THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PREVIEW, QUESTION, READ, STATE, AND TEST (PQRST) STRATEGY TO IMPROVE THE STUDENT CRITICAL READING SKILLS AT TENTH GRADE OF SMK NEGERI 2 TARAKAN
Critical reading is the ability to analyze, evaluate, and interpret a text by questioning the evidence, arguments, and underlying the assumptions. Thus, in teaching critical reading skills, the interesting learning media such as the PQRST strategy are needed. This study aimed to analyze the significant effect of the Preview, Question, Read, State, and Test (PQRST) strategy in improving the critical reading skills of grade X students of SMK Negeri 2 Tarakan. This study used an experimental method with a group pretest-posttest design. The research sample consisted of 25 students of class X TAB 2 who were selected using the cluster random sampling technique. The research instrument was in the form of a multiple-choice test consisting of 25 questions that measured the students' critical reading skills before and after the implementation of the PQRST strategy. The data was analyzed using the Wilcoxon test with the help of SPSS version 30 program. The results of the study showed a significant improvement in students critical reading skills after the implementation of the PQRST strategy. At the pretest stage, the results of data analysis showed that the average pretest score was 50.72, while the average posttest score was 78.56. This showed an increase in the average score of 54.90%. The results of the Wilcoxon test showed a value of p≤0.001 which was less than 0.05, meaning that the alternative hypothesis (Ha) was accepted and the null hypothesis (Ho) was rejected. It showed that there was a significant difference between the results of the pretest and the posttest. Therefore, it can be concluded that the teaching English of news texts using the PQRST strategy was effective in improving the critical reading skills of grade X students at SMK Negeri 2 Tarakan.