IMPROVING READING COMPREHENSION OF THE SEVENTH-GRADE STUDENTS OF SMP WIDIATMIKA IN THE ACADEMIC YEAR 2024/2025 THROUGH MURDER TECHNIQUES

Reading comprehension is the ultimate goal of all reading, namely understanding obtained from the text. The objective of this classroom action research was to figure out whether or not the reading comprehension of the seventh- grade students of SMP Widiatmika could be improved through the MURDER technique. The subjects of this study were class VII 1 which consisted of 25 students. This classroom action research design was conducted in two cycles each cycle involved two sessions. The research instruments that were used in administering the data were: pre-test, post-test, and questionnaire. This present study was conducted based on the result of the pre-test in the initial reflection, especially in the descriptive text which showed that the student’s ability in reading comprehension was still low and they did not know how to identify general information, specific information, textual meaning, and textual reference. The subjects’ mean scores had significant improvement from the pre-test was 57.2, post- test 1 in cycle 1 was 75.7, and post-test 2 in cycle 2 was 82.4. Furthermore, this research showed positive responses concerning the implementation of the MURDER technique in improving reading comprehension. The result of the questionnaire showed the percentage of 61% strongly agreed, 35% agreed, 3% undecided, 1% disagreed, and 0% strongly disagreed. Based on the results of this study it could be concluded that the reading comprehension of the eighth-grade students of SMP Widiatmika could be improved through the MURDER technique.