This study is aimed to find out the correlation between: (1) reading habit and reading skills of the second grade students of SMP Negeri 1 Karanganyar in the academic year of 2012/ 2013; (2) vocabulary mastery and reading skills of the second grade students of SMP Negeri 1 Karanganyar in the academic year of 2012/ 2013; and (3) reading habit and vocabulary mastery simultaneously and reading skills of the second grade students of SMP Negeri 1 Karanganyar in the academic year of 2012/ 2013. The study belongs to a correlation study. The population was all of the second grade students of SMP Negeri 1 Karanganyar in the academic year of 2012/ 2013. The sample was 24 students that were selected by using cluster random sampling technique. The instruments used to collect the data were tests and questionnaire. The tests were used to collect the data of vocabulary mastery and reading skills, while the questionnaire was used to collect the data of reading habit. The techniques used to analyze the data were Simple and Multiple Linear Regression and Correlation.
The results of the study show that (1) there is a positive correlation between students’ reading habit and students’ reading skill; (2) there is a positive correlation between students’ vocabulary mastery and students’ reading skills; and (3) there is a positive correlation between students’ reading habit and vocabulary mastery simultaneously and students’ reading skills. Furthermore, the results show that 20.1% variance of reading skills is determined by reading habit, while 16.9% variance of which is determined by vocabulary mastery, and 37.3% variance of which is determined by reading habit and vocabulary mastery simultaneously. With regard to the results of the study, it can be concluded that positive correlation between reading habit and vocabulary mastery and reading skills indicates that both reading habit and vocabulary mastery could support and ultimately give contribution to reading skills. Hence, students’ reading and vocabulary mastery need to be considered in the teaching and learning activities of reading.
Keywords: reading habit, vocabulary mastery, reading skills