An Analysis of Reading Comprehension Questions in English Textbooks for SMAN Kota Padang: HOTS

This paper presents the investigation on the reading comprehension questions found in the textbooks for Senior High School EFL classrooms in Padang, West Sumatra related to the level of the reading comprehension questions. A basic premise is that higher-order thinking skill has become a major theme in education, however, to what extent EFL teachers have applied it, does not clearly defined yet. This study was carried out in EFL classrooms in four senior high schools in Padang, West Sumatra, Indonesia aimed at identifying the level of reading comprehension questions. All reading comprehension questions found in the English textbooks used by the students at all grades at public senior high school were analyzed using Higher Order Thinking Skill category. Ten textbooks were identified used by the English teachers in SMA Negeri Kota Padang. The findings show that the level of the reading comprehension questions found in those textbooks were mostly in the lower level (LOTS). Some of the questions found in the textbooks have already in HOTS category, however, the number was still far below LOTS questions. Therefore, it is suggested that teachers need to use other sources besides textbook analysed in this research to provide students with higher-order questions in order to encourage the student to have critical thinking.