Improving Reading Comprehension of Narrative Texts through Know, Want, Learn (KWL) Technique among Senior High School Students
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37251/ypzewn29Keywords:
Classroom Action Research, English Language Learning, KWL Technique, Narrative Text, Reading ComprehensionAbstract
Purpose of the study: This study aimed to improve the reading comprehension skill of the eleventh-grade students of State Islamic Senior High School Palopo through the implementation of Know, Want, Learn (KWL) technique. The study focused on helping students understand narrative texts more effectively and increasing their active participation during the reading process.
Methodology: This study used Classroom Action Research (CAR) consisting of two cycles: planning, acting, observing, and reflecting. The subjects were 26 students of class XI Natural science 1 State Islamic Senior High School Palopo. The instruments included observation sheets, interview lists, reading comprehension tests, and a camera for documentation. Data were analyzed using descriptive quantitative and qualitative methods.
Main Findings: The findings showed that students’ reading comprehension improved after applying the KWL technique. In the first meeting of Cycle I, the mean score was 52.88, and in the second meeting it increased to 61.01. Students also showed better participation, stronger motivation, improved understanding of narrative texts, and greater confidence in completing the KWL chart activities.
Novelty/Originality of this study: This study provides a practical classroom strategy by integrating the KWL technique into reading comprehension instruction for narrative texts. It emphasizes activating prior knowledge, setting reading purposes, and reflecting on learned information, which creates a more structured, student-centered, and interactive reading process for senior high school students.
References
[1] A. Ramadhianti and S. Somba, “Reading comprehension difficulties in Indonesian EFL students,” J. English Lang. Teach. Lit., vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 1–11, 2023, doi: 10.47080/jeltl.v6i1.2477.
[2] W. A. Dwi and M. W. Fitriana, “Effectiveness of summarizing in teaching reading comprehension for EFL students,” Cent. Lang. Cult. Stud. Surakarta, Indones., vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 33–50, 2018, doi: 10.30957/ijoltl.v3i1.403.1.
[3] Y. Natsir and B. Aceh, “The matters in teaching reading comprehension to EFL students,” Stud. English Lang. Educ., vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 65–78, 2016, doi: 10.24815/siele.v3i1.3390.
[4] R. Smith, P. Snow, T. Serry, and L. Hammond, “The role of background knowledge in reading comprehension: a critical review,” Read. Psychol., vol. 42, no. 3, pp. 214–240, 2021, doi: 10.1080/02702711.2021.1888348.
[5] A. Muhid, I. Pesantren, and K. H. A. Chalim, “The effect of metacognitive strategies implementation on students’ reading comprehension achievement,” Int. J. Instr., vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 847–862, 2020, doi: 10.29333/iji.2020.13257a.
[6] C. Banditvilai, “The effectiveness of reading strategies on reading comprehension,” Int. J. Soc. Sci. Humanit., vol. 10, no. 2, 2020, doi: 10.18178/ijssh.2020.10.2.1012.
[7] N. Fitri and S. Aisyah, “An analysis of students’ difficulties in reading comprehension at eleventh grade of senior high school 8 Jambi city,” J. English Lang. Teach., vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 7–12, 2023, doi: 10.33087/jelt.v7i1.127.
[8] E. P. Apriliyani and M. A. Usuludin, “Self-efficacy and its correlation with reading comprehension of senior high school students,” Indones. Rev. English Educ. Linguist. Lit., vol. 1, no. 1, 2023, doi: 10.30762/ireell.v1i1.1096.
[9] R. Rudiawan and J. Jupri, “Retelling strategy towards students’ English reading comprehension at senior high schools,” J. Lang. Lang. Teach., vol. 8, no. 4, pp. 432–441, 2020, doi: 10.33394/jollt.v8i4.2815.
[10] S. A. Capellini, L. Cidrim, and N. Del Bianco, “Reading comprehension performance of elementary and senior high school students,” Front. Educ., vol. 12, no. May, pp. 1–9, 2023, doi: 10.3389/feduc.2023.1086040.
[11] H. R. Aulia, A. F. Laeli, and S. Ulwiyah, “Problem-based learning as a method to improve senior high school student’s reading comprehension in English,” English Lang. Teach. Res. J., vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 77–85, 2023, doi: 10.37147/eltr.v7i2.171.
[12] F. Rohma and A. Fawaid, “Analysis of students’ difficulties in reading texts to increase reading comprehension in islamic senior high school,” J. Ilm. Keagamaan dan Kemasyarakatan, vol. 17, no. 3, pp. 2003–2018, 2023, doi: 10.35931/aq.v17i3.2205.
[13] I. Mallipa, E. Sitompul, and P. A. Sitorus, “The English reading comprehension, skill, and strategy of senior high school students,” J. Lang. Teach. Learn. Linguist. Lit., vol. 4778, pp. 714–728, 2024, doi: 10.24256/ideas.
[14] N. Abid, S. Aslam, and A. A. Alghamdi, “Relationships among students ’ reading habits , study skills , and academic achievement in English at the secondary level,” Front. Psychol., vol. 1, no. January, pp. 1–10, 2023, doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1020269.
[15] P. Peng and R. Kievit, “The development of academic achievement and cognitive abilities: A bidirectional perspective,” Child Dev. Perspect., vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 15–20, 2020, doi: 10.1111/cdep.12352.
[16] S. Ziegenfusz, J. Paynter, and B. Flückiger, “A systematic review of the academic achievement of primary and secondary school-aged students with developmental language disorder,” Autism Dev. Lang. Impair., vol. 7, no. 1, 2022, doi: 10.1177/23969415221099397.
[17] M. Ahmad, S. Khasawneh, and M. O. A. Al-rub, “Development of reading comprehension skills among the students of learning disabilities,” Univers. J. Educ. Res., vol. 8, no. 11, pp. 5335–5341, 2020, doi: 10.13189/ujer.2020.081135.
[18] D. Dambayana, S. Saraswati, and P. Pratiwi, “An analysis of students’ reading comprehension difficulties of eighth grade students,” J. IKA Undiksha, vol. 19, no. 1, pp. 34–45, 2021, doi: 10.23887/ika.v19i1.31826.
[19] N. W. Septia, I. Indrawati, J. Juriana, and R. Rudini, “An analysis of students’ difficulties in reading comprehension,” English Educ. J., vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 11–22, 2022, doi: 10.32923/eedj.v2i1.2519.
[20] P. J. Pattiasina, A. R. Fatmawan, T. L. Hutauruk, Z. Tanipu, A. Rofi’i, and A. T. Yolanda, “Improving students’ of senior high school writing ability through cue card in short story,” J. English Dev., vol. 3, no. 02, pp. 90–105, 2023, doi: 10.25217/jed.v3i01.3604.
[21] Y. Fauzia, W. Rianti, and P. Asilestari, “An analysis on students’ reading comprehension difficulties in narrative text at SMA Muhammadiyah Bangkinang,” J. Pengabdi. Masy. dan Ris. Pendidik., vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 121–126, 2023, doi: 10.31004/jerkin.v2i1.115.
[22] N. Zebua, R. E. Laiya, and R. D. Laia, “Students’ difficulties in comprehending narrative text at the eleventh grade of SMA Swasta Fajarmas Bawonauru,” Res. English Lang. Educ. (Relation Journal), vol. 4, no. 1, 2022, doi: 10.57094/relation.v4i1.398.
[23] M. K. Rizqon, S. Andreani, and U. P. Astuti, “The problems faced by senior high school students in reading narrative text,” J. Lang. Lit. Arts, vol. 1, no. 11, pp. 1508–1522, 2021, doi: 10.17977/um064v1i112021p1508-1522.
[24] N. I. Faturrohmah, S. A. Asri, and M. Ulfa, “Analysis of reading comprehension ability to determine main ideas and supporting ideas,” in In Proceeding of International Conference on Education, 2023, pp. 157–164. doi: 10.37640/ice.02.525.
[25] P. Z. Ekorini, “Analysis on students’ difficulties of finding main idea of a passage,” J. Dharma Pendidik. STKIP Nganjuk, vol. 15, no. 2010, pp. 72–82, 2020, doi: 10.69866/dp.v15i2.95.
[26] A. Fuqaha and W. Wartim, “The difficulties of determining main idea on students reading comprehension,” J. Educ. Lang. Innov. Appl. Linguist., vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 101–110, 2023, doi: 10.37058/jelita.v2i2.7974.
[27] D. W. Nanda, “Poor reading comprehension issue in EFL classroom among Indonesian secondary school students : Scrutinizing the causes , impacts and possible solutions,” J. Lang. Educ. Humanit., vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 12–24, 2020, doi: 10.22373/ej.v8i1.6771.
[28] Y. Dong, Y. Tang, B. W. Chow, W. Wang, and W. Dong, “Contribution of vocabulary knowledge to reading comprehension among Chinese students: A meta-analysis,” Front. Art Psychol., vol. 11, no. October, 2020, doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.525369.
[29] J. F. Lawrence, P. A. Kulesz, and D. J. Francis, “Reading Comprehension and Academic Vocabulary : Features and Reading Proficiency,” Read. Res. Q., vol. 57, no. 2, pp. 669–690, 2012, doi: 10.1002/rrq.434.
[30] J. Kaid and M. Ali, “Challenges and problems of reading comprehension experienced by EFL learners,” Challenges Probl. Read. Compr., vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 11–21, 2022, doi: 10.56540/jesaf.v1i2.28.
[31] M. D. H. Rahiem, “The emergency remote learning experience of university students in Indonesia amidst the COVID-19 crisis,” Cquniversity Res., vol. 19, no. 6, pp. 0–26, 2020, doi: 10779/cqu.20164517.v1.
[32] N. K. T. A. Swari, “Wordwall as a learning media to increase students’ reading interest,” J. Pendidik. Bhs. Ingg. Indones., vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 21–29, 2023, doi: 10.23887/jpbi.v11i1.1572.
[33] A. Mustadi and R. N. Fazri, “Learning cycle 5e: An attempt to improve creative thinking skills’ pre-service primary school teachers an classroom action research,” in Attempt to Improve Creative Thinking Skills’ Pre-service Primary School Teachers An Classroom Action Research, 2020. doi: 10.1145/3452144.3452248.
[34] T. Rabgay and G. Kidman, “Multiple iterations in bhutanese secondary science teachers’ implementation of action research,” Res. Sq., vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 1–18, 2023, doi: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3320669/v1 License:
[35] L. H. Al-obaydi, F. F. Rahman, L. Ode, and A. Suherman, “The use of action research in efl socio-professional context: Students-teachers’ perceptions,” J. Interdiscip. Stud. Humanit., vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 232–240, 2021, doi: 10.34050/elsjish.v4i2.10876.
[36] K. F. Hew, C. Jia, D. E. Gonda, and S. Bai, “Transitioning to the ‘ new normal ’ of learning in unpredictable times : pedagogical practices and learning performance in fully online flipped classrooms,” Int. J. Educ. Technol. High. Educ., vol. 17, no. 5, 2020, doi: 10.1186/s41239-020-00234-x.
[37] H. Syahrizal and M. S. Jailani, “Jenis-jenis penelitian dalam penelitian kuantitatif dan kualitatif,” J. Pendidikan, Sos. Hum., vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 13–23, 2023, doi: 10.61104/jq.v1i1.49.
[38] W. Zhao, L. He, W. Deng, J. Zhu, A. Su, and Y. Zhang, “The effectiveness of the combined problem-based learning ( PBL ) and case- based learning ( CBL ) teaching method in the clinical practical teaching of thyroid disease,” Med. Educ., vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 1–10, 2020, doi: 10.1186/s12909-020-02306-y.
[39] L. Fazira and A. Hadi, “Implementing student-centered learning to facilitate students’ reading comprehension of report texts: A case study,” Datokarama English Educ. J., vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 1–16, 2025, doi: 10.24239/dee.v6i1.114.
[40] C. Thawinwong and W. Sanrattana, “Teachers and participatory action research for developing learning environments,” World J. Educ., vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 17–28, 2022, doi: 10.5430/wje.v12n3p17.
[41] M. Vianty, Y. Anwar, F. Wargadalem, and M. Pulungan, “Pre-service english teachers’ experiences in conducting classroom action research,” J. English Lang. Teach., vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 316–321, 2024, doi: 10.30998/scope.v9i1.25812.
[42] F. Rokhman and T. Yuniawan, “Teacher’s professionality development through classroom action research training at islamic state highschool (MAN) in Purbalingga,” in Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Science, Education and Technology (ISET 2020) Teacher’s, 2021, pp. 380–383. doi: 10.2991/assehr.k.211125.070.
[43] S. Rahmah and A. H. Lubis, “Problem posing as a learning model to improve primary school students’ mathematics learning outcomes in Gayo Lues,” J. Indones. Prim. Sch., vol. 1, no. December, pp. 93–104, 2024, doi: 10.62945/jips.v1i4.409.
[44] M. Sailer and M. Sailer, “Gamification of in-class activities in flipped classroom lectures,” Br. J. Educ. Technol., vol. 52, no. 1, pp. 75–90, 2021, doi: 10.1111/bjet.12948.
[45] K. Kardoyo, A. Nurkhin, M. Muhsin, and H. Pramusinto, “Problem-based learning strategy: Its impact on students’ critical and creative thinking skills,” Eur. J. Educ. Res., vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 1141–1150, doi: 10.12973/eu-jer.9.3.1141.
[46] K. S. Diasti, C. T. Murniati, and H. Hartono, “The Implementation of KWL Strategy in EFL Students ’ Reading Comprehension,” J. English Teach., vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 176–185, 2023, doi: 10.33541/jet.v9i2.4676.
[47] I. Jayanti and Y. K. Nasution, “The effectiviness of applying kwl (know, want, learn) strategy on reading comprehension at SMP Negeri 4 Pematangsiantar,” Biling. J. Pendidik. Bhs. Ingg., vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 152–158, 2022, doi: 10.36985/jbl.v4i2.470.
[48] A. Aladwani, A. Alfadley, M. Algasab, and A. F. Alnwaiem, “The effect of using kwl (know-want-learned) strategy on reading comprehension of 5th grade efl students in Kuwait Amel,” English Lang. Teach., vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 79–91, 2022, doi: 10.5539/elt.v15n1p79.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Jumasri Jumasri, Jaraswat Trairat, Mehriban Safarova

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and acknowledge that the Journal of Language, Literature, and Educational Research is the first publisher licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges and earlier and greater citation of published work.

1.png)

.png)
.png)









