Lestari, Adelia Karenina. 2025. Story Mapping Strategy on Teaching Reading Comprehension of Narrative Text in the Eighth Grade at SMPN 9 Banjarmasin. Sarjana’s Thesis. English Language Education Study Program, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Lambung Mangkurat University, Banjarmasin. The first advisor: Dr. Rina Listia, M.Pd., the second advisor: Eka Puteri Elyani, M.Pd.

Keywords: reading comprehension, story mapping strategy, teaching reading

Reading is an essential skill, as it enables students to access and understand a variety of texts. However, many eighth grade students at SMPN 9 Banjarmasin face difficulties in reading comprehension, which hinders the development of their English skills and prevents them from achieving the learning objectives in the classroom. This research aims to examine the effect of the story mapping strategy on teaching reading comprehensionby investigating whether there is a different effect on students’ reading comprehension achievement between those who are taught using the story mapping strategyand those who are taught using the question and answer strategy in the eighth grade at SMPN 9 Banjarmasin.

This research employed a quantitative approach with a quasi-experimental design. The research was conducted at SMPN 9 Banjarmasin, involving two groups: the experimental group was taught using story mapping strategy and the control group was taught using question and answer strategy. Data were collected through pre-test and post-test and analyzed using SPSS 30.

The results reveal a different effect between the two classes, where students in the experimental class achieved higher post-test scores than those in the control class. These findings indicate that the story mapping strategy effectively helps students better understand narrative text, which contributes to improved reading comprehension.

In conclusion, the story mapping strategy effectively enhances students’ reading comprehension achievement of narrative text. By providing a clear and visual format, the strategy supports deeper understanding of the elements within a narrative text. It is recommended that teachers implement and further explore this strategy to enhance students’ reading comprehension achievement.