Student�s Reading Skills on The Lhokseumawe Coast: A Case Study at State Elementary School 15 Banda Sakti

Faiza Khalila^1*, Muhammad Iqbal², Juni Ahyar³

Universitas Malikussaleh, Indonesia^1*

Universitas Malikussaleh, Indonesia²

Universitas Malikussaleh, Indonesia³

E-mail: [email protected]^1*, [email protected]², [email protected]³

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Abstrak

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis permasalahan kemampuan membaca siswa di pesisir Lhokseumawe di SD Negeri Banda Sakti 15. Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif dengan metode studi kasus. Sampel penelitian dipilih menggunakan purposive sampling yang melibatkan 10 siswa kelas lima, 10 orang orang tua dan 1 orang guru. Data dikumpulkan melalui tes bacaan, wawancara dan dianalisis melalui tiga tahap, yaitu reduksi data, penyajian data dan penarikan kesimpulan. Fokus utama penelitian adalah kefasihan, kejernihan suara, pengucapan dan intonasi. Triangulasi waktu digunakan untuk menguji validitas data. Penelitian ini dilakukan pada 29 Mei s.d. 29 Juni 2024 di Desa Ujong Blang, Kecamatan Banda Sakti, Kota Lhokseumawe. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa tingkat keterampilan membaca siswa sangat bervariasi. Sebanyak lima dari sepuluh siswa menunjukkan kesulitan yang signifikan dalam membaca, yang disebabkan oleh faktor-faktor seperti kesulitan mengenali dan menggabungkan huruf menjadi kata, serta membaca kata demi kata tanpa pemahaman yang komprehensif. Hal ini mencerminkan bahwa sebagian besar masih pada tahap dasar dan belum mencapai kemahiran membaca. Temuan ini menekankan pentingnya kolaborasi antara orang tua dan sekolah untuk menciptakan lingkungan yang mendukung pengembangan keterampilan membaca siswa baik di rumah maupun di sekolah.

Kata kunci: Keterampilan membaca, pantai, orang tua roal

Abstract

This research aims to analyze the problems of students' reading skills on the coast of Lhokseumawe at Banda Sakti 15 State Elementary School. This research uses a qualitative approach with a case study method. The research sample was selected using purposive sampling involving 10 fifth grade students, 10 parents and 1 teacher. Data was collected through reading tests, interviews and analyzed through three stages, namely data reduction, data presentation and drawing conclusions. The main focus of the research is fluency, voice clarity, pronunciation and intonation. Time triangulation is used to test the validity of the data. This research was carried out on May 29 s.d. June 29 2024 in Ujong Blang Village, Banda Sakti District, Lhokseumawe City. The research results show that students' reading skill levels vary greatly. As many as five out of ten students show significant difficulties in reading, caused by factors such as difficulty recognizing and combining letters into words, as well as reading word by word without comprehensive understanding. This reflects that most are still at the basic stage and have not yet reached reading proficiency. These findings emphasize the importance of collaboration between parents and schools to create an environment that supports the development of students' reading skills both at home and at school.

Keywords: Reading skills, coast, parental roal

*Correspondence Author: Faiza Khalila

Email: [email protected]

INTRODUCTION

 
Indonesian people who depend on sea waters as one of the main sources of the community's economy to live their lives, coastal communities who mostly depend on marine products as their main livelihood to fulfill their daily needs, work as fishermen, pond farmers, fish traders, and people who manage coastal areas for tourism. The coastal area is the area where land and sea meet. Towards the land, the coastal area includes parts of the plain, both dry and submerged in tidal water, which are influenced by the characteristics of the sea, such as tides, sea breezes, and saltwater seepage (Misbahuddin, 2017).
Looking at the history of Indonesia, which was previously known as an archipelagic country and a prosperous maritime nation with rich and reliable coastal communities, one of the famous centers of cultural civilization is the Srivijaya Kingdom. The kingdom had good human resources, enabling an independent society capable of competing to achieve prosperity. However, currently, coastal communities are a group of people who are disadvantaged economically and educationally, as seen in the coastal communities of Jln Tgk Di, Gampong Ujong Blang, Banda Sakti District, Lhokseumawe City.
Education is an important component in building fundamental aspects of life. The goal of educational development is to ensure that human resources are developed to high-quality standards. Education can be seen as a process of changing the behavior of students into independent adults who become valuable members of society. The environment, which includes objects, events, and social conditions, plays a significant role in influencing children. It shapes their socialization, behavior patterns, norms, and values (Puspitarini, 2014).
Children tend to absorb information and social norms from their surroundings, including their relationships with parents and peers. The family serves as the first social group in human life, where social norms and interactions are formed. Parents act as educators, and a lack of support or motivation from family can result in children feeling unappreciated, thereby reducing their motivation to learn (Awaru, 2021). A lack of motivation can hinder children�s interest in education, potentially increasing poverty and crime rates.
Reading is a cognitive activity aimed at extracting information from written content (Dalman, 2014). For coastal communities, where most residents work as fishermen, reading skills are essential for accessing broader knowledge, understanding information, and improving their socio-economic opportunities (Wassalwa, 2021). Unfortunately, many coastal children are involved in fishing work from an early age to support their families, which often impacts their educational attainment.
To address this issue, the Indonesian government has emphasized the importance of reading through policies such as Law No. 19 of 2005 concerning National Education Standards. The law highlights the need for students to develop reading and writing skills, numeracy, and effective communication as part of their curriculum (Ministry of Education and Culture, 2005). However, poverty and uncertain income remain significant barriers to education in coastal areas (Yusuf et al., 2020).
Education aims to maximize students� potential and capabilities, focusing on developing personality, community skills, readiness for higher education, and job preparedness (Sukmadinata, 2014). In some cases, a lack of family and environmental support leads to negative attitudes toward education and early school dropouts, exacerbating the cycle of poverty in coastal regions.
The main aim of this research is to find out more about students' reading skills and the role of parents and schools in supporting students' reading skills on the Lhokseumawe coast. This study further seeks to explore the activities-related habits and learning motivation that students have, such as their study time at home, and how parents and schools overcome the challenges of these students' reading skills. The benefits of this research are varied. For students, it is hoped that it can provide an understanding of the importance of education and learning, especially in language skills, namely reading skills. For parents, it is hoped that this can provide understanding to parents to always pay attention to their children. For researchers, it is hoped that it can provide knowledge to develop individuals who are responsive in looking at educational problems for children in the family.

RESEARCH METHODS

This research uses qualitative methods with a case study approach. Qualitative research tends to collect data in the field at locations where participants experience the problem or issue being studied (Cresswell, 2018). Researchers typically send instruments for individuals to complete, and information is collected by talking directly to people and observing their behavior in accordance with the context of the main characteristics of qualitative research. Case study research is more intensive and in-depth, aimed at obtaining a complete picture of the subject under study, with the scope of the research covering either the whole of life or just certain aspects (Azwar, 2017). Data sources include collections of information derived from experiences, which can be in the form of numbers, symbols, or characteristics (Bahri, 2018).

This research employs several techniques for data collection, namely test and interview techniques. The test was conducted with 10 students who read descriptive text from a class V Indonesian language book to assess their reading skills, aiming to delve deeper into the reading abilities of students on the Lhokseumawe coast. Additionally, interviews are used as a method to obtain answers relevant to the research problem. Interviews involve a situation where the interviewer asks questions designed to elicit meaningful responses (Abidin, 2021). In this research, interviews were conducted with 11 sources, comprising 10 biological parents of students and 1 homeroom teacher representing the school.

The data collection instruments are tools used to measure phenomena or gather data that researchers aim to collect (Sugiyono, 2018). These instruments ensure the data obtained is valid and reliable, supporting the study's objectives effectively.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

Results of Analysis of Students' Reading Skills

The reading skills of students on the coast of Lhokseumawe at elementary school 15 Banda Sakti class V show results indicating that the majority of students still need special attention to achieve reading proficiency. the main problems faced by students who cannot read fluently due to the student's inability to master all assessment indicators such as fluency, clarity of voice, pronunciation and intonation (Akhadiah, 2018:219). This research was conducted in Ujong Blang Village, Kec. Banda Sakti, Lhokseumawe City. Test result data was collected from 29 May to 7 June 2024. This research carried out a reading test on 10 students in class V of Banda Sakti 15 State Elementary School. The reason the researcher chose these 10 students was because they considered the effectiveness of their answers which would later be used as data for this research.

Tabel 1. Collection of Reading Test Results Findings

No.	Indicator	Findings	Instrument
1.	Reading Fluency	- Difficulty in reading is caused by frequently omitting one letter from the words that are read, for example the word "mengonsumsi is read as mengosumsi". Usually this is done because of the student's inability to pronounce the letters that form words. - Students with the initials ZM and SB, experience difficulties in reading word by word, usually this type of difficulty stops after reading one word but is not immediately followed by the next word. Examples include difficulty readingthe consonant combination word "co..co..cok..coke�cokelat"	Reading Test with Muhammad Apis, Zakila Munarah, Samsul Bahri.
2.	�Clarity of Voice	- His voice was unclear. The student with the initials MR looked doubtful and afraid when he found a combination of two consonants and a diphthong. Because MR is still spelling and hesitates when reading, this results in the letters being read being less clear, coupled with the fear of making mistakes. - His voice was ���unclear when pronouncing simple words and sentences, when reading his voice is very soft because the student with the initials ZM and HK is very shy.	Reading Test with Muhammad Razikun, and Hisfa Kisya.
3.	Pronunciation	- Pronunciation is less natural, it still shows regional characteristics, especially when encountering the consonant /s/ as in the words "sampai is read as tsampai". Students with the initials SB and MR are also still not very precise in reading.	Reading Test with Samsul Bahri and Muhammad Razikun.
4.	Intonation	- - Lack of use of intonation, because they are still not fluent in reading so they tend to focus on word recognition. Students with the initials RM, JA, MR, SB and ZM are too focused on spelling so they don't pay attention to punctuation which results in poor intonation in their reading.	Reading Test with Riski Maulana, Jumazil Azam, Muhammad Razikun, and Zakila Munarah.

Students often read hesitantly and falter due to lack of confidence and doubts about their abilities (Mulyono, (2020:206). Some of them have students who are shy, this trait has a significant impact on their reading skills at school. Shy students tend to be less active in participating in learning activities including reading skills in class which reduces their opportunities to practice and receive constructive feedback. Shyness is a trait that makes children tend to be less skilled, less confident, and ot adapt to their environment (Novi, 2015: 81). Overall, the main problem faced by students who are not yet fluent is that word recognition is not automatic, which causes students' reading to tend to be hampered, stammering and often stopping. Internal factors that cause students' inability to read, such as not knowing letters/words, omitting letters, and reading word by word, have been carried out through testing using reading tests (Farida, 2018: 46).

Results of Analysis of the Role of Parents and Schools in Supporting Students' Reading Skills

After the stage of distributing and collecting interview sheets was completed, the researcher carried out an analysis of the answers explaining the results by providing arguments related to the research subject. Next, the author created a table containing all the interview results that had been collected based on the grouping of indicators, (Sugiyono, 2018:114).

Tabel 2. Collection of Parent Interviews Findings 

No.	Indicator	Instruments	Findings
1.	Parental involvement in educational planning and support.	Interview with mothers of students Raisya Salsabila and Hisfa Kisya.	- Plan and strive for Raisya's education to the highest level of education, so that she can experience college and support whatever dreams she has of wanting to become a teacher. - I will try to send Hisya�s to the highest level of education and I want Hisya to become a police officer.
2.	Understanding of children's educational needs	Interview with mother of Wildatul Husna and Hasyifa Yana Vila.	- Often interacts about what activities Wilda has gone through and controls her development, accompanies the child when learning and helps teach him. - Often hears all the stories experienced by Syifa, often asks about daily activities. Accompanying children to learn and play and providing for children's needs such as their right to want and like to dance and I allow it.
3.	Overcoming learning challenges	Interview with mothers of M. Razikun and Riski Maulana.	- Knowing that Razikun's challenge is fighting laziness and playing a lot since grade 5, I coaxed him and gave him praise and gifts so that Razikun would want to learn even for a little while. - I gave riski tutoring facilities in grade 2 so he could read and count, but it seems like my child is not capable enough, but when he got to grade 3 the price of tutoring started to rise, I couldn't afford it anymore.
4.4.	Facing emotional challenges	Interview with mother of M. Razikun and Hisfa Kisya.	- As a mother, I have to be patient because my typical child cannot be scolded, if he is scolded, he will immediately throw a tantrum and it will be difficult for him to learn again. - Because my child is typically obedient, I almost never get angry when accompanying him to study.

Based on the results of research on the role of parents, it appears that parents have tried to play a role in their children's learning process, although the level of success varies depending on their respective approaches, but some of them have challenges that arise related to the approach they use. Some parents understand their child's character and try to use positive methods, such as giving praise and gifts. Both parents are declared qualified to be father and mother if they are serious about educating their child (Zindiari, 2020:12). However, there are also those who rely on a physical approach or scold the child when frustrated, which can actually have a negative impact on the child's desire to learn. Some parents realize the importance of accompanying their children in studying and try to do so despite their limitations, but there are also parents who are busy working and feel that they do not have time to accompany their children to study regularly so the support provided is less than optimal. At a minimum, parents play a 60% role in a child's success, the school gives 20%, and the environment 20%. In fact, the role of parents is no longer just talking about the portion of time that has been so lacking in educating children, but also about the quality of parents (2021:9).

Tabel 3. Collection of School Interviews Findings 

No.	Indicator	Instruments	Findings
1.	Monitoring and assessing reading skills	Interview with Mrs. Wardiah, S.Pd	Based on monitoring and homeroom teacher assessments, there are significant variations in students' reading skills. Some students show good mastery and can read fluently, while others still struggle to achieve fluency or even the basics of reading.
2.	Learning support	Interview with Mrs. Wardiah, S.Pd	There are still shortcomings in handling students who have difficulty reading. No special program has been implemented to improve reading skills.
3.	Involvement with parents	Interview with Mrs. Wardiah, S.Pd	The school has provided recommendations to parents to support learning at home via WhatsApp group notifications.

Often times education at school experiences real difficulties, due to the basic education that children receive in the family (Zindiari, 2020:13). Overall results of the interview above, the conclusion is that in supporting the learning process, especially students' reading skills, are very important but must face various challenges. The teacher acts as the main facilitator in learning to read, providing repeated teaching and detailed explanations regarding the use of punctuation marks and how to read correctly. However, the effectiveness of the teacher's role is sometimes hampered by the lack of special programs related to reading skills, the lack of resources such as reading books in the library, and limited support from students' parents. Even so, teachers still try to find ways to motivate students, such as providing interesting books and running reading tests to improve students' reading skills. On the other hand, schools also play a role in creating a supportive environment, for example by giving awards to students who read diligently.

CONCLUSION

This research shows that the reading skills of class V students at SD N 15 Banda Sakti have varying levels of reading skills. Of the 10 students who took the test, most were still at the basic stage and had not achieved the expected reading proficiency. 5 students had difficulty reading, which was caused by several factors including difficulty in recognizing letters, combining letters into words, and reading word by word without comprehensive understanding. The main problems faced are non-automatic word recognition, difficulty pronouncing letters, and missing letters when reading sentences. Internal factors such as lack of motivation and self-confidence, as well as limited mastery of letters are the main obstacles in students' reading skills. Based on the results of research regarding the role of parents in supporting students' reading process in the Lhoksemawe coastal area, it can be concluded that parental involvement in learning to read is still less than optimal. For the most part, parents have not played a fully active role in accompanying and motivating their children in improving their reading skills at home. Factors such as low levels of parental education, busy work, and a lack of understanding of the important role of parents in the child's learning process also become obstacles to the support provided. The research results show that most parents do not provide interesting reading books at home, so children tend to only rely on reading done at school. The role of schools and teachers in supporting students' reading process can be concluded that schools and teachers have tried to carry out their role well, although there are still several obstacles to be overcome. Teachers have monitored students' reading progress, provided intervention for students who experience difficulties and carried out regular assessments of reading skills. Apart from that, the school has also tried to motivate students by providing reading materials in the library and giving awards to encourage interest in reading. However, the research results also show that there are still shortcomings in providing special programs and adequate resources to further support the improvement of students' reading skills. Apart from that, support from parents and the surrounding environment still needs to be increased to strengthen the results achieved at school.

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� 2024 by the authors. Submitted for possible open access publication under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY SA) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).