IMPROVING STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION IN READING DESCRIPTIVE TEXT THROUGH THE BRAIN GYM

Abstract

The objectives of the study were that: 1) The describe the implementation of Brain Gym at the eighth grade students of MTs. Gondang Wonopringgo, 2) To describe the students’ motivation in reading descriptive text. This study was classroom action research. The subject was the students of VIII A3 class consist of 31 students. The researcher and the students of VIII A3 class were the team members of the research. The data were obtained through observations and the test. The qualitative data were in the forms of questionnaires. To support the qualitative data, quantitative data were obtained from the pre-test, cycle 1, cycle 2 and the post-test scores. The actions implemented in this research were applying Brain Gym in reading activity to improve students’ motivation in reading skill. The texts used in the teaching and learning process of reading were about descriptive texts. The research was conducted in two cycles. Every cycle consisted of some steps, they are, planning, acting and observing, and reflection. The result shows that the implementation of the Brain Gym in this study was successful to improve the students’ motivation in reading skill. The indicators of the success of the implementation were that: 1) by answering questions given correctly, the students showed good comprehension about the text of the given topic, 2) by conducting every stage enthusiastically, the students showed good motivation in reading activity, 3) the students were able to practice reading through various given topics. There was a significant improvement, from the mean of the pre-test (57,09), Cycle I (64,51) and the cycle II post-test (69,35). By looking at the scores, it was found that the students’ motivation in reading skill improved significantly. Key Words : Students’ Motivation, Descriptive Text and Brain Gym.