Delimitation of the Problem

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CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter presents the theories related to this research. The discussion in this chapter is divided into three parts: theoretical description, relevant studies, and conceptual framework. In the theoretical description, the researcher discusses the relevant theories of this research. In the relevant studies, the researcher presents the studies related to this research. In the conceptual framework, the researcher draws the links between the theories and the study of the research.

A. Theoretical Description 1. The Nature of Reading

a. Definition of Reading

The definitions of reading are important to be understood before starting to discuss reading comprehension itself. Brown 2004: 189 states that reading is a process of negotiation of meaning. In this process, the readers bring their early thought to the next parts of reading process to finally reaches their understanding about the meaning of the texts they read. It implies that readers’ understanding about the text is the result of interaction between their thought and the meaning of the texts they read. In line with the previous statement, Celce-Muria 2001: 154 views reading as an interactive process. it involves a text, a reader, and a social context in which the reading process occurs. She says that the transaction includes the reader’s acting on interprating the text. This implies that the reader’s past experiences, language background, and cultural framework, as well as the reader’s purpose for reading influence the reader’s interpretation about the text. Reading is one of receptive skills that must be fulfilled in learning a language. There are some definitions about reading proposed by some experts. Johnson 2008: 3 has some definitions related to reading. He defines reading as presented below. 1 The practice of using a text to create meanings. 2 A constantly developing skill. 3 Integrating visual and non-visual information. 4 The act of linking one idea to another. Accordingly, when there is no meaning being created, no effective reading occurs. Reading is also a skill which can be improved by doing a lot of practices. The more people read, the better their reading skills are. During the process of reading, the visual information that is acquired from the texts and the pictures if provided will be processed with the non- visual information that is created by the reader’s mind. Furthermore while reading the reader links the information in the text with hisher schemata or background knowledge in order to catch the meanings from the text. Urquhart and Weir 1998: 22 in Grabe 2009 present another definition of reading i.e. “the process of receiving and interpreting information encoded in language form via the medium of print”. This process involves constructing and dealing with meanings from a written text. Patel and Jain 2008: 114 state that “reading is not only a source of information and a pleasurable activity, but also as a means of consolidating and extending one’s knowledge of the language”. By reading, the learners can gain a lot of valuable information about the world and the language as well. They consider reading as the most important activity in any language class.