SCHEMA ACTIVATION IN EFL READING: IMPLEMENTATION AND PERSPECTIVES FROM STUDENTS AND TEACHER
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22460/eltin.v14i1.p13-28Abstract
Students at the Madrasah Aliyah level often face difficulties in comprehending texts and making intertextual connections due to the limited use of instructional strategies that activate their prior knowledge. This study aims to 1) examine the implementation of schema activation as a reading strategy, 2) investigate students’ responses toward its use in the classroom, and 3) investigate the perceived impact of schema activation from the teacher’s perspective. A descriptive qualitative method was employed, involving English teachers and eleventh-grade students at MAS An-Nur Tangkit as the study subjects. Data were gathered through classroom observations, semi-structured interviews, and documentation, and analyzed using qualitative content analysis. The findings indicate that schema activation was implemented through three reading stages such as pre-reading, while-reading, and post-reading. Each stage helped activate different types of schemata such as content, linguistic, and formal schemata which supported students in making meaningful connections with the text. Moreover, students responded positively to the strategy, showing increased engagement, improved comprehension, greater self-confidence, enhanced motivation, and stronger critical thinking. Finally, from the teacher’s perspective, schema activation had a significant impact on students’ reading development, including improved reading comprehension, greater information retention, reduced difficulty with complex texts, and enhanced critical and analytical thinking.
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