Evaluating the Reading Section of English National Standardized School Exams (USBN): A Field Study in SMK NU Ungaran

Sep 11, 2026

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The study examines English reading comprehension performance in the context of Indonesian national standardized school exams (USBN), emphasizing reading and writing as key academic skills. Data come from reading comprehension questions and students’ answer sheets, with participants drawn from XII grade students of SMK NU Ungaran. Results from 50 students show the highest achievement in editing tasks (59%) and the weakest performance in vocabulary (22%), indicating the need to improve implicit idea understanding and vocabulary proficiency for reading comprehension.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryGeneral

FormatPDF

Pages10

Reading Time4 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Reading as a key language skill

Reading comprehension in curriculum and assessment

USBN framework and curriculum alignment

Method and Data Source

Participants and data collection

Findings and Discussion

Task performance overview

Implications for students' reading proficiency

Conclusion

Overall performance and improvement needs

Evaluating the Reading Section of English National Standardized School Exams (USBN): (A Field Study in SMK NU Ungaran) Rizky Mega Susanti Magister of Linguistics Diponegoro University – Semarang, Indonesia [Email:](Email: mega92rizky@gmail.com)[ ](Email: mega92rizky@gmail.com)[mega92rizky@gmail.com](Email: mega92rizky@gmail.com) Abstract With regard to the role of English in Indonesia that is mainly used for academic purpose, it is important to sharpen the two skills, reading and writing, more than the other two skills, listening and speaking. Based on that fact, this study focuses on reading skills, especially in reading comprehension skills. Reading comprehension skill is closely related to literacy levels that nowadays considered important by educational institution. The data was taken from reading comprehension questions in English USBN question sheet and the students’ answer sheets. The participants are students of XII grade of SMK NU Ungaran that are randomly chosen. The result of this study showed that Out of 50 students, 59% of them are best cope with editing task, followed by 56% in dealing with reading comprehension task, 50% of gap-filling task, 48% with short answer task and the least is 22% in vocabulary task. This meant that the proficiency level of reading comprehension of students in XII grade SMK NU Ungaran still needs to elevate. They were still lack in term of vocabulary and understanding the ideas implicitly delivered in the text. Keywords: reading skills, reading comprehension, USBN INTRODUCTION Reading is regarded as as one of the most important skills in a language. Students can continuesly develop other skills such as writing and speaking or other language components through reading comprehension. This is in line with Nunan (1991, p. 82) stated that four language skills have close interaction in which reading gives more opportunities for learners to develop other skills. Therefore, the students are encourage to interact with various kind of texts in order to develop other skills. The ability to understand and use written text is an important precondition for developing personal knowledge and skill. It is also important to participate in cultural and social life; reading makes many areas of knowledge and life accessible. Text does not only convey information and facts, but they also deliver ideas, moral concepts and cultural contents. This makes reading crucial to further education and lifelong learning. Besides, reading comprehension requires the reader and text interaction which results in the successful of reading comprehension. Reading comprehension is one of language competences emphasized by the government for the English teachers to deal with. It is stated in PP No. 19 Year 2005 that language education should develop language competence with special emphasis on reading and writing according to the literacy level setup for every level of education. Besides, students are expected to be able to comprehend various kinds of texts, such as descriptive, recount, narrative procedure text according to the content of Curriculum of 2013 as current curriculum. As English in Indonesia is mainly used for academic purpose, it is important to sharpen those two skills, reading and writing, more than the other two skills, listening and speaking. Based on those reasons, this study focuses on reading comprehension skills. The 2013 Curriculum is competency and character-based curriculum. Based on the Ministry of Culture and Education Regulation No. 59 Year 2014 stated that 2013 Curriculum is one of the government's efforts to resolve the various problems being faced by the world of education today. The theme of 2013 Curriculum is generating Indonesian people which are: productive, creative, innovative, affective; through the strengthening of attitudes, skills, and knowledge which are integrated. Based on the theme, the implementation of 2013 curriculum is expected to produce a productive, creat

FAQs

What reading aspect does the study focus on in the USBN context?

The study focuses on reading comprehension skills, particularly how students handle different question types in the English USBN reading section.

How was the data collected for this field study?

Data were collected from the reading comprehension questions on the English USBN question sheet and from the corresponding students’ answer sheets.

Which task type showed the highest and lowest student performance?

Editing tasks had the highest achievement (59%), while vocabulary tasks had the lowest performance (22%).

What do the findings indicate about students’ reading proficiency?

Students’ reading comprehension proficiency still needs improvement, especially in vocabulary and in understanding ideas that are delivered implicitly in the text.

Sep 11, 2026

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