ABSTRACT
The objectives of this research are to find out the correlation between (1) sentence structure mastery and reading skill; (2) self-esteem and reading skill; and (3) sentence structure mastery, self-esteem, and reading skill.
This research used quantitative method, that is, correlational study. The population was the tenth grade IPA (Ilmu Pengetahuan Alam) students of SMAN 1 Tangen in the academic year of 2014/2015 consisting of three classes. The total number of the students is 67 students. The sample was 22 students taken by cluster random sampling technique. The instruments in collecting the data were test and questionnaire. Objective test was used to collect the data of sentence structure mastery and reading skill; while the questionnaire was used to collect the data of self-esteem. The techniques used to analyze the data were Single Correlation and Multiple Regression Correlation.
The results of the data analysis show that in the level of significance of a = 0.05 (1) there is a positive and significant correlation between sentence structure mastery and reading skill ( =0.8058 > rt=0.423); (2) there is a positive and significant correlation between self-esteem and reading skill ( =0.5178 > rt=0.423); and (3) there is a positive and significant correlation between sentence structure mastery, self-esteem, and reading skill ( =0.8384 and =22.47 > =4.35).
Based on the results of the study, it can be concluded that there is a positive and significant correlation between (1) sentence structure mastery and reading skill; (2) self-esteem and reading skill; and (3) sentence structure mastery and self-esteem simultaneously and reading skill.
The result of this research shows that sentence structure mastery and self-esteem are important factors that give contribution to reading skill. Both sentence structure mastery and self-esteem give 70.29% effective contribution to reading skill. Therefore, sentence structure mastery and self-esteem should be considered in increasing students' reading skill, although the factors are not the only variables determining reading skill. It is suggested that teachers create innovation in utilizing any interesting activity and develop lesson plan which enable students to acquire sentence structure knowledge easily and increase their self-esteem.
Keywords: correlation, sentence structure mastery, self-esteem, reading skill.