stance he or she takes in relationship to the text; and immediate, remembered, or anticipated social interaction and communication.
3
Moreover, Farris, Fuhler, and Walther on their book, Teaching Reading: A Balance Approach for Today’s Classrooms, stated that, “Reading means getting
meaning from print. The essence of reading is a transaction between the words of an author and the
mind of a reader, during which meaning is constructed.”
4
It means that there is transaction in reading process, which is the process of
transferring meaning from the author to the reader. Based on all definitions above, it can be concluded that reading is a complex
communication process between the author who transfer meanings and the reader who interpret those meanings. In order to get the same messages as what the
author means, the reader also need to interact with the text. This interaction will come
to the reader‟s comprehension, in which the reader transfers the words from the written text that he or she read to the brain or mind in order to be interpreted
into a meaningful discourse.
2. The Purposes of Reading
When someone decides to read some kind of texts, there must be a reason why he or she does that activity. Every person may have different purposes of
reading. For instance, students may read textbook in order to comprehend the materials they have learned, and teachers may read it in order to prepare the
teaching materials or to decide what kind of technique they will use in the classroom, etc.
There are seven purposes for reading according to Grabe and Stoller.
5
a. Reading to search for simple information This is the common reason used by the readers for doing reading activity. In
reading to search, the reader need to scan the text they read in order to find
3
Martha Rapp Ruddell, Teaching Content Reading and Writing, New Jersey: John Wiley Son, Inc., 2007, p. 31.
4
Pamela J. Farris, Carol J. Fuhler, and Maria P. Walther, Teaching Reading: A Balance Approach for Today’s Classrooms, New York: McGraw-Hill, 2004, p. 324
5
William Grabe, and Fredricka L. Stoller, Teaching and Researching Reading, New York: Routlegde, 2013, pp. 6
–9.
specific words or specific information. For instance, we have this purpose when we try to find someone‟s phone number on the phone book, to find the
meaning of words on dictionary, to find specific words or phrases that indicate we are in the right page or chapter while reading prose, etc.
b. Reading to skim quickly In reading to skim, the reader need to skim the text in order to find the general
idea of it by guessing the location of the significant information on the text, and then by trying to comprehend those information until the general idea is
acquired. c. Reading to learn from texts
In reading to learn, the reader not only need to find the main idea of the text, but also remember it, elaborate it with the details, develop the organization of
the information, and connect the text with background knowledge. This purpose usually used in professional and academic field to get information as
much as possible. d. Reading to integrate information
In reading to integrate information, the reader tries to broad the information on the text. The goal may be just to add more information related to the text, to
agree with the information on the text, or to disagree with it. e. Reading to critique text
Reading to critique is part of reading to integrate information on the text. To find the strength or the weaknesses of the text, the reader need to, related to his
or her own goal, evaluate the text, find the information he or she wants to integrate, and in what way she or he wants to integrate it.
f. Reading to write As same as reading to critique the text, reading to write also part of reading to
integrate the text. Both are usually used in academic purposes. The reader needs to read many texts as his or her resources on his or her writing, and it
requires him or her to integrate those texts by selecting, criticizing, and arranging the information he or she needs.
