Implementing kwl technique to enhance reading skill for the 10 th grade students at ham rong high school

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
My study would not have been completed without the invaluable
assistances and unflagging encouragement of many people.
First and foremost, I would like to express my great gratitude to Ms. Le Thi
Huong - MA, my supervisor‘s helps. I am also grateful to him for spending time
reading this thesis and providing useful suggestions and corrections, so I complete
my study well.
Secondly, I would also like to express my thanks to the teachers and the grade
tenth students who have actively participated in this study.
Last but not least, my thankfulness for my family and friends is
immeasurable. They have provided me with a great deal of support, direction,
and encouragement during the process of writing my graduation paper.

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DECLARATION
I declare that this thesis is my own work and has not been submitted in any
form for another degree or diploma at any university or other institution of
tertiary education. Information derived from the published or unpublished work
of others has been acknowledged in the text and a list of references is given.

Thanh Hoa, May 2023
Student

Pham Thi Thao Van

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ABSTRACT

Reading is a dynamic process of catching the words' meaning and getting
the text's information. While reading is a very important part of an individual‘s
personal and educational growth, it is the concept of comprehension that may be
even more important. Reading comprehension is a complex, multiple task ability.
Thus, reading interest is still a big problem with students in Thanh Hoa.
This study aims to enhance students‘ reading comprehension through the
implementation of K-W-L strategy for the 10th grade students at Ham Rong
High School. The KWL strategy stands for what I know, what I want to learn,
and what I did learn. The purpose of K-W-L strategy is to offer construction for
stimulating and building students‘ schemata, to create a determination of their
reading, and to conclude what they acknowledged before.
This research this research applied, consisting of five stages: preliminary
study, planning, implementing, observing, and reflecting. The students were
asked what they know about the topic, what they wanted to know about the topic
and then what they learned from the text after they had read the written text.
Based on the findings of the study, this K-W-L strategy trained students to be
brave to present in front of the class to share their ideas with their friends, and it
also assured other students to keep on listening and appreciating their friends‘
comprehension of the text being studied. It is, therefore, strongly suggested that
the English teachers at High School use the K-W-L strategy to improve students‘
reading comprehension.

No Name 4
1 Table 1.1
2 Table 1.2 LIST OF TABLES
3 Table 1.3
4 Table 2.1 Content
5 Table 2.2 KWL strategy sheet
6 Table 2.3 The example of implementation of KWL strategy
7 Table 2.4 The students and weakness of KWL strategy

8 Table 3.1 The distribution of the 10th grade students of Ham Rong High
School in the academic year of 2022/2023
9 Table 3.2 The sample of the experiment group (10C5)
10 Table 3.3 The sample of the control group (10C2)
11 Table 3.4
Research schedule
12 Table 3.5
Frequency distribution of pre test students‘ reading
13 Table 3.6 comprehension score of experimental class (10C5)

14 Table 3.7 The categorization pre test students‘ reading comprehension
score in class 10C5
15 Table 3.8 Frequency distribution of pre test students‘ reading
comprehension score of control class (10C2)
16 Table 3.9 The categorization pre test students‘ reading comprehension
score in class 10C2

Frequency distribution of post test students‘ reading
comprehension score of the experimental class (10C5)

The categorization post test students‘ reading comprehension
score in class 10C5

Frequency distribution of post test students‘ reading
comprehension score of the control class (10C2)

The categorization post test students‘ reading comprehension
score in class 10C2

Class observation sheet in class 10C5

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LIST OF DIAGRAMS

No Name Content

1 Figure 1.1 Model of reading comprehension proces

2 Figure 3.1 The chart of reading ability of experimetal group

and control group before the experiment

3 Figure 3. 2 The chart of reading ability of experimetal group

and control group after the experiment

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PART 1: INTRODUCTION
In this part, the researcher explains rationale of the study, aim of the sudy,
research questions, scope and limitation of the study, methods of the study and
design of the study.
1. Rationale of the study
Reading is one of important skills that should be acquired and learned by
students in learning English. Reading is not only used in teaching and learning
process but also in daily activities, for example: reading a newspaper, magazine,
book. More importantly, reading functions as a tool to access information. By
reading, the students will get much information and knowledge that is very
useful for them in learning process.

In addition, according to Nunan (2003), reading is a fluent process of readers
combining information form a text and their own background knowledge to build
meaning. It means that it is an activity to find information and produce the
meaning from sentences or paragraph that have read. Furthermore, according to
Hughes (2017), reading is complex interaction between the text, the reader and
the purposes of reading, which are shape by the reader‘s prior knowledge and
experiences, the reader‘s knowledge about reading and writing language
community which is culturally and socially situated.
Reading is a complex activities activity that involves both perception and
thought. Reading consists of two related processes: word recognition and
comprehension. Word recognition refers to the process of perceiving how written
symbols correspond to one‘s spoken language. Comprehension is the process of
making sense of words, sentences and connected text. This comprehension
comes from the interaction between the words that are written and how they
trigger knowledge outside the text or message. Readers typically make use of
background knowledge, vocabulary, grammatical of knowledge, experience with
text and other strategies to help them understand written text.
The goal of reading is comprehension. Reading comprehension is the process
of making meaning from text. The goal, therefore, is to gain an overall
understanding of what is described in the text rather than to obtain meaning from
isolated words or sentences. There are basically two types of reading
comprehension skills: concrete and abstract. Concrete comprehension skills are
the easier of the two to master. They include the ability to answer questions when
the information being asked is explicitly stated in the reading selection. Concrete
skills includes vocabulary, main idea, fact or opinion, sequencing, following
directions and reading for details. Abstracts reasoning includes inference,
analysis, evaluation, drawing conclusions, and cause and effect; and requires the
reader to draw on prior knowledge and processing to identify what is not
explicitly stated. In reading comprehension, the students not only read for
comprehending or just answering the text but also should know the meaning of

the text they read. Reading without understanding seem useless. Understanding
the meaning for the chain of words, sentences, paragraphs which create a passage

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is the purpose of reading. When students cannot comprehend and understand the
text well, they will find the difficulties to find the main ideas and the purpose of
the text

In fact, many students still found the difficulties to comprehend of text. This
condition also happened to students at Ham Rong high school. Some of students
did not understand what they read. They read the text, but they were not able to
identify and comprehend the text. They could not answer the questions correctly
because they had difficulties in comprehending the reading text. Some
difficulties faced by students studying English are: (1) the students lack of
vocabulary and grammar; (2) The students‘ difficulty to understand the meaning
of the text; (3) The students do not have good motivation in reading class
because the students feel that reading activity is boring and not interesting. So,
most of students become passive and lazy to read exactly to read book.

To increase the students‘ reading comprehension, it needs appropriate
technique and strategy helping them as solution for their problems. By using a
strategy in comprehending a text, it can make the teaching and learning process
more effective and make students more active. A strategy can be defined as a
mental plan of action designed to achieve a specific purpose. The strategy helps
to improve reading comprehension as well as efficiently in reading.

In reading, there are many strategies that can be used to teach reading
comprehension. One of them is using Know-Want-Learned (KWL) strategy.
According to Marzano et al in John Barell (2003) state, ―KWL strategy known as

a pre-reading strategy, this approach is effective in tapping into readers‘ prior
knowledge, thereby preparing them for learning‖. In addition, according to
Westwood (2001), the KWL strategy has subsequently been recommended in
many reading methodology texts. The strategy can be used with a class, a small
group or an individual involves the preparations of a KWL chart

Being a teacher of English in the future, I choose the topic: ―Implementing
KWL technique to enhance reading skill for the 10th grade students at Ham
Rong High School‖ for my graduate thesis to investigate reading skill learning
situation and introduce KWL technique to improve reading skill for students at
grade 10 at Ham Rong high school.

2. Aims of the study
The specific aims of this study are:
- Investigate current situations in learnning reading comprehension of 10th
grade students at Ham Rong high school
- Examine the students‘ attitude toward KWL strategy
- Know the effectivemess of KWL strategy to the grade 10th students at Ham
Rong high school
3. Research questions
There is a weakness in the English reading skill of students studying English
as a specialized subject at Ham Rong high school. They usually feel bored when

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learning English reading skill so that they cannot get high scores on their tests.
The thesis mainly pays attention to answer three following research questions:
a. How are learning reading comprehension situation at Ham Rong high school?
b. What is the students‘ attitude towards KWL?
c. How effectively does KWL strategy help students improve reading skills?

4. Scope and limitation of the study
The study is restricted to focus on using KWL strategy in enhancing reading
skills. The subject of the study is limited to the 10th grade students at Ham Rong
high school.
5. Methods of the study
In order to examine the situations of teaching and learning reading skill at
Ham Rong High school and suggest KWL technique, the following methods can
be used in this research:
- Data collection: experimental results, interviews, observations.
- Data analysis: This is used to result ensure validity and reliability.
All the comments, remarks, recommendations and conclusion provided in the
study were based on the data analysis of the study.
6. Design of the study
This study includes three parts:
- Part one: INTRODUCTION: In this chapter, the researcher explains rationale
of the study, methods of the study and design of the study.
- Part two: DEVELOPMENT: This part has three following chapters:
+ Chapter 1: LITERATURE REVIEW: In this chapter, the researcher
reviews theories and the previous study related to the main topic of this research.
+ Chapter 2: METHODDOLOGY AND PRODURE: In this chapter, the
researcher tries to present the way to classify the research and what methods the
researcher chooses. In this research, the researcher thinks that the method is an
important thing. The researcher explains the methods which is used in this
research. It contains data collection, type of research, technique of collecting the
data and research schedule.
+ Chapter 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION: In this chapter, the researcher
describes the results of interviews, observations and tests to analysis.
- Part three: CONCLUSIONS: The conclusion is a summary of the study, future
directions for future research and limitations of the study.

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PART 2: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW
In this chapter, the researcher reviews theories and the previous study
related to the main topic of this research.
1.1. Theoretical background of reading skill
1.1.1. Definition of reading
According to Grabe and Stoller (2002), reading is the ability to draw meaning
from the printed page and interpret this information appropriately. The essential point
in reading is to understand the information. almost everyone can read. but not
everyone can read it correctly. If they can understand the information and present it
then they actually read.
Richards and Schmidt (2002) stated that reading perceives a written text in
order to understand its contents. This can be done silently (silent reading). The
understanding that results is called reading comprehension. Or saying a written text
aloud (oral reading). This can be done with or without an understanding of the
contents. According to Hornby (1995), reading is act of one who read. Reading is the
skill or activity of getting information from books.
Based on explanation above, the researcher concludes that reading is a process
to convey the message or information. By reading, the reader will know what they
read and challenged to response the ideas of the author. In order to make the
messages or information that comes from the author can be understood and
comprehended easily by the reader.
1.1.2. The traditional view of reading
According to Dole et al. (1991), in the traditional view of reading, novice
readers acquire a set of hierarchically ordered sub-skills that sequentially build
toward comprehension ability. Having mastered these skills, readers are viewed as
experts who comprehend what they read. Readers are passive recipients of

information in the text. Meaning resides in the text and the reader has to reproduce
meaning. According to Nunan (1991), reading in this view is basically a matter of
decoding a series of written symbols into their aural equivalents in the quest for
making sense of the text. He referred to this process as the ―bottom-up‖ view of
reading. McCarthy (1999) has called this view ―outside-in‖ processing, referring to
the idea that meaning exists in the printed page and is interpreted by the reader then
taken in. This model of reading has almost always been under attack as being
insufficient and defective for the main reason that it relies on the formal features of
the language, mainly words and structure.
Although it is possible to accept this rejection for the fact that there is over-
reliance on structure in this view, it must be confessed that knowledge of linguistic
features is also necessary for comprehension to take place. To counteract over-
reliance on form in the traditional view of reading, the cognitive view was introduced.
1.1.3. The cognitive view of reading
The ―top-down‖ model is in direct opposition to the ―bottom-up‖ model.
According to Nunan (1991) and Dubin and Bycina (1991), the psycho-linguistic

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model of reading and the top-down model are in exact concordance. Goodman (1967;
cited in Paran, 1996) presented reading as a psycholinguistic guessing game, a
process in which readers sample the text, make hypotheses, confirm or reject them,
make new hypotheses, and so forth. Here, the reader rather than the text is at the heart
of the reading process. The schema theory of reading also fits within the cognitively
based view of reading. Rumelhart (1977) has described schemata as ―building blocks
of cognition‖ which are used in the process of interpreting sensory data, in retrieving
information from memory, in organizing goals and sub-goals, in allocating resources,
and in guiding the flow of the processing system. He has also stated that if our
schemata are incomplete and do not provide an understanding of the incoming data
from the text we will have problems processing and understanding the text.

Cognitively based views of reading comprehension emphasize the interactive
nature of reading and the constructive nature of comprehension. Dole et al. (1991)
have stated that, besides knowledge brought to bear on the reading process, a set of
flexible, adaptable strategies are used to make sense of a text and to monitor ongoing
understanding.

1.1.4. The meta-cognitive view of reading
According to Block (1992), there is now no more debate on "whether reading
is a bottom-up, language-based process or a top-down, knowledge-based process." It
is also no more problematic to accept the influence of background knowledge on both
L1 and L2 readers. Research has gone even further to define the control readers
execute on their ability to understand a text. This control, Block (1992) has referred
to as meta-cognition.
Meta-cognition involves thinking about what one is doing while reading. Klein
et al. (1991) stated that strategic readers attempt the following while reading: (1)
Identifying the purpose of the reading before reading; (2) Identifying the form or type
of the text before reading; (3) Thinking about the general character and features of
the form or type of the text. For instance, they try to locate a topic sentence and
follow supporting details toward a conclusion; (3) Projecting the author's purpose for
writing the text (while reading it); (4) Choosing, scanning, or reading in detail; (5)
Making continuous predictions about what will occur next, based on information
obtained earlier, prior knowledge, and conclusions obtained within the previous
stages.
Moreover, they attempt to form a summary of what was read. Carrying out the
previous steps requires the reader to be able to classify, sequence, establish whole-
part relationships, compare and contrast, determine cause-effect, summarize,
hypothesis and predict, infer, and conclude.
1.1.5. Types of reading
Afflerbach, et al. (2008) state that the balance between effortful intentional

strategy use and automatic reading skills application is a central characteristic of
successful reading; and that the main difference between strategies and skills is
automaticity, which occurs quickly and without conscious decision on part of the

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reader. Al-Mekhlaf (2018) establishes that ―It is contended that with enough practice,
a consciously deployed reading strategy can become an automatically employed
reading skill.‖; which implies that there is a complementary cycle of strategies and
skills that is continuously active during reading, and that interchanging strategies and
skills to adapt to different situations and goals is necessary. Spratt, et al. (2011) reveal
that these reading skills also take the name of sub-skills, and that they assist reading
in multiple ways depending on the reading purpose; which implies that purpose
directly influences the way it is approached and which sub-skills are applied.

Krashen & Terrell (1998) identify the four main sub-skills of reading as
skimming, scanning, intensive reading and extensive reading; notwithstanding, it is
important to keep in mind that these sub-skills complementary interact with the
reading strategies mentioned in the previous section.

a. Scanning: Spratt, et al. (2011) state that scanning refers to searching for
specific information within a text, where a quick glance is taken to find the relevant
information without reading the whole text.

b. Skimming: Krashen & Terrell (1998) mention that this reading sub-skill
follows scanning in the way it is performed, which means a quick glance to extract
superficial information of a text without major details, but instead of trying to find
specific words or information if focuses on the general essence of the different parts
or sections of a text. Spratt, et al. (2011) says that this sub-skill is also known as
reading for global understanding. Additionally, it could be said that scanning and

skimming complement each other since many times it is necessary to find specific
elements that reveal the gist or main idea of a text; nevertheless, each could be used
independently to achieve the desired or required goal.

c. Extensive Reading: Yamashita (2015) identifies this sub-skill as that where
great quantities of easy and interesting reading materials are consumed, allowing the
reader to enjoy reading and to read quickly which leads to the high volumes of
consumption. This pleasure reading is mostly done out of the enjoyment of
discovering and learning from the text. Yamashita (2008) reveals that it is possible to
increase automaticity of lower-level processes through extensive reading due to the
quantity and repeated exposure to the language that fosters their development.
Likewise, strategy use here amplifies reading pleasure and comprehension.

d. Intensive Reading: Spratt, et al. (2011) describe it as the opposite of
extensive reading, where general comprehension is not the focus and examining and
studying the language takes center stage, which is also called reading for detail.
Hatami & Asl (2017) add that intensive reading consists in extracting specific
linguistic elements from short portions of text, which means that the text is used as a
linguistic object to analyze grammatical patterns as well as particular and concrete
lexical items.

1.1.6. The purpose of reading
Reading is an activity with a purpose. A person may read in order to gain
information or verify existing knowledge. A person may also read for enjoyment, or
to enhance knowledge of the language being read. Reading also plays an important

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role in civic life. Through reading, the individual keeps informed on the political,
social, and economic and cultural problems of his country. Reading affects our

attitudes, beliefs, standards, morals, judgments, and general behavior; it shapes our
thinking and our actions. The purpose of reading is to correlate the ideas on the text
to what you have already known. The reader must understand about the subject that
he/she read to connect the ideas.

Grabe and Stoller (2002) point out that this is the purposes of reading:
a. Reading to search for simple information: Reading to search for simple
information is a common reading ability, though some researchers see it as a
relatively independent cognitive process. It is used so often in reading tasks that is
probably best seen as type of reading ability. In reading to search, we typically scan
the text for a specific piece of information or a specific word. As an example, we
usually search through a telephone directory to find key information, either and
address or a phone number. In prose texts, we sometimes slow down to process the
meaning of a sentence or two in search of clues that might indicate the right page,
section, or chapter.
b. Reading to skim quickly: Reading to skim quickly is a common part of
many reading task and a useful skill in its own right. It involves, in essence, a
combination of strategies for guessing where important might be in the text, and then
using basic reading comprehension skills on those segments of the text until a general
idea is formed.
c. Reading to learn from text: Reading to learn typically occurs in academic
and professional contexts in which a person needs to learn a considerable amount of
information from a text, it requires abilities to: (1) Remember main ideas as well as a
number of details that elaborate the main and supporting ideas in the text; (2)
Recognize and build rhetorical frames that organize the information in the text; (3)
Link the text to the reader‘s knowledge.
d. Reading to integrate information: Reading to integrate information requires
additional decision about the relative importance of complementary, mutually
supporting or conflicting information and likely restructuring of a rhetorical frame to
accommodate information from multiple sources.

e. Reading to write and reading to critique texts: Reading to write and reading
to critique texts may be task variants of reading to integrate information. Both require
abilities to compose, select, and critique information from a text.
f. Reading for general comprehension: Reading for general comprehension
when accomplished by a skilled fluent reader, require very rapid and automatic
processing of words, strong skills in forming a general meaning representation of
main idea, and efficient coordination of many processes under very limited time
constraint.
Purposes of reading are not only for students, but also the people in general.
They must read extensively to get information and knowledge of social living. It can
help a person keeps informed on the social, political, and economical problems of his
country.

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1.1.7. Stages of reading comprehension:
In teaching reading, there are number of steps or stages which can be applied
by the teacher to achieve the objectives stated and to make the students effective and
skilled reader. There are three stages of teaching reading: Pre-Reading; While-
Reading; Post-Reading.
1.1.7.1. Pre-Reading
This reading stages is intended to arouse the students‘ interest. The students
can answer the all of the teacher question. Pre-reading is based on the students‘
experience or knowledge. Pre-reading can be done by some activities, those are: (1)
Using picture: It means that a teacher will give a picture to get response of the
students about the topic of reading. In this case, the students will try to tell about the
essence of the picture that the teacher gives and the students will answer some
questions that have relation with the picture. (2) Completing the title: After
determining the picture, the teacher will ask the students what is the possible title for
the picture and the students will answer it.

1.1.7.2. While-Reading
During the activity, the teacher gives the task before the students read the text.
It is called ―surface problem‖. It can be done with several activities, those are: (1)
Asking simple wh-question (factual), not yes-no question. (2) Completing a table. (3)
Making a list.
In this step, the students read the text quickly and do the task individually,
while the teacher checks them. After finishing the surface problem activities, the
teacher provides the tasks which are given after the students read the text. It is called
―deep problem‖ it can be done by: (1) Giving more difficult wh-question; (2) Giving
true or false statement with reason; (3) Giving problem with new words by deducting
the meaning from the context.
1.1.7.3. Post-Reading
Post-Reading is a final activity that the students have to communicate in
English. It also meant to develop the students‘ understanding. This activity can be
done by: (1) Retelling the content of reading text. In this case, the teacher is going to
know the student‘s preparation in mastering reading text. The students retell the
content in their own words. (2) Summarizing the content. It can be done by using the
key word to summarize the content of text. (3) Giving other suitable communicative
activity in the form of jumble sentences. In this case, the students will give a response
to the problem found in the text. During this activity, the students do the task given
by the teacher, while the teacher monitors and check the whole groups. The teacher
should be certain that the class clearly knows about the objectives in reading class.
The objectives or aim must be placed where it can be seen by all of the students all
times. It can be put on the poster or a chart.
1.1.8. Process of reading comprehension
Spratt et al (2005) define reading as a process of responding to, making sense a
text being read and connecting it with readers‘ prior knowledge. In making sense of
information, readers connect new knowledge to the knowledge they know already. It

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is believed that relating to readers‘ prior knowledge will make readers memorize the
new knowledge longer.

Brown (2004) states that reading is a process of negotiation meaning. In this
process, the readers bring their understanding about the meaning of texts they read. It
implies that the readers‘ understanding about the text is the result of interaction
between their thought and the meaning of the texts they read. Reading comprehension
process must be occurred in reading process. Therefore, there are many theories
which underlie the notions of reading comprehension.

One of them is proposed by Boardman, et.al (2007). They define reading
comprehension as a multi component highly complex process that involves many
interactions between readers and what they bring to the text. Then, Merisou (2007)
proposes that reading comprehension is a complex process in which the reader
constructs meaning by interacting with the text using his previous knowledge and
experience and information that can be found in the text. The more background
information related to the text the reader processes, the easier it is for him to
understand the text. He asserts that when reading the text, someone activates their
previous knowledge about the topic. Sadoski (2004) describes that reading
comprehension is the process in getting meaning of the texts. It is an active process in
which readers try to interpret the meaning of the texts. Without any effort to interpret
the texts‘ meaning, the texts will remain meaningless. The meaning of the text is not
something which is instantly offered. It requires the readers to do reading
comprehension process. Davies in Alderson (2000) defines eight sub-skills of
reading processes. They are presented below. (1) Recalling word meanings; (2)
Drawing inferences about the meaning of a word in context; (3) Finding answers to
questions answered explicitly or in paraphrase; (4) Weaving together ideas in the
content; (5) Drawing inferences from the content; (6) Recognizing a writer‘s
purposes, attitude, tone and mood; (7) Identifying a writer‘s technique; (8) Following

the structure of a passage.

Davies (2002) simply proposes a model of reading comprehension process.
Based on his framework, reading comprehension employs some processes. Initially,
the readers set up some expectations and ideas which are related to the texts they are
going to read. Then, the readers identify the vocabularies, grammar and generic
structure of the texts to help them understand the meaning. Besides, the readers
should activate their background knowledge and link it to the topic of the texts. Based
on the points that are previously built, then the readers establish guess of what will
come next. The process is described as follows:

Activate Establish
background guess of what
knowledge
and link it will come
to the topic text
of the texts

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Figure 1.1 Model of reading comprehension process
Regarding to the theories above, it can be concluded that reading
comprehension is the core of reading since it is intended to get the meaning of the
texts. Reading comprehension does not occur in vacuum, it requires active interaction
between the readers and the texts. The readers have to establish their reading
purposes. Then, they bring their knowledge connecting with the topic of the texts,
vocabularies, grammar and the text structure. The readers should also apply some
strategies to deal with the texts. Finally, they are expected to establish their own
argument to give responses toward the texts they have read and to make prediction
about the texts.

1.2. The importance of enhancing students’ reading comprehension
1.2.1. The importance of reading comprehension
There are some reasons why reading is important to get students to read
especially reading English texts. Harmer (1998) states that there are some reasons
why reading becomes so important. Reading gives many exposures to students‘
language acquisition. They will unconsciously learn a new word, grammar and
extract meaning of the word in contexts. When they read, they get many kinds of
language exposures from many different kinds of texts, they repeat the exposures and
easily memorize them.
Before reading, good readers tend to set goals for their reading. They note the
structure, or organization of the text, and often create a mental overview or outline of
the text to help them decide whether it is relevant to their goals. Reading fluency is a
very important part of reading comprehension as readers who spend their time
decoding words tend to lose the understanding of what is being read. A major goal of
reading comprehension instruction, therefore, is to help students develop the
knowledge, skills, and experiences they must have if they are to become competent
and enthusiastic readers.
In addition, Harrison (2004) argues that the importance of reading is not only
related to the development of knowledge but also it is related to the people thinking
capability. This capability will be the basic development of emotional, moral and
verbal intelligence. Moreover, these developments determine what kind of person
people would be. Goodman in Burt (2003), Peyton, and Adam states that it is
important to learn reading since it (1) helps people learn to think new language, (2)
helps people build better vocabulary, (3) helps people more comfortable with written
English, (4) can help people plan to study in English - speaking country. Reading not
only helps us in the reading ability but also helps us at the other skills too. To get
more knowledge the good readers realize about the importance of reading.
From the benefits of reading above, those benefits will help the students a lot
in their life then. Reading is important for students both to develop their knowledge
and develop the way they think related to the development of moral, emotion, as well

as verbal intelligence. Reading is a very important skill that students have to master.
Any exposure from reading gives many benefits for the students in the process of
acquiring language and developing their thinking and emotional. Opportunities to

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expose English texts more helps the reader accustom to written English texts. It will
develop their awareness in decoding a printed language and recalling the meaning.
1.2.2. Strategies in Reading Comprehension

Reading comprehension strategy is way of accessing the meaning of texts,
which are employed flexibly and selectively in the course of reading. Reading
strategies are often divided into three stages; (1) pre reading, (2) while reading, and
(3) post reading. To be able to read texts, students should have their strategies.
Process of reading is not a merely instant process that occurs without any strategy
and sequence.

There are some strategies in reading proposed by Brown (2004). They are: (1)
identifying the purpose of reading; (2) using graphonic rules and patterns to aid in
bottom up decoding; (3) using efficient silent reading techniques for relatively rapid
comprehension; (4) Skimming; (5) Scanning; (6) guessing when the reader is not
understand; (7) analyzing vocabulary; (8) distinguishing between literal implied
meaning, and the last; (9) capitalizing on discourse markers to process relationship.

Aside Browns‘ strategies, Pearson (2006) isolates seven strategies used by
successful readers. The seven strategies are: (1) using existing knowledge to make
sense of new information; (2) drawing inferences from the text; (3) monitoring the
reader‘s own comprehension; (4) using ―fix-up strategies when meaning breaks
down; (5) determining what is important; (6) synthesizing information to create new
thinking. Referred to Brown‘s and Pearson‘s, strategies in reading help the teacher to

assist students into efficient and successful readers.

By applying strategies in reading the teacher and students are expected to be
more organized in understanding a text. However, this research focus only on some
strategies which are linear to the students‘ reading problems in identifying the
purpose of reading, guessing meaning from context, analyzing vocabulary, using
existing knowledge to make sense of new information, and asking questions about the
text before, during, and after reading.
1.3. The factors influence reading comprehension

According to Klingner, Vaughn and Broadman (2007), there are some factors
from readers‘ basic skills which cause difficulties in reading comprehension. Those
factors are word reading, fluency, vocabulary mastery, and world knowledge. When
the readers have difficulties in decoding or reading words, they feel hard to
understand the meaning of the text. If they read slowly and inaccurately, it also
becomes interference for their reading comprehension.

In addition, according Torgesen in Peter Westwood (2001), a readers‘
understanding of text is influenced by a broad range of factors, including his or her
motivation, interest, vocabulary, general knowledge, knowledge of the particular
subject, word identification skills, reasoning ability, use of effective strategies to
identify main ideas and supporting detail, and an appreciation of text structure.
Reading with understanding involves the smooth co-ordination of higher order
cognitive processes (thinking, reasoning, analyzing, connecting, reflecting) and lower
order processes (word recognition, decoding)

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Based on the definitions above, it can be concluded, the knowledge of the
words in varied contexts and background knowledge of the topic discussed also affect

reading comprehension. Although, the readers have high fluency, it will be difficult
to comprehend the text without sufficient knowledge of the words in the context.
Also the readers‘ strategy in comprehending text is important to important to gain
more knowledge from the text.
1.4. Theoretical background of KWL
1.4.1. Definition of KWL technique

KWL strategy comprises three basic concepts: Know, Want and Learnt. Ogle
(1986) developed the KWL strategy is a plan to activate the reader's background
knowledge and to show students how text can be related to what they know and what
they want to learn. KWL is a strategy that develops active reading of expository text.
According to Lester and Head (2002) say that KWL strategy helps students to create
their own meaning. KWL strategy provides a framework that students can use to
construct meaning from new material. It is a strategy that can be used at any level and
in any content area. In this strategy, the teacher serves as a guide and facilitator in the
process.

Based on the explanations above, the researcher concludes that this strategy is
intended for use by instructors, but some responsibilities fall on students as well.
KWL strategy ensures that teachers have a structure allowing students to control their
own inquiry and extending the pursuit of knowledge beyond one reading selection.
Students identify their own content-related questions and attempt to determine the
author's purpose of reading the text.
1.4.2. The basic elements of KWL technique

The strategy was first developed by Ogle (1986) on the basis of the idea that
language learners gain knowledge by constructing meaning. As pointed out by Ogle,
some researches (Anderson, 1984; Steffenson, Joag-Dev, and Anderson, 1979,
Taboada and Guthrie, 2006) agree that good learners relate their prior knowledge to
new information, reorganize it, and create their own meaning. Furthermore, she

emphasizes that KWL strategy provides a framework for learning which can be
applied across content area to help them construct meanings.

In addition, the strategy is designed to be used by a teacher and group of
students working together. It later might directed to a method for students‘
independent study. In implementing the strategy, the teacher initially conducts an oral
discussion of each of the components of KWL and let the process continue to
students‘ individual writing of their own ideas and questions on a personal worksheet.
(Asri, 2014).

The process of constructing meaning, using this strategy, starts with recalling
what the students know, continued to jotting down what they want to know, and
ended with listing what they have learned and is yet to be learned. By doing this
strategy in teaching reading, Ogle (1986) argues that the teacher is likely to actively
involve students, firstly by using their prior knowledge and relating it with the
information that will be found in a text. In this stage, before reading, the teacher

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guide the students to brainstorm everything they know about the topic. Then, they
specify what information they want to know, usually in forms of questions. It may be
done either before or during reading and intended to stimulate the students‘ interest
and to help provide with the purpose for reading. Finally, during and after reading,
the students give remarks about what they have learned and still need to learn to link
between questions asked and information encountered. All of those ideas coming
from the students should be recorded in the provided sheet. By the end of the
teaching and learning process using this strategy, the students not only improve their
speaking but also their writing skill as well since the scheme of KWL also works
efficiently in writing instruction (Fengjuan, 2010).

Table 1.1 KWL Strategy Sheet

Name: W- What I want to L- What I have learned
Topic:
K- What I know

know and still need to learn

1.4.3. The procedures of KWL strategy in reading comprehension

According to Jo Anne L.Vacca, et al, there are three main steps in making

KWL strategy. The procedure of using KWL strategy is described as the following:

1.4.3.1. Column K (Know)

The first step is pre-reading activities. The teacher involves brainstorming with

a group of students to help them focus on their current knowledge of a topic. The

teacher‘s questions should lead children to think about an and to respond specially to

the topic being discussed. The purpose of this brainstorming process is to activate

children prior knowledge so that they can understand what they will read in the text.

The children‘ s answers are recorded on the board or on the worksheets in column K

1.4.3.2. Column W (Want to know)

The second step, the teacher evolves naturally from assessing the results of the

brainstorming and categorizing activities. This step is done mainly as a group activity,

each student write the information that he/ she is interested in learning about on the

worksheet in column W. Students‘ personal interests guide and motivate their reading.

1.4.3.3. Column L (Learned)

During the last step of KWL process, the students record their findings on their

worksheets. They have the option of writing down the information when reading or

immediately after they finish reading. Thank to the teacher‘s guides and assistances,

the students assess whether their concerns were answered by reading text. When

students need or want to additional information about the topic, they should be

guided to other sources of information in column L

Table 1.2. The Example of the Implementation of KWL Strategy

Teacher‘s Activities Students‘Activities

- Explain about KWL Strategy. - Listen and understand the teacher‘s

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- Introduce the students with the topic explanation.
(Website) and the task, i.e. finding
out types of websites and their - Get and read the sheet.
purposes.
- Provide the students with the KWL - Activate their prior knowledge
Strategy Sheet (Table 1) and the (from the previous different subjects
worksheet. such as the Introduction of the
- Guide the students to brainstorm the Internet and Website Basic) to
topic based on their schemata and ask brainstorm the ideas about the topic
them to fill in the K column. as well as to make prediction about
the articles they are going to read.
- Ask the students to read some Then, fill in the K column on the
articles from the given links related to sheet.
the topic and to fill in the W column - Go online, open the given links,
as they read them. read the articles, and filling in the W
- Ask the students to fill in the L column.
column after they finish reading the
articles. - Continue their reading and fill in the
- Ask the student fill in the worksheet L column after finishing it.
to sum up their understanding about
the topic. - Complete the worksheet based on
- Ask the students to read their what they have learned from the texts.
summary and evaluate it. - Read the summary and get the
- Encourage the students to find out feedback from the teacher.
more information about the texts that - Find out more information about the
they still do not understand or need to texts if there is still information need
know to know.

1.4.4. The strengths and weaknesses of KWL (Know, Want, Learned)
There are some strengths and weaknesses in KWL (Know, Want, Learned)

strategy:
Table 1.3 The strengths and weaknesses of KWL strategy

No Strengths Weakness

1 Elicits students‘ prior knowledge. Difficult for students with no prior

• Students have to brainstorm their knowledge

ideas and try to listing everything they • Students have a problem to listing

know about the topic in ‗K‘ column and hard for them to

have a general idea of the topic.

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2 Easy to use and organize. Take time to complete.

• Students could divide the important • Students have to draw the

and not so important points by dividing framework and use a lot of time to

them into the appropriate column. think about what to list in each

• They could see clearly the points in column.

order to answer the comprehension • Not appropriate to use in exams

questions because the time is limited.

3 Sets a purpose for reading. Not effective for reading fiction

• Readers have the idea about the text materials.

before reading the whole text. • Readers do not have any idea

• Readers are more focus to find the about the story or novel. So, this

important points while reading. strategy is not suitable.

4 Encourage students to make a critical Not proper for readers who has

thinking. non-active thinking.

• Students need to fill in the ‗L‘ • This strategy serves as a model

column by thinking what they had for active thinking during reading.

learnt after reading the text. • So, it is not suitable for a reader

• Students think hard want to know who has low thinking level and

more about the topic by questioning in poor memory skills because they

the column ‗W will not be able to expend their

ideas beyond the text.

5 Helps students to monitor their Students will give up and get bored

comprehension and knowledge. easily.

• Students know their vocabulary level • When students fail to make a

and understanding ability. critical thinking by filling in the

• Students learn new topic and put an three columns, they would give up

effort to study more about the topic in and refuse to complete the

order to update their knowledge. framework.

1.5 Previous study
In this section, the researcher quotes from the other theses that the
researcher quoted as a reference in this thesis. In this section, the researcher
quotes from the other theses that the researcher quoted as a reference in this
thesis.
The first is ―The effectiveness of using KWL strategy to improve the students‘
reading comprehension ability in descriptive text at the seventh grade students of
SMP N 4 Purworejo in the academic year of 2012/2013‖ (Listya Ningrum, 2013).
The objectives of this research are to describe whether the KWL (know, want,
learned) strategy to improve the students‘ reading comprehension ability in
descriptive text is effective or not at the seventh grade students of SMP N 4
Purworejo in the academic year of 2012/2013. The use of KWL as the strategy for
treat the VIII B class is improves the students reading comprehension. It shown by
the means of pre test (61.00) and post test (68.60). The conclusion of this research is