The aims of this research were 1) to find out how KWL strategy could be implemented effectively to improve the students? reading comprehension, 2) to find out to what extent KWL strategy could improve the students? reading comprehension, and 3) to describe the class situation when KWL strategy was implemented in the reading class. The research was conducted at SMA Muhammadiyah 1 Karanganyar from February to April 2015. The method of the research was Classroom Action Research. The subjects of the research were some of the year ten students of SMA Muhammadiyah 1 Karanganyar. The research was organized in two cycles. Each cycle comprised planning, acting, observing and reflecting. The qualitative data were collected through observation, questionnaire, and interview. While, for the quantitative data were obtained from tests.
Some findings are obtained from the research. The first finding is that KWL strategy could be implemented effectively because of the students? ability to use their prior knowledge and activate their critical thinking to predict the text, all of which caused them to have better performance in comprehending the text. An effective way of implementing KWL strategy could be developed by a) providing a clear explanation of KWL steps to the students, b) providing new and familiar topics, c) providing visual representations of the text, d) creating group discussions and individual activities, and e) providing guidance during the teaching and learning process. The second finding is that the strategy could improve the students? reading comprehension in the following skills: finding main ideas, explicit and implicit information, and word references, and understanding word meanings based on the context. The third finding is that the strategy helped create a better classroom situation. With the strategy, a good classroom interaction could be created and the students became actively involved in the lessons, which made the class much more alive.
Based on those findings, the researcher draws a conclusion that KWL is the strategy which is suitable for teaching reading. KWL strategy not only facilitates the students to have better comprehension in reading but also promotes better classroom situation. Consequently, it is recommended that English teachers apply KWL as an alternative strategy in teaching reading.
Keywords: Reading Comprehension, Know, Want to Know, Learn, KWL Strategy, Classroom Situation