STRATEGIES THAT MAKE SUCCESSFUL EFL READERS COMPREHEND READING BETTER

Abstract

Reading is one of the essential aspects of education. In English, reading is one of the skills that must be mastered. Takaloo and Ahmadi (2017) who stated the reading comprehension is the process to get the idea of written message communicated by writer. Reading comprehension, or the ability to understand written texts, refers to the skill of grasping the meaning of a text, whether it is implicit or explicit. To understand a text properly, it is necessary to use reading strategies. Among the techniques that can be applied by English teachers to improve student’s reading comprehension are the skimming and scanning techniques (Diaz & Laguado, 2013; Sasmita, 2013; Ulmi, Sundari, & Sukmaantara, 2015;). This study applied a qualitative approach with the case study as a research design. The participants of this study are two male university students, from the English education department of a private university in Malang. The researcher used interview to collect the data. The interview questions consist of 9 items adapted from Ozek and Civelek (2006). The interview questions have three themes which include reading strategies, skill to understanding about reading in TEP (Test of English Proficiency), and how to answer every point of question in TEP especially on reading section. To collect the data the researcher interviewed participants lasting 10-15 minutes each interview. The researcher used embedded analysis to analyze the data, involving transcribing, familiarizing, coding, theming, and interpreting participants' responses and analyzed documents for authenticity, credibility, representativeness, and meaning based on reading strategies used in TEP (Test of English Proficiency). Based on the result of this study, both students employed two strategies that can serve as effective tools for comprehending the reading section in the TEP (Test of English Proficiency), namely skimming and scanning strategies. The use of skimming and scanning strategies by both students was applied specifically while working on the questions in the reading section of the TEP (Test of English Proficiency). The skimming and scanning strategies were used by both participants as they were considered highly effective in optimizing the time spent on completing the TEP (Test of English Proficiency). In the "finding the main idea" section of the TEP, participants used the skimming strategy to quickly locate answers, especially when time was running out. The scanning strategy was also employed when working on TEP questions in the reading section. Scanning involves reading closely, allowing participants to grasp the overall content of the text. This strategy was used to answer questions in the TEP especially in reading section, including "stated detail questions" and "unstated detail questions." Additionally, this strategy can be used to determine "what the next paragraph will discuss" in the TEP especially in reading section.