EFL Learners’ Way Coping with Factors Causing Difficulties in Reading Comprehension: a Case Study in Senior High School

Abstract

This study investigated what factors cause reading comprehension difficulties in EFL learners and examine how students deal with them. In this study, a case study was used as a research design because it allowed the researcher to collect detailed information. The researcher distributed a questionnaire to 35 students of eleventh-grade students via Google Form by used WhatsApp group class and interviewed five students via Zoom. Then, the collected data were analyzed by using Miles and Huberman’s (1994) theory, which consists of the data collection, data reduction, data display, and conclusion (drawing and verifying). This study discovered that many students struggle with (1) unfamiliar topics, new words, and reading strategy. Meanwhile, (1) lack of vocabulary, (2) interest in the specific topic, and (3) teaching method were considered to be the major factors contributing to students’ reading comprehension difficulties. Furthermore, while reading, the majority of students summarized and made inferences. It was also discovered that students only use one strategy while reading because they are unfamiliar with the various types of reading strategies. Following the interview, other strategies were observed, such as using the Internet as an assistant, ask for help from friends and the teacher, watching western movies on Disney+ Hotstar and website, and taking notes. This strategy enabled them to overcome their reading comprehension difficulties.