Literature Circle and Critical Reading Across EYL Learning Strategies

The results of survey of Program of International Student Assessment (PISA), it was evident that in 2009 Indonesian lower secondary school students' literacy ranked 57 out of 65 countries obtaining 396 (compared to Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development/OECD scoring 493), and in 2013 achieved the same score while OECD increased, 496 (Indonesia Curriculum Document, 2013). Inasmuch as the empirical evidence, and a few studies on this, the study was conducted aiming at improving students' critical reading through literature circle strategy adopting a quasi experimental design by comparing two strategies, conventional and literature circle, for two intact groups in post test at primary school implementing a blended curriculum (Tuckman, 1978; Creswell, 2008). The subjects were composed of 42 students of Grade 5, 5 A for the control group and 5B for the experimental one. The instruments used consisted of posttest for the critical reading competence, observation sheet, underlying relevant documents, interview guide, and questionnaire, and all were validated and tried out. Based on the results of t-test (.002<.05), it revealed that in the significance level of.05 the null hypothesis was rejected meaning that literature circle strategy was verified effective and meaningful in improving the students' critical reading, specifically in making judgments and producing a summary. It is recommended that the strategy should be implemented as early as primary school, especially for the upper classes to improve their critical thinking for future life.   Keywords: Literature circle strategy, critical reading, across learning strategies, English for Young Learner