START WITH SIMPLE STORIES: BOOSTING EIGHTH GRADERS READING COMPREHENSION AT SMPN 19 PALU
DOI: https://doi.org/10.26618/g8g19x92
Improving, Reading Comprehension, Start with Simple Story (SSS) Method
Abstrak
The objective of this study is to determine whether using the Start with Simple Story (SSS) Method could improve the reading comprehension of eighth-grade students at SMP Negeri 19 Palu. A pre-experimental one-group pretest–posttest design was applied to 31 purposively selected students. Data collection was conducted using pretest and posttest assessments. The pretest was administered to measure the students' initial knowledge, while the posttest was given to measure the improvement in their reading comprehension after the treatment. The average pretest score was 32.77, while the average posttest score was 64.51. Using a significance level of 0.05, the researcher observed that the calculated t-value (7.82) was higher than the t-table value (2.042). The conclusion is that the Start with Simple Story (SSS) Method significantly improves the reading comprehension of eighth-grade students at SMP Negeri 19 Palu. These findings imply that the SSS method effectively reduces students' reading anxiety by providing accessible materials. Therefore, it is recommended that EFL teachers integrate simplified storytelling to foster early comprehension success.
Referensi
Ahmadi, M. R. (2023). The impact of reading anxiety on reading comprehension in EFL classrooms. Journal of English Language Teaching and Linguistics, 8(2), 145-158. https://doi.org/10.21462/jeltl.v8i2.1054
Day, R. R. (2023). Extensive reading in the EFL classroom. Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language.
Elvriza, M. S., & Nurcholis, I. A. (2025). The impact of extensive reading of novels on students' English vocabulary acquisition. Indonesian Journal of Education, 1(3), 94-102. https://doi.org/10.71417/ije.v1i3.215
Fauzi, F. (2023). The reading comprehension of tenth grade students of SMAN 5 Pinrang taught by using Start Simple Stories Extensive Reading method [Undergraduate thesis, State Islamic Institute Parepare]. IAIN Parepare Institutional Repository.
Grabe, W., & Yamashita, J. (2024). Reading Assessment. In Reading in a Second Language: Moving from Theory to Practice (2nd ed., Chapter 20). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009038221
Isral, M., Syamsidar, & Yunus, M. (2024). The effectiveness of Start Simple Story (SSS) method in teaching reading Narrative text at SMP Kartika XX-2 Makasar. Jurnal Karya Mahasiswa (KIMA), 3(2), 283–288. https://ojs.unm.ac.id/jkma/article/view/63891
Nur Fitria, T. (2023). Teaching extensive reading to EFL and non-EFL students: Benefits and problems. ENJEL: English Journal of Education and Literature, 2(1), 76-85. https://doi.org/10.30599/enjel.v2i01.471
Nation, I. S. P. (2021). Learning vocabulary in another language (3rd ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Nufus, Z., & Ifadloh, N. (2021). The realization of Brown’s theory of assessing reading on reading section of English national examination. SALEE: Study of Applied Linguistics and English Education, 2(02), 182-191. https://doi.org/10.35961/salee.v2i02.288
Paratih, A. (2026). Vocabulary learning through extensive reading implementation. SAGA: Journal of English Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics, 7(1), 43-52. https://doi.org/10.21460/saga.2026.71.512
Purba, R. (2023). Methodological choices in classroom action and experimental research: Balancing ecological and internal validity. Journal of English Language Pedagogy, 6(2), 112- 121.https://doi.org/10.36665/jelp.v6i2.711
Penalba, C. (2026). Emotional and cognitive landscapes of EFL learners living in the Philippines: A phenomenological study. Journal of Interdisciplinary Perspectives, 4(1), 1230-1242. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10654321
PIRLS. (2026). PIRLS 2026 Reading Assessment Framework. International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA).
Rosiana, D., Marzuki, A., & Saputri, T. W. (2022). Purposive sampling in educational research: Optimizing sample selection for target language interventions. Indonesian Journal of Educational Assessment, 5(1), 45-56. https://doi.org/10.26499/ijea.v5i1.218
Renandya, W. A., & Jacobs, G. M. (2022). Extensive reading: Theory and practice. ER Journal, 14(1), 12-25. https://doi.org/10.58421/erj.v1i1.23
Renandya, W. A., et al. (2024). Nurturing reading autonomy through simplified texts in Asian EFL contexts. Asian Journal of English Language Teaching, 33(1), 45-68. https://doi.org/10.21315/ajelt2024.33.1.3
Suhadi, M., & Hartono, R. (2024). Identifying and mitigating internal validity threats in single-group pre-experimental EFL studies. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 15(3), 789- 798. https://doi.org/10.17507/jltr.1503.12
Wiranegara, D. A. (2022). Implementing SSS method to improve students’ reading comprehension in extensive reading activity. Indonesian Journal of Language Teaching, 14(1), 55- 64. https://doi.org/10.25170/ijlt.v14i1.3014
Zainuddin, Hamdani, B., & Deviana, A. M. . (2022). Improving the Students’ Reading Comprehension Through the SSS (Start with Simple Story) Method In Extensive Reading Activity. Teaching English As Foreign Language, Literature and Linguistics, 2(1),11- 29.https://doi.org/10.33752/teflics.v2i1.2649
Zein, S., et al. (2023). The effectiveness of Start with Simple Stories (SSS) method on EFL students' vocabulary attainment. International Journal of Education and Literacy Studies, 11(4), 89- 98. https://doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijels.v.11n.4p.89
Unduhan
Diterbitkan
Cara Mengutip
Terbitan
Bagian
Lisensi
Hak Cipta (c) 2026 2026
Artikel ini berlisensiCreative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
In order to assure the highest standards for published articles, a peer review policy is applied. In pursue of the compliance with academic standards, all parties involved in the publishing process (the authors, the editors and the editorial board and the reviewers) agree to meet the responsibilities stated below in accordance to the Journal publication ethics and malpractice statement.
Duties of Authors:
- The author(s) warrant that the submitted article is an original work, which has not been previously published, and that they have obtained an agreement from any co-author(s) prior to the manuscript’s submission;
- The author(s) should not submit articles describing essentially the same research to more than one journal;
- The authors(s) make certain that the manuscript meets the terms of the Manuscript Submission Guideline regarding appropriate academic citation and that no copyright infringement occurs;
- The authors(s) should inform the editors about any conflict of interests and report any errors they subsequently, discover in their manuscript.
Duties of Editors and the Editorial Board:
- The editors, together with the editorial board, are responsible for deciding upon the publication or rejection of the submitted manuscripts based only on their originality, significance, and relevance to the domains of the journal;
- The editors evaluate the manuscripts compliance with academic criteria, the domains of the journal and the guidelines;
- The editors must at all times respect the confidentiality of any information pertaining to the submitted manuscripts;
- The editors assign the review of each manuscript to two reviewers chosen according to their domains of expertise. The editors must take into account any conflict of interest reported by the authors and the reviewers.
- The editors must ensure that the comments and recommendations of the reviewers are sent to the author(s) in due time and that the manuscripts are returned to the editors, who take the final decision to publish them or not.
Authors are permitted and encouraged to post online a pre-publication manuscript (but not the Publisher’s final formatted PDF version of the Work) in institutional repositories or on their Websites prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (see The Effect of Open Access). Any such posting made before acceptance and publication of the Work shall be updated upon publication to include a reference to the Publisher-assigned DOI (Digital Object Identifier) and a link to the online abstract for the final published Work in the Journal.
