Exploring Junior High School Students Critical Reading Strategies and Reading Comprehension

Abstract

The ability to understand reading is a fundamental skill that supports students' academic success. In the era of globalization, this ability becomes increasingly important because students are required to be able to understand, interpret and evaluate information available in various types of texts. This study aims to explore the relationship between critical reading strategies and reading comprehension abilities in junior high school students. This research uses a correlational design to analyze the relationship between critical reading strategies as an independent variable and reading comprehension as a dependent variable. Critical reading strategies have been proven to have a significant influence on reading comprehension, helping students identify main ideas, evaluate arguments, and understand explicit and implicit meaning in texts. This research highlights the importance of a combination of basic and advanced skills, including background knowledge, in improving students' analytical thinking abilities. This study also confirms the effectiveness of project-based learning approaches in supporting deeper and analytical understanding of texts. However, research limitations lie in the limited sample coverage and the use of instruments that are not fully comprehensive. For further research, it is recommended to use more varied methods and a wider population to provide a more holistic insight into the application of critical reading strategies.