Abstract

The low level of fourth-grade students’ reading comprehension affects their learning motivation in elementary school. To overcome these problems, this study is aimed: first, to develop indigenous folktales picture books; second, to investigate the effect of Indonesian folktales on students’ reading comprehension and learning motivation. This study used a quasi-experimental design. The participants were 49 fourth-grade students divided into experimental and control groups. The study was conducted at two public Indonesian elementary schools. The Reading Comprehension Test (RCT) and the Motivation to Learn Scale (MLS) were administered as pre-and post-tests. To analyze data, independent and paired t-tests were used at .05 significance level. The results showed that experimental group students had higher scores on both dependent variables compared to their counterparts. It indicated that Indonesian folktales picture books significantly promote reading comprehension and motivation of experimental group students compared to control group students.

Key words: Indigenous folktales, picture books, reading comprehension, motivation, elementary school students