4. The Steps of Pre-Reading Activity
Hadfield stated about simple reading activity was designing reading activities; they are Lead in, Read and Respond and Follow up.
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While Lead In, introduces the learners to the topic and focuses their attention. This activity is as
the activity before reading. It can be mentioned as pre-reading activity .
“The aim of the Lead In is to get the learners to start thinking about the
topic of the reading text before someone can actually show them the text itself, and perhaps introduce or familiarize them with a few vocabulary items from the
text. ”
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The teacher can use a variety of techniques to stimulate the learners‟ interest, question and answer, pictures, or a short discussion.
Students are more attractive about something visually. Because by seeing some pictures about the events about the text, it will help them to comprehend the
text easily. As Sandra Silberstein stated that, “Pictures are a great source of
inspiration. Storytellers work in pictures, so putting a story together based on pictures or paintings or photographs is a good way of thinking visually. Pictures
are snapshots of events; they capture what is going on for one second of that story.
”
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In steps of pre-reading, the teacher usually brainstorms or arouses student‟s prediction about the text. Based on Ajideh, “Brainstorming has many
advantages as a classroom procedure. First, it requires little teacher preparation; second, it allows learners considerable freedom to bring their own prior
knowledge and opinion to bear on particular issues; and third, it can involve the whole class.”
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Therefore, pre-reading activity involves many participants, such as the teacher, students as the object of the technique itself. The teacher should
attract students to recall students‟ prior knowledge and their interest about the
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Jill Hadfield and Charles Hadfield, Simple Reading Activities, New York: Oxford University Press, 2000, p. 2.
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Ibid.
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Alison Davies, Storytelling in the Classroom: Enhancing Traditional Oral Skills for Teachers Pupils, London: Paul Chapman Publishing, 2007, 1
st
Edition, p. 15.
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Parviz Ajideh, Schema –Theory Based Considerations on Pre-reading Activities in ESP
Textbooks, The Asian EFL Journal. Teaching Articles,16, 2006, p. 7.
text. This activity also gives a chance to the teacher and students even a whole class to interact each other.
RAND Reading Study Group stated that, “In the pre-reading micro period,
the reader arrives with a host of characteristics, including cognitive, motivational, language, and non-linguistic capabilities, along with a particular level of
fluency. ”
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The pre-reading also determines how reader involves with the text, what they interrelate the text with their skill in reading, etc.
In addition of pre-reading steps, Lewin mentioned that there are menus of Reading Prepare Strategies:
a. Survey the piece by reading the title.
b. Think about the title by converting it into a question.
c. Think about the title by making a prediction about what will happen.
d. Look over the text structure: notice columns, paragraphs, font size
changes, use of italics and boldface type. e.
Skim the piece on the look-out for proper names, places, dialogue, illustrations.
f. Look at the length of the piece and estimate how long it will take to
read it. g.
Read the author‟s name. h.
Think about the author by recognizing or not recognizing the name. i.
Think about by recalling other pieces written by the same person. j.
Think about the author by reading the short bio, if provide. k.
Sample the piece by reading one or two opening paragraphs and a middle paragraph.
l. Understand the teacher‟s reason for assigning this piece, or set your
own purpose for reading it. m.
Take in all this preview data and recall any prior knowledge that is applicable. Ask, “What do I already know that will help me understand
this story or topic? ”
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From those explanations, the writer concludes that steps in pre-reading enclose the things that someone does before reading. The activities are done
before someone starts reading in order to increase his capacity to understand the material. From their better understanding, the students could increase reading
comprehension.
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RAND Reading Study Group, op. cit., p. 12.
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Lewin, op. cit., p. 19.
In this research, the writer will use two kinds of pre-reading activities, those are: background knowledge strategy by brainstorming and showing pictures.
Brainstorming about the related text will help the students to be introduced in some knowledge which they have already known. Then showing them pictures
related the text will make them easier to predict the text. It can be base to better understanding.
In this research the writer will conduct treatment to experimental class using brainstorming questioning and pictures, while the writer will not conduct
treatment to controlled class. Before reading activity is started, the writer will show them the pictures and brainstorm their knowledge about the text by
questioning about the text. The writer will ask them some questions related the topic. Then, the writer will read aloud the text to the students and showing them
some pictures. When the writer finishes her reading aloud, she will ask one of the students to read aloud in front of the class while. She also corrects their
pronunciation. The wrong pronunciation of words will be written on the whiteboard and the writer will give them the right one.
After pre-reading activity is completed, the writer let them to read individually. Then, the writer gives the students reading comprehension test
related to the text.
D. Previous Study