The English Students’ Perceptions of Online Reading Comprehension Class
Abstract
Online reading comprehension is one of the factors that can affect students' reading of texts available online. Students who do not understand their online texts will feel that reading online is a boring activity, so the process of getting information is hampered. Students' perceptions are needed to evaluate online reading and to be developed by teachers so that the obstacles that have been found previously can be replaced with other options that are more effective in helping students in reading comprehension.
This study aims to determine the perceptions of students in SMP Islam Soerjo Alam about online reading comprehension. Research design with a qualitative descriptive approach was used in this study. The participants of this study were 35 eighth-grade students. A questionnaire adapted from Yogurtcu (2013), Tseng (2010), and Torres (2017) was used as the data collection instrument. The questionnaire consisted of 30 questions about students' perceptions of online reading comprehension. In this study, Google Form was used as a digital platform to collect the data, and the results in the form of percentages were used to analyze the data.
The findings of this study indicate that online reading can improve students' reading comprehension during online learning. A total of 82.9% of students were excited about the technology available when reading online, which is in line with the findings of Zidat et al., (2011) that web-based applications help students in improving reading comprehension. Next, a total of 77.1% of students agreed that online reading can improve their online translation, which is in line with Hazaea et al, (2016) findings that the use of online translation has a significant impact on students' reading ability via mobile phones. However, there are drawbacks that students feel when reading online, namely device interference and network signals, which 71.4% of students agreed, which is in line with Mudra (2020) that online digital material content is difficult to access, expensive, and weak signals are obstacles to online learning.
The researcher hopes that teachers can use online reading comprehension to assess students' progress by adapting to the current digital age. Teachers should pay attention to technology-related needs, such as the availability and affordability of facilities that students should prepare before engaging in online reading activities. Future researchers should use other instruments or analysis techniques, such as observing and interviewing students, or use mixed methods to obtain different results.
Key words: Perception, Online Reading Comprehension