SYLLABLE PUZZLE MEDIA ON THE BEGINNING READING ABILITY OF GRADE II STUDENTS AT SDN 25 PALEMBANG

Abstract

This study was motivated by the low early reading skills of second-grade students at SDN 25 Palembang, particularly in the phonological aspect of syllable blending. The main objective was to examine the effect of using syllable puzzle media on the early reading skills of second-grade students at SDN 25 Palembang. The method used was a quantitative, quasi-experimental approach with a Nonquivalent Control Group Design. This study involved 66 students divided into experimental and control groups. Data were collected using a performance test instrumen based on five indicators of early reading and were analyzed using SPSS. The results of the Paired Sample T-Test on the experimental group demonstrated a significant improvement in abilitiy following the intervention, with a significance value (Sig., 2-tailed) of 0.000. This finding was reinforced by the results of the Independent Sample T-Test on the posttest, which yielded a significance value of 0.002 < 0,05. The criterion for “moderately effective” was also met, as indicated by the experimental group’s average N-gain of 66.93%. The conclusion is that the use of syllable puzzle media has a significant effect on improving the early reading skills of second-grade students.