Jo-ELT (Journal of English Language Teachin.
Fakultas Keguruan dan Ilmu Pendidikan Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris IKIP https://e-journal.
id/index.
php/joelt Email: joelt@undikma.
June 2024.
Vol.
11 No.
online: 2548-5865 print: 2355-0309 doi:10.
33394/jo-elt.
STUDENTSAo READING COMPREHENSION OF ENGLISH TEXTUAL
LITERACY AMONG ZILLENIAL GENERATION
Yeni Rahmawati, *2Khusnul Khatimah, *3Dzul Rachman, *4Sunarti English Teacher.
Faculty of Teacher Training and Education.
Universitas Muhammadiyah Kalimantan Timur.
Indonesia English Teacher.
Faculty of Teacher Training and Education.
Universitas Muhammadiyah Kalimantan Timur.
Indonesia English Teacher.
Faculty of Teacher Training and Education.
Universitas Muhammadiyah Kalimantan Timur.
Indonesia English teacher.
Faculty of Teacher Training and Education.
Universitas Muhammadiyah Kalimantan Timur.
Indonesia Corresponding Author Email: yr173@umkt.
ABSTRACTS
According to the Indonesian new curriculum which is generally called Kurikulum Merdeka reading comprehension of text becomes a fundamental skill of learning outcomes.
However, a long time before the new curriculum was released reading skills, especially in learning a foreign language particularly English have always been the main thing.
Starting from this condition, this study aimed to describe the studentsAo reading comprehension of English textual literacy among the Zillenial generation.
Another goal, of this study, was to identify the studentsAo reasons related to their reading in textual comprehension.
This study applied mixed methods both quantitative and qualitative.
The design used descriptive statistics and interviews.
instrument used was a test and a list of interviews.
the population in this study was 99 students of Public Vocational Schools in Samarinda whereby, overall, this population also became the sample.
The result was the students in the fair category.
The majority of students got a score around 70 which was included as a fair category.
This is in line with the school policy of considering minimum passing grades in English subjects.
From qualitative data, it was found that the students were helped by the test which was considered as lower-order thinking (LOT).
The test was in multiple choice and the topic was familiar.
Surprisingly, based on the findings, this Zillenial generation has low literacy as they acknowledged that they donAot have any specific time for doing English literacy except only the teacherAos command.
If the topic of the text is considered difficult usually, they will use translator apps to comprehend the text easily.
ARTICLE INFO
Article History:
Received: March, 2024 Revised: June, 2024 Published: June, 2024 Keywords:
Reading Comprehension.
Textual Literacy.
Zillenial Generation.
Lower-Order Thinking.
How to cite: Rahmawati.
Khatimah.
Rachman.
, & Sunarti.
StudentsAo Reading Comprehension of English Textual Literacy Among Zillenial Generation.
Jo-ELT (Journal of English Language Teachin.
Fakultas Pendidikan Bahasa & Seni Prodi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris IKIP, 11.
, 82-95.
doi:https://doi.
org/10.
33394/jo-elt.
INTRODUCTION
Reading is one of the most important skills either in learning English as a foreign language or English as a second language for non-native learners.
Reading is categorized as one of the language skills.
This skill is categorized into receptive skills.
According to Grabe and Stoller .
, reading is a complex activity and dynamic process from several aspects Jo-ELT (Journal of English Language Teachin.
Fakultas Pendidikan Bahasa dan Seni Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris IKIP.
June 2024.
Vol.
11 No.
1 | Page 82 Rahmawati StudentsAo Reading Comprehension of a such as considering, understanding, weighing, comparing, finding out, translating, analyzing, sending messages, and finding out about knowledge and news in a book, story, and text.
Reading allows students to get information, to get pleasure, and do many things that are part of life in learning such as reading books to gain knowledge and there are modern things, such as reading newspapers, magazines, comics, novels and maps, social media, etc.
Reading is something crucial and indispensable for students because the success of their studies depends on the greater of their ability to read (TussaAodiah & Nurfadillah, 2.
Reading text which becomes a part of the skill that must be learned among students in common schools in Indonesia is given commonly in any printed book or e-book published.
English language targets and learning to make it easier for students to gain reading skills, specifically in learning English, make students read books or even other texts in English, (Grabe & Stoller.
Nowadays.
It is also available and published from elementary school to higher In line with this, vocational school curriculum English becomes one of the subjects that has a special level to be joined.
The students in vocational high school have English for specific purposes depending on their program.
Vocational high school also has specific tests for English achievement such as TOEIC.
In other words, no matter what the level of students and the types of education taken in Indonesia, the reading skill in English learning becomes a compulsory part that should be learned.
Reading comprehension is a way a person gets information from written texts.
People read for a variety of reasons.
As mentioned earlier, one may read for pleasure as when reading a storybook, or for knowledge as when reading a history book.
In other words, the purposes of reading guide the reader's selection of texts.
The purpose of reading is to decode information from text into one's mind.
According to Ariawan & Winoto .
, reading comprehension aims to seek and obtain information including content and understanding the meaning of Therefore, the main goal of reading is to gain comprehension or the ability to find the meaning of what they read and answer the questions based on the reading text.
The reader in this context is a student who should understand the meaning of the text, critically evaluate the message, remember the content, and apply the new-found knowledge flexibly.
The level of someone's reading comprehension can be seen from their ability to understand reading material.
Meanwhile, reading comprehension activities are not just understanding the contents of the reading, but also being able to analyze or evaluate and relate it to their knowledge experience.
The level of reading comprehension is a prerequisite for a higher level, namely reading to get reading content effectively.
This understanding is meant to understand the contents of the reading such as words, sentences, and paragraphs in the reading The level of reading comprehension is defined as a measure of the ability of students to understand written/implied information from reading (Kholiq et al.
, 2.
The principles of reading comprehension according to Agustina & Zuchdy .
are as follows .
Re-coding perceptually and contextually, .
Linking unit ideas, knowing detailed information, and building microstructures, .
Building ideas principal .
, .
Using microstructure and macrostructure for identify important ideas, .
Integrate important ideas with prior knowledge, make inferences, and build models situations, .
Learn to recognize situation models and use them in other situations.
The six basic principles stated above are important points for reading comprehension.
To take advantage of the worthwhile opportunities that society provides and achieve a worthwhile quality of life, literacy is a prerequisite (Yurick et al.
, 2.
Reading and literacy are closely related ideas that are frequently seen as complementary elements of language learning and instruction.
Literacy is a set of social interactions with other people, and this process is essential to solving the literacy puzzle (Keefe & Copeland, 2.
It is also pointed out that literacy encompasses more than only reading and writing, even though its growth is a complex one.
Literacy typically includes a variety of abilities, such as the ability to interpret Jo-ELT (Journal of English Language Teachin.
Fakultas Pendidikan Bahasa dan Seni Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris IKIP.
June 2024.
Vol.
11 No.
1 | Page 83 Rahmawati StudentsAo Reading Comprehension of a visual content, as well as other language skills like speaking and listening.
As a result, students especially those who learn the language are supposed to increase the quality of their lives by increasing their knowledge through the text and four-skill competency in a real context.
Nowadays, the post-millennial generation has come.
This new generation is referred to as Gen Z at the center, but they have also been referred to as I-Gen.
Founders, and Centennials.
Moreover, this generation has brought with it fresh perspectives and new standards for citizens, workers, and customers.
Generation Z is expected to be extremely linked because they are growing up in a time of advanced technology, technologically oriented lives, and extensive social media use (Gaidhani et al.
, 2.
Moreover, born approximately between the middle of the 1990s and the beginning of the 2010s.
Gen-Z has been influenced greatly by the ubiquitous availability of digital technology throughout their upbringing, particularly in terms of reading Gen-Z tends to apply electronic sources for their reading material and they think that it is easier and convenient compared with paper sources.
In other words, technology is a part of Gen Z's identity because they were born and raised in the digital age.
However, although the incorporation of technology into reading practices has benefited Gen-Z, the widespread use of digital media and the internet may have various detrimental effects on their reading skills.
Digital reading frequently promotes skimming rather than reading slowly, depriving readers of the opportunity to engage with texts critically and with greater depth.
The way readers engage with written text and how these interactions help .
r hinde.
text comprehension is revealed through a study of reading methods.
According to research on second-language readers, students employ several ways to gather, organize, and access information (Rigney, 1.
However, nowadays Gen-Z is dominantly raised in the digital age thatAos why they are called a digital native.
They are very familiar with technology and social Even, particularly in the last ten years, social media platforms have become incredibly popular and an integral part of everyday life (Erarslan & Bask, 2.
Further, they prefer to read their learning source from digital rather than bringing paper books.
Those dynamic and technological developments influence the way of learning, especially in learning English as a foreign language or second language.
Teachers of the English language are urged to use mobile technologies in the classroom in response to the new information era.
How does this era, nevertheless, affect teaching strategies and student preferences? Is it crucial to employ mobile technologies in the existing language-learning process? One solution could be explained by the rising prevalence of smartphone ownership and the ubiquitous, simple character manipulation that encourages people to use their phones in a variety of settings throughout the day.
Therefore, the possibility for effective learning environments where information can be easily exchanged exists thanks to ubiquitous and multi-functional mobile Bilonozhko & Syzenko .
suggested teaching reading techniques to Generation Z students in language classes as follows: .
It is important to devote enough instructional time to reading methods, continually emphasize the advantages of using them, and teach and practice them throughout the academic year.
Teachers should act as observers and evaluators in action research studies on the efficacy of reading strategies so they may choose the ones that will truly benefit the next generation of learners.
It is obvious that the new generation interacts quite differently from all prior generations, and we can only truly assess and update the current pedagogies through experimentation.
It is important to investigate reading methods for digital content.
The need to adapt techniques to various text kinds and subject matter should be highlighted.
a direct link to settings and circumstances in real life is .
Reading motivation and engagement will rise with the usage of real-world books and relevant tasks.
With Z-Generation students, using shorter texts but more interesting assignments is probably going to be effective .
Strategies from the top down should take precedence over those from the bottom up.
By simulating the settings in which they occur in Jo-ELT (Journal of English Language Teachin.
Fakultas Pendidikan Bahasa dan Seni Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris IKIP.
June 2024.
Vol.
11 No.
1 | Page 84 Rahmawati StudentsAo Reading Comprehension of a real life, it will be possible to strike a balance between extensive and intensive reading.
ZGen will be more motivated to connect with material when given collaborative tasks and assignments that encourage communication and engagement between students.
Additionally, it is probably to encourage learners' socialization.
The level of literacy among students in Indonesia as it was surveyed by PISA in 2018 was level 74 from 79 countries that joined.
Further, according to PISA 2022.
Indonesia's literacy learning outcome rating has risen by five to six spots.
It was proved that generally, the habit of students in terms of literacy has to be increased in Indonesia.
This case was also forced by the finding that Gen-Z is more likely to use specialized social media platforms to increase their reach in literacy and information more frequently on social media (Farid, 2.
Further, a previous study found that the majority of students in senior high school have reading anxiety in reading English texts.
It was reported that most of them were caused by their fear of making a mistake, they didnAot have any familiarity with the topic, vocabulary limitations, worry about the effect of the reading, and other effects about the foreign culture that were indirectly included in the text (Karamina et al.
, 2.
Moreover.
Indonesian language literacy has its problem although there is a rule to maximize the literacy program such as in some schools there is a time for doing textual literacy before the students begin the class.
Even, according to the Department of Education and Culture 2015, the goal of literacy is to develop long-term education because the school's ability to produce better human resources can be enhanced by the school literacy movement (GLS), which advocates for 15 minutes of reading per day in or outside of the classroom.
The firming of literacy in Indonesian language learning is very powerful in the strengthening of students' personalities (Harista, 2.
They think that learning Indonesian is only a waste of time (Syafyahya & Yades, 2.
These findings may only occur in reading Indonesian-language texts, especially if reading texts other than Indonesian such as English text, likely, things will likely not be much different.
In other words, the habit of reading the text in Indonesian is still low.
The findings demonstrated that some readers still lacked reading fluency and were not habituated to reading texts (Harfika Sari et al.
, 2.
There are so many prospects that will arise to range English language achievement outside the class (Arsari, 2.
However, for some students, reading English texts is not as easy as reading Indonesian texts both ways such as reading aloud or reading for comprehension.
Therefore, several teachers use techniques, and strategies to teach reading comprehension such as using storylines which proved that these techniques could increase the studentsAo comprehension (Jiang, 2.
Regarding those situations, a few studies concentrate on the level of studentsAo reading comprehension of English text especially in Vocational School meanwhile some studies focus on the effectiveness of some methods which are treated to seek the effectiveness or their correlation.
Therefore, this study first highlighted the descriptive study of the reading comprehension among zillenial generation.
Secondly, to find the reason why are they in that level of reading comprehension.
RESEARCH METHOD
Research Design The researcher employed a quantitative approach with descriptive analysis and a qualitative approach to gain in-depth study, therefore this study used a mixed method.
focused on identifying studentsAo reading comprehension level which is related to the mean and its criteria by using quantitative analysis.
While gaining more information on what level the students are by using qualitatively.
Jo-ELT (Journal of English Language Teachin.
Fakultas Pendidikan Bahasa dan Seni Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris IKIP.
June 2024.
Vol.
11 No.
1 | Page 85 Rahmawati StudentsAo Reading Comprehension of a Population and Sample The population of the research were students of Vocational school in Samarinda East Kalimantan.
The name of the school was SMKN 15 Samarinda.
The number of students who became the population was 99 students which derived from the Desain Komunikasi Visual (DKV) program or visual communication design program.
Random sampling was chosen for this study to get the respondents.
According to the table of sampling, there were around 99 students that were properly taken as a sample.
However, to overcome the outlier data, the researcher decided to apply the population to become a sample.
Meanwhile, for gaining the qualitative data, the students were selected to become participants in collecting the data by using interview sessions.
Instruments The researcher used an objective test to get the data of reading comprehension whereby the comprehension is literal and considered as lower order thinking (LOT).
The tests were administered in multiple-choice, which contained 25 questions about the text, the correct answer would be scored 4 in each question.
The type of questions vary however the vocabulary that exists in the text is considered familiar to the students, especially for grade 11.
This test was given via google form and the students were asked to finish the test in around 60 minutes.
The researcher waited as the test was given.
In other words, the researcher gave the instruction directly to the students once they did the test.
the researcher also directly controls all of the processes along the way the test is conducted.
The students answer the questions by using their The interview session using open-ended questions was taken to several students as a representative who got the highest score, the middle score, and the lowest score.
This technique was used by taking the highest, the middle, and the lowest scores of reading comprehension to compare whether the result was representative and synchronize their ability to comprehend the The data was taken by using a gender perspective.
The interview list questions were already processed by content validity.
In creating the question about the reading comprehension interview, involved randomly teachers from some schools who have the same type of vocational high school and reading skill lecturers.
To ensure the trustworthiness of this research, the researcher used AndersonAos criterion In quantitative educational research, validity is an essential criterion for evaluating the quality and acceptability of research.
In this study, the reading comprehension test was adopted from the previous researcher (Ratnawati, 2.
therefore the test doesn't need to be tested for validity and reliability.
Data Analysis The study was analysis was counted by using statistical package data.
To find the result of the reading comprehension test, it was applied the frequency of the score.
The table below is shown as the reference for the range of the score (Table .
The average was used to get the average score on the test.
The highest score and the lowest score were included in it.
Table 1 shows the criteria of the range based on the minimum passing grade standard which was discussed with the English teacher in the school.
The minimum passing grade is 70.
This score is standardized as the minimum passing grade based on the calculations.
Jo-ELT (Journal of English Language Teachin.
Fakultas Pendidikan Bahasa dan Seni Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris IKIP.
June 2024.
Vol.
11 No.
1 | Page 86 StudentsAo Reading Comprehension of a Rahmawati Table 1 Category of the Score No.
Category Very good Good Fair Under average Poor Range >60 To analyze the qualitative data by using interview sessions.
The researcher selected the participants who gained a score above 70, an average score, a score under the fair category score whereby it was a minimum passing grade .
This level was made to identify the findings of the interview results.
There were three stages to analyze the qualitative data namely data reduction, data presentation, and conclusion.
RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
Research Findings Table 2 is the score of the reading comprehension test.
The score was arranged according to the policy of the school in deciding the minimum passing grade score for English lessons.
Therefore, the minimum of the passing grade according to the policy was 70.
Based on this score, it was included as an average score.
Meanwhile, the highest and lowest scores were adaptable under the agreement of the English teacher in the school.
Based on Table 2, it can be described that the students who were included in the poor level were 9 students.
The students who got the maximum score .
were 11 students.
The students who reached the minimum passing grade .
were 53 students .
%) and it became the majority score that the students reached.
It can be seen that the students who gained a score above the minimum passing grade were 79 students .
%), meanwhile, the students who got a score under the passing grade were 20 students .
%).
The data from the descriptive was gained that the average score of the test was 72 (M=.
The minimum score was 44 and the highest score was 100.
The median of the score was 56.
The highest score that the majority gained by the students was 72.
Table 2 Students Score Frequency No.
Category Very good Good Fair Under average Poor Total Range >60 Frequency (%) Based on the type of questions is explained in Table 3.
The reading comprehension test had 25 basic WH questions.
The questions were about the closest meaning, adverb of time, closest meaning/synonym, antonym/opposite, adjectives, nouns, and verbs.
In general, the questions are dominantly asking about the detailed information.
The majority of questions were related to the adjective whereby it has 10 variance questions.
Jo-ELT (Journal of English Language Teachin.
Fakultas Pendidikan Bahasa dan Seni Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris IKIP.
June 2024.
Vol.
11 No.
1 | Page 87 StudentsAo Reading Comprehension of a Rahmawati Table 3 The Number of True Answer per Student No.
Type of Questions Direction Adverb of time Closest meaning Antonym Adjectives Noun Verb No.
Questions 3, 13, 16
4,18,22
5, 6,10,11,19,20,21,23,24,25
8,9,15,17
12,14
True Answer Per Student
(%)
To gain the qualitative data, the researcher the participant based on the score of their reading comprehension test.
However, before the participant was selected, figure 1 shows the demographic data of the students.
This would become the consideration of the researcher to select the proper participants.
Male Female Figure 1.
Gender percentages According to the score of reading comprehension, it was shown from the gender According to the gender data, it was 38% of students were identified as female and 62% were male.
Table 4 shows the spreading of the gaining score of each gender.
According to the table, the majority of the reading comprehension test's highest score was gained by the male students .
%).
Otherwise, in general, the scores upper the minimum passing grade were 41 male students .
%) and 38 female students .
%).
Table 4 Gender Perspectives No.
Range Very good Good Fair Under average Poor Total Range >60 Frequency Male Female The qualitative data was taken from the students who gained the lowest, the middle, and the highest scores from each gender.
The questions below:
Do you like to read an English text? Do you understand the text in English? What kind of English text that you read usually? Jo-ELT (Journal of English Language Teachin.
Fakultas Pendidikan Bahasa dan Seni Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris IKIP.
June 2024.
Vol.
11 No.
1 | Page 88 Rahmawati StudentsAo Reading Comprehension of a Do you read any English book/e-article/e-news, etc.
in English? How many minutes/hours do you read the text per day? What is the most difficult thing in reading the English text? What do you do if you find it difficult to comprehend the text in English? Do you use the application to comprehend the English text? Do you ask your teacher when do you have difficulty in comprehending the text or you prefer to ask AI or e-translator? What is the topic/theme of the English text that you have read? The answer from the male students who gained the higher score was AuI donAot like English text to be read.
But if the topic is easy and the question is easy.
I like to do it.
Otherwise, if the theme is very complicated and the questions are complicated then I will get dizzy.
Fortunately.
I try to be honest to not open or set my smartphone in my Indonesian language.
I want to learn and read it first.
Sometimes.
I read English text when I play games or when I check my social media.
I follow some gamers from abroad which is they use English to write their caption.
I try to not use translation because so far.
I can understand.
I use translation majority to find English words from Indonesian words.
Sometimes I ask my teacher when I have English class about some term related to the text.
Ay The answer from the female students who gained the higher score was AuI like to read English louder.
I donAot have any specific time to read English text, but sometimes when my teacher asks me to read the text as homework, then I will do it.
I read and comprehend English text when I look for information from my smartphone, but it was rare.
I sometimes find information in English, but sometimes I give up on understanding so I use translation to get I like to comprehend the text for easy topics.
When I do the English test.
I will not use any translation even if I can use it without my teacherAos knowledge.
But I think it's illegal.
I try to comprehend the text by glancing reading, after that I will focus on some detailed information.
My teacher teaches us to read the question first before reading the full text.
I do it and it works, even it helps me more if donAot have any longer time.
I donAot have any specific topic of English text to be read, it depends on the text that the teacher gives us.
As long as easy to understand then I will do it.
Ay The answer of the female student who gained the middle score was AuI like to read English text when the topic is easy and I know about that.
When it comes to a difficult topic, then I donAot want to read it.
So.
I like an easy topic.
I only read English text when I have English But sometimes I read English text when I scroll my social media on my smartphone.
But I never read it because it is not interesting to me.
There is no total time in reading English text as I never focus on reading it.
I use a translator to help me.
It helps me a lot to comprehend the text, but sometimes in the exam.
I am afraid to do it.
I rarely ask my teacher, because she said that I donAot need to understand all the words in the text.
I just read and find the keywords.
Sometimes it works but sometimes I donAot understand and finally, my answer is wrong.
But I like to read Indonesian language text it is very easy, especially for daily topics.
Ay The answer from the male student who gained a middle score was AuI like reading English text when the theme is easy and I understand the vocabulary.
But if I donAot understand the words I donAot want to read anymore.
I donAot have any specific time to read.
I am too lazy to read even though my teacher asks me to read more and more.
Sometimes.
I ask my friend to get the answer.
If the answer is in multiple choices, then it is easy to guess.
But if it is an essay, then I need to use the translator.
I got good points for my English exam.
it was because the topic was easy and the questions were easy too.
The test that I just done I think I know some of them, but maybe the time is very short so I donAot read carefully.
I never ask my teacher because she will not spill the answer, but if I ask her about the vocabulary or I need to be explained about the term in English text usually she will help.
Ay Jo-ELT (Journal of English Language Teachin.
Fakultas Pendidikan Bahasa dan Seni Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris IKIP.
June 2024.
Vol.
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1 | Page 89 Rahmawati StudentsAo Reading Comprehension of a The answer of the female student who gained the lowest score was AuI donAot like to read.
I like to watch rather than read the text.
I donAot understand English text, but I know a little bit about greetings.
I usually read Watpad in the Indonesian language.
I read English text only in English class, if my teacher asks me to do the test then I will read it or I will read the English text when my teacher asks me to read aloud.
Out of that.
I never do but maybe I read the highlights of news from my smartphone but I never want to know what is it about.
I just read I am not fluent in English.
Of course.
I donAot know the meaning of the words thatAos why it is so difficult for me to understand.
I use a translator from my smartphone to get the meaning of each word but with my teacher's permission.
If it isnAot permitted I will just guess.
Yu.
I will ask my teacher for the meaning of the words that I donAot know, but mostly I donAot know.
I donAot like any topic of text which is written in English as I donAot know anything.
Ay The answer from the male students who gained the lowest score was AuI donAot like reading a book especially an English book or text or any other sources because I donAot understand any single word.
I donAot like to read because I donAot know the vocabulary of the words.
I use a translation application when I need to translate but it takes time.
In doing the test.
I usually donAot have time to do that, because I have to do it silently to avoid my teacher.
If she knows my smartphone will be taken.
So, the majority of I donAot finish my English test because it is too complicated for me.
Sometimes I ask the teacher, but sometimes she asks me to do it alone.
I have to guess, she said that I donAot need to know every single word I just need to guess and match it with the questions.
Multiple choice helps me sometimes than essay questionsAy.
From the lowest students both male and female students, they claimed that they never read English text unless they have English class.
They donAot understand the meaning and its vocabulary thatAos why they donAot want to read it.
They feel itAos very difficult to understand English text they have to comprehend.
Sometimes they have to guess the meaning of the text if they have to comprehend the text under the teacher's command.
Sometimes they use a translator application to understand it, but the teacher doesnAot always permit it.
Therefore, the thing that they should do is only guess.
In another situation, they can ask the teacher about the meaning of the words in the text.
If they have to do multiple-choice tests for reading comprehension, they feel it is so helpful for them because they can match the keyword and the multiple-choice test, otherwise, it is very hard if they have to comprehend the text to answer essay questions.
The result of the middle studentsAo scores showed that they seem to like to read English text for comprehension as long as the text is easy and they understand the vocabulary in it.
the contrary, if the English text has difficult words or unfamiliar vocabulary, they will find it difficult to understand the text.
Sometimes they read the English text from their social media but in another situation, they just leave it because they feel the topic is not interesting to read.
However, they stated that they donAot have a specific time to read.
They similar thing from the previous students in using the application to understand the text and sometimes the teacherAos assistance in explaining the text is so much help although they donAot do it all the time.
Due to that problem, they described that sometimes they need a longer time to finish the English reading comprehension test and at the end, the time is up and they didnAot finish all the tests.
The result of the students who got the higher scores revealed that they like to read English text for easy topics and easy vocabulary.
It is the same statement from the previous students who got the middle score.
They sometimes noticed an English text from their social media and their game application or something related to the game.
They prefer to glance at the text rather than use the application, especially during the test or exam.
They claimed it is illegal when use translation without the teacher's command.
But the different thing from the previous is these Jo-ELT (Journal of English Language Teachin.
Fakultas Pendidikan Bahasa dan Seni Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris IKIP.
June 2024.
Vol.
11 No.
1 | Page 90 Rahmawati StudentsAo Reading Comprehension of a Discussion To answer research question number 1 that is describing of reading comprehension among students this part has several discussions.
According to Ojer-Osmangazi & Batu .
, the students' scores tend to be higher because of the multiple-choice tests.
In other words, students may find it harder to answer if they are given an open-ended test.
this is in line with the previous study that resulted in a similar category by using Barret Taxonomy for reading comprehension level.
The respondents in this study had a bigger number which was 280 students in grade eleven in the science program in Padang.
According to this previous study majority of the students were in good category of reading.
Lower-order thinking in reading comprehension permitted the students to have an easy test (Krismadayanti & Zainil, 2.
so they could answer it without thinking more.
They added that without reading the whole text, the students still can answer correctly due to the test is categorized as LOT.
From the result of the mean that is shown above, it can be concluded that the majority of students have a fair category from comprehension in reading.
Another factor of the reading comprehension level result that occurred in this study may be due to the ease of the text and the vocabulary provided in the text therefore the average student get a fair score.
Otherwise, this result was different from the previous research conducted by Harfika Sari et al.
, .
who concluded that students were not accustomed to reading texts and several students were still not fluent in reading.
It was reasonable as the respondents were students in junior high school, they may be didnAot have much basic English and the test given was included in Higher Order Thinking (HOT) thatAos why the result was quite different from this study as it was explained that it used Lower Order Thinking (LOT) and the respondent were in Vocational High School whereby it was similar to senior high school.
The topic given is very general and uses daily vocabulary.
It spread several types as follows in Table 3.
From table 3 below it can be depicted that the majority of students have true answers in the test which are related to the adjectives.
Luckily, the previous study stated that merging material from adjectives with nouns that are modified is crucial for comprehension (Davies & Jones, 2.
By this explanation, it can be stated that the ability of the students to answer the questions related to the text for reading comprehension is good.
can be concluded that if the students can answer it, it means they have comprehended the text.
Based on Table 4, male and female student has a slight difference.
However, it can be stated that it was slightly different if it was described from gender perception in literal This result was against the previous research that there was no significant difference between male students and female students in terms of the ability to answer the factual and vocabulary questions (Destiyanti et al.
, 2.
Although this previous study was conducted in harder level reading comprehension such as in TOEFL test.
However, with the slight difference in result, there was no specific difference among genders.
Gender is a term that refers to a range of traits that define and differentiate between masculinity and femininity (Riyadi & Kiswara, 2.
These traits relate to biological gender, in which masculine is defined as male and feminine as female.
In sociology, gender encompasses not just an individual's biological characteristics but also their social position and social identity.
Using the gender notion as a guide, it can be concluded that gender is made up of culturally produced identities for men and women.
Overall, there are no statistically significant variations in the English language learning achievement of male and female participants (Akram & Ghani, 2.
Furthermore, there are no discernible differences between males and females in terms of parental support, instrumentality level, anxiety in English classes, ethnocentrism, cultural identity, drive for achievement, interest in foreign languages, and motivational intensity.
According to qualitative data that was from interviewing selected students, there were several discussions.
The most similar answer, they didnAot specifically read the English text in Jo-ELT (Journal of English Language Teachin.
Fakultas Pendidikan Bahasa dan Seni Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris IKIP.
June 2024.
Vol.
11 No.
1 | Page 91 Rahmawati StudentsAo Reading Comprehension of a their daily activity.
They only read English texts during their English class.
In other words, it can be stated that their textual literacy in this study is English reading comprehension is very In general, they donAot have enough fluency in reading English texts this is in line with Harfika Sari et al.
, .
Moreover, the low literacy result from this research is kind of proof of the PISA.
This is the reason why Indonesia always in a low level of literacy to the latest research done by PISA.
This finding also supported by the previous study that the students who are in this study should have become active readers but still lacked in reading and they are indicated that reading activity has not become their habit yet Harfika Sari et al.
, .
) While doing Indonesian textual literacy feel so bad that it was a waste of time (Syafyahya & Yades, 2.
yet reading a foreign language.
Further, why they donAot like to read because they donAot have any habits they donAot have high literacy awareness, and they donAot have any motivation in reading English They are inexperienced with the reading material, and the student's inability to accurately understand the text can also be attributed to its grammatical difficulty Satriani .
Another factor is the reading text's sentences are either overly complex or lengthy.
In connection with these issues, children perceive lengthy texts and new terms as a significant barrier to reading Translation applications will be used for a certain time.
It is known that the students are aware of using the gadget and they can explore it enough as they are a part of native in it.
Some of them obey the teacher's command although some of them do it silently without the teacherAos However, as mentioned earlier nowadays students who are born as the z-generation have already become digital natives, they depend on technology usage instantly.
Even, they have almost an exclusive preference for digital reading (Emmerich & Murphy, 2.
rather than reading book papers.
ThatAos why they tend to use applications to help them in doing They can do something by using digital apps to enlighten their assignment.
In this study, they use it to find the difficult words in English text rather than try to do skimming or scanning techniques.
In other words, their capability to comprehend the English text depends on the facilities that exist such as the internet and smartphones.
This part is something that cannot be avoided they are digital natives which born and grew up in modern high technology.
However, a teacher should be wise and adapt on that part as it canAot teach by using yesterday's education for the students of tomorrow, therefore new adaptability is appropriate for the zillenial (Abersek, 2.
In doing English text for reading comprehension, they agreed that they like to do the easy topic for their test.
they like to read about simple topics and multiple-choice tests.
This result is totally in line with Ojer-Osmangazi & Batu .
claimed that students can feel more easily if they do the multiple-choice test for reading comprehension rather than essay questions.
There were only a few students who confessed that they read an English text when scrolling social media.
However, it is still considered as a low awareness in their literacy because they may tend to glance rather than read fully.
They consider reading the test if the topic is easy or interesting oppositely, they will skip it if the material is too complex.
However, in this part maybe these Zillenial students indirectly already do skimming and scanning techniques although, they donAot do it intentionally or they do it because to shorter the time.
Skimming and scanning techniques are one of the strategies for cutting down on reading time (Fatmawan et , 2.
CONCLUSION
This study described the condition of the students specifically the digital native students usually called the Zillenial generation towards their English reading comprehension textual As discussed above, based on the result, the category for the student comprehension of English text in this study dominantly was considered in the fair category.
This is reasonable Jo-ELT (Journal of English Language Teachin.
Fakultas Pendidikan Bahasa dan Seni Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris IKIP.
June 2024.
Vol.
11 No.
1 | Page 92 Rahmawati StudentsAo Reading Comprehension of a that the test given is considered in Low Order Thinking (LOT) as a result they can easily comprehend the text.
This is also the reason why they can answer the text on time it is due to the test of reading comprehension being given in multiple choice.
The result from the gender perspectives indicated that female students got a higher score than male students, although it was not significant because it is very slight.
It is supported by several previous studies.
After it is done an interview session, it was proved that those students have low literacy levels as they acknowledged they donAot like to read, they donAot have a habit or motivation to read English They will do it only for English class rather than their self-awareness to do literacy.
considered born in the digital native era, they are dominantly dependent on gadgets essentially using translator applications to find any difficult word that they donAot understand.
Only a few of them do skimming and scanning strategies in reading for comprehension.
This finding, the implication for the English teacher in general is trying to do and strengthen the students in reading strategy.
By doing this, the students can comprehend the text particularly English text in proper time.
The teacher and other English teaching practitioners should remind the students of textual literacy.
Ask the students to do literacy to balance their daily other activities.
Emphasize students to be wiser in using their digital devices to reduce their dependence on assistance applications.
The future researcher actually should a treatment to go in depth in investigating the Zillenial level of motivation in reading English text.
This research topic is still relevant for nowadays era.
Learning the tendency about which kind of literacy they are fluent is become a hot issue as the types of literacy vary such as textual literacy, visual literacy, digital literacy, media literacy, data literacy, information literacy, civic literacy, etc.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This research was supported by Universitas Muhammadiyah Kalimantan Timur.
Indonesia.
REFERENCES