CHAPTER II........................................................................................................... 6
B. The Concept of Reading
The following are some definition of reading proposed by some experts:
a. Reading is a complex conscious and unconscious mental process in which the reader uses a variety of strategies to reconstruct the meaning that the author is assumed to have intended, based on data from the text and from the readers prior knowledge (Mikulecky,2011).
b. Walter R. Hill in Kadir (2011:17) defines reading as the process of constructing meaning from written texts. It is explain the meaning of reading as “the process of acquiring and interpreting, evaluation, and effecting upon those meanings. In another opinion states that reading is what the reader does to get the meaning he needs from textual sources.
c. Grabe and stoller in Destyawarni (2015: 4) stated “Reading is the ability to draw meaning from the printed page and interpret this information appropriately”.
d. Reading is basic to all learning, both in learning in general and in acquisition in languages. According to Elin (2016:9). Reading is a complicated skill that demands considerable time and practice.
e. Elin (2016:10) stated that reading is often described as an interactive process, where comprehension is a result of joint effort from the author and the read. Rivers in Alemi and Saman (2010:569-570) stated that “ Reading is the most important activity in any language class, not only as a source of information and a pleasurable activity, but also as a means of consolidating and extending one’s which are knowledge of the language”.
f. Smith in Adrianti (2011:6) stated that explains that reading is complex process in which the reader uses mental content to obtain the meaning from writing materials.
g. Reading is an activity that people or students as the readers do to get information. According to Artanto in Irawati et. al (2014:82) reading is an activity to search information through written symbols and inferred meaning from it.
h. According to Harris cited in Sari (2013:18), reading is a form of communication. Information and ideas are exchanged between writer and reader in the act of communicating. The form of written text
which reads by the reader can be a communication way to deliver the ideas of the writer about some particular information. This information will be a new knowledge or as an entertainment which is needed for the reader.
i. Reading is one of the basic skills of language learning. It can not be separated from other skills of language learning besides writing, speaking and listening (Nanda in NB Abdul: 2018).
2. Purpose of Reading
If the students that have more habit in reading, they will be more familiar with many vocabularies. They can construct sentences or texts, they will have no difficulties because they have familiar with words that they have read before. While Hazleena (2014: 3) suggest there are seven main purposes of reading, they are:
a. To obtain information for some purpose or because we are curious about topic.
b. To obtain instructions on how to perform some task for our work or daily life (e.g. knowing how an appliance works).
c. To act in play, play game, do a puzzle.
d. To keep in touch with friend by correspondence or to understand business letter.
e. To know when and where something will take place or available.
f. To know what is happening or has happened (as reported in newspaper, magazine, report).
g. For enjoyment or excitement.
3. Types of Reading
In general, reading is divided into two types, namely intensive and extensive reading. Each type has different definitions and characteristics.
Both make reading an activity that is different from other skills. The definition of each type is defined as follows:
a. Extensive Reading
Extensive reading is the reading for pleasure. The reader wants to know about something. The reader does not care about specific or important information after reading. Usually people read for to keep them update. The purpose of extensive reading will be trained to the student to read directly and fluently in the target language for enjoyment, without the aid of the teacher.
Extensive reading is always done for the comprehension of main ideas, not for specific details. Extensive reading has characteristic that is different from intensive reading. There are ten characteristics identified in successful Extensive Reading Programs:
1) Students read as much as possible.
2) Various materials on various topics are available.
3) Students choose what they want to read.
4) The purpose of reading is usually related to pleasure, information and general understanding.
5) Reading is a reward in itself.
6) Reading material is in accordance with the linguistic competence of students in terms of vocabulary and grammar.
7) Reading is individual and silent.
8) The reading speed is usually faster than slower.
9) The teacher directs students to program objectives.
10) The teacher is a role model for students to read.
In this type students can take the form of original fiction and non- fiction books and simplify established literary works. Such books are successful because the authors or adapters work in the literature. It means that students at an suitable level can read it with a case and confidently. They need text that they able to read without using a dictionary. Some teachers feel that extensive reading will take up time that could be spent learning language skills. The others will argue that Extensive Reading provides a richer context for practice.
b. Intensive Reading
Intensive reading is text reading or passage reading. In this reading the learner read the text to get knowledge or analysis. The goal of this reading is to read shorter text. This reading is done to carry out to get specific information. Learner reads book to acquire knowledge is the kind of intensive reading. The goal of intensive reading is to read shorter text. Intensive reading has several characteristics. Those are makes intensive reading distinch from extensive reading. The characteristics of the intensive reading were stated below:
1) Generally classroom based
2) The reader is deeply involved in looking into the text
3) Students’ focus on linguistic or semantic details of a reading
4) Students' focus on details of surface structures such as grammar and discourse markers
5) Students identify vocabulary key
6) Students can draw to help them (such as in problem solving) 7) The text is read carefully and thoroughly, repeatedly
8) The aim is to develop more knowledge of the language than just practice reading skills
4. Reading Techniques
Techniques could be strategies or tactics. There are so many strategies in reading techniques. They are stated below:
f.Identify the purpose in reading.
g. Use graph emic rules and patterns to aid in bottom-up decoding (especially for beginning level learners).
h. Use efficient silent reading techniques for relatively rapid comprehension (for intermediate to advanced levels).
i.Skim the text for main ideas.
j.Scan the text for specific information.
k. Use semantic mapping or clustering.
l.Guess when you aren’t certain.
m. Analyze vocabulary.
n. Distinguish between literal & implied meanings.
o. Capitalizing on discourse markers to process relationships.
While in another book define reading techniques in diverse steps. The techniques are listed below:
a. Pre-teaching or preparation stage b. Skimming or scanning stages
c. The decoding or reading stage is intensive d. Understanding stage
e. Transferable or integrated skills
Based on the two statements above, we can conclude that the reading technique can be divided into several points. Skimming and scanning are the main point. The readers are able to predict the purpose of the passage, the main topic, or the message and perhaps some ideas that develop or support are of benefit to the reader. Skimming is used when reading some common questions. Skimming is used in making decisions about how to approach text as well as when determining whether careful reading is appropriate. Another used of skimming is to build students' confidence and understanding that it is possible to get meaning without reading every word in the text.
The definition of scanning differs from the definition of skimming.
Scanning quickly looks for certain pieces of information in the text. The focus of skimming is to find specific information. Scanning is used when specific information is needed, such as a name, date, symbol, formula or phrase, is required. The reader knows what the object looks like and
therefore, knows when he has found what he is looking for. It is then assumed that very little information is processed into long-term memory or even for immediate understanding because the goal is just matching.
5. The advantages of Reading
At the time when people read stories, newspapers, or take part in live conversations, they increased their knowledge. Learning to read can be affects language skills. So many adventages that we will can be get by reading. That is why reading is one of the important skills in Learning English. There are several fun reading tips that help people to:
a. Increase their vocabulary.
b. Improve their reading speed.
c. Increase their comprehension.
d. Increase their writing.
e. Get more knowledge.
f. Find examples of the different ways people speak and write.
From the above advantagesabove, it is quite clear that reading is very important in learning a strange language. Reading helps students icrease their competence, abilities, knowledge and information in the teaching and learning process. For students living in non-English speaking countries, this can help them to understand more about English. That is very important to them. The adventages for students are mentioned below:
a. Reading helps you study to think in English.
b. Reading can increase your English vocabulary.
c. Reading able to help you increase your writing.
d. Reading may be a great way to practice your English even if you live in a non-English speaking country.
e. Reading is a great way to find out about new ideas and facts.
It's pretty clear about the advantages of reading. When almost everyone in the world is bored with reading, reading the facts can help us in the teaching and learning process. Students feel bored because now they do not achieve their goals when they read "what we read and how we read it".