CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. RESEARCH BACKGROUND
English is the first widely spoken international language. English can be called
a global or universal language as a matter of fact, most countries in the world use
English as their primary language. This is consistent with Brumfit (2001), who
states that English is the international language and the most widely used medium
of international communication. It can be recognized that English is a foreign
language that is often used in Indonesia and has even been taught in schools.
English lessons are one of the lessons taught to students from elementary school
to college. Learning English is a hope for Indonesian students as an opportunity
for them to broaden their international insight and knowledge and also help
improve their English communication competencies.
In learning English there are four abilities that students must master, one of
which is reading skills. Starting from elementary school to college reading skills
are very important for students. Reading skills are important for students because
it is important to achieve student academic success. As is known, many learning
materials or information are in the form of English text writing such as in books,
articles, journals, newspapers, and other types of text writing. Therefore, students
are expected to have good reading skills to understand the information contained
in the text of the text. As stated by Permendiknas No.23 of 2006 in the curriculum,
students are intended to have reading skills, which aim to clearly understand the
meaning or content of written language, both interpersonal and transactional. They
are also expected to gain knowledge and information from the text. In addition,
Nuttall (1982) states that in understanding the content of the text students are
expected to be able to determine main ideas, find specific information from texts,
identify references and inferences, and also understand vocabulary.
 In conclusion, reading plays a significant role in society as it is essential for
acquiring information, knowledge, and enjoyment. It is a complex process that
involves word identification, comprehension, and interpretation. Reading is not
only crucial for academic success but also has practical applications in various
aspects of life, including personal enrichment, communication skills, cognitive
development, emotional well-being, and social skills.
Based on the pre-observation conducted at SMA Negeri 1 Sungai Kakap,
students have some problems learning English, especially in reading. The average
student of class XI seems still to have difficulty understanding the content of a
reading text. Most students find it difficult to identify the main ideas in a text,
students also do not seem to understand a lot of vocabulary, it is seen that they also
have difficulty finding specific information and references from a text, and seems
hard to identify conclusions from a topic in reading texts.
When the students find difficulty in reading, the teacher should be able to solve
this problem. Therefore, adequate learning media support is required to meet the
growing learning demands of students, particularly in English classes. As
previously stated, a variety of factors influence the success of the learning process.
According to Magdalena & Astikawati (2018), teachers can increase students'
interest in learning, motivate them to study, and make it easier for them to
comprehend what they are teaching by using educational and motivational videos
and Microsoft Powerpoint presentations that are relevant to the subject matter
being covered. If teachers want to make it easier for students to learn in the
classroom, they need to use learning media that students will like.
Based on the problem, the researcher purpose of the solution is to improve the
reading skills of students in learning English. The solution is using interactive and
educational learning media which is by utilizing the Canva application in the
teaching and learning process. In this current digital era, Canva as a learning media
is seen helping to support the learning English process. Canva is an online design
program that provides various tools such as presentations, resumes, posters,
pamphlets, brochures, graphics, infographics, banners, flyers, certificates,
diplomas, invitation cards, business cards, thank you cards, and so on (Tanjung &
Faiza, 2019). Canva can provide a fun and creative learning experience and create
a positive learning environment. A positive learning atmosphere improves
students' motivation, concentration, attitude, and memory. Learners will be more
engaged in the learning process and more easily able to retain information and
knowledge from the learning materials received during the learning process.
Smaldino et al. corroborate this in Yundayani et al. (2019), where visual
educational media such as Canva make imaginative ideas more realistic,
motivating students and increasing their attention, and they can repeat and recall
previous knowledge.
To support this research, some previous studies were reviewed by the
researcher, the first is a research conducted by Wahyuni, et al. (2022) entitled
"Increasing Students' Interest in Learning English Through Canva Application".
This research focuses on examining students' interest in learning English subjects
by using the Canva application as a learning medium. From the results of this
research, it was found that the use of the Canva application as a learning media
can increase students' interest in learning, so it can be said that students' interest in
using the Canva application as an English learning media is very high. Then, there
is a research conducted by Puspita, et al. (2022) entitled " Development of
Teaching Materials to Improve Reading Comprehension Skills for 5th Grade
Students: Canva App Supported". This research focuses on measuring the effect
of developed application-based Canva on improving reading comprehension in 5th
grade. The results of this research suggest that the use of Canva's application-based
teaching materials significantly improves the reading comprehension of
information texts in fifth grade.
Therefore, based on the problems described above, the researcher was inspired
to conduct action research because the researcher wanted to know whether using
 Canva could improve the reading skills of eleventh-grade students at SMA Negeri
1 Sungai Kakap for the Academic Year of 2022/2023.

B. RESEARCH PROBLEMS
Based on what the researcher has discussed in the background of the research,
the problems in this research can be formulated as follows:
“How can Canva improve the reading skills of grade Eleventh (XI) students in
SMAN 1 Sungai Kakap?”

C. RESEARCH PURPOSES
With the formulation of the research problem above, the purpose of this
research is to investigate whether Canva can improve the reading skills of grade
Eleventh (XI) students in SMAN 1 Sungai Kakap.

D. SIGNIFICANT OF THE RESEARCH

Hopefully, this research is very useful and gives goodness contribution to
everyone related to English education. There is some expectation to be achieved
from this research:
1. Theoretical Significance
a. The result of this research is expected can be a reference for English
students to do similar research or another researcher.
b. The result of this research is expected can be used as information material
for the English departments and also as knowledge in improving English
education and apply it in the teaching-learning process.
2. Practical Significance
By compiling this research, the researcher hopes that this research can
contribute and have a positive impact to schools, English teachers, students,
and other researchers.
a. To School
 The researcher hopes that the positive result of this research could be
useful for schools so they can develop learning media such as Canva that
can be used in their schools for teaching and learning English, and also
helps to improve students' reading skills.
b. To English Teachers
By conducting this research, the researcher hopes that this research can
be useful for English teachers to increase their knowledge to develop
learning media such as Canva media to support the English teaching and
learning process, and significantly to help improve students' reading skills.
c. To Student
The researcher hopes that using Canva as a learning media can help
students learn and improve their English especially their reading skills by
allowing them to directly participate in active, creative, and fun learning
experiences.
d. To Other Researchers
The result of this research can also provide a reference for other
researchers to add to the existing shortcomings of this research. This
research can be a source of information so that it can be further developed
in other materials to help improve students' reading skills.

E. SCOPE OF THE RESEARCH

1. Research Variable
According to Creswell (2012), the variable refers to the characteristics or
attributes of individuals and organizations that the researcher can measure or
observe with variations among the individuals or organizations studied.
Moreover, Sugiyono (2019) also stated that a research variable is an attribute,
trait, or value of people, objects, or activities that have certain variations set by
researchers to study and then draw conclusions.
 From the statement above, it can be concluded that a variable is a
characteristic of an individual or a group that has certain variations set by the
researcher to be observed and studied and then conclusions drawn.
This research uses a single variable that applied to the Eleven (XI) Grade
students of SMAN 1 Sungai Kakap. The single variable in this research is about
improving students’ reading skill by using Canva.

2. Research Terminology
The following definitions are provided to ensure the uniformity and
understanding of these terms throughout the research:
a. Reading Skills
Reading is a crucial skill that is interconnected with other language
skills. It is an activity that enables individuals to extract meaning from
symbols or printed words, and utilize this ability to recognize, understand,
and interpret language. Reading serves as a means of personal enrichment
and lifelong learning. By reading extensively, individuals can broaden their
horizons, develop critical thinking skills, and enhance their vocabulary and
language proficiency
b. Canva
Canva is a design platform that can be accessed from both the web and
app, which provides a variety of attractive design features and tools that
make it easier for users to design as creatively as they like. The Canva
design platform has been popular with many people. Starting from
students, teachers, college students, lecturers, editors, and others user use
Canva as a tool for designing various graphics.
c. SMA N 1 Sungai Kakap
SMA N 1 Sungai Kakap is one of the schools located in Sungai Kakap
District, Kubu Raya Regency. SMA N 1 Sungai Kakap is clearly located
on St. Raya Sungai Kakap, Gg. Tuadi (behind the sub-district office). SMA
N 1 Sungai Kakap is a school that has accreditation “A”.