THE USE OF KWL STRATEGY COMBINED WITH PICTURE TO IMPROVE READING COMPREHENSION OF THE EIGHTH GRADE STUDENTS OF SMP DHARMA WIWEKA DENPASAR IN ACADEMIC YEAR 2021/2022

Reading comprehension is a skill that needs to be improved because the readers need to comprehend what they have read in order to get the information. This study was aimed to find out whether or not the subjects’ reading comprehension can be improved through KWL strategy combined with picture. The subjects were the eighth grade students of SMP Dharma Wiweka Denpasar in academic year 2021/2022, especially the students of VIII H class which consisted of 36 students. Based on the result of pre-test, it was found that many students had problems in identifying general information, specific information, textual meaning and textual reference. Therefore, the KWL strategy combined with picture was carried out which divided into two cycles. The data were obtained by administering post-test 1 and post-test 2 in the end of each cycle. The mean scores of pre-test, post test 1, and post-test 2 were respectively, 51.31, 66.72, and 76.53. The result of the post-tests showed that there were significant improvements toward subjects reading comprehension. Moreover, the result of questionnaire showed that the subjects gave positive responses toward the use of KWL Strategy combined with picture. In conclusion, this study proved that reading comprehension of the eighth grade students of SMP Dharma Wiweka Denpasar in academic year 2021/2022 could be improved through KWL Strategy combined with picture.