Abstract
Learning to analyze the intrinsic elements of short stories is an important part of strengthening literary literacy among vocational high school students, but students’ ability to identify theme, plot, characterization, setting, point of view, language style, and moral message remains suboptimal. This study aims to analyze the effects of the discovery learning model and reading interest on the ability of Grade XI students at SMK Negeri 1 Solok Selatan to analyze the intrinsic elements of short stories. The study employed a quantitative approach with a 2×2 factorial quasi-experimental design. The study sample consisted of 54 students selected through purposive sampling, comprising 26 students in the experimental class and 28 students in the control class. Data were collected through a test of the ability to analyze the intrinsic elements of short stories, a reading interest questionnaire, observation, and documentation, and were subsequently analyzed using descriptive statistics, an independent-samples t-test, and two-way ANOVA. The results showed that students who learned using the discovery learning model obtained a mean score of 87.09, which was higher than that of students who learned using the conventional model, with a mean score of 67.60 and a Sig. (2-tailed) value of 0.000. The discovery learning model also showed a significant effect on the ability to analyze the intrinsic elements of short stories among students with both high and low reading interest. In contrast, reading interest and the interaction between the learning model and reading interest did not show a significant effect on the ability to analyze the intrinsic elements of short stories. These findings confirm that discovery learning plays a role in improving students’ ability to analyze short stories through their active involvement in discovering, processing, and drawing conclusions about the meaning of literary texts. The implications of this study indicate the importance of systematically implementing discovery-based learning by Indonesian language teachers to strengthen vocational high school students’ literary analysis skills.