Boosting t he L2 Learners’ Reading Comprehension Capability by Employing Nearpod Media

ABSTRACT


INTRODUCTION
The advancement of educational development has led to greater demands on readers, particularly second language (L2) learners, to possess excellent reading comprehension abilities.However, there are still learners who encounter difficulties in comprehending text.The limited capacity to comprehend written texts has negatively impacted students' motivation and talents in higher education, specifically in English reading comprehension (Misnawati et al., 2020).The subject of reading comprehension is included in the course of study of the 4th semester of the English Language Education Department at Universitas Almuslim.This course impacts learners' comprehension of written articles and other relevant material about the many courses offered on campus.In addition, the government has recently been encouraging students to strengthen their literacy, which is also in line with the Merdeka curriculum implemented at Universitas Almuslim.The curriculum cultivates graduates with enhanced literacy skills, encompassing data, humanistic, and technology literacy.
Furthermore, in alignment with the current era of globalization, students and lecturers at Universitas Almuslim highly emphasize integrating technology into the educational experience.It is closely related to the English Language Education Department syllabus at Universitas Almuslim.The syllabus outlines that reading comprehension improves learners' ability to comprehend texts, encompassing both intensive and extensive reading aspects that facilitate the development of their autonomous reading skills through exposure to diverse and authentic texts (Pramesti et al., 2023).
As Mufti and Narius (2018) stated, reading comprehension involves a dynamic process in which the reader engages with written language to interpret and understand the content.Reading comprehension is when a student interprets a text to determine its content, which students translate using their own words to convey meaning (Tuti et al., 2023).Saraswati et al. (2021) asserted that reading comprehension entails more than merely acknowledging and comprehending words and their meanings; instead, it is a complex cognitive process wherein students perceive the meaning of written language, connect it to their prior knowledge, and construct a mental representation of the information they have read.Reading is not only pronouncing word by word but also comprehending the information in the text, such as explicit and implicit information (Hutabarat & Zainil, 2020).Hashemifardnia et al. (2018) also mentioned that comprehension of the text is the primary goal of the readers.Hence, the reader must use strategies and methods to discover the meaning of the text when dealing with the printed language to acquire good reading comprehension skills.Reading comprehension skills are crucial in learning a foreign language (Bahrami & Rahimy, 2022).Subsequently, the result of the process will be influenced by the reader's background knowledge, experience, and the purpose of reading.Reading comprehension requires constructing a coherent mental representation of the information in a text (Butterfuss et al., 2020).Reading comprehension is the procedure or activity of recognizing and understanding what the reader reads (Selong, 2019).Reading comprehension is readers' interaction with written material to extract meaning, message, or information.In order to gain meaning and knowledge, students must not merely read but also comprehend the content (Lumbantobing et al., 2020).Reading comprehension is a process in which the information from the text and the knowledge possessed by the reader act together to construct meaning (Misnawati et al., 2020).
However, even though students have spent many years studying English, they still need help with reading comprehension problems due to insufficient teaching in effective reading strategies and knowledge acquisition (Dewi & Muzammil, 2020).Based on the research, the English Language Education Department 4th-semester students at Universitas Almuslim need help comprehending the text, including intensive and extensive reading.They also need help getting the main ideas from the text, as well as inferencing, referencing, and summarizing the text.Besides, the lecturer still needs to be more effective in using the learning media during the reading comprehension teachinglearning process.Therefore, strategies for reading comprehension are needed.Reading comprehension can be enhanced by engaging specific strategies in study skills.Hence, one of the efficient strategies to enhance the L2 learners' reading is using the Nearpod platform as a learning media.
By integrating technology into the classroom, particularly Nearpod media, this study contributes to the growing body of knowledge on effective strategies for language learning.Using Nearpod media can positively engage and empower L2 learners, offering a novel and prospective strategy to enhance language instruction, specifically in reading comprehension.Nearpod has emerged as a leading entity in the evolution of education, providing a versatile platform that seamlessly integrates interactive media, real-time assessments, and data-driven insights into the learning process (Paramita, 2023).Nearpod is a digital educational platform designed to augment student engagement and foster active participation within the reading comprehension classroom setting (Siswati et al., 2023).Nearpod provides an additional dynamic learning experience compared to a conventional didactic learning process (McClean & Crowe, 2017).The implementation of Nearpod as an instructional tool offers advantages to educators, as it enables them to assume control over activities inside the platform and closely monitor student engagement throughout lessons while facilitating the acquisition of real-time feedback (Sanmugam et al., 2019).Nearpod, during guided reading, was very influential in comprehending the text (Tourimpampa et al., 2018).The learning outcomes attained as a result of using Nearpod possess the potential to boost students' critical thinking and reading comprehension skills, as well as to engage students in the learning process (Putri & Amini, 2023).
Referring to the issues mentioned above, this current study would fill in the gap of the L2 learners' problems in reading comprehension since the Nearpod media has never been implemented, and it is regarded as a novelty in Universitas Almuslim.Researchers are eager to conduct this research to answer the following research question: "Is there any statistically significant difference in the use of the Nearpod platform as media on the L2 learners' reading comprehension?"

General background
This current study used a pre-experimental research design.Pre-experimental research, known as a one-group pre-test -post-test that includes the pre-test, treatment, and posttest, was the simplest form of research design (Neuman, 2014).The pre-experimental research design is one of the experimental research designs with a group of students that employed a conventional method as a pre-test sample, which was later implemented using courseware as a post-test.Pre-experimental research encompasses the utilization of pre-test and post-test evaluations with the same subjects.It is deemed suitable for implementation in a field setting that takes ethical considerations into account (Aziz et al., 2022).The results of the different treatments on the pre-test and post-test are both taken, but there is no control group for comparison.Hence, this research methodology is classified as a quantitative approach that examines a singular group subjected to specific treatments and measures afterward to ascertain any effects.In this case, the researchers focused on one group, namely 4th-semester English Language Education Department students at Universitas Almuslim.According to Mogea (2021), a pre-experimental design is similar to a one-shot case study.However, the difference is that a pre-test is given before the instruction or treatment begins, so there will be two tests, namely, Y 1 is the pretest, and Y 2 is the post-test.Meanwhile, X is symbolized as the treatment, as tabulated in Table 1.In addition, according to Fraenkel et al. (2012), pre-experimental is a research design wherein a single group of samples is evaluated or observed before and after treatment.Following the treatment, a post-test assessment was administered in order to evaluate the level of achievement.The efficacy of the treatment was determined by conducting a comparative analysis of the mean scores obtained from the pre-test and post-test.Therefore, pre-experimental research is conducted in order to enable researchers to evaluate the efficacy of a treatment in a controlled setting prior to its introduction into the market.

Population and Sample
The population refers to an entire set of units that exhibit a variable characteristic under investigation and for which research findings can be generalized (Shukla, 2020).Meanwhile, a sample is a set of respondents (people) selected as representative individuals from a large population.Hence, in this study, the population that the researchers took was the English Language Education Department students at Universitas Almuslim.The 4th-semester students of the English Language Education Department, which consisted of 30 students in the class, were chosen as the sample.The students were still actively learning English reading comprehension as one of the compulsory subjects.Therefore, the researchers took all of them as the research sample.

Research Instrument
According to Sugiyono (2018), research instruments are tools employed to measure natural and social phenomena.The objective is to acquire information or data that will be beneficial in answering research questions (Pramaisella et al., 2021).Research instruments refer to the numerous tools researchers employ to collect data, and the credibility of the instruments is contingent on their validity and reliability (Johnson, 2023).In this study, the researchers utilized tests (pre-test and post-test) to assess the L2 learners' reading comprehension.A test was created to assess a sample's quality, ability, skill, or knowledge toward a predetermined standard, which can be proclaimed acceptable or unacceptable (Adom et al., 2020).In this case, the researchers administered a reading comprehension test to the research sample employing the Nearpod platform.

Data Collection Technique
The current study used some procedures in the technique of data collection as explained: 1. Pre-test The researchers implemented the pre-test to determine the English Language Education Department's 4th-semester students' reading comprehension abilities, such as comprehending the text and obtaining the main ideas and general, detailed, and specific information from the text.At the same time, the students should develop reading skills between the lines, analyzing and summarizing the text in the reading comprehension tests.The researchers asked the students to complete the multiple-choice reading comprehension test that researchers made concerning the English Language Education Department's reading comprehension syllabus at Universitas Almuslim.Initially, the researchers instructed the students to visit the Nearpod platform using a web browser or install the application on their devices.Subsequently, the students are mandated to promptly participate in the reading comprehension test without receiving specific instructions from the researchers regarding the operation and proper use of the Nearpod platform.The duration of the pre-test is one hour.

Treatment
After the pre-test, the students were given the treatment.It took two meetings during the treatment and approximately 30 minutes each session.During each treatment session, the researchers provided instruction to the students on how to navigate and operate the Nearpod platform to complete the reading comprehension test.Afterward, the researchers apprised the students that any instance of logging out from the Nearpod platform or deliberate non-participation in the reading comprehension test questions during the live session test would be automatically recorded by the Nearpod platform.This kind of action can potentially impact their test scores performance.

Post-test
The researchers implemented a post-test to determine the treatment's influence.Like the pre-test, the researchers instructed the students to complete the test during this stage.During the test, students were instructed to read and comprehend the texts on the Nearpod platform thoroughly.After that, the students were instructed to answer the multiple-choice inquiries that corresponded with the texts they had read.Upon the completion of the test by the students, the Nearpod platform's post-session Reports features will promptly display the scores.The duration of the post-test is one hour.

Data Analysis Technique
In this research, after data collection, the researchers quantitatively analyzed the data results obtained from the reading comprehension pre-test and post-test by using the SPSS Statistics Output to determine the statistically significant difference in the implementation of the Nearpod platform as a media on the reading comprehension of the English Language Education Department's 4th-semester students at Universitas Almuslim.The researchers analyzed the data using the Normality test and Paired-Sample T-test.In this case, the data collected of the reading comprehension mean scores have been analyzed differently based on specific purposes.Then, the researchers used the Paired-Sample T-test calculation, part of the parametric statistics, to test the research hypotheses.Before the Paired-Sample T-test, the researchers must ascertain whether the data adheres to a normal distribution.Therefore, the researchers had to conduct the Normality test in the first place before the Paired-Sample T-test.
The normality test is used to test whether or not, in a regression model, the dependent variable and the independent variable have a normal distribution.Determining the normality in the Normality Test is done by looking at the results shown in the Kolmogorov-Smirnov significant data.If the p-value > 0.05, then the residual value is usually distributed.Meanwhile, if the p-value < 0.05, the residual value is not normally distributed.
After (2-tailed).If the p-value < 0.05, then there is a significant effect on the differences in the treatment between the initial and final variables.Meanwhile, if the p-value > 0.05, there is no significant effect on the treatment differences between the initial and final variables.
Thus, drawing upon the preceding explanation, the researchers have created the methodology of this research into a flowchart framework for simplification.The visual representation of this research procedure may be viewed in Figure 1.There is significant effect on the treatment differences between the initial and final variables There is no significant effect on the treatment differences between the initial and final variables

Results
From the data gathered, the researchers calculated whether or not there was any effect on the students' reading comprehension after using the Nearpod platform as media in the class.The researchers tabulated the pre-test and post-test reading comprehension mean scores of the English Language Education Department's 4th-semester students at Universitas Almuslim from the SPSS Statistics Output as shown in Table 2.
In conformity with Table 2, the researchers ascertained that the students' pre-test reading comprehension mean score was 65.17, and the post-test mean score was 71.50.This means there was an increase in the students' reading comprehension test scores after being tutored during the treatments.The data tabulated from the SPSS Statistics Output above showed that the post-test reading comprehension mean score was higher than the pre-test reading comprehension mean score.The researchers then conducted the Normality Test to examine the normal distribution.The Normality test was used to determine whether the tests administered were usually distributed.As shown below, the Kolmogorov-Smirnov formula was used in the analysis through the SPSS Statistics Output in Table 3. .20 d Based on the Normality Test result in Table 3, the researchers found the p-value = 0.200.Because the p-value was 0.200 > 0.05, the researchers concluded that the sample data followed a normal distribution.Hereafter, the data collected were statistically computed to find the Paired-Sample T-test result to determine whether or not there was a significant difference between the pre-test and post-test using the Nearpod platform on the reading comprehension of the English Language Education Department's 4thsemester students.Table 4 presents the results of the Paired-Sample T-test.The Paired-Sample T-test assesses the differences between pre-test and post-test outcomes.Two hypotheses are formulated in this study: the null hypothesis (Ho) and the alternative hypothesis (Ha).Ho : There is no statistically significant difference in the use of the Nearpod platform as media on the L2 learners' reading comprehension.

Ha
: There is a statistically significant difference in the use of the Nearpod platform as media on the L2 learners' reading comprehension.
Based on Table 4, the researchers can accumulate the improvement statistics of pre-test and post-test data, in which the mean of pre-test reading comprehension was 65.17, the mean of post-test reading comprehension was 71.50, and the standard deviation decreased.It means the data was representative.Meanwhile, the results of the Paired-Sample T-test showed that the p-value = 0.003 < 0.05, so it can be concluded that there was a significant effect on the differences in the treatment given between the pre-test and post-test.In another statement, the researchers could assert that using the Nearpod platform as media on the reading comprehension of the English Language Education Department's 4th-semester students at Universitas Almuslim was significantly effective.The novel aspect of this study possesses the potential to provide valuable insights to educators and L2 learners regarding the advantages of integrating innovative technology such as Nearpod to boost reading comprehension in the context of second language acquisition.Ultimately, this can contribute to the advancement of the field of English language education.

Discussion
The findings indicated that using the Nearpod platform in the classroom as media on the students' reading comprehension was more effective than the conventional classroom in that the students made progress in their reading comprehension tests.This method works efficiently and effectively because it could make the students work systematically during the learning.This is in line with the previous study by Huang (2021), which indicated that the students who utilized Nearpod as a tool in the classroom exhibited higher levels of active and systematic engagement.Conversely, students who did not utilize the Nearpod platform tended to work individually, with some needing to be more focused during the reading process.Selena and Sanda (2017) proved that the Nearpod platform provided engaging, interactive, and exciting lessons to students, who responded more actively than in traditional classrooms.It was supported by the results in the questionnaire and interview that expressed the students preferred using the Nearpod platform in the reading lessons to traditional lessons.In a previous study conducted by Paramita (2023), it was proved that the integration of Nearpod into the instructional practices of a reading class yields beneficial effects on student learning outcomes, satisfaction levels, motivation, and engagement.
The research outcomes were consistent with the previous study conducted by Fimala et al. (2022), which showed an improvement of 86 percent in the students' learning results from the pre-test and post-test score data after employing a blended learning student worksheet using the Nearpod application in class.Ahmed and Elmubark (2022) conducted a study that demonstrated a significant difference in the mean scores of the pre-test and post-test, and the students participating in the study were delighted with the application of the Nearpod as an interactive media in the reading teaching-learning process.Pupah and Sholihah (2022) performed a study that proved the efficacy of Nearpod media that successfully supported the reading learning process in class for students because of its user-friendliness, and it enabled teachers to monitor students' progress during the teaching process.
Moreover, the outcome of this research aligns with the findings of the previous study conducted by Van and Oanh (2023), which posited that the utilization of Nearpod can effectively enhance levels of interaction within reading classrooms, foster active participation among L2 learners, and encourage students to articulate their thoughts and ideas confidently.Fatayan et al. (2023) highlighted the efficacy and suitability of utilizing Nearpod media as a technology-based learning tool to enhance reading capability for contemporary students.The attainment of an interactive learning experience can be facilitated by integrating many forms of media within the Nearpod platform.
In addition, the outcomes of this research are also in line with the previous study by Feri and Zulherman (2021), that Nearpod-based learning is feasible and could be implemented as an alternative to boost the understanding of materials in various types of learning in class.Furthermore, the research findings are supported by the outcomes of the previous study by Qi et al. (2021) that indicated that learning via Nearpod media, particularly in learning reading comprehension, has the potential to boost L2 learners' reading achievements, as well as their levels of motivation and overall attitudes toward learning.Pramesti et al. (2023) proved that the students' pretest score of 50.57% significantly increased to 76.00% in the post-test score following the implementation of Nearpod, which means Nearpod was a viable and effective learning media that can enhance students' learning outcomes in class.Furthermore, the present study's findings align with the previous study conducted by Alawadhi and Thabet (2023) that examined undergraduate students' perceptions regarding using Nearpod for instructional purposes in an English course at a federal institution of higher education.This previous study confirmed that Nearpod was a valuable tool for augmenting knowledge acquisition, fostering comprehension, and enhancing classroom dynamics.
From the discussion above, it was determined that utilizing the Nearpod platform as a medium to boost L2 learners' reading comprehension in the classroom yielded positive outcomes.Consequently, it is feasible to ascertain that incorporating the Nearpod platform into guided reading sessions in the classroom could enhance L2 learners' comprehension skills.Furthermore, it was also concluded that the Nearpod platform has the potential to serve as a valuable resource for educators and L2 learners, offering a broad spectrum of instructional principles and alternatives for learning reading in the classroom.

CONCLUSION
Fundamental Finding: Implementing Nearpod media effectively enhanced L2 reading comprehension capabilities.Nearpod media significantly boosted L2 learner engagement during reading tasks in a class by providing individualized and adaptable learning experiences.L2 learners could develop at their own pace while receiving prompt feedback and support, which was especially beneficial for L2 learners with various competence levels.The dissimilarities between the two means in the pre-test and posttest proved the statement above.The mean scores of the reading comprehension test were improved from the pre-test to the post-test.That means the null hypothesis (Ho) was rejected, and the alternative hypothesis (Ha) was accepted.In other words, the mean of the post-test reading comprehension score of the English Language Education Department's 4th-semester students was higher than the pre-test reading comprehension score after being taught using the Nearpod platform.Implication: The present study has provided significant implications in the ELT field.The Nearpod platform is expected to be used as guidelines and options for lecturers and students as learning media during the reading comprehension teaching-learning.Furthermore, this research is expected to benefit other researchers studying the same topic.Limitation: The study only investigated one group without the control group being compared as research participants.Furthermore, the researchers did not employ another research instrument, such as a questionnaire and interview, towards the respondents' responses on utilizing the Nearpod platform as a medium to boost the L2 learners' reading comprehension.Future Research: Considering the topic of this study, it is strongly encouraged that a future study integrates more diverse and more prominent groups of L2 learners, encompassing both an experiment and a control group, to validate results across various circumstances.Besides that, future studies are also ought to explore how feasible and practicable these strategies in various educational environments, include more research questions gathered from various instruments to provide more comprehensive outcomes and expand the scope to examine other aspects of language proficiency, such as speaking, writing, and grammar, in order to determine the full efficacy of technology-based learning.
conducting the Normality Test, the Paired-Sample T-test was carried out.The two samples from the Paired-Sample T-test mean the same sample but have two different data.Paired-Sample T-test compares the difference between two mean scores in the pretest and post-test, assuming the data is usually distributed.Determining the outcome of the Paired-Sample T-test is done by looking at the results shown in the Sig.

Table 1 .
The pre-experimental research design.

Table 2 .
The mean score of the pre-test and post-test.

Table 4 .
The result of paired-sample T-test.