THE EFFECT OF DIRECTED READING THINKING ACTIVITY (DRTA) STRATEGY ON STUDENTS READING COMPREHENSION OF ARGUMENTATIVE TEXT

Abstract

Mastering reading comprehension is fundamental for academic achievement, yet many senior high school learners struggle to identify central claims and arguments, especially in argumentative texts that require critical assessment of assertions, reasoning, and evidence. This study explored the implementation and impact of the Directed Reading Thinking Activity or DRTA strategy on eleventh grade students argumentative reading comprehension at SMAN 2 Slawi. Adopting a quantitative quasi experimental research design, the investigation involved 72 participants from two intact classes, with the experimental group receiving DRTA instruction and the control group undergoing traditional teaching. Data collection encompassed observational records along with pre test and post test scores, which were subsequently processed using paired sample and independent sample t tests. Findings indicated that DRTA implementation unfolded across three main phases, namely predicting, reading to confirm predictions, and revising predictions, over eight intervention sessions. In the experimental group, average scores surged from 52.43 at pre-test to 78.54 at post-test, showing a substantially higher gain than the control group's shift from 50.83 to 58.19. Results from an independent samples t-test confirmed that this difference in post-test outcomes was statistically significant (t = 13.326, df = 70, p < .001). These outcomes confirm that the DRTA approach successfully strengthens students capability to recognize main claims, supporting details, and logical connections in text, making it an effective reading strategy for secondary education