The Teaching of Reading Comprehension of Recount Text as Reflected in Classroom Interaction

This study was aimed at describing the ways of the teachers in teaching reading comprehension of recount text taught in grade eighth and finding out the reason why the teachers did that ways in teaching. This study employed a qualitative research design that taken from two English teachers, the first was from SMP Swasta Muhammadiyah 05 Medan, and the second was from SMPN 37 Medan. The data were collected by using passive participant observation with the tape and video records as a tool to record the interaction and interview to find the reason why the teachers did that way in teaching reading comprehension of recount text. The data were analyzed by using three major phases of analysis: data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing (Miles, Huberman, and Saldana: 2014). This study revealed that the teachers used the three reading stages as it was applied into scientific approach in teaching reading comprehension of recount text: (a) pre-reading: asking students’ background knowledge about the topic, asking to open the books and explaining the content about the genre of recount text; (b) while-reading: asking the student to read the text on the text book, recalling students’ knowledge about recount text, managing the classroom to do a group task in answering the questions based on the recount text, and; (c) post-reading: guiding the students to answer the questions and clarifying the answer together. It also found that in the classroom interaction the teachers took their role very good in order to lead the classroom activity while teaching. The reason underlying why the teachers did those ways because teachers believed that by giving the students the genre knowledge of recount text can help the student to understand and recognize the recount text; the student will not be engaged by reading text activity if they just asked to read the text; the information about genre knowledge of recount text can help the students in reading comprehension of recount text, and the competence of the students in mastering the reading recount text can be seen from answering the questions related to the text by doing reading comprehension.