Abstract :
This study was conducted to answer the following questions: (1) Are the eight grade students of SMPK St. Yoseph Noelbaki Kupang able to understand the text they have read? (2) What is the ability level of the eight grade students of SMPK St. Yoseph Noelbaki Kupang in understanding the text they have read? (3) What are the areas of difficulties faced by the eight grade students of SMPK St. Yoseph Noelbaki Kupang in understanding the text they have read? The objectives of the study are the following: (1) This study intends to find out whether or not the eight grade the students of SMPK St. Yoseph Noelbaki Kupang comprehend the reading text. (2) This study intends to find out the ability level of the eight grade students of SMPK St. Yoseph Noelbaki Kupang in comprehending the reading text. (3) This study intends to find out the areas of difficulties faced by the eight grade students of SMPK St. Yoseph Noelbaki Kupang in comprehending the reading text. The method used in this study was normative survey method. The total respondents were 35 students. The instrument used in gathering the needed data was a test. The test consisted of 30 items of multiple choice tests. The result of analysis indicates that the eight grade students of SMPK St. Yoseph Noelbaki Kupang are able to understand the text they have read. Their level ability was the following. Two (6%) students got very good ability level ranging from 8.6 ? 9.5. Twelve (34%) students got good ability level ranging 7.6 ? 8.5. Thirteen (37%) students got fairly good ability level ranging from 6.6 ? 7.5. Five (14%) students got average ability level ranging from 5.6 ? 6.5. Three (9%) students got below average ability level ranging from 4.6 ? 5.5. The average ability of students is fairly good (71.9%). The difficulties faced by the students in comprehending the reading text are the limitation of vocabulary. Although as a class the students are able to understand the text they read, there are some suggestions for the teacher of English, in that the English teacher should check the students mastery on vocabulary used in reading text and give reading task in high frequency. The students are suggested to have to study hard by doing reading in high frequency.