IMPROVING READING COMPREHENSION OF THE SEVENTH-GRADE STUDENT OF SMPN 5 MENGWI IN THE ACADEMIC YEAR 2024/2025 THROUGH KWL STRATEGY COMBINED WITH PICTURE

Reading comprehension is the ability to comprehend written information. It is one of the four essential language skills in learning English. However, students were still facing significant challenges with reading comprehension; they struggled to identify general information, specific information, textual meaning, and textual references in the reading texts. The present research objective was mainly intended to find out whether the reading comprehension of seventh-grade students of SMPN 5 Mengwi in the academic year 2024/2025 could be improved through KWL strategy combined with picture. The present study used a classroom action research design that was conducted in two cycles. The data was collected by administering tests and a structured questionnaire. After the cyclical research processes, it was found that KWL combined with picture was an appropriate and effective teaching technique to help the students improve their reading comprehension, especially in identifying the four aspects of reading comprehension. It could be seen in the results of the pre-test, post-test 1, and post-test 2, which showed an increase in their mean score. Furthermore, it was supported by the results of the structured questionnaire, which showed positive responses to the implementation of KWL combined with picture. Based on the research findings, it could be concluded that the reading comprehension of seventh-grade students of SMP Negeri 5 Mengwi in the academic year 2024/2025 could be improved through KWL strategy combined with picture.