The Effect of Reading Non-Fiction English Texts on Eight Graders’ Reading Comprehension Achievement

The act of reading is driven by the reader's aspiration to acquire knowledge and
valuable insights that can be beneficial in times to come. Whether through books,
articles, or other written materials, reading serves to expand one's understanding and
gain valuable information. The primary objectives of this study were to found out the
improvement of reading comprehension achievement after being taught by using non￾fiction English texts, the reading aspects’ improvement after being taught by using
non-fiction English texts and the significance of mean difference between the student
who were taught of using non-fiction English texts and those who were not. The
research applied a quantitative approach, specifically employing a type of quasi￾experimental research methodology. The research sample consisted of the sixty-four
eighth-grade students selected purposively from SMP Negeri 54 Palembang as the
research sample, especially from classes VIII.4 and VIII.5. The study’s results
indicated that there was a significant improvement on student’s reading
comprehension, there was significant improvement in each reading aspect after being
taught using the Non-Fiction English Texts with the Extensive Reading method, and
there was significant mean difference between the student who were taught by using
non-fiction English text and those who were not. Based on these results, it could be
concluded that the use of Non-Fiction English Texts with the Extensive Reading
method was effective for improving the reading comprehension achievement of
eighth-grade students at SMP Negeri 54 Palembang.
Keywords: Reading Comprehension, Non-Fiction English Text, Extensive Reading