Audiobooks to Enhance Students’ Reading Comprehension: A Classroom Action Research in A Remote Senior High School

Abstract

Reading comprehension is a crucial skill for academic success, yet many students in remote areas struggle with this competency due to limited resources, traditional teaching methods, and low motivation. This classroom action research was conducted to investigate the integration of audiobooks as a pedagogical tool to enhance students’ reading comprehension at a remote senior high school in Indonesia. The study aimed to describe the implementation process, examine its impact on the students' comprehension, explore the challenges encountered, and analyze students’ responses. The Classroom Action Research (CAR) was designed based on the model of Kemmis and McTaggart (1988), consisting of three iterative cycles: planning, action, observation, and reflection. The participants were the eleventh-grade science students, and data were collected through tests, observations, questionnaires, and interviews. Audiobook-based instruction was integrated into reading activities using narrative texts, enabling students to listen while reading and discuss content collaboratively.The first findings demonstrate that the implementation of Classroom Action Research (CAR) led to significant improvements in student engagement and reading comprehension. Key factors contributing to this improvement included the integration of audiobook-based texts with pre-lesson questions, the creation of vocabulary lists for unfamiliar words, and the implementation of group discussions as a strategy to foster active participation and enhance student motivation. The second findings revealed a significant increase in students' reading comprehension, evidenced by rising average post-test scores across cycles: from 68.70 in Cycle 1, to 72.56 in Cycle 2, and 75.48 in Cycle 3, compared to the pre-test average of 61.81.  The third findings reveals that, although audiobooks were effective in enhancing students' reading comprehension, several technical and pedagogical challenges were encountered, particularly in remote or resource-limited settings. Issues such as poor audio quality, lack of personal listening devices, and unreliable internet access posed significant barriers to the successful implementation of audiobooks. Finally, the CAR process also revealed positive student responses, contributing to the overall success of the approach. The results showed that the average score across all students was 4.0 on a 1–5 scale, with 5 representing the most positive response. This indicated generally positive responses toward the use of audiobooks in the classroom.