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JOURNAL OF ENGLISH EDUCATION AND TECHNOLOGY 

Vol. 03 No. 02, June 2022, pp. 121- 139 

Available online at:  

http://jeet.fkdp.or.id/index.php/jeet/issue/current 

ISSN: 2721-3811 (media online) 

 

The Use of Herringbone Technique to Improve Students’ Reading 

Comprehension   

Anis Munzidah Nur Iftitah 

Teacher of Mts Mambaus Sholihin 

anismunzidahnuriftitah@gmail.com  

ABSTRACT 

This study aims to improve the student’s reading comprehension, especially detailed information, and the 

main idea through the herringbone technique. Herringbone is the technique to help students find important 

information and main ideas in the text by seeking to answer six comprehension questions on a diagram. The 

method uses CAR with observation, interview, and test. The data is analyzed by describing the observation 

checklist and using the mean score formula. There are two kinds of tests. Preliminary test and final test. Based 

on the results of the analysis data, the improvement in reading comprehension through the herringbone 

technique has improved well. In the first cycle, the average value increases by 14, which in the initial condition, 

62 increases to 74 with a percentage of 63%. In the second cycle, the average value increased by 17, which in the 

initial condition, 74, increased to 79 with a percentage of 84%. Implications and empirical approaches to 

understanding reading comprehension with the teaching and learning process of reading comprehension. the 

technique that can improve students’ reading habits. It is also proposed that researchers also deepen by 

collecting students’ responses on the use of the Herringbone Technique in teaching reading to foster teachers 

in formulating better lesson plans in using this technique. 

KeyWord: Reading Comprehension, Media, Herringbone Technique 

 

I. INTRODUCTION 

Reading has the five essential 

components that are interrelated and work in 

concert to extract the essence of reading, 

which is gaining meaning from text. These 

critical components of reading include 

phonological awareness or phonemic 

awareness, word study or phonics, 

vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension 

(Tindall & Nisbet, 2010). Although Reading 

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122 
 

is one of the English skills essential to be 

mastered by students, not all the components 

of reading must be mastered. Reading needs 

an awareness of comprehension during 

reading activities (Aziz, 2020b). “Reading is 

primarily reflected as a dynamic meaning-

focused interaction in which students are 

required to build comprehension of a text in a 

non-linear way.” Therefore, reading activities 

provide opportunities for students to learn 

the language and then construct sentences, 

paragraphs, and texts (Haerazi & Irawan, 

2020). 

The researcher observed the first grade 

of senior high school, especially in the English 

course at Mambaus Sholihin Islamic female 

boarding school. During the reading activity, 

the teacher asked the students to read the 

passage and find out the meaning of a difficult 

word, then asked the student to answer the 

questions based on the reading text. Because 

to comprehend text, students who know 

more word meanings will be able to 

comprehend more difficult texts by virtue of 

that knowledge alone, or more able students 

know more word meanings and comprehend 

text better (Stahl, 1983). 

In this case, some students did not 

respond to the teacher's request. One factor 

causing the problem is the strategy the 

English teacher applied, and the reading 

process did not run well in teaching. When a 

teacher teaching English is not reasonably 

sufficient and suitable. Teachers often have 

limited knowledge about teaching reading 

strategies and tend to draw from what they 

learned in their own school experiences when 

comprehending texts. Teachers commonly 

use strategies such as summarizing or asking 

questions to assess reading comprehension, 

but they are rarely taught how to improve it. 

Teachers should focus on teaching reading 

strategies (Koch & Spörer, 2017). Well, 

several ways can be done to improve reading 

comprehension skills. To solve the problem, 

teachers need many strategies for teaching 

reading. Many strategies in teaching reading 

can be used to overcome the problem. 

Reading comprehension strategies are 

recommended for students struggling to 

construct meaning from unfamiliar 

expository textbooks. Herringbone 

Technique is one of the graphic organizers 

that can Improve Students’ Reading 

Comprehension. It is an innovative technique 

for strengthening students’ comprehension 

that involves listening, paraphrasing, 

questioning, and making connections (Aziz, 

2020a).  

Herringbone is the technique to help 

students find essential information and main 



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ideas in a text by seeking to answer six 

comprehension questions on a diagram (who, 

what, when, why, where, and how). The 

herringbone technique can support text 

comprehension and be visually organized 

concerning the main idea (Bouchard, 2006). 

The herringbone is used to find the main idea 

and important information.  

II. LITERATURE REVIEW 

A. General Concept of Reading 

Reading is an integral part of most 

languages and an essential skill for studying 

at an English-Languages school or university 

(Mikulecky & Jeffries, 1996). Reading is the 

practice of using text to create meaning. The 

two keywords here are creating and meaning. 

If there is no meaning being created, there is 

no reading taking place (Johnson, 2008). Not 

only that, reading the act of linking one idea 

to another. Putting ideas together to create a 

sensible whole is the essential part of reading. 

Reading can also be defined as an activity to 

get ideas or information from a text. Reading 

a text should lead to the construction of a 

mental representation of a text (Welie et al., 

2018). 

Reading is a fluent process of readers 

combining information from a text and their 

own background knowledge to build 

meaning (Nunan, 2003). Sometimes, reading 

is one of the English skills which are essential 

to be mastered by the students. Reading is the 

most essential skill in the educational context 

as it can be the assessment for students’ 

general language ability (Brown & Lee, 2015). 

Meanwhile, Silberstein states that reading is 

an active process which entails the students 

to work intensively and interact with the text 

to create significant discourse.   

According to Patel reading is an active 

process which consists of recognition and 

comprehension skills (Patel & Jain, 2008). It 

means that reading is a process which the 

reader does to comprehend and get the 

information from printed text. By reading, the 

students also can understand what the 

writers mean.  

Harmer defines reading as an incredibly 

active occupation. To do it successfully, we 

have to understand what the words mean 

(Harmer, 2008). It means that reading is an 

important activity in reading text. The 

readers must also understand what they read 

and what their words mean. It can make it 

easier for the readers to get the main ideas 

from the text, and their reading activity will 

be successful. Another definition states that 

reading best develops with writing, listening, 

and speaking activities (Brown & Lee, 2015). 

It means reading should be better if combined 



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with other English skills. Reading should be 

related to writing, listening, and speaking 

activities.   

From the explanation above, the 

researcher concludes that reading is an 

activity that can improve their 

comprehension to get information or 

knowledge in teaching and learning. From a 

reading, the reader can get many benefits, 

such as new information, experiences, 

knowledge, perception, and new ideas, and 

they can explore their comprehension, 

especially in reading.   

Reading comprehension is an active 

process that requires an intentional and 

thoughtful interaction between the reader 

and the text (Aziz, 2020c; National Reading 

Panel (US) et al., 2000). Not only that, 

reading comprehension can be defined as the 

ability to understand the content of the text 

through utilizing critical thinking and critical 

reading, the ability to understand the 

language of the text at the word level, 

sentence level, and whole-text level, and the 

ability to comprehend texts using a set of 

schemata or their knowledge about the world 

while reading (Haerazi et al., 2019). Reading 

comprehension has been defined as the 

process of extracting and constructing 

meaning from written text. The reader has to 

create a mental representation of the text, or 

in other words, a situation model integrating 

text information with the reader’s prior 

knowledge (Swart et al., 2017). Thus, 

comprehending a text is different from 

reading a text. Text comprehension is a 

complex task that draws on many different 

cognitive skills and processes. Text 

comprehension involves the formation of a 

meaning-based representation of the text 

(Cain et al., 2004, p. 31).  

Reading comprehension consists of 

three elements: the reader, the text, and the 

activity or purpose for reading (Snow, 2002, 

p. 11). Reading comprehension as the ‘‘overall 

goal in reading’’ More specifically, reading 

comprehension may be understood as the 

ability to understand and employ text for 

learning and is a foundational and learned 

skill. Individual differences in reading 

comprehension have been attributed to a 

variety of factors, including cognitive-

linguistic abilities, educational and familial 

contexts as well as motivation, attitudes, and 

mindset (Stanley et al., 2018, p. 134). 

From the explanation above the writer 

concludes that reading comprehension is the 

act of understanding what you read. While 

the definition can be simply stated the act is 

not simple to teach, learn or practice. Reading 



125 
 

comprehension is an intentional, active, 

interactive process that occurs before, during, 

and after a person reads a particular piece of 

writing.  

B. The Improvement of Reading 
Comprehension  

According to Gardner there are steps to 

improve our reading comprehension, are  

a. It is evident that students’ classroom 

practice has not encompassed the 

development of reading beyond the early 

stages. On the contrary, a survey of the 

use of reading in a class curriculum in 

secondary school has revealed that, 

outside of English lessons, reading is 

rarely used for learning.  

b. The exits of a deeply stated negative 

attitude towards reading among both 

pupils and teachers. This is best 

illustrated by noting that pupils regard 

reading homework as ‘no smoking '; 

teachers are defensive about allowing 

pupils to read because they are afraid 

that the activity will be a waste of time.  

c. Reading as it does take place in 

secondary school is frequently beyond 

the scope of the average pupil. For 

instance, standard science texts are 

written at a reliability level far in advance 

of the pupil's developing capability. 

Comprehension is poor and frustration 

common.  

C. Concept of Herringbone Technique  

 The herringbone is used to find the 

main idea and important information 

(explicit and implicit) in the text by asking 

six comprehension questions; Who?, What?, 

When?, Where?, Why? and How? questions 

in a visual diagram of a fish skeleton (Deegan, 

2006). Using the answer to the WH 

questions, the students write the main idea 

across the backbone fish diagram. The 

herringbone technique is a graphic organizer 

that is used for establishing supporting 

details for the main idea (McKnight, 2010). It 

is a tool to help students recognize the 

important relationships in the material of 

reading texts. This is done by answering the 

‘who, what, when, where, why, and how 

questions of a text on a visual diagram of a fish 

skeleton (Thaler, 2016). 

This graphic organizer supports text 

comprehension by providing a framework 

upon which thewho, what, when, why, where, and 

how questions can be visually organized in 

relation to the main idea. Being able to answer 

and understand the questions 5W+1H can 

greatly aid English language learners (ELLs) 

when reading and comprehending text. This 

strategy also shows the relationship between 



126 
 

the details to the main idea, which is often a 

troubling concept for ELLs. This strategy is 

particularly well suited for expository text 

but can also be used with narrative text 

(Bouchard, 2006). Herringbone technique 

using 5W+1H questions as guidance to help 

the reader to find detailed information about 

the text and then decide and identify the main 

idea (Zygouris-Coe & Glass, 2004). 

D. Six Comprehension Questions of 
Herringbone Technique   

Table 1 Six Comprehension Questions of 

Herringbone Technique 

Who  This guiding question is used to find the 
participants in the story (characters)  

Where  This guiding question is used to find the 
place where the participant of the story 
lived  

What  This guiding question is used to help 
the students predict the conflict of the 
story or to mention the problems 
happening in the story.  

How  This guiding question is used to find the 
reason why conflict in the story 
happened. This question guided the 
students to find an indication of why 
the problem arose. (Complication)  

Why  This guided question used to know the 
ending of the story. It was a happy 
ending or a sad ending  
(Resolution)  

When  This guiding question was used to know 
when the participants find the solution 
(Resolution)  

*The purpose of this question can be 
changed based on the need.  

 

The six comprehension questions above 

are guided questions to help the students find 

detailed information such as setting, plot 

complication, and resolution. The pattern of 

the herringbone creates a framework for 

students to make notes and sort out the 

information. After the information has been 

gotten, then the students synthesize and 

summarize that information. The purpose is 

to make the students understand the whole 

information which will make it easy to 

identify the main idea stated in the text.   

There are procedures while teaching 

the reading text through the technique. First, 

the teacher explained the material. Second, 

she asked the students to find the meaning of 

unfamiliar words in pre-reading. Next step: 

find detailed information by using the guided 

questions. Lastly, the students find or identify 

the main idea by synthesizing the activity.”. 

III. METHOD 

The research design was a strategy to 

arrange the setting of research in order to get 

valid data that are suitable for the variable 

and objective research. In this study, the 

writer used Classroom Action Research 

(CAR). The design of this research was 

qualitative and quantitative design. 

Classroom Action Research is any systematic 

inquiry conducted by teachers as researchers, 

principals, school counselors, or other 

stakeholders in the teaching or learning 



127 
 

environment to gather information about 

how their particular schools operate, how 

they teach, and how well their students learn 

(Mills, 2000). 

In order to achieve the purpose of the 

study, there are several steps that would be 

applied in action research. Each step had five 

stages: planning, action, observation, 

reflection, and revision of the planning. These 

five stages took place in an ongoing cycle in 

which critical reflection was done at every 

end of a cycle in order to make further 

revisions and planning.   

From those statements, Classroom 

Action Research is a problem-based research 

whose aims are to solve the problems that 

arise in the class and to make an improvement 

in teaching-learning activity through a 

cyclical process that involves some phases of 

planning, acting, observing, and reflecting. In 

addition, action research is portrayed as a 

cyclical process involving steps of planning, 

acting, observing, and reflecting, it is normal 

for a project to go through two or more cycles 

in an iterative process (Kember, 2000). 

Based on the focus of research in 

advance and reviewed in terms of procedures 

and as well as the patterns used by 

researchers, the study included this research 

is a type of CAR (Classroom Action 

Research).   

Based on that theory, it can be 

concluded that Classroom Action Research is 

research aimed at developing skills or a new 

approach to solving a problem.  

A. Technique of Collecting Data  

In this part, the researcher used the 

primary data which was taken from the result 

of the test for all students. The data was 

collected through the preliminary test and 

final test. There were two types of collecting 

data: qualitative and quantitative data. 

Qualitative field notes reporting the 

instructional processes that are focused on 

the teacher’s performance and students’ 

activities. Interview transcripts deal with the 

students’ opinions and expectations relating 

to research instructions. In collecting the 

quantitative data, the researcher used a 

preliminary test and a final test. Observation: 

The writer used unstructured or open 

observation directly in the classroom and got 

the description of students’ activity, 

participation in applying the Herringbone 

Technique, and the teacher's performance. 

This process was when the implementation 

of CAR. Interview, The writer interviewed the 

students before applying the Herringbone 

Technique. It was to know the student's 



128 
 

difficulties in reading skills and to know their 

opinion of the herringbone technique after 

implementation.  

The test is given to the students to focus 

on reading comprehension. To measure the 

students’ understanding used preliminary 

and final tests. A preliminary test is done 

before implementing the herringbone 

technique to know the student’s reading 

comprehension. The final test is done after 

implementing the Herringbone Technique to 

know the improvement of a student's 

achievements. Besides the reading 

comprehension tests, the researcher also 

administered the assessment tasks at the end 

of each cycle. The assessment tasks were used 

to gain information about the strengths and 

the weaknesses of the actions and the 

improvement of the students reading 

comprehension in each cycle.  

B. Research Cycle  

In this research, the writer adapted 

from Kemmis and Taggart, the research 

procedure based on Classroom Action 

Research (CAR) is divided into four steps, 

which the four steps exist in each cycle of the 

research: planning, acting, observing, and 

reflecting. 

 

 

  

  

  

  

  

  

Picture 1: Cycle of the CAR (Kemmis et al., 
2014) 

1. Planning   

The first step is making a plan. Planning 

is a step to prepare the classroom 

instructional strategy to be developed in the 

study to solve the instructional problems. 

How to make actions to be taken to improve 

learning practices or student understanding. 

The plan is prepared before implementing it 

in class. For example identifying, formulating, 

and solving problems. This planning is based 

on the problems that exist in the class.   

2. Acting  

Acting is the second step after planning, 

to implement the instructional strategy that 

has been planned. At this stage, the researcher 

has mastered the instructional scenario 

before starting the implementation in class. 

The learning activities carried out were 

learning reading comprehension skills using 

the herringbone technique.   



129 
 

3. Observing  

The third step is observation. 

Observation is the process of collecting data 

indicating the success of a strategy in solving 

classroom problems. The focus of observation 

is on the data related to the criteria of success 

that have been decided. In the 

implementation of observations, teachers, 

and students start from the beginning of 

learning, and at the end of learning obtained 

using observation and data formats.  

4. Reflection   

The last step is reflection. Reflection is 

the process of analyzing data to determine 

how far the data collected have shown the 

success of the strategy in solving the problem. 

Reflection also shows what factors support 

the success of the strategy or what other 

problems may occur during the 

implementation process.  

C. Research Instrument  

Classroom Action Research 

instruments are needed to record the data to 

be collected during the process of 

observation. The instruments have to be 

developed based on the nature of the data to 

be collected. The data are derived from the 

criteria of success in solving classroom 

problems and have to be defined based on the 

right construct and content (Latief, 2012).    

The instruments of this research are:  

1. Observation sheet  

The aspect observed is the learning 

process using the herringbone technique. 

This observation sheet contains learning 

activities when using the herringbone 

technique.   

2. Interview  

Interview is helpful to get further 

instructional information about the 

implementation of the Herringbone 

Technique to improve students’ reading 

comprehension. The researcher will be asked 

by a student to get information about their 

perception, opinions, experiences, and 

suggestions.  

3. Test   

The researcher gave a reading test to 

students to get information about the 

student’s reading comprehension before and 

after implementing the Herringbone 

Technique. In this study, the researcher used 

a preliminary test and a final test. In addition, 

reading rubrics researchers used to collect the 

scores of students’ speaking performance. 

IV. RESULT 

1. Description of Research Results 

The Classroom Action Research that 

has been conducted to improve this students’ 

reading comprehension has been carried out 



130 
 

in two cycles. Each cycle consists of two to 

three meetings. The first cycle has 3 meetings, 

and the second cycle has 2 meetings. So this 

research has been conducted with 5 meetings 

and 1 preliminary research meeting. 

Preliminary research has been conducted to 

see the first data of students.  

The first step that is taken by 

researchers before conducting the research is 

to observe the learning process of reading 

comprehension. In learning reading, 

especially reading comprehension, students 

have difficulties in understanding correctly 

how to comprehend a reading material then 

the results were not satisfactory and there 

were still many students who have not 

reached the KKM score of 75%. This research 

has been conducted with the subject of 

students’ English course for the first grade of 

senior high consisting of 19 students.   

2. Description of Preliminary Research  

It was conducted on January 8th, 2022. 

In the results of the preliminary research, 

students have different levels of 

understanding abilities, various potentials, 

and high, medium, and low potentials. The 

knowledge gained by each student also varies 

in congruent learning experiences. The 

implementation of the research begins with 

direct observation of the object of research, 

this activity has been conducted before doing 

research in cycle 1 and cycle 2. This is used to 

determine the first level of students' 

knowledge in understanding reading 

comprehension skills.  

Based on the conditions described 

above, the researcher has made efforts to 

improve reading comprehension, reflecting 

on the learning activities that have been done 

and trying to improve them, both from 

planning and implementing the results are 

expected to increase from before.  

Students do not really understand 

reading activities, they are busy with their 

own activities and don't really pay attention 

to reading, this is because the teacher only 

asks students to read the text, understand, 

and answer the questions that the teacher 

asks. The results of students' reading 

comprehension skills in preliminary research 

are as follows:  

Table 2 Preliminary Research Reading 
Comprehension Skill Score List  

Number of student  Percentage  Mean 
Score  

Passed  Failed  Passed  Failed    

6  13  32%  68%  62%  

Based on the research results on 

students' reading comprehension, there are 

still many students who have not reached the 



131 
 

maximum standard KKM score of 75. This 

obstacle occurs because students have not 

been directly involved with learning 

activities, and have not understood the text. 

Based on this problem, it is necessary to take 

action with the next meeting, it is cycle 1.   

3. Description of the Action Results of 
Cycle I   

The implementation of cycle 1, the 

researcher carries out learning activities in 

three meetings, starting with a plan and 

action the following:  

4. Cycle 1  

A. Planning  

Classroom Action Research is a 

recycled (cycle) research design. CAR is a 

form of research conducted in the classroom. 

Planning in cycle 1 is arranged as follows;  

a. Researcher as the teacher prepares 

the material to be delivered to 

students.  

b. Prepare lesson plans.   

c. Prepare the procedure of reading 

material in cycle 1 by Herringbone 

Technique.  

d. Compile and prepare evaluation 

questions given to students at the 

end of each cycle.  

e. Designing an instrument as an 

observation guide in the 

implementation of learning. 

B. Action  

In this stage, the teacher uses the lesson 

plans that have been prepared and observed 

during the learning process with an 

observation sheet for teachers’ and students’ 

learning achievement of teachers and 

students using the Herringbone Technique.   

C. Observation  

The implementation of the observation 

was conducted during the learning process by 

the researcher as well as the teacher. Teachers 

have a role from the beginning to the end of 

the lesson to know the improvement of 

students’ reading comprehension through 

herringbone technique.  

Based on the results of observations 

made during the learning process in cycle 1 

there are still some students who have 

difficulty expressing their opinions, this 

happens because some students when doing 

reading activities, students still do not pay 

too much attention to reading, which causes 

difficulty in expressing their opinions. There 

are even some students who have not 

understood correctly the material that has 

been delivered.  

In addition, there are still students who 

have difficulty answering questions about 

reading texts that have been read. This 

happens because sometimes there is a lack of 



132 
 

 

  

0 % 
1

0 
% 

2

0 
% 

3

0 
% 

4

0 
% 

5

0 
% 

6

0 
% 

7

0 
% 

8

0 
% 

preliminar

y researc
h 

cycle 

1 

Faile

d Passe
d 

students in terms of reading, so some 

sentences or words are not understood. 

Therefore, students still need special 

attention and guidance from the teacher in 

order that obstacles that occur can be 

overcome so that the desired learning 

objectives can be achieved.  

To further clarify the improvement in 

reading comprehension skills from 

preliminary research to cycle 1, the results of 

the research can be seen in the diagram 

below.  

 

 

 
 
 
 

 
Picture 2 The Diagram Achievement on 
Reading Comprehension Skills in Cycle 1   

Based on the research results on reading 

comprehension skills in cycle 1 meeting 1, 

students have not been able to answer about 

what students have read in the reading text. 

At the first meeting, students were less able 

to express their opinion on what they have 

read in the reading text and have not been 

focused on the text because don’t understand 

the technique of reading, but in the second 

meeting, students started to answer about 

what they have read in the reading text 

because have been understanding about the 

technique of reading to improve their reading 

comprehension. However, in the learning 

process students have not dared to present 

the results of the activities. Therefore, the 

results of the learning in the second meeting 

have not been achieved yet.  

Reading comprehension activities in 

cycle 1 meeting III, students have started to 

dare to express their opinions and 

understand what they have read, but they are 

still unable to extract the ideas they have read 

from the reading text and have not been 

maximal in their duties conform to the 

Herringbone Technique.  

The research results on the learning 

process of reading comprehension in cycle 1 

have increased, and students are more active 

in the learning process using the Herringbone 

Technique. In addition, the class average 

value also increased by 12%, from the initial 

condition of 62%, to 74%. The 

implementation of the first cycle had not been 

maximally achieved because there were still 7 

students from 19 students whose scores had 

not reached the maximum KKM score of 75. 

Therefore, this research needs to be 

continued in the next cycle, which is Cycle II.  



133 
 

D. Reflection  

In the first cycle of learning, reflection 

is conducted at the end of each lesson; this is 

done to determine the extent to which the 

learning objectives of reading comprehension 

can be achieved with the Herringbone 

Technique. The reflection activity was 

conducted to find out the advantages and 

disadvantages of the learning actions that 

have been done.  

In this reflection, the teacher as the 

researcher examines and observes the results 

of the implementation, both from the 

assessment of the learning process and when 

evaluating the implementation of the action. 

The implementation of learning using the 

Herringbone Technique has not been 

maximally implemented, this can be seen 

when the teacher asks students to present the 

results of the conclusions they have worked 

on. Students are less than optimal in 

synthesizing, analyzing, and inferring from 

information, representing information 

visually, formulating a main idea, connecting 

information to the main idea, and answering 

the question because they feel they do not 

understand well, both in terms of reading 

texts or the Herringbone Technique learning 

procedure, find important information and 

main ideas in a text.  

In addition, students lack confidence in 

the results they have done so some students 

are embarrassed to present their learning 

outcomes. Reflection in the first cycle has 

carried out the researcher and teacher finding 

the solutions to problems that occur in the 

learning process and finding improvements to 

learning plans in cycle II. So in this action, the 

activities of learning reading comprehension 

using the Herringbone Technique needs to be 

improved again. The increase in reading 

comprehension from preliminary research to 

cycle I have increased, which can be seen in 

the following table.  

Tabel 3 Reflection of Reading 
Comprehension Using Herringbone 
Technique from Preliminary Research to 
Cycle 1  

Achievement of KKM score  Percentage 
Pre-action  

Percentage 
Cycle 1  

Preliminary 
research  

Cycle 1    

Passed  Faile
d  

Passed  Faile
d  

Passed  Faile
d  

Passed  Faile
d  

6  13  12  7  32%  68%  63%  37
%  

  

5. Description of the Action Results of 
Cycle II   

A. Planning  

in cycle 2 is the same as in cycle 1. 

However, what makes the difference is the 

teacher's treatment of teaching, which is 

more activating and directing student 



134 
 

activities. In this second cycle, the teacher 

made better preparations than in the first 

cycle, looking for solutions. So, the planning 

of the second cycle was better than the first 

cycle.  

The steps learned in cycle II are the 

same as in cycle I. However, what makes the 

difference in cycle II is the reading text. The 

planning in cycle II is as follows.  

a. Teacher discusses developing lesson 

plans that are in accordance with 

learning materials about reading 

comprehension with reading texts, 

students read the texts, then synthesize, 

analyze and infer from information, 

represent information visually, formulate 

the main idea, connect the information to 

the main idea, and answer the question 

according to the steps in the herringbone 

technique.  

b. Compile and prepare students’ 

worksheets in the form of Herringbone 

sheets (fish diagrams).  

c. Compile and prepare an observation 

sheet that will be used as a guide in the 

learning process, this observation sheet 

consists of teachers’ and students’ 

observation sheets.  

B. Action  

In the implementation of the second 

cycle, carry out by the teacher in accordance 

with the planning that has been prepared. 

Learning activities in cycle II have been 

carried out in 2 x meetings for 35 minutes in 

one hour of learning. The first meeting in the 

second cycle was held on February 5th 2022.  

C. Observation  

In the second cycle of observations as 

the observations in the first cycle have done. 

An observation was conducted from the 

learning process to the end of learning. 

Results of observations made by researchers 

can conclude that in the learning process, 

students' activeness and understanding in 

reading activities increase.  

In addition, students who have been 

feeling bored in reading activities, in this 

second cycle students feel more interest and 

understanding in reading. In this second 

cycle, students are able to answer questions 

related to the content of the reading and 

students are also confident in presenting the 

results of their assignments. The conclusions 

made by students are in conformity with the 

text they read, in this case, students are able 

to carry out activities to understand the 

contents of the reading well.  



135 
 

 

  

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In general, the action of this second 

cycle of learning has increased. This is evident 

from the results of reading comprehension 

skills from pre-action to cycle 1 and to cycle 2. 

In addition, the learning process looks more 

active and the results of the completion of 

answering questions related to the reading 

text are more precise and clearer. Students 

can rearrange the information obtained from 

the reading visually by using the given 

herringbone sheet and formulate the main 

idea. The teacher has also been actively 

guiding students by paying attention to every 

student activity in the reading process.  

Based on the results of research from 

pre-action to cycle I and cycle II, learning 

activities for reading comprehension using 

the Herringbone Technique have increased. 

This can be seen in the students' activities 

before using the herringbone technique in 

preliminary research; students were not yet 

active in the learning process. However, after 

being repaired in cycle I and cycle II, the 

learning process changed from before, 

students were more active in asking 

questions, being confident, and expressing 

their opinions.  

This study experienced an increase; the 

results of this increase can be seen in the 

following graph:  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Picture 2 The Diagram Achievement on 
Reading Comprehension in Cycle II  

Based on the research results on 

learning reading comprehension using the 

Herringbone Technique in cycle II, learning 

reading comprehension skills has increased, 

this can be seen from the class average value 

of 14, the initial condition of 62 increases to 

74. After being repaired in cycle II, it 

increased by 17 initial conditions and 74 

increased to 79 

V. DISCUSSION  

The Improvement of Students' Reading 
Comprehension through Herringbone 
Technique.  

This research was conducted to know 

the improvement of the student’s reading 

comprehension through Herringbone 

Technique in an English course for the first 

grade of senior high school. Based on the 

result of this study showed that Herringbone 

Technique can improve students’ reading 

comprehension. It can be seen in the average 

scores obtained in each cycle. In the first 



136 
 

cycle, the average value of the class increased 

by 14 which in the initial condition was 62, it 

increased to 74 with a percentage of 63%. In 

the second cycle, the average value of the class 

increased by 17, which in the initial condition 

was 74 it increased to 79 with a percentage of 

84%. It indicated that the improvement of 

students' reading comprehension using the 

Herringbone Technique has improved well.  

Reading comprehension strategy is a 

cognitive or behavioral action that is enacted 

under particular contextual conditions, with 

the goal of improving some aspect of 

comprehension (McNamara, 2007). 

Comprehending a text does not just 

understand the meaning, vocabularies, and 

the grammatical structures but more than 

that. The skills and processes that are needed 

in order to understand a text. The 

comprehension processes we outline are 

central not only to reading comprehension 

but also to listening comprehension, with an 

important caveat: listening comprehension is 

intended as the understanding of a text read 

out loud, and not listening in the sense of 

everyday conversations and interactions 

(Oakhill et al., 2019). Reading comprehension 

is crucial not just for understanding text, but 

for learning more generally and, thus, 

education more broadly. It is also requisite for 

social activities because of email, texting and 

the numerous web applications that people 

use on an everyday basis (Oakhill et al., 2019). 

Margaret Bouchard, stated that one of 

the main focuses of herringbone technique as 

the technique of reading comprehension is 

making students’ understanding in reading 

effectively. The herringbone technique is 

considered very effective in the learning 

process of reading comprehension. Therefore, 

one way to overcome obstacles in learning to 

read comprehension is the herringbone 

technique (Margaret, 2005). This is because 

the interesting patterns of graphic diagrams 

help students to organize and classify 

information on the assigned reading text 

(McKnight, 2010). The visual patterns of the 

Herringbone Technique creates a framework 

for students to shorten the information. The 

Herringbone provides readers with a 

framework for recognizing and recording 

main ideas and supporting details during and 

after reading (Jacobs, 2010). The categories 

included in the diagram are often the main 

idea (the spine of the fish) and “who, where, 

what, why, when, and how” (the ribs), but they 

can be altered to fit the particular text 

students are reading.   

Other research which uses the 

Herringbone Technique to develop the EFL 

(English Foreign Language) students’ reading 



137 
 

comprehension in Indonesian context. It 

employ the Herringbone Technique to 

improve reading comprehension on 

descriptive texts. These experimental studies 

revealed that the students’ reading scores in 

their post-tests significantly increased after 

the implementation of HT compared to their 

pre-tests before the technique was given as 

treatment. Thus, their research findings 

basically conclude that HT gave a positive 

effect on students' reading comprehension. 

HT was also successful in developing their 

comprehension by increasing attention to 

detail information.  

Next, (Rosyida & Ghufron, 2018) 

develop reading comprehension by 

comparing Herringbone Technique (HT) and 

Tri Focus Steve Snyder Technique (TFSST). 

The implementation of HT to overcome the 

students’ problems in reading comprehension 

is successful. HT is more effective than TFSST 

to teach reading comprehension, the students 

having high reading habits have better 

reading comprehension than students having 

low reading habits, and there is no interaction 

effect between teaching technique and 

students’ reading habits in teaching reading 

comprehension.  

Besides that research has shown that 

Herringbone Technique not only improves 

reading comprehension but can help readers 

to find detailed information of the text then 

decide and identify the main idea. 

Herringbone pattern is used to help students 

identify the main idea and related supporting 

ideas of a lesson, text, or concept (Zygouris-

Coe & Glass, 2004). Herringbone Technique 

can help the students to comprehend the text, 

help to organize important information in a 

text, and help to improve students’ reading 

comprehension. 

VI. CONCLUSION 

Reading comprehension can improve 

through the Herringbone Technique. The 

results showed that after applying the 

Herringbone Technique, students are active 

in giving responses, more active in asking 

questions, making students understand 

reading effectively about texts that they have 

read. The improvements of students' reading 

comprehension improve in each cycle. In the 

first cycle, the average value increased by 14 

with a percentage of 63%. In the second cycle, 

the average value increased by 17 with a 

percentage of 84%. The improvement of 

reading comprehension through the 

Herringbone Technique has been carried out 

by guiding students in reading activities, 

guiding students to answer questions, 

rewriting with herringbone sheets about 



138 
 

texts that have been read, and motivating 

students to express their opinions. 

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