Journal of Innovation and Research in Primary Education
Vol. 5 No. 1 (2026)

A Narrative Review of Elementary Students' Difficulties in Identifying Main Ideas and Supporting Ideas in Indonesian Reading Instruction

Kirani, Sindra (Unknown)
Murti, Rahayu Condro (Unknown)
Firdaus, Fery Muhamad (Unknown)
Jabar, Cepi Safruddin Abdul (Unknown)



Article Info

Publish Date
27 Mar 2026

Abstract

The ability to identify main ideas and supporting ideas in paragraphs is a foundational reading comprehension competency in elementary education; however, Indonesian students consistently demonstrate low mastery of this skill, as reflected in national and international literacy assessments. This study employed a narrative literature review design, systematically searching the Google Scholar database and screening a final corpus of 22 peer-reviewed studies published between 2020 and 2025. Data were analyzed through a three-stage qualitative process comprising extraction, comparative analysis, and interpretive synthesis. The review identified three principal themes: (1) difficulties were pervasive across Grades 4–6, with 64.3% of studies documenting a persistent positional misconception about paragraph structure; (2) contributing factors were classified as internal (limited conceptual mastery, low reading motivation, metacognitive deficits) and external (low teacher instructional creativity, absence of engaging media); and (3) supporting idea difficulties were explicitly addressed in only 22.7% of reviewed studies, revealing a significant research asymmetry. These findings indicate that paragraph comprehension must be reconceptualized as a dual and interdependent competency. Problem-Based Learning, mind mapping, and multimodal media demonstrated consistent effectiveness in improving outcomes. This study contributes a holistic literacy framework that integrates main idea and supporting idea instruction, addressing a gap that prior reviews have not adequately theorized.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

jirpe

Publisher

Subject

Education Languange, Linguistic, Communication & Media Mathematics Other

Description

Journal of Innovation and Research in Primary Education (JIRPE) is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal that publishes original research and review articles primarily but limited to the area of elementary school education. It brings together academics and researchers from different countries who ...