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THE IMPLEMENTATION OF LEARNING CELL TECHNIQUE
TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION
KARTINI
Sekolah Tinggi Keguruan dan Ilmu Pendidikan Muhammdyah Manokwari
e-mail: Puangkara@gmail.com
ABSTRAK
Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui Penerapan teknik learning cell
untuk meningkatkan kemampuan pemahaman membaca siswa dan untuk
mengetahui tanggapan siswa dalam menggunakan Teknik learning cell. Desain
penelitian ini adalah penelitian tindakan kelas pada siswa kelas kelas VIIA SMPN
2 Tangerang. Peserta penelitian ini adalah 34 siswa. Mereka terdiri dari 17 siswa
laki-laki dan 17 siswa perempuan kelas tujuh di SMPN 2 Tangerang.Teknik
pengumpulan data dalam penelitian ini adalah tes tertulis, observasi, wawancara
dan questionaire. Wawancara dilakukan pada dua puluh siswa dari tiga puluh
empat siswa pada siswa kelas VIIA SMPN 2 Tangerang. Data kolektif dan
analisis menggunakan data kualitatif yang didukung oleh data kuantitatif.
Penelitian ini dilakukan dari bulan Oktober sampai November 2017. Temuan
dalam penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa penerapan teknik learning cell efektif
dan dapat meningkatkan kemampuan pemahaman membaca siswa. Hal ini
dapat dilihat dari temuan skor siswa dari siklus satu sampai siklus tiga. Data
menunjukkan nilai siswa meningkat. Siswa yang lulus standar skor (KKM) pada
siklus satu adalah 56.7%, siklus dua adalah 67.7% dan pada siklus ketiga adalah
96.8%.
Kata kunci: Pemahaman Membaca, Learning Cell Teknik
ABSTRACT
The objectives of the research were to know the implementation of
learning cell technique to improve students’ reading comprehension and to find
out the students’ perception of using learning cell technique. This research
design was classroom action research at the seventh grade students of SMPN 2
Tangerang. The participants of this research were 34 students. They were
consisting of 17 male students and 17 female students of seventh grade students
at SMPN 2 Tangerang. The data collection techniques in this research were
written tests, observation, questionnaire and interview. The interview was done
for 20 students of thirty four students at the seventh grade students of SMPN 2
Tangerang. The data collective and analysis used qualitative data which was
supported by quantitative data. This research was done from October to
November 2017. The finding of the research showed that implementation of
learning cell technique could be effective and can improved students’ reading
comprehension. It can be seen from the finding of students score from cycle 1 to
cycle three. The data showed the students’ tests score improved. The students
who passed the standard score (KKM) in cycle one was 56.7%, cycle 2 was
67.7% and cycle 3 was 96.8%.
Key Word: Reading comprehension, learning cell technique

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INTRODUTION
Reading is an important skill
in English that gives many
advantages for students. This
skill is substantial to know the
way how to read English reading
efficiently and optimally. Reading
properly can help people gain the
information that they need.
Reading skill is very useful
because it is integrated to writing
skill. Reading a lot can help
students to write better and build
their vocabulary. Students’ writing
will be more systematized and
rich of new vocabulary. Besides,
by having good reading skill,
students also can improve their
understanding. Read more can
gain more knowledge than read
less. They can see the part of the
world through reading.
Aebersold and Field stated
“Reading is what happens when
people look at a text and assign
meaning to the written symbols in
that text” (1997, p.15). In line with
the definition, Farrel (2002: ii)
mentioned that “Reading is the
interaction between the text and
the reader that creates meaning.”
Reading process can happen if
the reader can understand what
the meaning or the main idea of
the reading or the text. Through
reading, we can get information
and knowledge that we need and
also explore the whole world that
we never been before.
To be successful in
reading, the most important thing
is students can understand the
main idea of the text. They need
to comprehend the idea of the
reading. That is why reading
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comprehension
is
important.
Based on Rakhmawati (2015,
p.43) “Reading comprehension is
necessary because without it
reading is nothing more than
tracking symbols on a page with
your eyes and sounding them
out, it also provides the reader
with
any
information.”
By
comprehend the meaning of the
text students can get information
and knowledge clearly.
In forth, the curriculum 2013
that being implemented in SMPN
2 Tangerang, expects students to
analyze, find the main idea, and
comprehend the reading of the
text. They have to determine the
various information that they get
from the text. These objectives
will be reached maximally if
teacher understand the needs of
the students.
Unfortunately, based on the
observation
in
SMPN
2
Tangerang on June 2017, the
teaching learning process in the
seventh grade student’s still had
weakness that need to be fixed.
The teaching learning process in
the class was dominated by
teacher. Teacher became the
learning centered in the class.
Students did not actively involve
in the teaching learning process.
They were accustomed to learn
reading with the old strategy. The
strategy that usually used by
teacher was silent reading, with
using skimming and scanning
technique. Students were given a
text from the textbook and tried to
answer the question from the
text. Only few students did the
exercise well, while the other
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students were not focused,
because they were busy with
their businesses, talking with their
friends and also disturbed the
other students.
Furthermore, the researcher
also found that some students did
not really like English subject,
especially reading. They did not
accustom to read English text
and did not master enough
vocabulary. It made them difficult
to find the message or the main
idea from the text. Some students
also felt hesitate to share their
opinion to the teacher. That
activity made them did not
actively
participate
to
the
teaching and learning process.
They were less motivated and did
not show their interest in reading.
This kind of condition
happened because skimming and
scanning strategy that teacher
used was quite out of date. It
sometimes made students did not
enthusiastic with the material that
being delivered. They will easily
get bored and did not focus to do
their exercise from the text. This
technique might be effective, but
teacher need an attractive
strategy to interest students
attention.
In order to build students
passion in learning reading and
improve
their
reading
comprehension, teacher needed
to use an appropriate technique.
There were many techniques that
can be used to teach reading.
Learning cell strategy was one
type of collaborative learning
strategy that can be used to

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teach reading and improved their
reading comprehension.
Learning cell technique
required students to work in pair.
Savage (2016) mentioned that
learning cell is peer learning, in
which students teach other by
working together in small groups
or pairs, studying or discussing
classroom material. In line with
Savage,
Goldschmid
in
Rakhmawati (2015, p.44) also
mentioned that “Learning cell or
student dyad refers to a
cooperative form of learning in
pairs, in which alternate asking
and answering questions on
commonly
read
materials.”
Shortly, learning cell technique
was a collaborative learning
technique that required students
to work in pair in order to
comprehend the meaning of the
text.
Learning Cell was one of the
collaborative learning techniques
(CoLTs). It was usually named as
peer learning or student dyad.
Falchicov (2001) stated that the
learning cell involves co-operative
learning in pairs, in which
students alternate asking and
answering questions on new set
readings.
Goldschmid
in
Marginingsih (2016, p.14) argued
that “this method of learning
maximizes student responsibility
for learning and enhances
cooperative and social skills.”
They also found that the
technique attracted good student
ratings in terms of morale and
experiences of the course. In
short, learning cell technique
requires students to be active
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learner by asking and answering
question from their peer.
Barkley,
et
al
in
Marginingsih (2016, p.15) stated
that “in learning cells, students
individually develop questions
about a reading assignment or
other learning activity and then
work with a partner, alternating
asking and answering each
other’s questions.” By making
questions from the text, students
can engage with the text
optimally and understand the
content of the text maximally.
They also can get more
information that might be missed
from their peer. Another expert
from China,
Yu Shengguan,
Xianmin Yang and Gang Cheng
added that learning cell activities
promote
deep
interactions
between learners and content,
they are process oriented and
enable the sharing of learning
process, strategies, and activities
(2013, p.38). This argument
clearly mentioned the main point
in this technique was sharing idea
with peer to achieve the goal of
learning process.
Learning Cell technique had
positive relation with reading
comprehension. It was an
effective technique that can be
implemented
in
reading
comprehension class. It was also
good technique that can make all
students participate in the class
and shared their idea or
knowledge.
Based
on
the
explanation
above,
the
researcher was interest in
conducting a research to improve
students reading comprehension
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by using learning cell technique
to the seventh grade students of
SMPN 2 Tangerang, so that
students can get improvement in
reading comprehension.
RESEARCH METHODE
The
writer
applied
classroom action research study.
This kind of study conducted in a
classroom and saw the process
of students’ improvement through
the research. McNiff (2002)
stated that action research is
done by a researcher or
practitioner with using a practical
way to know the result of learning
In this case, the writer analyzed
the problem of the student’s
reading
comprehension
that
occurred in the learning process
from that class and tried to solve
the problem by learning cell
technique. This research used
action research designed by
Kemmis as cited in McNiff (1992,
p.27), which divided the research
into four main projects, they are;
Planning, Acting, Observing and
reflecting.
The study conducted in the
first semester of the academic
year of 2017/ 2018, from October
to November 2017. Further, this
study conducted in SMPN 2
Tangerang which is located at Jl.
Siswa No.3 Kel. Suka Asih Kec.
Tangerang, Kota Tangerang.
The Participants of this
research were the students of
Grade VIIA in academic year
2017/2018. This class consists of
34 students, 17 Male students
and 17 female students. This
class was chosen as the subject
of research because most of the
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students still have low of
achievement in English subject.
This information researcher got
from interview with English
teacher and from the result of pre
cycle test.
This research followed the
action research design suggested
by Kemmis as cited in McNiff
(1992). The action involved four
major steps, as follows:
a. Planning
In this first step, the writer
developed a plan of action in
order to bring improvement in
students reading comprehension.
The researcher made three
lesson plans. One lesson plan
designed for three meetings.
Construct teaching materials
about descriptive text. The text
was described person, places
and students’ family. Researcher
also prepared the time schedule
of meeting, which was on
Thursday and Friday, based on
school schedule. Descriptive text
was the teaching topic that used
in the research, because this
topic was taught in the seventh
grade of students in the school.
b. Acting
The researcher started the
research with implemented the
learning cell strategy in teaching
reading. The research used three
cycles, and each cycle consists of
three meetings. At the end of the
meeting of every cycle, the
researcher gave test to measure
students’ achievement.
c. Observing
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The researcher observed
the students during teaching
learning
process
in
the
classroom.
The
researcher
observed
students’
understanding, participation, and
activities in the teaching learning
process.
d. Reflecting
In reflecting section, the
researcher analyzed the data of
the cycle, and identified the result
of the cycle. After that researcher
made a conclusion and compared
the students’ score between cycle
I, cycle II and cycle III to find out
how far the improvement of
students’
ability
in
comprehending the text. Data
collection technique was needed
to help the writer to find the result
of the study. In this research, the
writer used qualitative and
quantitative data. The act of
collecting data is presented as
follows:
a. Observation
Observation
in
this
research was needed to saw the
phenomenon
that
happened
during the research. Beside the
quantitative data that conducted
through the test, observation
provided qualitative data that
described the information which
researcher
got
during
the
research. That information was
the condition of the students
when they treated with the
learning strategy, how they learnt,
what were the difficulties that they
faced, etc. overall, the researcher
observed how the process of the
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implementation of learning cell
technique in improving students
reading comprehension.
b. Questionnaire
Beside
observation,
the
researcher used the result of
questionnaire as qualitative data.
The researcher provided some
questions to found out their
perception of
learning cell
technique. Based on Burges
(2001),
there
were
three
elements
to
design
the
questionnaire, they were:
a) Determined the questions to
be asked,
b) Selected the question type for
each question and specify
the wording
c)
Designed the question
sequence
and
overall
questionnaire layout
Before gave a questionnaire,
researcher had to select the
questions that were based on the
topic that being researched. The
researcher also had to make the
questions explicitly so that did not
confuse the participants.
c. Interview
The interview was used to
get the information from students
about
their
perception
in
implementing
learning
cell
technique in their class. It was
used to find out the problem that
they faced during the action. The
students’ interview was about
their perception of the technique,
teaching material, and the
difficulties.
The
teacher’
perception
was
about
the
difficulties that she faced during
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the
implementation
of
the
technique. It was also about
Students’ reading ability, the
technique, and students learning
improvement.
d. Test
The researcher used test to
know
the
result
of
the
implementing
the
learning
strategy. The test divided into two
tests, Pretest which was held
before the treatment to know the
students
ability
in
reading
comprehension. Posttest which
was held after the treatment to
measure students’ achievement
after got the treatment.
e. Documents
Documents were needed to
enrich the data of the research. It
included lesson plan, teaching
materials, attendance list, etc.
Besides that, the researcher also
used
photograph
as
the
documentation of the research
After collecting the data,
the next section was analyzed the
data to see the result of the
research. The research can be
categorized as successful if the
participants can understand the
test and expressed it into their
own language. The improvement
also can be seen from the score
that students got in the post test.
Quantitative data obtained from
the comparison of the score of
test (pretest and posttest) from
each cycle. Before compare the
score of pretest and posttest.
Next,
researcher
compared the mean score of
pretest and posttest using
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average score from each cycle. It
used the formula as follows:

M=

Ʃ𝑋
𝑁

M = Mean
ΣX = the amount of students’
score N = number of SS
Further, if the mean score
already calculate, researcher
compare the result of the mean
score of pre-test and the result of
the main score of post-test in
each
cycle,
to
see
the
improvement
of
subjects’
achievement
in
reading
comprehension. To strengthen
and to saw the improvement
more clearly, researcher also
present the score difference into
percentage form. The formula
used
to
know the
class
percentage, as follows:

P=

𝐹
𝑁

X 100 %

P = the class percentage
F = Frequency are being found
N = Number of students
The qualitative data that
obtained
from
interview,
questionnaire and observation,
will be analyzed descriptively.
The researcher followed the
model of data analysis by Miles
and Huberman as cited in Hartini
(2012, p.49-50). This model has
four processes: data collection,
data reduction, data display, and
conclusion.
a. Data reduction is the process
of selection, simplification,
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and
transformation
from
source of data into coherent
transcription.
b. Data display, is an organized
information that leads to
conclusion and interpretation
c. Data verification is generally
the conclusion of the data.
Overall, the researcher used
these data analyzing technique to
see the result of implementing
learning cell technique to improve
students reading comprehension.
RESULT AND DISCUSSION
Researcher collects all the
data and analyzed it based on the
result of the test from each cycle.
The score from each cycle then
compared
to
see
the
improvement
from
students
achievement. The result of the
research arranged as follows;
Before start the treatment
using the teaching technique,
researcher used pre-test to
measure students’ ability in
reading
comprehension
especially
from
reading
descriptive text. The test was
taken on 6 October 2017.
Researcher gave 25 questions
from five short texts. The result of
the test was not satisfied. The
average score of the test was
only 54.5 (using mean score).
This score still not achieved the
score standard from the school.
By seeing this phenomenon, the
researcher tried to use the
learning cell technique to improve
their understanding of how to
comprehend the text with more
interesting way.
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The data showed that the
average of students score in
pretest was 54.5, and the score
presentation of students who
passed the standard score was
only 20.6%. It means that the
result was still low. Because of
that,
researcher
want
to
implement teaching technique
called learning cell technique to
improve
students
reading
comprehension.
In the first cycle, the mean
score of the cycle 1 test was 70.5
while the score of pretest was
54.5. It means that there was an
improvement
from
students’
achievement.
The
students’
improvement looked big enough,
however researcher still need to
continue the research into next
cycle because there were some
students that got bad score. That
score also did not pass the
school passing grade which is 71.
Further, based on the researcher’
observation, some students still
did not focus to did their task and
did not understand what should
they did. Researcher should
revise the teaching plan for the
next cycle based on the reflection
in the cycle 1, in order to get
maximal result from the action.
The result from second
cycle showed that the mean
score from the students cycle two
test was 78.03. Since the score of
cycle 1 test was only 70.5, there
was an improvement from the
cycle 1 to cycle 2. It is also
already achieve the minimum
passing grade of the school
which is 71. Based on the result,
can be said that the research has
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succeed and satisfied enough,
because has shown improvement
from the students’ skill. However,
researcher still continue the
research into cycle 3 to
strengthen the argument that
teaching reading by using
learning cell technique can
improve
students
reading
comprehension.
The table from third cycle
showed that the mean score of
the last cycle was 81.7. It means
that the result of the last cycle
was better than 2 previous
cycles. Thus, almost all of the
students score reached the
standard score of the school
(KKM) which was 71. Even
though there was one student
whose score below the school
standard, researcher considered
to stop the research because
students who passed the score
already 75%.
The data analysis was
obtained from the score in each
cycle then compared to see the
improvement
from
students’
achievement. The result of the
research arranged in the table
above;
Table 1. Percentage of students score

Sum
Mean
Lowest
score
Highest
score
%

Pretest

Cycl
e1

Cycl
e2

Cycl
e3

1852
54,5
24

2115
70,5
30

2419
78,03
40

2700
84,3
55

84

95

97

100

20,65

56,7

67,7

96,8

Beside this table, researcher
also provide chart to show the
improvement of students score
from pretest to cycle 3 tests. The
chart can be seen below:
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Chart 1. Improvement of students score
100
80
pretest

60
40

cycle 1

20
0

cycle 2
cycle 3
improvement of
students score

The diagram above showed
that students score significantly
improved. It can be said that the
use of learning cell technique in
teaching reading can help
students to improve their reading
comprehension. Students were
active and interest to follow the
activity in the class. Based on the
data that researcher collected
and the result of students’ score,
this technique succeeds to
improve
students
reading
comprehension. This research
also already answers three
research questions;
1. The learning cell technique
improve students reading
comprehension
According to the data that
researcher got from the research,
this technique proven to improve
students reading comprehension.
It can be seen from students’
mean score from pre cycle until
last cycle test. The score was
54.5 for pre cycle test, 70.5 for
cycle 1 test, 78.03 and 84.3 for
the last cycle test. Students
showed their progress in every
cycle. Not only for students’
score.
They
also
showed
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improvement in the classroom
activity. Students were active and
enthusiastic to follow the teaching
learning process.
2. Students
perception
of
learning cell technique
To know the students
perception of this technique,
researcher used interview and
questionnaire. Researcher had
interviewing half of the students
in class VIIA. They were chosen
randomly.
Based
on
the
interview, they like to learn
reading with their peer than learn
alone. Next, almost all of the
students like to teach by using
learning cell technique. They
agreed that using learning cell
technique in teaching reading
was very interesting and can
improve their reading skill.
3. Teacher problem during
implementing the research
Since
this
teaching
technique applied collaborative
learning, the classroom situation
became noisy, because students’
communicate with their partner
intensively. Students’ prefer to
choose their own partner to do
the activity. They do not want to
be paired who are not familiar
with them. Teacher need to work
hard with students who have low
vocabulary to help them arranged
their sentence.
CONCLUSION
This research was about
improving
students
reading
comprehension through learning
cell technique. Based on the
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research
that
had
been
conducted, it can be concluded
that learning cell technique can
improve
students
reading
comprehension.
Learning cell is an effective
teaching technique to improve
students reading comprehension.
It was proven by the increasing of
students mean score for every
cycle. The result of the test score
revealed that they had shown a
significant progress.
This teaching technique also
can make classroom situation
more interesting and enjoyable.
Students were active and free to
ask question to teacher and their
pair. In this technique students
trained to learn by themselves.
Teacher’s role only to be a helper
and observer of students’ activity.
Students’
jobs
were
to
understand the text and make
question based on the text. Then,
their partner will try to answer the
questions.
This research showed that
learning cell technique is one of
the teaching techniques that can
be used by teacher to teach
reading. This research is useful
for not only students, but also
English teacher.
REFERENCES
Aebersold, A. J., & Field, L. M.
(1997). From reader to
reading teacher: issues and
strategies
for
second
language
classroom.
Cambridge:
Cambridge
University Press

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Burges, F.T. (2001). A general
introsduction to the design of
questionnaires for survey
research.
England:
University of Leeds
Farrel, S. T. (2002). Planning
lessons for a reading class.
Singapore:
SEAMO
Regional Language center
Falchikov,
Nancy.
(2001).
learning
together:
peer
tutoring in higher education.
Rout ledge Falmer: London.
Available
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ookfi-org.pdf
Hartini, S. (2012). The use of
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improve
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https://Vol-1-5-2016-theeffectof-authentic-materialto-improve-students’reading-marginingsih-1.pdf
McNiff,
J.
(2002).
Action
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London:
Routledge
McNiff,
J.
(1992).
Action
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learning
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