USING DOUBLE ENTRY JOURNALS TO IMPROVE READING COMPREHENSION AND DESCRIPTIVE WRITING ACHIEVEMENTS

Abstract

This research aimed at investigating whether or not there were significant
differences in reading and writing achievements between the eighth graders who
were taught by using Double Entry Journals and those who were not. Sixty students
were purposively chosen as the subjects and divided into experimental (N= 30) and
control groups (N= 30). The data were collected by means of tests and questionnaire
and statistical analysis. The results showed that the t-value of the students’ reading
comprehension achievement in the experimental group was 11.575, and the t-value
between the two groups was 5.982. Meanwhile, the t-value for writing achievement
in the experimental group was 4.429, and the t-value between the two groups was
1.345. The contributions of each aspect of reading comprehension and writing were
also presented. The results indicated that Double Entry Journals were mostly
effective for improving reading comprehension achievement but were not effective
for writing.