Reading Comprehension Techniques and Strategies

lower-level reading processes Hedge, 2007. In other words, the readers get the meaning of the texts starting from the smallest elements to achieve comprehension of what is being read Anderson in Nunan, 2003. Intensive reading activities are involved in this process. Figure 1 is a representation of a bottom-up approach to reading. Comprehension Figure 1: Bottom-up model 2 Top-down Model Top-down model requires the readers to make use their background knowledge to make prediction and inference in order to understand the reading texts Goodman 1970, in Brown, 2001. The process is the opposite of bottom-up model. The readers start with the largest elements and work down towards smaller elements to build comprehension of what is being read Anderson in Nunan, 2003:71. Extensive reading activities are involved in this process. According to Nation 2009, extensive reading is a form of learning from meaning-focused input. Day and Bamford 1998, in Nation, 2009 characterize extensive reading as “involving a large quantity of varied, self-selected, enjoyable reading at a reasonably fluent speed.” Figure 2 is a graphic representation of a top-down approach to reading. Background knowledge Figure 2: Top-down model 3 Interactive Model This model is the integration between elements of bottom-up model and top-down model. Murtagh 1989, in Nunan, 2003 considers this combination as the best model. It effectively connects important aspects of bottom-up and top- down processes. In comprehending the texts, the readers have to consider the essential elements of linguistic signals in the texts and use their background knowledge to create a strong concept of what is being read in their minds. This model also encourages the readers to be more conscious of the strategies in comprehending the texts. Intensive and extensive reading activities are involved as activities that are able to use Grabe and Stoller, 2011:26. Interactive reading activities are involved in this process. Figure 3 below is a graphic representation of an interactive approach to reading. Reader background knowledge Individual letters and sounds Figure 3: Interactive model Moreover, the discussion about reading cannot be separated from micro- and macro-skills of reading. To get maximum impact of reading, the readers are expected to have micro- and macro-skills of reading.

d. Reading Comprehension Assessment

Traditional measures of reading comprehension are limited. They provide only a general indicator how well a student understands text. Comprehension is typically measured by requiring students’ to read a short passage and then answer multiple-choice or short-answer questions or by using a cloze task i.e., asking students to fill in the blanks where the words have been omitted. These traditional measures of reading comprehension provide only a basic indication of how well a student understands a text and offer little information about how the students uses cognitive and metacognitive processes. In short, they do not explain why the students may be struggling. Comprehension