STORYTELLING AND ROLE-PLAYING IN IMPROVING READING COMPREHENSION OF INDONESIAN STUDENTS

Authors

  • Charity Jane Omana-Aguilar University of the Visayas Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15857411

Keywords:

Storytelling, role-playing, reading comprehension, educational intervention, interactive learning, Indonesian students

Abstract

This study explored the importance of storytelling and role-playing in improving the reading comprehension skills of Indonesian students. The study demonstrated proven results in comprehension skills by utilizing both interactive methods in reading activities. This study maximized the one-group pre- and post-test quasi- experimental design, in which participants were measured in only one group before and after the intervention using the same independent variable. The participants of this study were 46 primary four learners of St. John’s Catholic School, Indonesia, for the school year 2023-2024. The results illustrated that there were significant improvements in students’ reading comprehension, as evidenced by the substantial gains in mean scores across all dimensions—literal comprehension, language for events, responding to text, and making inferences— validating the theoretical framework. It also indicated a high t- value that corresponded to a significant difference between the two sets of scores, pretest, and posttest scores. This suggests that the observed changes were unlikely to have occurred by chance. A significance value (p value) of .000, indicates that the difference in scores is statistically significant. This implies a strong likelihood that the observed improvement in scores is not due to chance. Therefore, the null hypothesis was rejected. This implies that the instructional methods or interventions were successful in significantly improving students’ reading comprehension abilities. The substantial increase in scores, along with the statistical significance of the findings, highlight the effectiveness of the educational strategies used in this area of reading comprehension.

References

Alghonaim, A. S. (2020). Impact of related activities on reading comprehension of EFL students. English Language Teaching, 13(4), 1916-4742. Retrieved from: https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v13n4p

Barnes, M. A., Dennis, M., & Haefele-Kalvaitis, J. (1996). The effects of knowledge availability and knowledge accessibility on coherence and elaborative inference in children from six to fifteen years of age. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 62(1), 24-41. Retrieved from: https://doi.org/10.1006/jecp.1996.0015

Boakye, N. A. N. Y. (2021). Using role play and explicit strategy instruction to improve first- year students’ academic reading proficiency. Reading & Writing, 12(1). Retrieved from: https://doi.org/10.4102/rw.v12i1.285

Cahyono, B. Y. (2006). The teaching of EFL reading in the Indonesian context: The state of the art. TEFLIN Journal, 17(1), 36-48. Retrieved from: https://doi.org/10.15639/teflinjournal.v17i1/36-48

Elleman, A. M., & Oslund, E. L. (2019). Reading comprehension research: Implications for practice and policy. Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 6(1), 3-11. Retrieved from: https://doi.org/10.1177/2372732218816339

Febriana, N. H. (2021). The literacy of students in Indonesia is still low. Reading Literacy of Students in Indonesia. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/355887360

Hakim, I. A., et al. (2022). Dealing with common challenges in improving reading comprehension skills for Indonesian secondary school students. ELS Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities, 5(2), 255-264. https://doi.org/10.34050/els- jish.v5i2.10483

Hamra, A., & Syatriana, E. (2015). Developing a model of teaching reading comprehension for EFL students. TEFLIN Journal, 21(1), 27-40.

https://doi.org/10.15639/teflinjournal.v21i1/27-40

Have Fun Teaching. (2005-2023). Phonics and reading comprehension worksheets. Retrieved from: https://www.havefunteaching.com/resource/subject/reading/reading- comprehension/

Horizon at Warner. (2019). Why read? Warner School of Education. University of Rochester. https://horizons/2019/10/31/why-read-the-importance-of-instilling-a-love-of-reading-early/

Jung, J. Y. (2021). Effects of implicit and explicit focus on form on L2 acquisition of the English passive. Foreign Languages Education, 28(1), 57-90.

https://doi.org/10.15334/fle.2021.28.1.57

Kangsepp, P. (2011). Impact of asking support questions on grades 4 and 7 students reading comprehension. Creative Education, 2(4), 381-

387. https://doi.org/10.4236/ce.2011.24054

Keen, S. (2006). A theory of narrative empathy. Narrative, 14(3), 207-

237. https://www.jstor.org/stable/20107388

Khasanah, U. (2011). Improving listening skill by using storytelling (A classroom action research at the second year students of MTs N Klego Boyolali in the academic of 2010/2011). English and Education Department State Islamic Studies Institute.

Krajenord, C. E. (2010). The role of metacognition in reading comprehension. University of Queensland.

K5 Learning. (2021). Reading and comprehension test. K5 Learning. https://www.k5learning.com/reading-comprehension-

worksheets/second-grade- 2/childrens-stories

Le, X. M., Hinh, B. M., & Le, T. T. (2023). Role-playing or retelling stories: Which one is preferable in the post reading stage? International Journal of Instruction, 16(4), 441-464. https://doi.org/10.29333/iji.v16i4.4665

Mayhoub, M. S. O., Ali, E. A. E., & Mohamed, H. M. (2022). Using role-play strategy in reading on developing prep stage pupils‟ flexible thinking. BSU-Journal of Pedagogy and Curriculum. https://doi.org/10.21608/bsujpc.2022.240476

Mpofu, N., & Mavambe, T. (2023). Teachers’ self-reported instructional practices for reading comprehension instruction to non-readers. ELT Worldwide: Journal of English Language Teaching, 10(2), 340. https://doi.org/10.26858/eltww.v10i2.5131

Nanda, D. W. (2020). Poor reading comprehension issue in EFL classroom among Indonesian secondary school students: Scrutinizing the causes, impacts, and possible solutions. Englisia: Journal of Language, Education, and Humanities. https://jurnal.ar- raniry.ac.id/index.php/englisia/article/view/6771/4772

Nicholas, M., Veresov, N., & Clark, J. C. (2021). Guided reading – Working within a child‟s zone of proximal development. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lcsi.2021.100530

Nugrahanto, S., & Zuchdi, D. (2019). Indonesia PISA result and impact on the reading learning program in Indonesia. International Conference on Linguistics, Literature and Education. https://doi.org/10.2991/icille-18.2019.77

Nurdin, E. S. (2015). The policies on civic education in developing national character in Indonesia. International Education Studies, 8(8), 199-

209.https://doi.org/10.5539/ies.v8n8p199

Pearson-Edexcel iPrimary Curriculum English. (2018). Bug club for iPrimary English – Exam materials. Pearson Education Ltd.

Rasakumaran, A., et al. (2019). Schema theory and cognitive aspects of reading. IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 24(4), 26-30. https://doi.org/10.9790/0837- 2404032630

Reid, D., & Ruttle, K. (2015). Pearson primary progress and assess, year 6 reading assessment guide. Pearson Education Limited. www.pearsonschools.co.uk

Sahibzada, J., et al. (2020). Effects of storytelling on improving EFL students‟ critical thinking and reading comprehension. American International Journal of Social Science Research, 5(1), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.46281/aijssr.v5i1.484

Smith, R., Snow, P., Serry, T., & Hammond, L. (2021). The role of background knowledge in reading comprehension: A critical review. Reading Psychology, 42(3), 214-240.

https://doi.org/10.1080/02702711.2021.1888348

Smith, S. R. (2022). Integration of knowledge and ideas. Paths to Literacy.

https://www.pathstoliteracy.org/team-member/seanarae-smith/

Soltani, R. (2013). Storytelling and reading comprehension: A case study. Elixir Social Studies, 59A, 15603-15605.

https://www.elixirpublishers.com/articles/1370688551_59A%20(2013)%2015603- 15605.pdf

Sudibyo, D., et al. (2018). The effectiveness of storytelling to improve students‟ reading comprehension at second grades of MTs Al-Ma‟arif 1 Kabupaten Sorong. Jurnal Pendidikan Bahasa, 5(2), 58-65.

Suparman, A., & Yussof, H. (2017). Using storytelling and role-playing to enhance reading comprehension in EFL classrooms. International Journal of Education and Literacy Studies, 5(3), 80-88.

Suryanto, S. (2017). An investigation on English reading comprehension problems in Indonesian cultural contexts. International Conference on Education, Science, Art and Technology. https://ojs.unm.ac.id/icesat/article/view/3738

Wijayanti, S. H. (2020). Indonesian students‟ reading literacy. International Conference on Recent Advances in Computer and Computational Sciences. https://doi.org/10.2991/icracos-19.2020.13

Yang, J. (2023). The use of schema theory in the teaching of reading comprehension. Journal of Education and Educational Research. https://doi.org/10.54097/jeer.v4i1.10032

Downloads

Published

2025-07-11

How to Cite

Aguilar , C. J. (2025). STORYTELLING AND ROLE-PLAYING IN IMPROVING READING COMPREHENSION OF INDONESIAN STUDENTS. International Multidisciplinary Journal of Research for Innovation, Sustainability, and Excellence (IMJRISE), 2(7), 359-374. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15857411