The chart above clearly shows that there was an improvement of the
students reading comprehension from the first cycle to the second cycle. In the
first cycle, the mean score of the students reading was 6.71. After evaluated the
weakness in the first cycle, finally in the second cycle the students could reached
7.37. It is 6.6% higher than the first cycle.
The Result of Observation for Students Activeness
During the researcher for eight meetings, the researcher had made an
observation sheet about the students’ activeness during the learning process at the
class. The data of the students’ activeness could be seen in this following table,

Table 7. The Students’ Activeness

No Cycle Meetings (%)

1st 2nd 3rd 4th
1 Cycle 1 44.28% 51.42% 56.42% 64.28%
2 Cycle 2 68.57% 72.85% 75.71% 80.71%

The result above is formulated based on the technique of the data analysis.
Based on the table above, it indicates that the students’ activeness was improved
in each meeting. In the first cycle, the percentage of the students’ activeness was
low. It happened because, there were students still felt embarrass to perform their
ability. But after the researcher motivated them and guided them, several students
became more confidence to show their ability. It could be seen from the increased
percentage in the second cycle. The percentage of the students’ activeness is very
contrast, where the highest percentage in the first cycle only until 64% but in the
second cycle, the highest percentage was 80.71%. In shows that the activeness of
the students’ are improved as much as the students’ reading comprehension.

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To see the clearer differences between each meeting, the researcher had
prepared the chart of the students’ activeness. The data could be seen in this
following chart.

Cycle 1 Cycle 2

100.00% 80.71%
72.85% 75.71%
80.00% 68.57% 64.28%
51.42% 56.42%
60.00% 44.28%
40.00%
20.00%
0.00%
1 2 3 4

Chart 4. The Students’ Activeness

The table above is seen like a ladder, where the percentage of the students’
activeness improved gradually. The short tubes are showed in the first cycle, it
means that the students’ activeness in this cycle was still low because the
percentage of the students’ participation during this cycle under 56%. It is
indicated, there was only a half of students active in the class followed the
learning process.
After the researcher sees the result in the first cycle, the researcher
evaluated the weakness and tried to make the better preparation in the next cycle,
not only from the strategies in teaching at the class but also the way to motivate
the students. After doing the evaluation, finally the percentage of the students’
activeness increased.
The research finding indicated that the students’ reading comprehension
through ISTART Strategy showed the improvement of the students’ reading
comprehension, from the improvement showed the process from the cycle I to
cycle II. The process covered about their literal comprehension from fair to fair
good.
The researcher has change the activity more interesting in cycle II so that
students could show the improvement, in the first cycle the researcher gave less
motivation and explanation about ISTART Strategy to students, but in cycle II the
students really enjoyed the ISTART Strategy because the researcher gave more

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motivation and explanation intensively. At the beginning, the students were hard
to understand the text reading and lazy, their literal comprehension, the researcher
also gave explanation clearly what to do for easy understanding in reading
comprehension. As the result the students became active and familiar with the
condition in learning process.
1. The first meeting in cycle I, the researcher checked students name and
explained what ISTART Strategy and then the researcher gave the picture
material every students to make self-explanation about the topic. After the
students self-explanation the researcher gave the text about the topic of
the picture and the title of the material is Maling Kundang. Then
researcher asks the students to read the material. After the students read
the text the researcher asks to answer the question base on the text.
2. The second meeting in cycle I, the researcher checked their name. After
that, the researcher gave the picture material every student to make self-
explanation about the topic. After the students self-explanation the
researcher gave the text about the topic of the picture and the title of the
material is the ugly duckling. The researcher explanation about narrative
text and types of narrative text, the researcher asked students’ what kinds
of the text? And also researcher asked students whether they knew about
the lion and the mouse or had they ever heard the story about it. This way
could stimulate the students’ knowledge into reading text. Next researcher
asked students to read the text about the material by the researcher, after
that the students will get guides about the material and researcher asked
students to read the material and to found out the main idea and
supporting idea base on the text. After that the researcher asked students
answer the question.
3. The third meeting in cycle I, the researcher checked their name. After that
the researcher explanation about generic structure of narrative text and
how to found main idea and supporting idea in at text. And then the
researcher gave students the title about Smart Monkey and Dull
Crocodile. The process of this meeting is same with the first and the

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second meeting, but the researcher found that the students’ were difficult
to found the main idea and supporting idea of the text
4. The fourth meeting in cycle I, the researcher checked their name in this
meeting the researcher gave story in the title Smartest Parrot. This story
is funny so students’ more interesting and the students looked enjoying in
learning process.
The result after applying action of ISTART Strategy showed the students’
score was improving. This score was taken from students reading test and
calculating through ISTART Strategy in mean score and data analysis after that
the researcher used the score of test to find out the students improvement but the
mean score still low was 6.71 so the researcher decide to continue I n cycle II.
5. The fifth meeting in cycle II. In this meeting the researcher still used
ISTART and gave the students in the title The Legend of Tangkuban
Perahu. Each student read the text and work individually, the researcher
gave addition frame work to the students that must be write the main idea
and supporting idea. The students enjoyed to learning process, because
they got interesting story.
6. The sixth meeting in cycle II, the researcher gave the students title about
The Lion and the Mouse. Same the fifth meeting, the students answer the
question to found the main idea and supporting idea in the text.
7. The seventh meeting in cycle II, the researcher gave the students title
about The Cap Seller and the Monkeys. The process of this meeting is still
same. The students looked enjoy to read the text and easily to understand
the text and the students more good to do their exercise.
8. The eight meeting in cycle II, this meeting is become the last meeting in
cycle II and the process of teaching and learning process same as the
seventh meeting the title of story in this meeting is the Prince and his Best
Friend. In this meeting the students were very active, enthusiast and enjoy
in learning process. They could answer the question about main idea and
supporting idea in narrative text.

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The result of cycle II in using ISTART Strategy showed that the students’
improve. The score was taken from students’ reading test and calculating by using
in main score in data analysis. And then the researcher used the mean score of
cycle I and cycle II to find out the student’s improvement percentage this students
improvement in using ISTART Strategy improve significantly from cycle I to
cycle II, the mean score improve from6.71to 7.37
As a result based on the finding above shown that after calculating the
students score it showed the students mean score in cycle I and cycle II. It means
that the use ISTART Strategy can improve the student reading comprehension.
In this part, discussed deals with the literal of findings derived from the
result of findings about the observation result of the students reading
comprehension in term of literal comprehension dealing with main idea and
supporting idea.
The research had done in two cycle and cycles consisted for meeting. The
research found in the cycle I, that although all of students knows how to read but
most of them difficult to understand what they have read.
Based on the unsuccessful teaching revised the lesson plan. Where when
the researcher explained about the step of ISTART Strategy should explain more
clearly, if needed gave chance to the students to ask about the material. Besides
that, the researcher had to give better guidance for the student in reading text.

CONCLUSION
Based on the research findings and discussion in the previous chapter, the
researcher comes to the following conclusions.
1. The use of ISTART Strategy can improve the students reading comprehension
especially in literal comprehension (main idea and supporting idea) at Class
VIII.5 of SMPN 2 Sungguminasa. The findings indicate that the mean score of
test for cycle II is higher than the mean score of test for cycle I. in the cycle I,
the score was 6.71 and the next cycle the mean score was 7.37. It means that
the standard minimal achievement is 6.8 and the students’ achievement in the

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last cycle was 7.37. It is higher that the cycle I. There was 6.6% improvement
from cycle I to cycle II.
2. The use ISTAR Strategy can improve the students’ reading activeness at Class
VIII.5 of SMPN 2 Sungguminasa.

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