LEXICALDENSITY OF ENGLISH READING TEXTS FOR SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

This study deals with the lexical density especially the lexical itemsofEnglish reading texts in the textbook for senior high school.The objectives of thestudy are to find out the lexical density especially the lexical items which formedin the reading texts of Look Ahead textbook and the type of genre which has thehighest lexical density of the reading texts. This study was conducted bydescriptive method with qualitative approach. The data of this research were theEnglish reading texts of Look Ahead textbook for senior high school grade twelvepublished by Erlangga.The result of the analysis showed that: (1) The lexicalitems that formed in Narrative texts are noun and verb, Explanation texts are nounand verb, Discussion texts are noun and verb, and Review texts are noun,adjective, and verb. This means that Narrative, Explanation, and Discussion textsare formed by two lexical items, they are noun and verb while Review texts areformed by 3 lexical items, they are noun, adjective, and verb. (2) The lexicaldensity of Explanation texts are 58,42% an 52,05%,Review texts are 55,73% and53,51%,Narrative texts are 48,96% and 43,97%, and Discussion texts are 47,79%and 42,57%.The highest lexical density of the reading texts is the Explanation textwith percentage 58,42%. This meant that Explanation textis the most difficult textto be comprehended in the textbook.It is suggested that furthertextbook writers toconcern with the lexical density of the reading textsso that the textbook can beused and understood by the teacher and the students