SNOWBALL THROWING TECHNIQUE IN TEACHING RECOUNT TO HELP STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION IN JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL

In language learning, reading is crucial for acquiring knowledge and seeking information. Nonetheless, some students may encounter difficulties when it comes to comprehending written texts. In this regard, implementing the Snowball Throwing Technique (STT) can facilitate the teaching and learning process by helping students comprehend the texts effectively. This study focuses on implementing the STT in teaching reading recount text to eighth graders and assesses students' responses to the technique and its impact on their comprehension. This research was conducted descriptively using qualitative design. While collecting data, the researchers did an observation, gave the students two tasks, and interviewed them. The instruments to collect the data are observation checklist notes and interviews. The findings indicate a successful implementation of the technique, with students showing a high level of understanding and expressing ease in comprehending the text. The significance of the study on STT is to offer English teachers valuable knowledge regarding its application for improving students' text comprehension. Furthermore, the researchers recommend future investigations to explore the implementation of STT not only in reading instruction but also across various language skills and sub-skills.


INTRODUCTION
English is a significant foreign language in Indonesia, although it is not commonly used in daily conversation (Gunantar, 2016).It is essential in the education system, taught from elementary school to university level, and is included in the national curriculum (Saddhono & Sulaksono, 2018).Teaching English aims to develop communicative competence and functional literacy to meet global competition (Rao, 2019).Reading is a crucial skill in English learning, enabling individuals to gather information and acquire knowledge (Barus et al., 2021).It involves receiving the author's message through verbal and written forms.Reading expands insights into various subjects and enhances intelligence, making it essential for everyone to possess reading abilities (Barus et al., 2021).In teaching reading, students are often required to read various texts, such as recount texts, which aim to retell past experiences or events.However, some students may struggle to understand written texts, especially if English is not their first language.The difficulties arise from limited vocabulary and lack of engagement during reading activities (Kasim & Raisha, 2017).Teachers must carefully select materials based on student interests to address these challenges and utilize effective teaching techniques, such as snowball throwing.
Using the snowball throwing technique in teaching reading recount texts to junior high school students offers several benefits.This technique involves interactive learning and discussion, making reading more enjoyable and promoting better comprehension among junior high school students (Sofyan A. Gani et al., 2017).Overall, the snowball throwing technique is valuable for teaching reading recount texts to enhance students' understanding.
The Snowball Throwing Technique has been employed in language classrooms to aid skill acquisition.Susanty (2016) conducted a study utilizing the technique for teaching speaking skills to ESL learners, resulting in better performance in the experimental group compared to the control group (Susanty, 2016).Similarly, Aditya and Ridwan (2018) employed the technique for teaching descriptive writing skills and observed improved writing abilities.The result showed that the students could master writing after they were taught using snowball throwing in writing descriptive (Aditya & Ridwan, 2020) These studies demonstrate the effectiveness of the Snowball Throwing Technique in language learning, specifically in speaking and writing skill development.
This research aims to address the research gap identified in previous studies and contribute to the field of helping students comprehend text using the Snowball Throwing Technique.Specifically, the research focuses on 8th graders in Surabaya, East Java, intending to enhance their reading comprehension skills through the implementation of the snowball throwing technique in teaching reading the recount text.Facilitating a solid process of reading recount texts is expected to help reading comprehension among learners.Therefore, the aim of this study is the implementation of the snowball throwing technique in teaching reading the recount text to eighth-grade students in junior high school.
Additionally, the study aims to explore the students' responses towards the implementation of the snowball throwing technique in teaching reading the recount text to eighth-grade students in junior high school.

LITERATURE REVIEW Concept of Reading
Reading is a crucial skill in learning English, along with speaking, listening, and writing.It involves understanding and comprehending information from a passage or text.Through reading, readers receive valuable information and messages.The process of reading entails receiving and interpreting written language, resulting in the transformation of the text into something new (Johnson, 2008).Reading activities also contribute to giving passages meaning for the readers.
The main purposes of reading are to comprehend the meaning of the text and gather information (Johnson, 2008).When someone reads a text, there is an eye movement in reading involving the visual processing of written text, which then the brain will accept and retain information (Weger & Inhoff, 2006).The brain can be the thing that processes written form or text to be meaningful.On the

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other side, the eyes can be the position between the brain and the written form or text (Weger & Inhoff, 2006).

Reading Comprehension
Reading comprehension is the ability to understand written information (Johnson, 2008)).It encompasses various cognitive processes such as decoding, vocabulary, and background knowledge, along with metacognitive strategies like monitoring and making connections.Strong reading comprehension involves extracting main ideas, making inferences, understanding cause-and-effect relationships, and identifying the author's purpose and tone.It also entails recognizing the structure, genre, and style of a text (Kasim & Raisha, 2017).
Based on this definition, the researchers' focus is on helping students develop their reading comprehension skills.The goal is to enable students to understand the meaning of what they read, make connections with prior knowledge, and draw conclusions from the text.By enhancing reading comprehension, students can become more effective learners, and better equipped to understand and apply information in their studies and daily lives.

Genre of Text
Genre refers to the category or type of text (Viriya & Wasanasomsithi, 2017).Understanding the genre helps readers comprehend and engage with the text (Viriya & Wasanasomsithi, 2017).It provides a framework that shapes the text's purpose, structure, and language elements.Recognizing the genre enables students to grasp the language and contextual organization of the text.In the Indonesian curriculum, English teaching for junior high schools focuses on short functional text such as descriptive, recount, procedure, narrative, and report.Based on the focus of the researchers' study, the emphasis will be on the recount text, as it aligns with the material taught in junior high school.

Recount Text
A recount text is used to retell past events or experiences in a clear and detailed manner (Husna & Multazim, 2019).It includes information about who was involved, what happened, where it happened, and when it happened.Recount texts can be real or imagined and can cover a wide range of events, such as personal experiences, news events, historical events, scientific or technological events, and sporting events.Recount texts generally use past tense verbs to describe the events that took place.The use of past tense verbs helps to indicate that the events described in the text have already occurred and are now in the past.There are three text structures in recount text such as orientation: This section provides background information about the event or experience being recounted, events: provides a detailed account of what happened during the event or experience, re-orientation: it serves to bring the recount to a close by providing a summary of the events, and it also can include the writer's reflections or lesson learned from the events described.In this research, the focus is on recount texts that involve personal experiences.

Snowball Throwing Technique
The snowball throwing game is a technique that enhances students' understanding of reading materials (Suprijono, 2010).It involves playing a game where students can enjoy the learning process.Instead of using real snow, paper balls are used in this technique to resemble snowballs.Students throw these paper balls at each other during the learning activity in the classroom.

a. The Advantages of the Snowball Throwing Technique
In the teaching-learning activity, the Snowball Throwing technique, as mentioned by Suprijono (2010), offers several advantages.Firstly, it creates an enjoyable learning environment where students can engage in play by throwing paper balls at other groups.This adds an element of fun to the classroom.Secondly, the technique promotes the development of thinking skills as students generate questions related to the material, which they can then share with other students.This encourages active participation and enhances critical thinking abilities.Additionally, the technique fosters active engagement among students, making the learning process more effective.By actively participating in the activity, students can achieve the desired learning objectives.Lastly, the Snowball Throwing technique addresses various aspects of learning, including cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains, thus providing a comprehensive learning experience for students.b.The Disadvantages of the Snowball Throwing Technique Suprijono (2009) points out that there are certain drawbacks associated with implementing the Snowball Throwing technique in the teaching-learning process.One of these disadvantages is the limitation of knowledge acquisition.This arises from the fact that the primary sources of knowledge in this technique are the teacher and the group leader, potentially restricting the range of information available to students.Additionally, Suprijono's research highlights that the Snowball Throwing technique can be time-consuming.This is partly due to the challenge of managing students who may be prone to disruptive behavior, such as creating noise in the classroom.

Procedures of Snowball Throwing Technique for teaching Recount text in 2013 Curriculum
The Snowball Throwing Technique can be used in the teaching-learning process, specifically for teaching reading recount text.The activities involve prereading, while-reading, and post-reading activities.To make the technique suitable for the current curriculum, the researchers adjusts the learning activity by applying a scientific approach throughout the teaching-learning process.

Procedures of Snowball Throwing Technique Procedures of Snowball Throwing Technique
Snowball Throwing Technique Teaching Reading Recount Text 1.The teacher explains the material that will be learned by students.2. The teacher divided the students into certain groups, each group has 5-6 students.Then the teacher allows each group to choose the leader.
After that, leaders will come forward to listen to the explanation from the teacher.3. The group leader goes back to each group and the leader is required to explain the material being taught to their members.4. Every group is given a sheet of paper and required to write five questions related to the material that has been explained by the group -Associating a.The members of the group have to answer the questions that they have got.
-Communicating a.The members have to explain their answers orally in front of the class.

Post-Activity
The teacher gives an evaluation and the class is dismissed.

RESEARCH METHOD Design of the Study
Qualitative research was used as the study design by the researchers in this study.Qualitative research involves studying one or more cases in depth over time.The researchers collected detailed information from various sources to gather data.A basic interpretive study was used as the research design by the researchers.

Research Setting
In this research, the researchers worked with an English teacher and one class of eighth-grade students as research participants.The teacher has been teaching English for twenty years and currently teaches eighth graders at a junior high school in Surabaya, East Java.The teacher frequently uses various teaching techniques, including the Snowball Throwing Technique.The researchers selected one class of eighth graders based on the recommendation of the English teacher.The teacher suggested the researchers use one of her classes for the study.The research was conducted in a junior high school in Surabaya, East Java, during the second semester of the 2022/2023 academic year.The reason for selecting this school as the research setting is because the teacher has been using specific techniques, one of them is Snowball Throwing Technique in her teaching to achieve the learning goals.

Data and Sources of Data
In this research, there are two research questions and each question requires different data and sources.For the first research question, the data came from an English teacher who teaches reading recount texts.The researchers observed the teacher's activities, actions, behaviors, gestures, and facial expressions to collect the data.Regarding the second research question, the data was obtained from interviews with the students.The class has 31 students, with 16 males and 15 females.The researchers analyzed the students' answers, opinions, ideas, comments, and suggestions to gather the necessary information.

Research Instrument
The first instrument used in this research is an observation checklist note.This checklist ensures a structured approach to the observation and helps both the researchers and the teacher understand the steps and activities involved.The observation checklist note includes statements of activities, a yes or no checklist, and space for additional notes.The second instrument is an interview.The researchers interviewed students to gather information about their response to the implementation of the snowball-throwing technique.

Data Collection Technique
The data collection technique involves how the researchers collect the data, including who, when, where, and how (Ary et al., 2014).In this research, the researchers used two techniques: observation and interviews.For the observation technique, the researchers observed the teaching-learning activities in an eighthgrade class at a junior high school.The researchers conducted observation two times over a period of two weeks.The researchers sat at the back of the class while observing the situation.After the observation, the researchers conducted interviews with the participants.The purpose of the interviews is to gather the students' opinions about the implementation of Snowball Throwing Technique.

Data Analysis Technique
In this research, the data analysis process involved three procedures: familiarizing and organizing, coding and reducing, and interpreting and presenting (Ary et al., 2014).To address the first research question, the researchers began by familiarizing and organizing the data, which involved reviewing checklist notes from the observations.Then, the data was coded and reduced by highlighting important points related to the use of the Snowball Throwing Technique.Finally, the researchers interpreted and presented the data, describing the findings in a descriptive form, providing explanations, and developing plausible explanations.For the second research question, the researchers conducted interviews with students.The interviews were transcribed and coded, highlighting relevant parts and reducing irrelevant information.The results were then analyzed to know whether Snowball Throwing Technique helped students in comprehending text.Finally, the researchers interpreted the data, summarized the findings in a descriptive report, and drew conclusions from the study.

FINDING AND DISCUSSION Finding The Result of Observation
The researchers conducted an observation and describe the results.The observation took place in two meetings.During the observation, the researchers sat at the back of the classroom and closely observed the teaching and learning activities.An observation checklist was used to track the activities related to the technique, and additional notes were taken when needed.

a. The First Meeting
The first meeting took place on February 13th, 2023, starting at 11.15 am.The classroom was crowded when the teacher entered.The teacher calmed the students and began by greeting them.Then, the teacher briefly explained the activity for the day, which involved implementing the Snowball Throwing Technique in teaching and learning recount text.The teacher also stated the learning objectives for the meeting, which were for students to identify the social function, text structure, and linguistic elements of recount text.Afterward, the teacher began the lesson using a scientific approach.The first session involved using a personal recount text titled "Trip to Yogyakarta." Students were then asked to form groups of five, resulting in six groups.Each group has to select a leader.Next, the teacher instructed all leaders to come forward to get the teacher's explanation and receive the text.The leader then returned to the group to explain the text to the members during a ten-minute discussion.Once finished, the students formed their questions into paper balls and followed instructions to throw them to other groups.Each group received a ball of questions and answered them.The completed work was collected by the teacher, who did not provide immediate corrections due to time constraints.At the end of the class, the teacher concluded the lesson and instructed students to prepare for the next meeting.

b. The Second Meeting
The second meeting took place on Monday, February 20th, 2023, starting at 11.15 am.The teacher greeted the students and checked attendance.The activity for the day was the same as the previous meeting, focusing on recounting text.However, the text used in this meeting was different.Students were instructed to move to their groups, and the leaders explained the text to their members.The teacher asked students to create five questions, which were then turned into paper balls.Finally, the students threw the balls to another group.Finally, every group had to answer the questions on paper and collect them.At that moment, the situation was a little bit crowded and the teacher had to settle the situation.After the students had done their tasks, the teacher asked them to collect their work.Finally, at the end of the class, the teacher gave feedback and ended the class.

The result of Students' Task
During the learning sessions, the students were assigned two tasks in each meeting.These tasks involved answering five comprehension questions related to the assigned text.The researchers collected data from the students' tasks.In the first meeting, the students created questions and answered questions from another group based on the text "Trip to Yogyakarta."In the second meeting, they did the same but with a different text titled "Trip to Bali Island."The researchers documented the questions and corresponding answers from each group as part of the study.

a. The result of Students' Questions
In the class, there were six groups.In the first meeting, all groups successfully created a set of informative questions related to the text "Trip to Yogyakarta" as instructed by the teacher.These questions typically start with "what," "how," "why," or "when" and require detailed answers rather than a simple yes or no.Here are the questions written by the students in the first meeting.In task two, groups one, two, three, five, and six answered all the questions correctly.They provided comprehensive and accurate responses to each question.On the other hand, group four answered one question incorrectly.It happened because the answer was off-topic.

The Result of the Interview
During the research, the researchers conducted interviews with 15 eighthgrade students over two days, from March 4th to 5th, 2023.The purpose of these interviews was to gather insights into the implementation of the Snowball Throwing Technique.The interviews consisted of nine questions that focused on various aspects of the technique.
From the interviews, the researchers identified five key findings.Firstly, the students expressed that the topics of the texts used in the technique were easy to comprehend, as they were able to accurately identify the main ideas.Secondly, most students found the texts easy to understand, although a few mentioned that they faced challenges due to unfamiliar vocabulary.The third is about students' experience during the implementation of STT.They found it effective in facilitating their understanding of the texts and engaging them in collaborative discussions with their peers.The fourth finding is about students' thoughts about the implementation of STT.They answered that the technique was perceived as enjoyable and helpful for enhancing their comprehension skills.However, some students mentioned that it could make the classroom feel crowded, which they viewed as a potential disadvantage.Finally, the students provided suggestions for future teaching processes.They recommended incorporating other games into the learning activities, combining learning with music, and integrating technology to enhance their learning experiences.These insights from the interviews contribute valuable information on the students' perspectives and experiences regarding the implementation of the Snowball Throwing Technique in the teaching-learning process.

Discussion
In this part, the researchers discussed two things.Those are the implementation of the Snowball Throwing Technique in teaching reading recount text to eighth graders and students' responses toward the implementation of the Snowball Throwing Technique.

The Implementation of the Snowball Throwing Technique in Teaching Reading Recount Text a. The Implementation of the Snowball Throwing Technique
The research was conducted over two meetings, where the teacher implemented the snowball throwing technique in teaching reading recount text.Klinger (2017) asserts that for learning activities to be effective, teachers must Consequently, the teacher successfully executed the teaching and learning activities by systematically following the planned steps from beginning to end, as specified in the lesson plan.At the first meeting, the teacher also introduced the "Snowball Throwing Technique" that she applied.Moreover, the teacher gave interesting texts to the students, so that students can fully pay attention to the material.Providing interesting texts for students is an important thing to do by a teacher.This is supported by the statement of Harmer (2015), that the selection of interesting material to attract students' interest in reading can more easily read and comprehend texts (Harmer, 2015).In the first meeting, the technique was introduced and explained, and despite some initial confusion, it was successful.In the second meeting, the students were more effective in completing the activity and showed increased enthusiasm and teamwork.The technique integrated stages from the scientific approach and the reading activity, including pre-reading, whilst-reading, and post-reading stages.The teacher provided examples and background information, divided students into groups, had leaders explain the text, facilitated questioning and discussion, and had students formulate questions and answer them through the throwing and answering of paper balls.The teacher provided feedback and reinforcement during the post-reading stage.Overall, the snowball-throwing technique was applied successfully, promoting cooperative learning throughout the process.

b. Students' Task in Creating and Answering Questions among Group
During the reading activities focused on recounting texts, the snowballthrowing technique was used to assess student's comprehension.They successfully generated informative questions related to the texts, specifically about places.The task results were categorized into five levels: excellent, good, adequate, fair, and poor.Meeting the minimum standard score requirement was associated with good and excellent levels.Here is the recapitulation of students' work in Task I and Task II.In the first task, Groups 1 and 5 performed excellently, while Groups 2, 3, and 6 achieved a good level.Group 4's performance was adequate, falling short of the minimum standard score.In the second task, five out of six groups achieved an excellent level, and one group achieved a good level, demonstrating effective comprehension of the text.

Students' response toward the Implementation of the Snowball Throwing Technique
In this discussion, the researchers addressed the second research question, which focuses on students' responses to implementing the snowball throwing technique in teaching reading recount text.The students' responses were examined based on the interviews' findings.
In the interviews, most participants found the texts they studied to be easily comprehensible.First, students' responses to the first question demonstrated accurate identification of the main ideas.Apart from that, most of the students viewed the texts' difficulty level positively, considering it easy to understand because the vocabulary used is familiar and the texts were interesting for students.This occurs when the teacher accurately chooses a text that serves as intriguing reading material, particularly for eighth-grade students.As stated by Harmer (2007), the selection of a suitable text is a significant aspect of teaching reading.Second, the student's responses were analyzed concerning the implementation of the snowball-throwing technique; the interview revealed that students found learning through the Snowball Throwing Technique (STT), effective in enhancing their understanding of the materials.Collaborative discussions and group work facilitated by STT contributed to easier comprehension of the text (Alghamdy, 2019).Third, the implementation of STT received positive feedback from students, who found it beneficial and different from traditional reading methods.Most of the students agreed that STT creates different learning situations because STT was implemented for the first time and they had never had any experience before.So they felt that this activity was more challenging than the usual activity they had done.Fourth, the students expressed feelings of happiness, enjoyment, and enthusiasm while learning with STT.In STT, students can study as well as play a game, in which they had an opportunity to throw the ball to another group and receive many challenging questions from the other group.As stated by Suprijono (2009) that STT allows students to both study and play in learning activities.However, some students mentioned that the STT could make the classroom feel more crowded.They shared this concern when talking about the disadvantages of STT, explaining that working in groups could make the class more noisy.Fifth, students also gave suggestions to make the learning better such as introducing new games in learning, combining games and music for learning activities, and incorporating media or technology into their studies.

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION
Based on the analysis, the researchers conclude that the implementation of the Snowball Throwing Technique in teaching recount text aligned with cooperative learning principles.The teacher effectively implemented the technique through pre-activities, group work, and evaluation.The students' task results demonstrated their strong comprehension of the text, as evidenced by their accurate responses.The students responded positively to the technique, actively participating in group discussions and finding it helpful in understanding the texts.They also offered suggestions for future teaching and learning activities, such as incorporating technology and combining the technique with music or other games.
Furthermore, the researchers suggest that the teacher should provide examples of questions to guide students in creating comprehensive questions during the Snowball Throwing Technique.This will help students utilize their critical and creative skills in formulating questions.Future studies should explore