THE CORRELATION AMONG SELF-CONCEPT, READING ATTITUDE AND READING COMPREHENSION ACHIEVEMENT THE SIXTH SEMESTER OF ENGLISH STUDY

PROGRAM STUDENTS OF PGRI UNIVERSITY PALEMBANG

1. INTRODUCTION A. Backgr !"# Today world confronts us with tremendous amount of information through advanced technologies such as the internet, the World Wide Web, and other networks trends which require the ability o grasp the idea and use those sources of information for the needs of life. In this case, reading plays an important role in which the students can involves into such kind of situation in which they can read for information, read to learn, and use reading for a great many things. It is assumed that in order to become successful readers, students must acquire a complex set of cognitive and academic behaviors. They must employ various comprehension strategies, integrate and organize information for later recall, and persist in the face of any learning difficulties, beside, the tendency of believing in themselves is also needed. There is a tendency of students with negative self belief to have poor reading performance! and therefore to experience difficulties in their academic areas. In fact, many of the successes and failures that people experience in many areas of life are closely related to the ways they have learned to view themselves and their relationships with others.

"n important goal of education is the enhancement of students# sel concept, as self concepts have been shown to impact on academic behaviour, educational aspiration and subsequent academic achievement $%arsh & 'raven ())*+. ,arious theoretical models have explored the interplay between general or global self cocept and specific facts of self concept such as academic, social, physical and emotional self concept $-yrne, ()).+. /ow students perceive themselves as readers and the relationship between these perceptions and reading achievement is a relatively recent area of research $'hapman & Tunmer, ())0+. "cademic success at the tertiary level is likely a multidimensional phenomenon that includes the language proficiency, learning and study and certain personal characteristics $1toynoff, ())*+. It is important that students have some appropriate skills that many bring them to the stage of being independent. To become independent, 2reene $())3+ cited in 4iem $()))+ suggests that students need to have several skills, such as first rate thinking, planning, problem solving, time management, and especially reading. "s reading is a part of academic literacy, lecturers in local universities usually have high expectations of a student#s ability to cope with the demands of reading in 5nglish since reading skills are important throughout their life span, particularly as we respond to new demands and changes in 6obs. /owever, the fact still shows the tendency that the students# reading achievement including those at the university, moreover the higher level of reading skills, was still low. This is supported by %ctighe $())(+ and 4iem

$())7+ who found that most of the new university students have difficulties in understanding the reading materials which are relatively more complicated. /wever, 8aur and Thiyagara6ah $()))+ found that 79,: ; students were still motivated to read for en6oyment and this truly reflects their "sian characteristics of being goal oriented and wishing to succeed at the university. <umerous studies have examined the influence of affective factors on students# reading achievement such as motivation $-aker & Wigfield ())), Wigfielf & 2uthrie, ())*+, attitudes $%c8enna, 8ear & 5llsworth, ())0+, expectancies, attributions and learned helplessness $-utkowsky & Willows, ():=+, and self efficacy $shell et al., ())0+. Typically, positive attitudes and high self perception towards reading are linked to higher attainment in reading. In contrast, negatives attitude and low self perception towards reading are linked to lower attainment in reading. In relation to the description above, an important issue appears in which how the students find themselves motivated to read and how they reflect themselves towards reading. This issue is known as self direction or more popular with the term of self concept. 1elf concept has been recognized as both an important educational outcome and an important factor that contributes to other desired outcomes $%arsh & >eung, ())*+. In addition, %clnerney et al. $()))+ found that there is a hierarchical relations og higher order 5nglish self concept that represent self concept in listening, speaking, reading and writing ability.

The link between reading comprehension achievement and self concept is important since reader#s self concept clearly influences their subsequent reading behaviour, habit and attitude $/enk & melnick, ())0 citied in ?ider & 'olmar, 9==7+. 1tudents who experience difficulty in reading especially in 5nglish and feeling bad about themselves as readers are less likely to want to read, and are more likely to avoid reading related activities. 'hapman & Tunmer $())*+ suggest @once students have entered the @swampA of negative expectations, lowered motivation, and limited practice, it becomes increasingly difficult for them to get back on the road to proficient reading.A Bn the other hand, %arsh $9==9+ cited in ?ider & 'olmar $9==7+ note that self concept and academic achievement are reciprocally related and mutually reinforcing. We may say that self concept in one way or another gives a positive contribution to someone to achieve better in any cases including reading achievement $'otton, 9==(! 4iem, ()):! and Cack, ()):+. In other words, self concept has function as a trigger to success in life especially in a global era where people with strong self concept and people who are able to represent their knowledge and capability can survive. -ased on the consideration above, it can be conclude that whether or not the students# self concept positively related with their reading achievement is a fundamental problem to examine. The previous study done by 4iem in ()): about the relationships among teachers self concept, multicultural education, and effectiveness in teaching reading proved that there were positive correlation among teacher self effectivenessD teacher as person, teacher as

classroom manager, teacher learner relationship and self concept in teaching reading. This study involved teachers of kindergarten through grade six from schools in "merica and 1outh 1umatera. In addition, 5rlina $9==3+ also conducted the research in self concept has significant correlation to the student critical thinking. 1ince university students are expected to be able to face the tight competitiveness of the global era with their power of personality and knowledge, the writer is interested in finding out the correlation between the two variables among the second, fourth, sixth, and eighth year students of 5nglish 1tudy Crogram of Crivate Eniversity in Calembang. B. Pr $%&' ( )*& +)!#, The problems of this study are formulated in the following questionsD $(+ 4oes students# self concept correlate with their reading achievementF $9+ 4o the sub scales of students# self concept correlate with their reading achievementF $3+ 4oes students# self concept give contribution to the value of their reading achievement significantlyF $7+ 4o some sub scales of students# self concept and the intervening variables $gender and semester+ give the contribution to the value of their reading achievement significantlyF C. O$-&c)./&+ ( )*& S)!#, The ob6ectives of this study are $(+ to find out whether students# self concept significantly correlates with their reading achievement, $9+ to find out whether the subscales of student#s self concept correlate with their reading achievement, $3+ to find out whether students# self concept significantly give the contribution to the value of the students# reading achievement, $7+ to find

out whether the sub scales of students# self concept, gender and semester significantly give the contribution to the value of the studnts# reading achievement as measured by 1elf 4escription Guestionnaire $14G III+ and ?eading 'omprehension Test. D. S.g".(.ca"c& ( )*& S)!#, 'onsidering the global era in which people are forced to be able to compete and survive in technological world, it is time for schools especially the higher education to prepare the students to have better self concept and its application towards the demands of modern and global life. Therefore, it is important to consider self concept in the teaching and learning process including in Hearning 5nglish as a foreign language and in the school policy. The results of this study show that students self concept is still low. Therefore, this study can be used as the information and baseline for the teachers in those institutions to improve self concept in order to increase their students# reading achievement and enhance the learner#s learning to improve their learning outcomes. In addition, the teachers need to encourage the students to develop their self concept and their academic performance. Iinally, this study can be used for further research for those who are interested in self concept area. 0. LITERATURE REVIE1 A. T*& I'2 r)a"c& ( S)!#&")+3 S&%(-c "c&2) 1elf concept is now en6oying renewed popularity and attention by both researchers and practitioners since now people live in more and more complicated world that needs certain characteristics of personality in facing

the life. There is growing awareness that all the perceptions we experience in the course of living, none has more profound significance than the perceptions we hold regarding our own personal existence, our concept of who we ae and how we fit into world. 1elf concept may be defined as the totality of a complex, organized, and dynamic system of learned beliefs, attitudes and opinion that each person holds to be true about his or her personal existence $Curkey, ()):+. 1elf concept is a powerful factor in developing the temperament of all students. It is the emotional sum of the positive and negative feelings that we attach to our life experience $4e%oulin, ()):+. In a sense, it is a personal composite of ourselves. Iurthermore, 4e%oulin $()):+ states that self concept has two elements, self efficacy and self esteem. The first, self efficacy, is our sensitivity toward a task and our motivation, confidence, and ability to control the stress associated with that task. 1elf esteem, the other element, is our perception of self and the weight we place on how people who are important to us perceive us. In line with that, %arsh and 'raven $())*+ described that self concept might be divided into two components. They are the descriptive element, concerned with one#s belief about oneself and often referred to as self image! and evaluative element, self esteem that might take the belief from the ob6ective to sub6ective. In addition, -urns $():9+ and /attie $())9+ cited in Cack $()):+ state that self concept is generally asserted to be a product of all beliefs and evaluations

one has about oneself and includes one#s behavioural tendencies. Therefore, we can conclude that knowing one#s own self concept means knowing his or her own thinking and feeling so that they will be aware of what they think and feel. 1tudents with healthy or positive self concept have accepted themselves. They are more capable of accepting others and also perceive themselves to be accepted by others. They feel independent, secure, valued, and loved because they feel that they are interest and value to others. 1tudents with healthy self concept are confident, have an intrinsic desire to learn, and more able to tolerate tension. -ecause of this, they are able to achieve in school, grow into productive members of society, and accept responsibility more readily. Bn the other hand, students with unhealthy or negative self concepts are uncertain about themselves and feel re6ected, unwanted and unloved. -ecause of this, they fell out of touch with the reality and that a world is not a fun place to live. This leaves these students feeling insecure and dependent to others. Iearing failure and Incompetence, they often have difficulty accepting responsibility. They demonstrate signs of apathy and anxiousness, often being prone to academic failure. %any studies have examined how students view reading and themselves as readres. 5ccles et al. $())3+ found first semester students reported higher estimates of their reading competence than fourth, suggesting that increasing realism with age, in con6uction with an optimistic bias among students, may explain thei results. 'hapman and Tunmer $())0+ studied **( students over 0

year levels and found that, students# perceptions of competence and difficulty became more consistent with their actual levels of achievement. 'hapman et al $9===+ examined the relationship between academic self concept and measures of reading related performance in beginning school students and found that differences in reading between competent and less competent readers appeared within the first two months of schooling. It is found that, poorer readers had significantly lower self concepts. 'hapman et al concluded that self perceptions in specific sub6ects such as reading may develop before more generalizes academic self concepts. %ckenna et al $())0+ surveyed attitudes towards reading for recreational and academic purposes, finding that attitudes towards recreational and academic reading became more negative over the six grades. The academic performance of boys in schools, particularly in the area of literacy, is of growing concern to researchers and educators. 1tudies have typically found that boys have more negative attitudes to reading and possess more negative self concepts than girls $%c8enna et al., ())0+. " greater understanding of this problem is essential to planning appropriate strategies to counteract this trend. 2irls are consistently reported as possessing more positive attitudes to reading than boys $-aker & Wigfield, ()))! %ckenna et al., ())0+, including better self concepts in reading and in schooling in general $%arsh, 9==9 cited in ?ider & 'olmar, 9==7+. " study by 5ccles et al,. $())3+ also found that girls, held more positive competence beliefs and positive values for reading activities than boys. It is consistently found that reading

performance and self concept are positively correlated $'hapman & Tunmer, ())0! 'hapman & Tunmer, ())*! 'hapman et al., 9===+. 1tudents with higher self concepts generally perform better at reading than those with negative self concepts. %arsh and collegues, in research using the 14G instruments, have also consistently found positive correlations between reading achievement and reading self concept $%arsh et al., ():0+. B. R&a#."g A)).)!#& Iollowing are some concepts defined by some experts r researchers about reading attitude. ?eading attitude is a complex theoretical construct. It is defined in various ways, for example, Ja system of feelings related to reading which causes the learner to approach or avoid a reading situationJ $"lexander and Iiller, ()*.D (+ or Ja state of mind, accompanied by feelings and emotions that make reading more or less probableJ $1mith, ())=D 9(0+. "ccording to an extensive and in depth review of literature by ?eeves $9==9+, there is considerable agreement among contemporary researchers that reading attitude is defined by three componentsD cognitive $personal, evaluative beliefs+, affective $feelings and emotions+, and conative $action readiness and behavioral intentions+. This tri component view is most explicitly stated by %athewson $())7+, and these components can also be identified in other ma6or models dealing with reading attitude, such as those of %c8enna $())7+ and ?uddell and Enrau $())7+. "ttempts to understand studentsK reactions to reading by using this tri component model have now been reported $e.g., %izokawa and /ansen 8rening, 9===+.

C. T*& I'2 r)a"c& ( M&a+!r."g R&a#."g A)).)!#& "ttitude as the description of how people feel is an important factor to build, in this case positive attitude, whether it is to people, things or ideas. When looking at attitudes, they are usually referred to as positive or negative, since these terms do not necessarily imply value 6udgements about the attitude itself, as goodLbad or appropriateLinappropriate might $8ubiszyn & -orich, ()).+. "ttitudes are measured for various reasons. These reasons can help most classroom teachersD (. identify early in the school year those students who are turned on or off to school, certain sub6ects, or certain teachers! 9. assess general changes that may take place in attitudes over time! and 3. determine the effects on student attitudes of specific aspects of the school or classroom experience. Bnce this information is collected, teachers can @implement new strategies to best utilize and challenge the turned on students and to better motivate the turned off studentsA $8ubiszyn & -orich, ()).+. Teachers would prefer students with positive attitudes to maintain those attitudes and possibly become more positive. Bn the other hand, they#d like to see students with negative attitudes develop more positive attitudes, or at least not maintain those negative attitudes or become more negative $8ubiszyn & -orich, ()).+. It can be deducted that measuring reading attitude has some essential benefits in order to recognize the role of the implication of the attitude itself in

reading, enable another researcher to do longitudinal research, to know some factors affecting students# attitude in reading. C. T*& R&%a). "+*.2 $&)4&&" R&a#."g A)).)!#& a"# S)!#&")+3 R&a#."g C '2r&*&"+. " The affective side of learners is probably one of the very biggest influences on language learning success or failure $Bxford, ())=D(7=+ she also adds that the term affective refers to emotion, attitudes, motivation, and values. That statement get stronger and stronger when Wixon and Hipson cited in 8ear $())=+ state that one of factors affecting reading performance is students# attitude himLherself toward reading. Then, on the other hand, ?ichek, Hitst & Herner $():)+ reveal that reading attitude strongly determines the base of successful instruction. D. S&%(-c "c&2) The term self concept is a general term used to refer to how someone thinks about or perceives themselves. The self concept is how we think about and evaluate ourselves. To be aware of oneself is to have a concept of oneself. -aumeister $()))+ provides the following self concept definitionD Jthe individualKs belief about himself or herself, including the personKs attributes and who and what the self isJ. Iurthermore, self concept, strictly defined, is the totality of our beliefs, preferences, opinions and attitudes organized in a systematic manner, towards our personal existence. 1imply put, it is how we think of ourselves and how we should think, behave and act out our various life roles.

-aumeister $()))+ states the self concept theory holds many assumptions about our personal 6udgment towards our selves. /ere are some of themD

1. S&%(-c "c&2) .+ %&ar"&#. Bne of the very basic assumptions of this theory is that no person is born with a self concept. 1elf concept is believed to develop as a person grows old. This means that our perceptions towards our selves can be shaped and can be altered, and can also be affected by environmental factors. In this sense, self concept is actually a product of socialization and development. " person may have a perception of himself different from what other people thinks of him. Ior example, an individual feels that he is generous while others see him as a selfish person. 0. S&%(-C "c&2) .+ rga".5&#. " person may have numerous views of himself. /e may think that he is kind, patient, loving and caring, or selfish, cruel, rude and stubborn. <o matter how many different perceptions you have on yourself, still, there is one perception that facilitates all of these insights, causing one organized self concept. When a person believes something that is congruent to his self concept, it is more likely that he would resist changing that belief. /e tends to stick to his present view of himself for quite a long time, and changing this perception of his self may take too long, but change is feasible. 6. La+)%,, +&%(-c "c&2) .+ #,"a'.c.

"s a person faces different situations and new challenges in his life, his insight towards himself may constantly change depending on the way he responds to such life changes. We see things depending on our self concept. We behave according to how we see ourselves in a situation. Therefore, self concept is a continuous development wherein we tend to let go of the things and ideas that are not congruent to our self concept, and we hold on to those that we think are helpful in building a more favorable perception of our personal existence. E. T*& I'2 r)a"c& ( S)!#&")+3 S&%(-c "c&2) 1elf concept is the image that we have of ourselves. This image is formed in a number of ways, but is particularly influenced by our interactions with important people in our lives. "ccording to a theory known as social identity theory, self concept is composed of two key partsD personal identity and social identity. Bur personal identity includes such things as personality traits and other characteristics that make each person unique. 1ocial identity includes the groups we belong to including our community, religion, college, and other groups. "ccording to a theory known as social identity theory, self concept is composed of two key partsD personal identity and social identity. Bur personal identity includes such things as personality traits and other characteristics that make each person unique. 1ocial identity includes the groups we belong to including our community, religion, college, and other groups. %oreover, -racken $())9+ suggested that there are six specific domains related to self conceptD (. 1ocial the ability to interact with others

9. 'ompetence ability to meet basic needs 3. "ffect awareness of emotional states 7. Chysical appearance 0. "cademic success or failure in school .. Iamily how well one functions within the family unit Therefore, students with positive self concept have accepted themselves. They are more capable of accepting others and also perceive themselves to be accepted by others. Bn the other hand, students with negative self concept are uncertain about them and feel re6ected, unwanted and uninvolved. -ecause of this, they feel out of touch with the reality that a world is not a fun place to live. This leaves these students feeling insecure and dependent to others. Iearing failure and incomplete they often have difficulty accepting responsibility. They demonstrate signs of apathy and anxiousness, often being prone to academic failure. F. R&a#."g C '2r&*&"+. " ?eading is one of necessary language skills that any learners need. %ost learners think that reading is an extremely task that requires integrated body of skills since it concerns not only assigning the 5nglish sounds to written words but also the understanding what is written. 8lingner, et.al $9==*D:+ mentions that reading comprehension is a multicomponent, highly complex process that involves many interactions between readers and what they bring to the text $previous knowledge, strategy use+ as well as variables related to the text itself $interest in text, understanding of text types+. feelings about looks, health, physical condition, and overall

It is a means of language acquisition, of communication, and of sharing information and ideas. ?eading is a complex interaction between the text and the reader which is shaped by the reader#s prior knowledge, experiences, attitude, and language community which is culturally and socially situated. Iurthermore, %ifflin $())*D(+ states that reading is the process of constructing meaning through the dynamic interaction amongD $(+ the readerKs existing knowledge! $9+ the information suggested by the text being read! and $3+ the context of the reading situation. Irom the above explanation, it can be said that during reading process, an interaction is found between the reader and the text since reading process facilitates readers# prior knowledge and to what the texts that have been read. Then, >alle $9=((D(+ states that reading comprehension is the act of understanding what is being read. It is an intentional, active, interactive process that occurs before, during and after a person reads a particular piece of writing. ?eaders use many different text comprehension strategies to develop reading comprehension. These include monitoring for understanding, answering and generating questions, summarizing and being aware of and using a text#s structure to aid comprehension. There are two elements that make up the process of reading comprehensionD vocabulary knowledge and text comprehension. Hearning?x $9=(9D9+ states that reading comprehension is what allows the reader to interact with the text in a meaningful way. It is the bridge from passive reading to active reading from letters and words to characters and contexts.

?eading comprehension also unlocks the door to a lifetime of reading recreation and en6oyment. 'atherine $9==9D((+ states that comprehension entails three elementsD $(+ the reader who is doing the comprehending, $9+ the text that is to be comprehended, and $3+ the activity in which comprehension is a part. In considering the reader, she includes all the capacities, abilities, knowledge, and experience that a person brings to the act of reading. The text is broadly contracted to include any printed text or electronic text. While the activity includes the purposes and consequences associated with the act of reading. %c<amara $9==*D.+ mentions that a reading comprehension strategy is a cognitive or behavioral action that is enacted under particular contextual conditions, with the goal of improving some aspect of comprehension. 1tudents who are good comprehension use strategies in reading to learn new concepts, get deeply involved in what they are reading, critically evaluate what they read, and apply the new knowledge to solve practical as well as intellectual problems. It is related to what Cressley $()))D(+ cited in westwood $9==(D(=+ says that good comprehenders are effective users of comprehension strategies when they work with text. " strategy can be defined as a mental plan of action designed to achieve a specific purpose. ?eading comprehension is a direct by product of reading fluency. Without fluency, readers spend their time and effort decoding words, rather than understanding them. Iurthermore, Hearning?x $9=(9D(+ states that reading comprehension is the result of effective reading. 5ffective reading is grounded in

strong cognitive skills such as attention, auditory analysis, sound blending, sound segmenting, memory, processing speed, and visualization. Then, -ryan $9==)D(+ states that building comprehension through the teaching of comprehension strategies and environments will support an understanding of text. Teaching reading comprehension is an active process of constructing meaning, not skill application. The act of constructing meaning isD $(+ Interactive M It involves not 6ust the reader, but the text and the context in which reading takes place, $9+ 1trategic M ?eaders have purposes for their reading and use a variety of strategies as they construct meaning, $3+ "daptable M ?eaders change the strategies they use as they read different kinds of text or as they read for different purposes, $7+ 1trategic M ?eaders have purposes for their reading and use a variety of strategies as they construct meaning, and $0+ "daptable M ?eaders change the strategies they use as they read different kinds of text or as they read for different purposes. Irom the explanation, it can be viewed that understanding comprehension needs available strategies to absorb what the author says in the texts, so reading comprehension strategies as tactics are required to determine what they read. The strategies enable the students to interact with fiction or non fiction, in order to understand and answer questions about what they have read. Ior many years, teaching reading comprehension was based on a concept of reading as the application of a set of isolated skills such as identifying words, finding main ideas, identifying cause and effect relationships, comparing and contrasting, and sequencing.

%oreover, -ryan $9==)D(+, states that reading comprehension can be implemented into six strategies. The first strategy is making connections. ?eaders make personal connections with the text by using their schema. There are three main types of connections we can make during readingD $a+ Text to 1elfD ?efers to connections made between the text and the readerKs personal experience. $b+ Text to TextD ?efers to connections made between a text being read to a text that was previously read. "nd $c+ Text to WorldD ?efers to connections made between a text being read and something that occurs in the world. The second is visualizing. This strategy involves the ability of readers to make mental images of a text as a way to understand processes or events they encounter during reading. This ability can be an indication that a reader understands the text. ?eaders who visualize as they read are better able to recall what they have read than those who do not visualize. The next is questioning. This strategy involves readers asking themselves questions throughout the reading of text. The ability of readers to ask themselves relevant questions as they read is especially valuable in helping them to integrate information, identify main ideas, and summarize information. "sking the right questions allows good readers to focus on the most important information in a text. The fourth strategy is inferring. "uthors do not always provide complete descriptions of, or explicit information about a topic, setting, character, or event. /owever, they often provide clues that readers can use to @read between the

linesANby making inferences that combine information in the text with their schema. "nd the fifth strategy is evaluating. 4etermining importance has to do with knowing why reading is and then making decisions about what information or ideas are most critical to understanding the overall meaning of the piece. The last strategy is synthesizing. It refers to the process of ordering, recalling, retelling, and recreating into a coherent whole the information with which our minds are bombarded everyday. 1ynthesizing is closely linked to evaluating. -asically, as we identify what#s important, we interweave our thoughts to form a comprehensive perspective to make the whole greater than 6ust the sum of the parts. G. R&a#."g C '2r&*&"+. " L&/&%+ -erry $9==0D9+ mentions that there are three levels of understanding reading comprehension. They areD Iirst, the most basic, or @lowestA, level of reading comprehension is the literal level. "t this level, stated that the facts M names, dates, locations, definitions M clearly and directly. There is no hidden meaning! the reader can take what is presented at face levels. %ost people read at this level because it#s easy and doesn#t require any heavy thinking. /owever, the level of reading that teacher use should be dependent upon the kind of material sheLhe is reading. There are times when the literal level of reading is the most appropriate one to literal level. Bn tests, literal questions usually come word for word from the text. %ost college students are good at answering literal questions because those were the kinds of questions they were asked in high school.

The second level of reading comprehension is the interpretive level. In this level disguised to some extent what heLshe is saying. In order to discern his message, reader must be able to read between the lines. To read at an interpretive level teacher must first understand the material $the facts+ at the literal level and then draw conclusion from those facts. This requires some independent thinking on the part of the reader. %any students have not been taught to think independently and are not comfortable doing it. " good way to find out if reader read well at the interpretive level is to examine your feelings about reading poetry. If students dislike poetry and have a difficult time understanding it, they probably were never taught to read at the interpretive level. If they en6oy poems and usually understand them, students have probably developed the skill of reading at the interpretive level. Bn tests, interpretive questions usually present a piece of knowledge and then ask reader to draw a conclusion or make an inference from it. 1tudents cannot pull the correct answer word to word from the text. The third level of reading comprehension is the applicative level. /ere the reader must take the information from the literal level and apply it to an entirely different situation. This calls for a higher level of comprehension and requires the greatest amount of insight. "n applicative question on a test usually sets up a hypothetical situation and then asks what readers do in that situation based on their newly found knowledge. 5ngineering, psychology, biology, and economics courses use applicative questions on their tests. I. T*& I'2 r)a"c& ( R&a#."g

?eading is a basic tool of learning, preparing students for life outside of school especially when they live in a global era in which information comes to them in many ways. ?eading is more important today than it ever was M it is crucial to being an informed citizen, to succeed in one#s chosen career, and to personal fulfillment. "ccording to 1herwood $9==.+ states that reading is critical if you want to succeed in a professional career. That#s has been true for a long time, but now, in today#s information technology world, it#s difficult to even get by if you aren#t a pretty good reader. ?eading is a perceptual process. It utilizes perceptual clues, size, shape, combinations of letters and sounds, figure ground relationships. ?eading is also a linguistic process. It requires mastery of phoneme grapheme relationships, understanding of intonation stress, pauses, and tone sequences $1hen, 9==7+. %oreover, 1hoebottom $9==3+ states that educational researchers have found that there is a strong correlation between reading and academic success. In other words, a student who is a good reader is more likely to do well in school and pass exams than a student who is a weak reader. H,2 )*&+&+ -ased on background of the study, the hypotheses of this study are formulated in the following statementsD /(D there is significant correlation among the students# self concept, reading attitude, and reading achievement, and there is significant correlation among the factors of students# self concept and the factors of students#

reading achievement as measured by either 14GIII or ?eading 'omprehension Test /9D There is contribution of the independent variable of student self concept toward the dependent variable of student reading achievement, and there is contribution of each factor of students# self concept toward the dependent variable of students# reading achievement as measured by either 14GIII or ?eading 'omprehension Test. 6. M&)* # % g, ( R&+&arc* In this study, quantitative and qualitative methods are used in order to assess the independent variables $students# self concept and students# reading attitude+ and dependent variable $students# reading achievement+. Therefore, 1urvey ?esearch %ethod will be implemented. 2arson $9==.+ states 1urvey research method is widely used in the social sciences, education, business and medicine. It is a method of obtaining information about a population from representative sample. It studies large and small population $or universes+ by selecting and studying samples chosen from the populations to discover the relative incidence, distribution and interrelation of sociological and psychological variables. 6.1 P 2!%a). " a"# Sa'2%& A. P 2!%a). " The population of this study is the students of 5nglish 1tudy Crogram semester ,I in the academic year 9=(3L9=(7 from C2?I Eniversity. The total number of the students in the population is 97:.

B. Sa'2%& In order to get the sample of the study, the writer will use simple random sampling. 1ince the total number of population 97: students, the writer will take only (0; out of the population as the real sample. <asution states that the research may take (=; populations randomly as the sample of research. C. T&c*".7!& ( r C %%&c)."g Da)a In order to obtain the information on the students# self concept, reading attitude, and reading achievement, the writer will utilize questionnaires $1elf 4escription and 1tudents# ?eading "ttitude Guestionnaire+ and administer reading comprehension test. D. T&c*".7!&+ ( r A"a%,5."g )*& Da)a To verify the hypotheses, two statistical analyses will be applied, namely correlation and multiple regression analysis. T*& C rr&%a). " A"a%,+.+ Cearson Croduct %oment 'oefficient $CC%'+ will be used to find out the correlation between the independent variables $1elf concept and ?eading "ttitudes+ and the dependent variable $students# reading achievement+. Weiten, et. al. $())(+ state that a correlation coefficient is a numerical index of degree of relationship that exists between two variables. It tells us $(+ how strongly related two variables are $9+ the direction $positive or negative+ of the relationship. While the positive and negative signs indicate whether an association is direct or diverse, the size of the coefficient indicated the strength of the association between two

variables. The significance of the correlation coefficient $pO =.=0+ is determined by using the t test. M!%).2%& R&gr&++. " A"a%,+.+ The general purpose of multiple regression analysis is to learn more about the relationship between several independents or predictor variables and a dependent variable or criterion variable $1tatsoft, 9==3+. It is a seductive technique as many predictor variables as we can think of and usually at least a few of them will come out significant. This is because one is capitalizing on chance when simply including as many variables as one can think of as predictors of some other variable of interest.