This research aims to: (1) identify whether or not and to what extent jigsaw learning model improve students’ reading comprehension on narrative text at the eighth grade of MTs Muhammadiyah Tawangsari in the academic year of 2015/2016; and (2) describe the class situation when Jigsaw learning model is implemented in the reading class.
The problems faced by the students during reading activity of narrative text include difficulty in: (1) identifying word meaning; (2) identifying main idea; (3) identifying social function; (4) identifying explicit information; (5) identifying implicit information; (6) identifying references; and (7) identifying moral value.
The method used in this research is classroom action research. The research was carried out in two cycles at the eighth grade students of MTs Muhammadiyah Tawangsari from October 2015 to January 2016. The research data were collected through observations, field notes, diary, photographs, audio and video recording, questionnaires, interviews, document analysis and tests (pre-test and post-test).
The research findings show that the implementation of Jigsaw technique could improve students’ reading comprehension on narrative text and classroom situation of English class. The improvement of reading comprehension includes: (1) the students are able to identify word meaning of the text; (2) the students were able to identify main idea of the text; (3) the students were able to identify social function of narrative text; (4) the students were able to identify explicit information of the text; (5) the students were able to identify implicit information of the text; (6) the students were able to identify references of the text; and (7) the students were able to identify moral value of the text. The improvement of classroom situation includes: (1) the students were less noisy during teaching and learning process; (2) the students looked more active; (3) the students answered teacher’s questions enthusiastically; (3) the students focused on the teaching and learning-related activities; (4) the students spoke in front of their friends confidently; (5) the students listened to the teacher’s explanation attentively; and (6) the students looked happy, energetic and enthusiastic. There are also other improvements related to the students’ reading behavior and social interaction include: (1) Students read English text with less reliance on their dictionary; (2) the students used various media as the reading material; (3) the students did various activities or tasks; (4) the students were able to understand and to answer the questions related to the text correctly; (5) the students were interested to read long unfamiliar text; (6) the students interact well with anybody in the classroom; (7) the students shared workload among themselves fairly; and the students cooperated with their friends to achieve joint objectives.
It can be concluded that this research can improve students’ reading comprehension on narrative text and classroom situation. It is hoped that this result inspires other teachers to implement Jigsaw technique in their classroom.
Keywords: classroom action research, reading comprehension, narrative text, jigsaw