Improving EFL ninth graders’ reading comprehension through thieves learning strategy

Abstract

Reading as a fundamental language skill become an essential skill in academic and social life. Especially at school, the teachers need to enrich the strategy in teaching and learning process. The objectives of this study were to find out 1) the improvement of students’ reading comprehension of the ninth grade (IXC) of SMPN 13 North Bengkulu, 2) some factors influence the change of students’ reading comprehension at the ninth grade (IX C) of SMPN 13 North Bengkulu. This Classroom Action Research (CAR) involved 25 students of the ninth grade of SMPN 13 North Bengkulu. Quantitative and qualitative data were employed to investigate the improvement of the students’ reading comprehension and the factors influence the changes of students’ reading comprehension. Reading comprehension test, observation checklists and field notes, and interview were the instruments of this research. Based on the test results, the percentage of students who had achieved the success criteria increased from 8% at the baseline to 80% at the end of the study. It can be concluded that applying Thieves strategy improved students’ reading comprehension and it was influenced by the student’s factors (attention, interest and participation) and the teacher’s factors (enriching the material and classroom management).

Influence of Using “THIEVES” Strategy on Junior High School Students’ Reading Comprehension

“…They also added that THIEVES Strategy makes the learning process easy, builds extensive knowledge, helps connect and predict the text by the clues that are found through the text, and effectively improves student's reading comprehension. Moreover, THIEVES strategy is applicable to any sort of literature in comparison to other reading strategies (Asmarni et al, 2022). It could be used in nonfiction text including diaries, letters, advertising and propaganda, explanation, descriptions, instructions, tables, forms, reports, arguments, notice and signs, catalogs and directories (Gusvianti & Tiarina, 2012).…”

“…In line with the previous studies, Khataee (2019) who used expository text concluded that this strategy could assist students in overcoming challenges such as insufficient language knowledge, time constraints, and difficult or unfamiliar topics. Similarly, Asmarni et al (2022), who utilized narrative and report text, highlighted that the strategy can enhance student engagement and learning in the teaching learning process.…”

“…Moreover, in this study, the researchers aimed to examine whether or not the THIEVES strategy has an influence on students' reading comprehension. Although extensive research has been carried out on the use of THIEVES strategy for reading English texts (i.e., Gusvianti & Tiarina, 2012;Wärn, 2019;Khataee, 2019;Asmarni et al, 2022); none of those studies focused on teaching recount text. Therefore, in this present study, the researchers used an experimental design for teaching recount text by using THIEVES strategy.…”

“…Nunan further explained that reading for communication refers to reading for 'real-world' purposes, whereas reading for educational purposes refers to reading to expand our knowledge. Reading as a fundamental language skill has evolved into a necessary talent for academic and social success (Asmarni et al, 2022).…”

“…At school level, students' reading comprehension continues to be an issue such as the students' attitude and motivation in learning reading was still low (Asmarni et al, 2022). In addition to that, students also tend to lack English vocabulary, do not have any motivation to read, and have difficulty in comprehending the text (Husni & Wati, 2021).…”