CAPTER II REVIEW OF LITERATURE AND HYPOTHESIS
B. Theoretical Framework
1. Reading
a. General Concepts of Reading
Different people use the term reading in several ways, because reading is a complex process, and this complexity explains the diversity of its definitions. Reading is one way to communicate between writers and readers. As Day and Bamford define reading as the process of how readers understand written messages and relate them to prior knowledge.19 Meanwhile, Johnson states that reading is an act of constructing meaning when transacting with text.20 Readers can get meaning from authors, pages, or anywhere else.
Thus, they make meaning from the interaction between their prior knowledge and prior experiences with new information.
From the definition above, reading is a process when the reader makes meaning through a combination of prior knowledge and prior experience. He relates the text information to what they
19 Richard R. Day and Julian Bamford, Extensive Reading in the Second Language Classroom, (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998), p.12.
20 Andrew P. Johnson, Teaching Reading and Writing, (New York: Rowman and Littlefield Education, 2008) p. 109.
already know. Information ideas are exchanged between writers and readers in the act of communication. The writer expresses his thoughts on paper in language using whatever skills and styles he has developed. The reader tries to get meaning from the printed page.
b. Benefits of Reading
` Reading offers a myriad of benefits. Students who are accustomed to reading do better in the classroom and on tests21. The learning process also improves reading skills22. The more experience of students have with reading, the greater their ability will be to grasp the meaning of the text and understand the way the author tells it. This helps them to become successful readers.
Another benefit of reading is to encourage critical thinking in a more natural way than worksheet exercise does. Making inferences, evaluating, and finding the main idea are recognized as a component of critical thinking.23 Critical thinking is needed for students to develop their thinking about anything around them. It is also needed to make students become curious about knowing lessons.
21 Jackson V. Wagstaff, “Benefits of The Habits of Reading”, Mariott Student Review, vol. 3,
No. 4, Mei 2020, p.5
22 Nurul Lailatul Khusniyah, “The Impact of PQ4R Strategy use on EFL Students’ Reading Comprehension”, Journal of English Language Education, vol. 1, No. 2, 2018, p. 169
23 Ibrahim Abu Shihab, “Reading as Critical Thinking”, Asian Social Science, vol. 7, No. 8, Agustus 2011, p. 212
Reading develops students’ imagination. Reading develops children’s imagination and helps them consider people, experiences, or ideas in new ways. The students imagines himself or herself in the world of the text and create a picture in their minds according to the text they read24. It is a different process if they watch TV. When the students watch TV, the picture in their mind is the same as the picture on the screen. It is distinct thing when students read a book.
One and other possibly interpret the story differently. It is because every student has his or her own background knowledge and concept of seeing things.
c. Reading Method
Reading is the act of interpreting printed and written word.
Through reading, we get new ideas, inspirations, get needed information, seek support for our ideas, add to our pleasure, and broaden our interest.
To get as expected above, of course it may need way or method in reading. In reading, there are two methods. They are intensive reading and extensive reading. But in this case, we are going to discuss extensive reading only.
24 Ibid
1). Extensive Reading
Extensive reading is how to read in enjoyment. The enjoyment is a positive reinforcement that could make someone read even faster and more.In extensive reading programme, one of the fundamental requirements for success is that students should be reading material which they can understand25. The students are free to choose the book that interests them.26 It means the students can easily understand reading based on their interests with pleasure and positive reinforcement.
According to Mikulecky and Jeffries, there are some hints for success in extensive reading. The first is to set a goal. The reader should decide how many books that he would like to read during the semester. Make reading a part of daily routine is the next hint. The reader needs to set a time and place for reading.
The reader needs to read at least thirty minutes at a time so that he or she can become involved in his or her book. Keeping a journal also can make a reader gain success in extensive reading.
By writing about reactions to the book or any thoughts that are stimulated by reading can help a reader gain success in extensive reading.27
25 Jeremy Hermer, The Practice of Engilsh Language Teaching, (London: Longman Handbook
for Language Teachers, 2000), p. 210
26 Nurul Lailatul Khusniyah dan Syarifudin, Extensive Reading Book (Depok: PT RajaGrafindo Persada, 2019), hal. 4.
27 Beatrice S. Mikulecky and Linda Jeffries, Advanced Reading Power, (New York: Pearson Education, Inc, 2007), p.4.
To be successful in extensive reading, the discipline needed.
Once the reader sets the goal, he needs to follow the procedures and to commit with it. The reader needs to stick with his schedule, to make it as a habit. Besides, in extensive reading, a good book is also needed. Some guide to readers to choose a good book:
a. Choose a book with interesting topics. Other people may give a friendly suggestion, but the reader is the one who knows the most about what topics are interesting for him.
b. Choose a full-length book, not a collection of articles or stories. Reading an entire book by a single author allows the reader to become comfortable with the writer’s style and vocabulary.
c. Avoid a book whose stories are familiar with because knowing what will happen may make it less interesting.
d. Evaluate the book. To find out about the author and the genre (type of book), read the front and back covers. Read the first few pages to find out about the styles and subject.
e. Check the level of difficulty. If a book is too easy, it may bore if it is too difficult, the reader may become discouraged and stop reading. To find out how difficult the book is, count the number of unknown key words on a typical page. Five
unknown keywords on one page mean the book is difficult for you. No unknown key words mean the book is too easy28. Choosing an appropriate book might be difficult at first.
Reading the synopsis of the book make it easier to know whether the content is interesting or not. Then, read several pages of the book to know its writing style and difficulties. If the reader finds an interest in reading the book, he or she would find an enjoyment and make the reading process easier.
Positive results of extensive reading in English Foreign Language were variety, Repetition and Flexibility. Variety is to exposes language students to wonder selection of vocabulary that may not be available in spoken discourse. Repetition is multiple meetings of a word increase the chance of learning.
Then, Flexibility is where the teachers can not possibly teach every single word in class. By extensive reading, students can continue and do it after school.
28 Ibid.
d. Teaching Extensive Reading
Day and Bamford suggest ten principles in teaching extensive reading. The 10 principles are29 :
a) The reading material is easy
The students read material that contains few or no unfamiliar items of vocabulary and grammar. There should be only one or two unknown vocabulary items per page for beginners and only four or five for intermediate learners. Students would fail in reading extensively if they have to struggle with hard material.
b) A variety of reading material on a wide range of topics must be available
Various reading materials should be available in the library for students to choose what they really like. It contains graded readers, magazines written for language learners at different ability levels, and children’s literature. To encourage a desire to read, the available texts should ideally be as varied as the students who read them and the purpose for which they are intended to be read.
29 Richard Day and Julian Bamford, Top Ten Principle for Teaching Extensive Reading, Reading in Foreign Language: Vol. 14. No. 2, Oktober 2002, p. 137.
c) Learners choose what they want to read
In contrast to students when in the classroom where the teacher chooses a textbook or reading material. This is what students really enjoy about extensive reading. Students are free to choose what they want to read. Students can select texts as they would in their own language, they can choose the texts they expect to understand, enjoy, or learn. They are also encouraged to stop reading anything that is uninteresting or that they find too difficult.
d) learners read as much as possible
The benefits of language learning of extensive reading come from the quantity of reading. For the benefits of extensive reading to apply, a book a week is an appropriate goal. This is a realistic target, as books written for beginning language learners are very short.
e) The purpose of reading is usually related to pleasure, information, and general understanding.
Despite intensive reading which requires detailed understanding, extensive reading encourages reading for pleasure and information. The aim of reading is not a hundred percent comprehension; to meet the purpose of reading sufficient understanding is satisfactory.
f) Reading is its own reward
The success of reading is the reader’s own experience and the pleasure of reading. The student’s experience of reading a lot is central to the extensive reading experience. Extensive reading is not usually followed by comprehension questions. However, teachers may ask students to complete follow- up activities based on their reading. These reflect student’s experience of reading rather comprehension.
g) Reading speed is usually faster than slower
Because of the fact that material is easily understandable for students their reading is fluent. They are discouraged from using dictionaries as this interrupts reading and makes fluency impossible. Instead, learners are encouraged to ignore or guess the meaning of a few unknown items they may encounter from context.
h) Reading is individual and silent
In contrast to other reading strategies, “silent” extensive reading allows students to discover that reading is a personal interaction with the text and an experience for which they are responsible. The students reading at their own pace. Sometimes silent reading periods may be reserved from the class time when students read their self-selected books in the classroom. Students
read out of the classroom, in their own time, anytime and anywhere, with enjoyment and pleasure.
i) Teachers orient and guide their students
Before starting an extensive reading, programmed students should to be familiarized with what it is, why they are doing it, what benefits it will bring them and how are they going to proceed. The teacher keeps track of what and how many students read. He/ she in interested in their reactions to what was read in order to guide them in getting the most out of their reading.
j) The teacher is a role model of a reader
The teacher provides a model to students of what to become a reader. For example, during the silent reading period, the teacher should read as well. He/she should also be familiar with all the books students are read in order to recommend reading to individual students and share their reading experiences. If teacher and students talk about what they read, they create an informal reading community, experiencing together the vale and pleasure to be found in written word.