ANALYZING STUDENTS' READING COMPREHENSION OF NARRATIVE TEXTS IN EFL CLASSROOM

Abstract

The research uses qualitative methodology to examine how EFL students understand narrative texts in their discourse analysis of reading comprehension. The researcher chose ten tenth-grade Makassar senior high school students for the study through purposive sampling methods. The research data collection process involved tasks for reading activities along with think-aloud protocol sessions and semistructured interview methods. Students' Reading comprehension differed widely according to their ability to understand cohesive devices in context and their capacity for maintaining logical structure and narrative progression. Both high-ability students and their less-proficient peers showed different levels of understanding discourse markers. However, poor performers lacked cohesion skills, which led them to interpret textual segments individually. The research shows that explicit teaching about discourse elements helps students to improve their reading comprehension abilities. The study contributes knowledge relevant to English as a foreign language instruction method while showing that discourse awareness training in reading improves students' understanding of narrative literature.