LECTURERS’ STRATEGIES USED IN TEACHING ENGLISH READING COMPREHENSION: A CASE AT A PRIVATE COLLEGE IN ACEH

Abstract

Purpose of the study: The objective of this study is to investigate lecturers’ strategies used in teaching reading comprehension course at English Education Department students of Bina Bangsa Getsempena, college Banda Aceh, Indonesia. In short, this study aimed to analyze the common strategies used by lecturers in teaching reading comprehension at a private college in Banda Aceh.
 Methodology: The current study used a qualitative approach to nature. The observation sheet with followed by using a camera to record was used as the instrument of the study. Two lecturers who taught reading comprehension subjects at the English Education Department of the college were selected as the subjects using a purposive sampling technique. The data collected were analyzed qualitatively through four major phases; coding, data reduction, data display, and conclusion. These teachers were also interviewed to investigate their problems faced while teaching reading comprehension.
 Main Findings: The study found that both lecturers who taught reading comprehension subjects used the same strategy. They used question & answer and cooperative learning or group discussion methods included; Cooperative Integrated Reading Composition (CIRC) and Think-Pair-Share technique. The study also reported that the students were more motivated in learning reading comprehension after being taught by using the strategies as compared with an individual strategy.
 Applications of this study: Through these strategies, students could share their idea and problems with their classmates. The lecturers also used media like projectors and pictures to help them in the teaching-learning process. These findings recommended that lecturers who taught reading comprehension should use interactive and cooperative strategies to enable students to learn more joyful and meaningful. 
 Novelty/Originality of this study: The current findings give the positive impact of students’ learning atmosphere and improve their motivation in learning reading comprehension. Using a cooperative strategy encourages students to work cooperatively and motivate them in learning as compared to the individual learning strategy used. Therefore, the benefit and novelty of this finding are to strengthen and support the theory of language learning that engaging students work cooperatively improves students’ desire to learn English.