comprehension abilities, we have to consider many skills that related to sentences and meaning.
Meanwhile George D. Spache stated that ―Comprehension is more than understanding the ideas conveyed by the printed word, for this ideas must be
meaningful to the reader and must be integrated with his own concepts.‖
7
In other word, understanding does not mean the readers have comprehended the ideas, but
when the readers can combine the ideas of the text into their own concept it can be identified as a comprehension. With comprehension readers can get the ideas from
the text more useful. In addition, Philipot and Grave said in his book that ―a number of theoretical
considerations underline the understanding of comprehension and the suggestions for promoting comprehensions. The most important of these come from cognitive
psychology, the social constructivist orientation, and reader response theory. There are three concepts emerging from cognitive psychology. They are schema
theory, the interactive model, and metacognition. Then, the social constructivist orientation discuss about the general concept of constructivism, social
constructivism, and the significance of context.‖
8
In other word, there are many theories which become a basic foundation in interpreting and identifying the
meaning of comprehension. So the writer can sum up that reading comprehension is the activity to
integrate written text that containing information into reader own concept, and to recognize of written materials,
interpretation of meaning and interaction with background knowledge in order to make the ideas from the text more meaningful.
3. Basic Comprehension Ability
In this term, consideration will be given to the basic comprehensions ability needed for the many reading process. The basic comprehension ability consist of
the ability to comprehending word meaning, comprehending thought units,
7
George D. Spache, Toward Better Reading, Champaign: Garrard Publishing Company, 1963, p. 61.
8
Raymond Phillippot and Michael F. Graves, Fostering Comprehension in English Classes.
New York: The Guilford Press, 2009, pp. 5 —12.
comprehending sentence sense, comprehending paragraphs, and understanding total selection.
9
The explanations among them are discussed below:
a. Comprehending Word Meaning
Associating the correct meaning of a word with its printed symbol is the most basic of all comprehension abilities. The reader is categorized as someone who
comprehend word meaning if the he can not only recognizing the printed symbol, but he also must select from many the exact meaning the author had in mind.
Hence, word meanings are so essential to word recognition and so interrelated with word recognition. It is well, however, for the students of reading to recognize
that no comprehension can take place without adequate association of word- meanings to the printed symbols that represent item.
b. Comprehending Thought Units
The most essential efficient meaningful reading is having sufficiently rapid word-recognition techniques to enable the reader to assemble words into thought
units. Much of the difficulty in thought-unit reading is caused by the lack of ability to analyze the printed line into usable thought units. This is accomplished
by an anticipation of the thought units which are to come through the more or less automatic use of the peripheral or marginal vision.
c. Comprehending Sentence Sense
Actually it is an additional component in basic comprehension skill, but it still needed to be taught. When reading, we must appreciate the sentence as a whole.
We have to be taught to sense relationship between its parts. Sometimes we also have to accustom ourselves to sense the part of sentences of unusual order. To
encourage the ability to comprehend sentences sense for the beginner reader is they should start the direct sentence in which the parts are easily located. The
reader also should be introduced gradually to sentences in which connectives change the anticipated ending of the sentences.
d. Comprehending paragraph
In comprehending paragraph means that reader understanding a paragraph depends, to great extent, upon an appreciation of the interrelationship among its
9
Guy L. Bond and Eva Wagner, op. cit., pp. 201 —206.
