The effect of using Directed Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA) strategy to improve students’ reading comprehension

Abstract

This research is about implementation of Directed Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA) strategy in teaching reading. It aimed at finding out whether the strategy improves students’ reading comprehension. This study was conducted at the second grades of SMPN 12 Banda Aceh with the population was all second grade students and the sample were designed in two groups; VIII-2 as experimental class and VIII-1 as control class. The experimental class was tought by using DRTA strategy while control class was tought by using the strategy that is used by the English teacher as usually. The instrument used was test designed for pre-test and post-test. Test in the form of ten multiple choice questions was divided into four question categories of reading comprehension skill (main idea, detail, inferring and vocabulary). The result showed that there was an improvement of the students’ reading comprehension after being taught by using DRTA strategy as t-score 2.96, was higher than critical value of t-score in significant of 0.05 wich was 2.048. It means that Ha is accepted and Ho is rejected. Indeed, the use of DRTA strategy improves students’ reading comprehension. Futhermore, the additional findings found out were that making inference was the most difficult area and identifying detail was the easiest area of reading comprehension skill for students wich could be concluded from the average score of post-test.