Utilizing Short Stories as Authentic Materials in Teaching English Reading Comprehension to Eleventh-Grade Students: A Qualitative Classroom Study

Tamara Julietta; Deri Sis Nanda

doi:10.63922/ijeter.v4i04.7286

Tamara Julietta English Education Study Program, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, University of Bandar Lampung, Indonesia
Deri Sis Nanda Lecturer in the English Language Education study program, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Universitas Bandar Lampung, Indonesia

DOI: https://doi.org/10.63922/ijeter.v4i04.7286

Keywords: authentic materials, short stories, reading comprehension, qualitative research, senior high school

Abstract

This study describes how short stories were used as authentic materials in teaching English reading comprehension to eleventh-grade students at SMA Gajah Mada Bandar Lampung. It was designed as a qualitative classroom study. Twenty students (ten girls and ten boys) were selected through purposive sampling from 123 eleventh-grade students, because they were the high-achieving students in English according to the reading test results provided by their English teacher. Data were gathered through classroom observation over two meetings, using observation sheets, field notes, photographs, and video and voice recordings, and through a 20-item Likert-scale questionnaire on the students' perceptions. The data were analyzed with the three-step model of Miles et al. (2014): data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing and verification. Methodological triangulation was used to check the trustworthiness of the findings.

The observations showed that the students became more attentive, curious, and active when they worked with audio-visual and printed short stories. They took part in pair and group discussions, worked out the meaning of unfamiliar words together, and answered comprehension questions about the plot, the characters' motives, and the moral of the story. The questionnaire supported these observations: across the 19 positively worded statements, about 94% of the responses on average were "agree" or "strongly agree", and 85% of the students disagreed that short stories make reading harder. The study concludes that short stories are a suitable form of authentic material for this class because they raise students' interest and support their understanding of English texts.

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