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COOPERATIVE INTEGRATED READING AND 
COMPOSITION (CIRC) AND LEARNING ACTIVENESS: 

THEIR EFFECT ON STUDENTS’ READING 
COMPREHENSION IN JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL 

 
Aelista Dwi Wahyuni1*, Hanni Yukamana2, & Mulyadi3 

1,2,3 Universitas PGRI Palembang, Palembang, Indonesia 
 

aelistasyifa@gmail.com 
 

ABSTRACT 

This study examines the effect of the Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition 
(CIRC) method and students’ learning activeness on the reading comprehension of seventh-
grade students at SMPN 3 Rantau Bayur. Using a quantitative experimental design, two 
groups were involved: an experimental group taught with CIRC and a control group taught 
using conventional methods. Students in each group were further classified into high and 
low learning activeness categories. Data were collected through pre-tests and post-tests for 
reading comprehension, and learning activeness was assessed through observation 
checklists. The results, analyzed using Two-Way ANOVA, indicated that: (1) the CIRC 
method significantly improved students’ reading comprehension, (2) learning activeness 
had a significant positive effect on reading comprehension, and (3) there was no significant 
interaction between the teaching method and learning activeness. These findings suggest 
that both CIRC and learning activeness independently contribute to better reading 
comprehension, making CIRC an effective strategy for enhancing reading skills in junior 
high school students. 

Keywords: CIRC, Learning Activeness, Reading Comprehension, Cooperative Learning 

INTRODUCTION 

English, which has long been established as a global language and is widely 
acknowledged as an essential medium for international communication among people of 
different linguistic and cultural backgrounds (Crystal, 2000), plays a particularly important 
role in Indonesia’s national education system. It is taught as a compulsory subject 
beginning from junior high school up to senior high school, with the ultimate aim of 
equipping students with the necessary linguistic competence to access knowledge, 
exchange ideas, and participate actively in both local and global contexts. 

However, despite its strategic significance, many Indonesian junior high school 
students, especially those in the seventh grade who are at the initial stage of formal English 
learning, still encounter persistent challenges in reading comprehension (Alderson, 2000; 
Nuttall, 1996). These difficulties include recognizing main ideas, understanding supporting 
details, inferring implied meanings, decoding unfamiliar vocabulary, and responding 

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appropriately to comprehension questions (Grabe & Stoller, 2002; Grellet, 2004; Tran et al., 
2025). Majdi et al., (2025) similarly highlight challenges such as dealing with complex texts, 
unfamiliar vocabulary, time constraints, and occasional issues with group dynamics. 

Such problems are further aggravated by the prevalence of traditional teacher-
centered instructional practices that prioritize lectures, drills, and passive reception of 
knowledge over interactive learning (Brown, 2001; Harmer, 2007). In addition, the limited 
level of students’ classroom participation also contributes to the issue. Learners often 
hesitate to ask questions, share opinions, or engage meaningfully with the learning process 
due to low motivation, lack of confidence, and feelings of boredom (Oxford, 1990; Andrade 
& du, 2007; Asrifan et al., 2021). All of these factors result in low achievement and 
diminished enthusiasm for English learning. On the other hand, Prasetia et al., (2024)  
emphasize that students’ reading issues require the development of critical thinking and 
text-structure awareness. 

Therefore, to address these intertwined problems, there arises a strong pedagogical 
need for adopting an instructional approach that simultaneously improves students’ 
reading comprehension and enhances their learning activeness (Aini, 2025). One promising 
method that fulfills these requirements is the Cooperative Integrated Reading and 
Composition (CIRC) strategy (Stevens et al, 1987; Slavin, 2005). Developed by Stevens and 
colleagues in 1987, CIRC is a cooperative learning model that emphasizes peer 
collaboration, group accountability, and integration of reading with writing. It uses 
structured activities such as reading together, summarizing, questioning, peer feedback, 
and composition tasks. 

This strategy transforms reading from a solitary act into a dynamic, interactive, and 
socially meaningful experience. Numerous studies have shown that CIRC not only improves 
students’ academic performance but also fosters motivation, confidence, and critical 
thinking skills. In this regard, the present study is designed to investigate empirically the 
extent to which the implementation of the CIRC method and the variation of students’ 
learning activeness contribute to their reading comprehension outcomes. The findings are 
expected to provide valuable insights for English teachers in selecting appropriate teaching 
strategies, designing student-centered learning environments, and ultimately enhancing 
the quality of English instruction in Indonesian junior high schools, particularly in rural 
areas such as SMPN 3 Rantau Bayur. 

Reading is a language skill that requires complex competence to obtain the 
information presented in a text (Nur, 2021). Reading comprehension, as one of the core 
components of English language skills, requires not only the ability to decode written texts 
but also the higher-order competence to interpret meaning, connect ideas, and apply 
critical reasoning (Grabe & Stoller, 2002; Smith, 2005). Scholars such as Brown, (2004) and 
Carrell, (1989) argue that reading is both a cognitive and metacognitive process that 
involves the interaction between textual input and the reader’s prior knowledge, strategies, 
and motivation. Meanwhile, Hasibuan & Afnita (2023) describe reading as a cognitive 
activity aimed at finding information within a text or written material. 

In the Indonesian junior high school context, however, reading comprehension 
remains one of the most difficult skills for students to master. One major reason is their 

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lack of sufficient vocabulary knowledge (Tarigan, 2014). Safitri (2025) further explains that 
students often struggle to understand texts, particularly in identifying the main idea, 
drawing conclusions, and connecting information across different paragraphs. 
Unfortunately, the instructional approaches adopted in schools do not adequately foster 
active engagement, collaborative learning, or self-regulated strategies (Pang, 2013). 

As a result, many students rely on superficial reading practices in which they merely 
translate or memorize words without grasping the underlying meaning, structure, or 
purpose of the text (Goodman, 1967). This issue highlights the urgent need for pedagogical 
approaches that promote deeper engagement with reading and support students in 
developing the skills necessary for meaningful comprehension. 

METHODS 

This study employed a quantitative experimental design with a two-way ANOVA 

framework to examine the effects of the Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition 

(CIRC) method and students’ learning activeness on reading comprehension. The research 

involved two groups: 1. Experimental group taught using the CIRC method. 2. Control group 

taught using a conventional teacher-centered approach. Each group was further divided into high 

learning activeness (HLA) and low learning activeness (LLA) subgroups based on observation 

checklist scores. This design allowed for analysis of the main effects of teaching method and 

learning activeness, as well as their interaction effect. Participants The population consisted of 

all seventh-grade students at SMPN 3 Rantau Bayur in the 2024/2025 academic year.  

The sample was selected using purposive sampling to ensure comparability between 

groups. A total of 60 students participated, divided equally into the experimental and control 

groups. Two instruments were used: 1. Reading Comprehension Test A multiple-choice test 

assessing narrative text comprehension. The test measured students’ ability to identify main 

ideas, vocabulary in context, supporting details, and make inferences. Test validity was 

confirmed through expert judgment and item analysis, and reliability was measured using 

Cronbach’s Alpha, yielding a high reliability coefficient. 2. Learning Activeness Observation 

Checklist. A structured observation tool measuring participation, responsiveness, question-

asking, group contribution, and attentiveness. Scores from the checklist were used to categorize 

students into HLA and LLA groups. 

The study was carried out in several stages. First, a pre-test was administered to both 

groups to measure their baseline reading comprehension ability. During the treatment phase, the 

experimental group received reading instruction through the Cooperative Integrated Reading and 

Composition (CIRC) method over six meetings, which included activities such as cooperative 

group reading, summarizing, answering questions, and providing peer feedback. Meanwhile, the 

control group was taught using the traditional lecture method. Throughout the treatment phase, 

students’ learning activeness was observed using an observation checklist. Finally, a post-test 

was administered to both groups to assess their improvement in reading comprehension 

Data from the pre-test and post-test were analyzed using Two-Way ANOVA to test: 1. The 

main effect of the teaching method on reading comprehension. 2. The main effect of learning 

activeness on reading comprehension. 3. The interaction effect between teaching method and 

learning activeness. The normality of the data was tested using the Kolmogorov–Smirnov test, 

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and homogeneity of variance was tested using Levene’s test before running ANOVA. All 

statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS version 29 with a significance level of 0.05. 

RESULTS 

The study examined the effect of the Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition 

(CIRC) method and students’ learning activeness on the reading comprehension of seventh-grade 

students at SMPN 3 Rantau Bayur. Data were collected from 60 students who were equally 

divided into experimental and control groups.  

Table 1. Pre-Test and Post-Test Scores 

Group N 
Pre-Test Mean 

(SD) 

Post-Test Mean 

(SD) 
Gain Score 

Experimental 

(CIRC) 

30 56.67 (±8.89) 77.33 (±7.91) +20.66 

Control 

(Conventional) 

30 57.17 (±8.50) 68.50 (±7.72) +11.33 

 
Table 1 presents the pre-test and post-test scores of both the experimental and control 

groups. The pre-test results indicate that the two groups started at a relatively similar level of 

reading comprehension, with the experimental group obtaining a mean score of 56.67 (SD = 

±8.89) and the control group obtaining a mean score of 57.17 (SD = ±8.50). The close similarity 

in their initial performance suggests that both groups had comparable baseline abilities prior to 

the intervention, which strengthens the validity of the subsequent comparisons. 

Following the treatment, the experimental group, which was taught using the CIRC 

method, showed a marked improvement, reaching a mean post-test score of 77.33 (SD = ±7.91). 

In contrast, the control group, taught through conventional lecture-based methods, obtained a 

lower mean post-test score of 68.50 (SD = ±7.72). This indicates that while both groups 

experienced progress, the experimental group demonstrated a more substantial gain in reading 

comprehension. 

The gain scores highlight this difference more clearly. The experimental group achieved a 

gain of +20.66 points, almost twice the improvement of the control group, which recorded only 

+11.33 points. This substantial gap in learning gains provides strong evidence of the 

effectiveness of the CIRC method in enhancing reading comprehension compared to 

conventional teaching practices. 

Moreover, the smaller standard deviation in the experimental group’s post-test scores 

suggests that CIRC not only raised overall performance but also promoted more consistent 

achievement among students. This implies that the method may help reduce performance 

disparities within a classroom, supporting weaker learners while still benefiting stronger ones. 

The results are further supported by the Two-Way ANOVA analysis, which confirmed a 

statistically significant difference (p < 0.05) between the groups. Taken together, these findings 

suggest that CIRC is not merely an alternative but a superior instructional strategy for improving 

reading comprehension. It fosters both higher learning gains and more uniform achievement 

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across students, making it a promising pedagogical approach for junior high school English 

classrooms. 

In addition, students with high learning activeness consistently outperformed those with 

low learning activeness in reading comprehension, regardless of the teaching method used (p < 

0.05). Moreover, a significant interaction was found between the teaching method and students’ 

learning activeness (p < 0.05), suggesting that highly active students benefited the most from the 

CIRC strategy. Hypothesis testing confirmed that all null hypotheses were rejected, establishing 

that CIRC significantly improves reading comprehension, learning activeness significantly 

affects reading comprehension, and there is a meaningful interaction effect between CIRC and 

learning activeness. These findings demonstrate that implementing the CIRC method while 

simultaneously fostering students’ learning activeness can substantially enhance their reading 

comprehension skills. 

Table 2. Two-Way ANOVA Results 

Source SS df MS F p-value Sig. 

Teaching 

Method (A) 

816.817 1 816.817 14.984 0.000 ✔ 

Learning 

Activeness 

(B) 

1181.817 1 1181.817 21.676 0.000 ✔ 

Method × 

Activeness 

(A×B) 

331.817 1 331.817 6.086 0.016 ✔ 

Error 3030.333 56 54.113    

Total 45274.000 60     

 
Table 2 summarizes the results of the Two-Way ANOVA, which examined the effects 

of the teaching method, students’ learning activeness, and the interaction between the two 
on reading comprehension outcomes. The findings reveal three significant effects. 

The analysis shows that the teaching method had a statistically significant effect on 
students’ reading comprehension (F = 14.984, p = 0.000 < 0.05). Students taught using the 
Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition (CIRC) method achieved significantly 
higher comprehension scores than those taught through conventional lecture-based 
approaches. These gains were reflected across multiple indicators, including identifying 
main ideas, locating supporting details, interpreting vocabulary in context, and making 
inferences. This suggests that CIRC, with its cooperative and interactive structure, created 
deeper engagement with texts and facilitated more meaningful comprehension than 
traditional teacher-centered practices, which often limit opportunities for active 
participation. 

Learning activeness also had a significant main effect on reading comprehension (F = 
21.676, p = 0.000 < 0.05). Students with high activeness consistently outperformed those 
with low activeness in both the experimental and control groups. This pattern highlights 
the critical role of active engagement in shaping comprehension outcomes. Activeness in 

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this context includes students’ willingness to ask questions, contribute ideas, engage in 
discussions, and think critically during learning activities. These results align with 
educational psychology theories emphasizing that active involvement is a key determinant 
of academic success, regardless of the instructional method employed. 

The analysis further revealed a significant interaction between the teaching method 
and students’ activeness (F = 6.086, p = 0.016 < 0.05). This means that the benefits of CIRC 
were not uniform across all students but varied according to their level of activeness. 
Students with high activeness benefited the most when taught using CIRC, achieving the 
highest comprehension scores overall. Even students with low activeness in the CIRC 
group, however, performed better than their counterparts in the conventional group, 
suggesting that the cooperative features of CIRC helped raise performance across different 
levels of engagement. This finding indicates that while learning activeness independently 
enhances comprehension, the CIRC method amplifies these advantages by providing 
structured opportunities for collaboration, interaction, and peer support. 

Taken together, these results support the rejection of all null hypotheses and lead to 
three key conclusions: CIRC significantly improves reading comprehension, learning 
activeness strongly influences comprehension achievement, and there is a meaningful 
interaction between the teaching method and activeness. Further analysis of the mean 
scores demonstrated that the performance hierarchy followed a clear pattern: 
experimental-high activeness > experimental-low activeness > control-high activeness > 
control-low activeness. This trend underscores both the superiority of CIRC over 
traditional methods and the critical role of activeness in maximizing learning outcomes. 

Additionally, students taught with CIRC showed more consistent gains and reduced 
performance gaps between active and less active learners, whereas improvements in the 
control group were smaller and less uniform. This suggests that the cooperative structure 
embedded in CIRC not only boosts comprehension but also provides a more equitable 
platform for learners, supporting weaker students while still allowing highly active 
students to excel. Consequently, CIRC emerges as a robust and sustainable pedagogical 
model for improving reading comprehension in diverse classroom contexts, including rural 
Indonesian schools such as SMPN 3 Rantau Bayur. 

DISCUSSION 

The findings of this study, which revealed that the Cooperative Integrated Reading 
and Composition (CIRC) method significantly improved students’ reading comprehension 
compared to conventional teaching approaches, are consistent with previous research in 
the field of cooperative learning that emphasizes the effectiveness of structured group-
based strategies in promoting academic achievement (Stevens et al, 1987). Since by 
providing opportunities for students to collaborate, share ideas, and provide peer feedback, 
CIRC transforms reading from a passive, teacher-centered activity into an interactive and 
engaging process where learners construct meaning collectively, thereby confirming the 
theoretical framework of Slavin, (2005) who argued that cooperative learning increases 
not only achievement but also motivation and social interaction among learners. 

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The significant effect of learning activeness on reading comprehension further 
supports the students who participate actively in classroom discussions, pose questions, 
and contribute to group work are more likely to internalize strategies, build connections 
between new information and prior knowledge, and sustain their motivation throughout 
the learning process (Tarigan, 2014; Grabe & Stoller, 2002). This explains why in the 
present study, highly active students consistently outperformed less active students 
regardless of whether they were taught with CIRC or traditional methods, highlighting that 
activeness is not merely a complementary factor but rather an essential condition for 
successful comprehension in foreign language learning. 

The absence of a statistically significant interaction between the teaching method and 
learning activeness suggests that the positive effect of CIRC is relatively stable across 
different levels of activeness, indicating that while active students naturally achieve higher 
comprehension, even less active students benefit from the structured peer collaboration, 
scaffolding, and interactive tasks embedded in CIRC, which reduce reliance on teacher 
explanation and encourage every learner to participate to some extent; this finding implies 
that the method and activeness operate as independent predictors of comprehension, 
thereby offering practical value for teachers who may be concerned about how well 
cooperative strategies will work with students who are typically less engaged, since the 
results show that CIRC still contributes to improved performance for these learners. 

The comparison of mean scores across groups, where the highest achievement was 
recorded by highly active students in the experimental group and the lowest by less active 
students in the control group, illustrates not only the superiority of CIRC as a teaching 
strategy but also the compounding effect of combining effective methods with active 
learner behavior. According to Harmer (2007), when innovative pedagogy is paired with 
student engagement, the outcome is maximized, whereas conventional approaches 
combined with low activeness produce minimal improvement. Thus, the findings reinforce 
the idea that effective teaching and active learning must be pursued simultaneously if the 
aim is to achieve substantial gains in reading comprehension, especially among junior high 
school learners who are at the formative stage of their English education. This aligns with 
Black & Wiliam, (1998) who emphasized that instructional design and assessment 
strategies must encourage interaction and reflection. 

These findings carry important implications for English language teaching in 
Indonesia, particularly in rural schools such as SMPN 3 Rantau Bayur, where students often 
struggle with motivation, vocabulary limitations, and passive learning habits. According to 
Othman & Ahmed (2024), CIRC can facilitate student interaction, thereby resolving their 
reading comprehension challenges. It also provides students with the opportunity to make 
a meaningful contribution to a discussion, which is challenging to accomplish individually. 
Meanwhile, Hasyim et al., (2020) argue that the CIRC strategy provides a learning 
environment where students understand their role in the group and to work as a team 
based on their ability. Students can learn how to be responsible for the group to achieve the 
goal together. Similarly, Sari & Nababan (2024) state that the CIRC method can be used to 
improve reading comprehension skills as well as to serve as a means for students to 
develop their abilities in thinking, relating, and collaborating. In other word, the writer In 

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other words, the writer argues that the CIRC method is not only effective in enhancing 
students’ reading comprehension skills but also plays an important role in fostering critical 
thinking, interpersonal relationships, and collaborative learning. 

According to Sintia & Ramadhan (2023) the CIRC learning paradigm emphasizes 
students’ ability to read texts critically, comprehend their content, and draw conclusions. 
Based on Nunan (2003), adopting CIRC as an instructional model could help teachers 
create a more student-centered classroom that not only raises comprehension outcomes 
but also encourages students to be more responsible, collaborative, and confident in their 
learning, while at the same time emphasizing the need to foster learning activeness 
through motivational strategies, supportive classroom environments, and interactive 
activities, so that both pedagogical innovation and student engagement work hand in hand 
to improve the quality of English education and prepare learners to meet the demands of 
the national curriculum and global communication. Moreover, policymakers should 
support implementation with resources and training (Cline et al, 2006). 

Another implication of these findings is the need for teacher professional 
development, since many teachers in Indonesian junior high schools continue to rely on 
conventional lecture-based practices that limit student interaction and provide minimal 
opportunities for collaboration, and therefore integrating CIRC into classroom practice 
requires not only curricular adjustments but also teacher training programs that equip 
educators with the skills to design cooperative tasks, manage group dynamics, and 
facilitate active learning environments; by doing so, teachers will be better prepared to 
shift from traditional roles as sole knowledge transmitters to facilitators of student-
centered learning, which is in line with current educational reforms that emphasize 
competence-based curricula and 21st-century skills. 

Finally, the results of this study highlight the importance of contextualizing 
cooperative learning strategies such as CIRC within the realities of rural schools, where 
limitations in resources, exposure to English, and classroom facilities may pose challenges 
to implementation, yet at the same time these environments stand to benefit the most from 
approaches that maximize interaction, peer support, and student motivation, and therefore 
policymakers and school leaders should consider supporting the adoption of cooperative 
methods by providing adequate resources, continuous supervision, and recognition of 
innovative practices, so that the positive effects documented in this study can be sustained 
and scaled up to improve English education outcomes across broader contexts in 
Indonesia. 

CONCLUSION 

Based on the findings of this study, it can be concluded that the Cooperative 
Integrated Reading and Composition (CIRC) method has a statistically significant positive 
effect on students’ reading comprehension, as students taught with CIRC consistently 
achieved higher comprehension outcomes than those taught using conventional teacher-
centered methods, while learning activeness was also found to exert a significant 
independent influence on students’ achievement, with highly active learners performing 
better than their less active counterparts, and although the interaction effect between 

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method and activeness was not statistically significant, the data nevertheless suggest that 
both factors operate independently in enhancing comprehension outcomes, which implies 
that effective teaching strategies and active learner engagement are equally essential for 
improving the overall quality of English instruction in junior high schools. 

Previous research studies had indicated that the CIRC had effects on enhancing 
reading comprehension achievement. According to Simarmata (2023) research, students 
who get instruction in Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition (CIRC) method 
were more active, motivated, cooperated and enthusiastic working in group. Meanwhile, in 
Handayani et al., (2022) research, the application of CIRC method in reading adds to the 
activeness of students while studying and the method helps students to easily remember 
and know reading. Additionally, Berliana et al., (2025) implied that  CIRC models can 
positively influence students' reading comprehension. This method can make students 
more active, stimulate them to gain new knowledge, and encourage them to cooperate. 
Also, students can complete assignments well. In other word, these findings therefore 
provide theoretical and practical implications for the field of English education in 
Indonesia, particularly by reinforcing the relevance of cooperative learning models such as 
CIRC in addressing students’ difficulties with reading comprehension and by highlighting 
the importance of learning activeness as a determinant of academic success, since the 
combination of innovative instructional strategies with increased student participation 
creates an optimal learning environment where comprehension skills can develop more 
effectively, especially in rural schools such as SMPN 3 Rantau Bayur where students often 
struggle with passive learning habits, low motivation, and limited exposure to English 
outside the classroom. 

In light of these conclusions, it is suggested that English teachers at the junior high 
school level consider adopting the CIRC method as part of their instructional repertoire, 
not only because it has been empirically proven to enhance reading comprehension but 
also because it encourages student collaboration, responsibility, and confidence. According 
to Farris (2004), at the same time teachers should make deliberate efforts to foster 
learning activeness by creating interactive classroom environments, designing tasks that 
require participation from all learners, and providing positive reinforcement for student 
contributions, so that both instructional method and learner engagement can function 
synergistically to maximize comprehension outcomes. 

Furthermore, school administrators and policymakers are encouraged to support the 
implementation of cooperative learning strategies by offering teacher training programs, 
facilitating access to appropriate learning resources, and providing institutional 
recognition for innovative pedagogical practices (Black & Wiliam, 1998), while future 
research should consider extending the investigation of CIRC and learning activeness to 
larger and more diverse populations, incorporating qualitative approaches to capture 
students’ perceptions and classroom dynamics, and exploring the long-term impact of 
cooperative strategies on other language skills such as writing, speaking, and listening, 
thereby enriching the understanding of how cooperative learning can contribute to 
comprehensive improvements in English education in Indonesia.  

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Another important suggestion arising from this research is the need for systematic 
teacher professional development programs that focus on cooperative learning models, 
because without adequate training teachers may struggle to implement CIRC effectively, 
particularly in managing group dynamics, designing integrated reading writing tasks, and 
maintaining equitable participation among students; therefore, institutions of teacher 
education and school leaders should collaborate in providing workshops, peer mentoring 
opportunities, and classroom-based coaching that enable teachers to gradually integrate 
cooperative strategies into their practice while simultaneously reflecting on and improving 
their pedagogical approaches. 

It is also recommended that teachers and school administrators pay close attention to 
strategies for increasing students’ motivation and engagement, as activeness was found to 
be a strong predictor of reading comprehension regardless of instructional method. Linse 
(2005) stated that interventions such as goal-setting activities, interactive discussions, use 
of technology-based resources, and recognition of student achievements can play a 
significant role in encouraging learners to participate more actively in reading lessons, 
thereby complementing the benefits of CIRC and ensuring that improvements in 
comprehension are sustained across different groups of students. 

In addition, curriculum developers and policymakers should integrate cooperative 
learning principles into the broader English language curriculum (Black & Wiliam, 1998; 
Slavin, 2005). It ensures the assessment practices also reflect not only individual 
comprehension outcomes but also collaborative skills, critical thinking, and participation, 
since assessment systems that focus solely on test performance may discourage students 
from engaging fully in cooperative learning processes; by aligning curriculum, pedagogy, 
and assessment, the educational system can create a more coherent framework that values 
both comprehension and activeness, thereby promoting holistic development of learners in 
accordance with national educational goals.  

Finally, this study suggests that the successful implementation of CIRC in improving 
reading comprehension can serve as a model for enhancing other areas of education in 
Indonesia, particularly in rural contexts where challenges such as limited resources, low 
motivation, and passive learning attitudes are prevalent, and therefore the adoption of 
cooperative learning methods has the potential not only to improve English outcomes but 
also to strengthen broader educational values such as teamwork, responsibility, 
communication, and critical thinking, which are essential for preparing students to face the 
demands of the 21st century, thereby demonstrating that innovations in pedagogy can 
have far-reaching impacts beyond the immediate scope of language instruction. 

ACKNOWLEDGMENT 

The author wishes to express sincere gratitude to Hanni Yukamana, M.Ed., Ph.D., 
M.Pd. and Dr. Mulyadi, M.A. for their invaluable guidance, constructive feedback, and 
continuous encouragement throughout the research and writing process. Appreciation is 
also extended to the lecturers of the English Education Study Program, Postgraduate 
Program, Universitas PGRI Palembang, for their support and inspiration. 

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Special thanks are due to the author’s family for their unwavering love, prayers, and 
encouragement, and to all individuals who contributed to the completion of this study, 
whose names cannot be mentioned individually. 

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Aini, N. (2025). the Effect of Using Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition (Circ) 
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Alderson, J. C. (2000). Assessing Reading. Cambridge University Press. 

Andrade, H., & du, Y. (2007). Student responses to criteriareferenced self-assessment. 
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Asrifan, A., Octaberlina, L. R., & Anriani, A. (2021). The Cooperative Integrated Reading and 
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