The Correlation among Reading Attitude, Interpersonal Intellegence and Reading Comprehension

Abstract

Reading is one of the crucial skills to be mastered by students in Indonesia. The genre text approach is mostly implemented in each degree on formal education. This caused the redirection of teaching learning process aim, that is from mastering four English skills become more inclined in mastering reading skill. The curriculum sets the requirement of passing the final examination to step up into higher grade with a good reading score. Reading becomes interesting subject to be investigated by many researcher in Indonesia in order that teacher not only teach reading by the surface purpose of text, but make them become meaningful reading teaching learning process. Digging the inner factors to reading comprehension, this research aims are to investigate the correlation among the reading attitude, interpersonal intelligence and reading comprehension of English Education Study Program of Widya Dharma University (UNWIDHA), Klaten, Central Java, Indonesia and how those factors can theoritically has impact on creating meaningful teaching and learning of reading? This research implemented the procedure of expose de facto reasearch. Questionaires of reading attitude and interpersonal intelligence and a test of reading comprehension were administered to the sample (n=152). Perason Product-moment correlation was used to analyse the data. The result of this study showed that there was a significant correlation between the students’ reading attitude and their reading comprehension. Students with positive reading attitudes strengthen their willingness to read for more reading experience which consequently influenced their reading comprehension. The students interpersonal intelligence also associated with their reading comprehension. This intelligence brings reading to another level. The students who had more percentage of interpersonal intelligence tend to insert empathy or feeling in a text, then reading not only for reading text but comprehending the text.