Investigating Students Difficulties in Comprehending English Reading Text at the Ninth Grade of SMP IT Qurrota A’yun Palu

Wildan Zahen Da'im; Darmawan Darmawan; Andi Patmasari; Wahyudin Wahyudin

doi:10.34050/els-jish.v8i2.44352

Authors

Wildan Zahen Da'im Universitas Tadulako
Darmawan Universitas Tadulako
Andi Patmasari Universitas Tadulako
Wahyudin Universitas Tadulako

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.34050/els-jish.v8i2.44352

Keywords:

Students Difficulties, Narrative Text, Reading Comprehension

Abstract

The aim of this study is to identify the most challenging aspect of reading comprehension, particularly in narrative texts, as well as the factors contributing to these challenges. This research adopts a qualitative approach, utilizing tests and interviews as data collection instruments. The participants of this study were students at the junior high school level during the 2024/2025 academic year. A reading comprehension test was administered to 26 students, consisting of 15 questions categorized into five types: identifying the main idea, locating references, understanding vocabulary, making inferences, and finding detailed information. In addition, three students were interviewed using a set of 10 questions. The test findings indicate that the most challenging aspect for the students is identifying detailed information. Furthermore, interview results reveal two main factors contributing to students’ difficulties in reading comprehension: internal and external factors. Internal factors include inadequate reading strategies, limited vocabulary knowledge, and low interest in reading. Meanwhile, the external factor is related to the students’ surrounding environment.

References

Aprilia, R. (2023). Students’ difficulties in reading comprehension at the first grade of SMA Negeri 2 Sigi (Undergraduate thesis, Universitas Tadulako).

Creswell, J. W. (2012). Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research (4th ed.). Boston: Pearson Education.

Fauzi, I. (2019). Students’ Reading Strategy and its Relationship with Reading Comprehension Achievement. Journal of English Language Teaching and Linguistics, 4(1), 89–102. https://doi.org/10.21462/jeltl.v4i1.202

Hidayat, D. N. (2018). The Correlation between Students’ Reading Strategies and Their Reading Comprehension. Journal of English and Education, 6(1), 15–25.

Hidayati, S. (2018). The Influence of Learning Environment on Students' English Reading Skill. English Journal of Educational Research, 2(2), 145–152.

Irmayanti, D. (2021). Students’ Difficulties in Reading Comprehension at SMP Negeri 1 Parigi Tengah. Jurnal Bahasa dan Sastra, 5(1), 10–18.

Kholiq, M. A., & Luthfiyati, D. (2020). The Effect of Students’ Reading Interest on Their Reading Comprehension Ability. Journal of English Language Teaching and Literature, 3(1), 32–40.

Larasati, A. (2019). The Analysis of Students’ Difficulties in Reading Comprehension. ELTIN Journal, 7(2), 47–58.

Lestari, P., Anshori, S., & Yusra, K. (2017). An Analysis of the Students' Reading Comprehension Difficulties. International Journal of Language and Literature, 1(1), 1–12.

Prihandoko, L. A., Anggawirya, A. M., & Rahman, F. (2021, December). Students’ perceptions towards autonomous learners concept in academic writing classes: Sequential mixed-method. In International Joined Conference on Social Science (ICSS 2021) (pp. 487-491). Atlantis Press.

Rahman, F. (2018). The constraints of foreign learners in reading English literary works: A case study at Hasanuddin University. Journal of Arts and Humanities, 7(2), 01-12.

Rahman, F., & Amir, P., & Tammasse. (2019). Trends in Reading Literary Fiction in Print and Cyber Media by Undergraduate Students of Hasanuddin University. International Journal of Education and Practice, 7(2), 66-77.

Sudijono, A. (1987). Pengantar Statistik Pendidikan. Rajawali Press.

Wahyuni, E. D. (2019). The Impact of Vocabulary Mastery on Reading Comprehension Ability. English Language in Focus (ELIF), 1(2), 89–96.

Weda, S., Rahman, F., Atmowardoyo, H., Samad, I. A., Fitriani, S. S., Said, M. M., & Sakti, A. E. F. (2022). Intercultural Communicative Competence of Students from Different Cultures in EFL Classroom Interaction in Higher Institution. International Journal of Research on English Teaching and Applied Linguistics, 3(1), 1-23.

Youngsun, K., Sosrohadi, S., Andini, C., Adinda, R., Jae, P. K., Yookyung, K., & Jung, S. (2024). Beyond the Korean Wave: Understanding the Motivation of Among Indonesian Gen Z to Learn Korean in the K-Pop Trend. International Journal of Current Science Research and Review, 7(06).