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IMPROVING STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION
THROUGH DIRECT READING THINKING ACTIVITY (DRTA) AND WH-QUESTION STRATEGY AT THE SECOND-GRADE STUDENTS
OF UPT SMP NEGERI 26 KEPULAUAN SELAYAR
Rosdani1, Rita Roswita Duyo2, Sri Yulianti Ardiningtyas3
1STKIP YPUP Makassar, Email : rosdanitamrin@gmail.com
2STKIP YPUP Makassar, Email : ritaduyo@stkip.ypup.ac.id
3STKIP YPUP Makassar, Email : sriardiningtyas@stkip.ypup.ac.id
ABSTRACT
This research was to find out whether or not the use of Direct Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA) and WH-Question strategy improve the students’ reading comprehension at SMP Negeri 26 Kepulauan Selayar. This research had applied a pre-experimental design with one- group pre-test and post-test. The population of this research was the second-grade students at SMP Negeri 26 Kepulauan Selayar. This research used the total sampling technique. The sample consisted of 30 students. The instruments were multiple-choice and recount text. In collecting data, the researcher used 30 questions of recount text for each pre-test and post- test. The students’ post-test was higher than the students’ pre-test (69.99>45.13). The T-Test was greater than the T-Table (12.833 > 2.045). Based on the data analysis, it can be concluded that Direct Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA) and WH-Question Strategy improves the students’ reading comprehension.
Keywords:
Direct Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA), WH-Question Strategy, Reading Comprehension, Recount Text.
INTRODUCTION
A language is a tool of social interaction or a tool of human communication. Every human communication directly transmits information in the form of thoughts, ideas, intentions, feelings, and emotions from one person to another. Without languages, of course, it will be very difficult for humans to convey their wishes, ideas, opinions, feeling, and messages. There are many languages in the world and there are some international languages such as France, German, Arabic, Chinese, and especially English.
English has become an international language in the world. In the globalization era, English is also very useful for communication. For a variety of reasons, people can communicate in English with people from all over the world. As a result, people especially students must be able to comprehend and communicate in English to gain confidence in the face of global competition.
. Essberger, J (1997).
stated that reading is a receptive talent in his article. People are given information through it.
But in order for people to pronounce the words that are read, the difficult process of reading also necessitates the ability to speak.
According to Weaver in Risdha, R (2019) Reading is the process of figuring out what the reader's mind, feelings, and beliefs have to contribute to the text. Therefore, reading is the reader's method of interpreting the words that are printed. Teachers must improve their teaching strategy or method to assist students in comprehending the text. Today, many teachers struggle to improve reading comprehension in the classroom and they should be familiar with many different methods, strategies, teaching approaches, or learning techniques, so that the methodology can suit the needs of
424 students and the requirements of the text. In addition, the techniques used should help students minimize difficulties and maximize reading comprehension.
According to the findings of the researcher’s interview with one of the English teachers at UPT SMP Negeri 26 Pasilambena via WhatsApp on March 17th 2022, she said that the reading comprehension of second-grade students in reading was still low. It happened because of some reason.
Most of the students did not have enthusiasm for joining the reading class. They also had low motivation when the teacher asked them to read the text related to the materials.
Most of the students were seen as passive in joining the lesson. Students were unable to comprehend English text. Inline, according to Noormah (2000), because the students lacked vocabulary, could barely understand the words, and had little interest in the English subject.
Therefore, one of the most important factors in determining students' reading comprehension is the teaching method. To get students interested in reading and improve their reading comprehension, the teacher should use effective and innovative strategies in teaching reading. The teacher can use a variety of methods to teach reading comprehension, such as the DRTA (Direct Reading Thinking Activity) and WH-Question strategy.
Directed Reading Thinking Activity, developed in 1969 by Russell G. Stauffer. The Directed Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA) is a method that guides students in asking questions about a text, making predictions, and then reading to confirm their predictions. The DRTA process encourages students to be active and thoughtful readers, enhancing their comprehension, activates students' prior knowledge, teaches students to monitor their understanding of the text as they are reading, and helps strengthen reading and critical thinking skills.
Besides, the role of reading purpose in the process of getting reading comprehension is useful since the strategies used in DRTA (Direct Reading Thinking Activity) set the purpose of reading. The Direct Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA) strategy will be used in connection with students' reading interests to see if students’ reading interest affected their reading comprehension. According to Sari, F.D.I.P.(2017) WH-Question is a question in English that is request for the information. So, to get the information it can be from the listener. We often refer to them as WH-Question words because they include the letters. In Indonesia there are five WH but in English there are eight WH-Question such as:
what, when, where, which, who, whom, whose and why and to this list we usually add how as they are all used to particular kinds of information. Therefore, the student can get the information before they are going to write.
Thus, based on the explanation above, the researcher is interested in conducting research entitled: “Improving Students Reading Comprehension Through Direct Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA) and WH-Qestion Strategy at the Second-Grade Students of UPT SMP Negeri 26 Kepulauan Selayar".
METHOD
The method used in this research was pre-experimental using one group pre-test and post-test.
The pre-test gave before the treatment to find out the students’ prior knowledge and the post-test gave after the treatment to measure the effect of the treatment. The variable of this research consisted of independent and dependent variables. The independent variable in this research was the use of Direct Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA) and WH-Question Strategy. The dependent variable in this research was the students’ reading comprehension of the second-grade students’ of UPT SMP Negeri 26 Kepulauan Selayar.
The population of this research was the second-grade students of UPT SMP Negeri 26 Pasilambena in the academic year 2021/2022. The second-grade consists of 30 students. The researcher used the total sampling technique, which the total sample was 30 students and the total number of the population took as sample.
The instrument of this research was a reading test. The test was managed in pre-test and post- test. The test consists of 30 items and multiple choices with four options. The pre-test was given before the treatment to determine students’ reading comprehension, and a post-test was given after the treatment to assess the achievement of students’ reading skills after presenting the material through the Direct Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA) and WH-Question Strategy.
425 In this section, the researcher attempts to analyze the data. The researcher used the following procedure.
1. Scoring the student's answers.
The raw score converted to a set score of a maximum of 100 using the following simple formula:
a. The students' correct answer = 1 b. The students' wrong answer = 0
Students' score = 𝑻𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒓
𝑻𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒏𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒔𝑋 100 2. Classifying the score of students’ pre-test and post-test
a. Score 80 – 100 as excellent b. Score 66 – 79 as good c. Score 56 –65 as fair d. Score 41-55 as poor e. Score ≤ 40 as very poor
3. Calculating the frequency and the rate percentage of the students’ scores by using SPSS 21.0 version.
4. Calculating the mean score of the students' scores of pre-test and post-test by using SPSS 21.0 version.
5. Finding the mean score of the difference score by using SPSS 21.0 version.
6. Test of significance
Find out the significance between the pre-test and post-test by using SPSS 21.0 version.
RESULT AND DISCUSSION
Results
From the pre-test results and the majority of the second-graders at UPT SMP Negeri 26 Kepulan Selayar received very low scores. It was discovered that, out of the 30 students who took the test, 10 had very poor classifications, 12 received poor classifications, and 8 received fair classifications.
There were no students that received the excellent or good classification. They were challenging to understand the material, as evidenced by the fact that some identified the text word by word and struggled to comprehend the reading test if it had any uncommon terms.
Graphic 4.1 Frequency and Rate Percentage of Students’ Pre-test
Based on the research findings and the graphic 4.1 above, the researcher came to the conclusion that, of the class's 30 students, none were classified as excellent or good (0%), while 8 students received a fair classification (26.66%), 12 students received a poor classification (40%), and 10
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Very poor Poor Fair Good Excellent
Frequency Percentage
426 students received a very poor classification (33.33). It indicates that the students' pre-test score was low.
Table 4.1 Mean Score of the Students’ Pre-Test
N Total Score Mean Score
30 1.354 45.13
The data indicated that, according to the pre-test results, the mean pre-test score was 45.13.
Because most of the kids had poor classifications, it was clear from that analysis that most of the students' reading comprehension was still low.
Table 4.2 Minimum and Maximum Score of Pre-Test Statistics
Pre-test
N Valid 30
Missing 0
Minimum 23.00
Maximum 60.00
According to the pre-test results of the students described above, the maximum score was 60, and the minimum score was 23.
Table 4.3 The Frequency and Rate Percentage of the Students’ pre-test
No Classification Scores Pre-Test
Frequency Percentage (%)
1 Excellent 80-100 - -
2 Good 66-79 - -
3 Fair 56-65 8 26.66
4 Poor 41-55 12 40
5 Very poor ≤40 10 33.33
Total 30 100%
According to the table above, which shows the results of the students’ before using DRTA and the WH-Question Strategy, only fair, poor, and very poor scores were received by the students.
None of the students received excellent or good scores. 8 (26.66%) of the students received fair classification, compared to 12 (40%) who received poor classification and 10 (33.33%) who received very poor grades. The pre-test score was 1.354. It was evident that the majority of second- grade students still had poor reading skills.
1. The Students’ Score in the Post-Test
The post-test step was the same as the step in the pre-test after the researcher had administered a treatment to the students. A post-test was administered to determine how well the students had mastered reading comprehension. It was once used to evaluate the effectiveness of treatment. According to the post-test result, out of the total 30 students, 6 students received excellent classifications, 15 students received good classifications, 4 students received fair classifications, 5 students received poor classifications, and no students received very poor
427 classifications. It indicates that after completing the teaching procedure employed in class, students’ reading comprehension has improved
.
Post-test
Graphic 4.2 Frequency and Rate Percentage of Students’ Post-test
Based on the information in graphic 4.2 above, 6 students (20%) were assigned excellent scores; 15 students (50%) were assigned good scores; 4 students (13.33%) were assigned fair scores; 5 students (16.66%) were assigned poor scores; and none of the students were assigned very poor scores.
According to the graphic above, most students shared their views at a good level with 15 frequencies. The students were at a good level.
Table 4.4 Mean Score of the Students’ Post-Test N Total Score Mean Score
30 2.090 69.66
Based on the post-test results, the data revealed that the post-test's mean score was 69.66. It was clear from the analysis that most of the students' reading comprehension received good scores.
As a result of this item, the post-test mean score was higher than the pre-test mean score. It indicates that after completing the instructional procedure employed in class, students’ reading comprehension improved.
Table 4.5 Minimum and Maximum Score of Students’ Post-Test Statistics
Post-test
N Valid 30
Missing 0
Minimum 50.00
Maximum 87.00
According to the pre-test results of the students described above, the maximum score was 87, and the minimum score was 50.
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Very poor Poor Fair Good Excellent
Frequency Percentage
428 Table 4.6 The Frequency and Rate Percentage of the Students’ Reading Comprehension of Post-
Test
No. Classification Scores Post-Test
Frequency Percentage (%)
1 Excellent 80-100 6 20
2 Good 66-79 15 50
3 Fair 56-65 4 13.33
4 Poor 41-55 5 16.66
5 Very poor ≤40 - -
Total 30 100
The data of the table above indicated that the frequency and rate percentage of the students’
reading comprehension of post-test, 6 (20 %) students got excellent score, 15 (50%) students got good scores, 4 (13.33%) got fair score and 5 (16.66%) students poor score. The total score in the post-test is 2.090. Therefore, the frequency and rate percentage in post-test students got an excellent score was higher than the frequency and rate percentage in the pre-test. It means that the students’ reading comprehension had improved through Direct Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA) and WH-Question Strategy after treatment.
In this, the researcher analyzed the data of the students’ scores in post-test to know whether there is or is no significant difference in students’ achievement before and after the learning process through Direct Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA) and WH-Question Strategy in reading comprehension.
2. The Score Classification Pre-Test and Post-Test of the students
The pre-test and post-test scores for the students' reading comprehension were divided into five categories: excellent, good, fair, poor, and very poor. The previous chapter explained the process of classification.
a. The Comparison between Pre-Test and Post-Test Scoring Classification
The table below shows how the researcher compared pre-test and post-test score categorization. Students' pre-test and post-test scores were separated and presented in the table below:
Table 4.7 The Comparison between Pre-Test and Post-Test Scoring Classification No Classification Scores Rate Percentage
Pre-Test Post-Test
1 Excellent 80-100 - 20
2 Good 66-79 - 50
3 Fair 56-65 26.66 13.33
4 Poor 41-55 40 16.66
5 Very poor ≤40 33.33 -
Total 100 100%
The comparison of the reading comprehension test results for the students' pre-test and post-test results is shown in the table above. It was evident that no students received an excellent classification with a score of 0 percent on the pre-test, but 6 students received an excellent classification with a score of 20% on the post-test. In the pre-test, no students obtained a good classification with a percentage of 0%, but 15 students received a good classification with a percentage of 50% in the post-test. In the pre-test, 8 students received a fair classification, scoring 26%, whereas in the post-test, 4 students scored a fair classification, scoring 13.33%. In the pre-test, 12 students obtained poor scores with a 40%, but in the post-test, 5 students received poor scores with a 16.6%. In the pre-test, 10 students received a very poor classification with a 33.33%, while in the post-test no students received a very
429 0,00%
10,00%
20,00%
30,00%
40,00%
50,00%
60,00%
Very poor
Poor Fair Good Excellent
Pre-test Post-test
poor classification. In essence, the results showed that the post-test score was greater than the pre-test score. It could be concluded that students’ reading ability had been improved after using Direct Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA) and WH-Question Strategy According to the result of students score in pre-test and post-test above, the comparison of the students’ pre-test and post-test rate percentage was shown in the following graphic:
Rate Percentage
Graphic 4.3 Comparison of the Students’ Rate Percentage of Pre-test and Post-test Result From the data in graphic 4.3 above, the blue color was the classification of pre-test and post- test, while the orange color was the classification of pre-test and post-test. The data showed the comparison of the students’ rate percentage of pre-test and post-test. There was a significant difference between pre-test and post-test after giving a treatment using the Direct Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA) and WH-Question Strategy. It could be known that most of the students classified as poor in pre-test while in post-test most of the students classified as a good score.
It means that all the students of the second-grade students of UPT SMP Negeri 26 Kepulauan Selayar could improve their skill in the recount text by using Direct Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA) and WH-Question Strategy.
Table 4.8 The Comparison of Frequency between Pre-Test and Post-Test
No Classification Scores Frequency
Pre-Test Post-Test
1 Excellent 80-100 - 6
2 Good 66-79 - 15
3 Fair 56-65 8 4
4 Poor 41-55 12 5
5 Very poor ≤40 10 -
Total 30 30
Based on the table above showed the comparison of the result of the pre-test and post-test of the students’ reading comprehension. It could be seen that there was none of the students gained excellent classification in the pre-test while in the post-test there were 6 students got excellent classification. There was none of the students received good classification in the pre-test while in the post-test there were 15 students gained good classification. There were 8 students got fair classification in the pre-test while in the post-test there were 4students achieved fair classification.
There were12 students got poor classification in the pre-test while in the post-test there were 5 students received poor classification. There were 10 students got very poor classification in the pre- test while in the post-test there was none students gained very poor classification. In short, the data indicated that the score of post-test was higher than pre-test. It could be concluded that students
430 reading ability had been improved after using Direct Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA) and WH- Question Strategy. According to the result of students score in pre-test and post-test above, the comparison of the students’ pre-test and post-test rate percentage was shown in the following graphic:
Frequency
Graphic 4.4 Comparison of the Students’ Rate Percentage of Pre-test and Post-test Result From the data in graphic 4.4 above, the blue color was the classification of pre-test and post- test, while the orange color was the classification of pre-test and post-test. The data showed the comparison of the students’ frequency of pre-test and post-test. There was a significant difference between pre-test and post-test after giving a treatment using the Direct Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA) and WH-Question Strategy. It could be known that most students were classified as poor in the pre-test, while in the post-test, most were classified as having a good score.
Table 4.9 Mean Score and Standard Deviation
Test Mean Score Deviation
Pre-test 45.13 11.13161
Post-test 69.66 11.13346
Table 4.10 Result T-test value and T-table value T-test value T-table
12.833 2.045
Discussion
The discussion is about interpreting the conclusions from the analysis of the data. The description of data collected through the test as explained in findings section showed that the students, achievement to comprehend the reading text by using the Direct Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA) and WH-Question Strategy was improved. The students score after presenting materials in reading comprehension by using Direct Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA) and WH-Question Strategy was better than before the treatment was given to them. The treatment used by the researcher was the improving reading comprehension by using Direct Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA) and WH- Question Strategy. The comparison between pre-test and post-test means scores. In the pre-test, the students’ total score was 1.354 with the mean score being 45.13. Then in the post-test, the students’
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Very poor Poor Fair Good Excellent
Pre-test Post-test
431 total score was 2.090 with the mean score being 69.66 this means that the mean score of the students was improved. From the discussion above, it can conclude that the second-grade students of UPT SMP Negeri 26 Kepulauan Selayar have good reading comprehension after the researcher applied the Direct Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA) and WH-Question Strategy. It means that Direct Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA) and WH-Question Strategy can help the students’to improve their comprehension.
CONCLUSION
The result of the research showed that through DRTA and WH-Question Strategy was able to improve the students’ reading comprehension where could increase their knowledge about reading and how to understand reading text well. The enhancement of the students’ reading skill is also supported by the result of the test score. Based on the description of the result above, the mean score of pre-test was 45.13 and it improved into 69.66. Then, the t-test (12.833) was greater than t-table (2.045). It means that the null hypothesis (H0) was rejected the alternative hypothesis (H1) was accepted. It proved that the implementation DRTA and WH-Question Strategy in teaching reading able to improve the students’ reading comprehension.
REFERENCES
Essberger, Josef (1997). What is Reading? http://www.englishclub.com/reading/what.htm
Risdha, R, (2019). Improving Students' Reading Comprehension Through Directed Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA) Strategy at the Ninth Grade Students of MTs Lautang Belawa. English Program TarbiyahFaculty State Islamic Institute (IAIN) Pare-pare.
Rahmiatul, Fitri. The Effectiveness of Directed Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA) Strategy on upgrading the Reading comprehension skill of students in Primary School. Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume335.1st International Conference on Education, Social Sciences and Humanities (ICESSHum 2019).125914638.pdf
