Types of Reading Text

will be described and description is the next step to describe the parts of the object such as qualities and characteristic of the object. 34 In addition, Zaida states that description is a text to describe particular person, place, or thing in detail. It consists of identification, description, and conclusion. Identification is part of introducing the personthing described; description is part that describes the person or thing in details such as its qualities or its characteristics; and the conclusion optional is part that concludes the topic. 35 It is known, that descriptive text is to describe something such as people, place or other things. As Smith and Buscemi state that description has diversity. It can be people, place and things that are described in details and it will be concrete, specific, and vivid. 36 From that definition, it can be found some students may get many objects everyday in some characteristics or they may tell the object to their friends in detail; unconsciously they know the concept of describing something. 2. Purpose of Descriptive Text Each kind of text has the purpose itself, includes descriptive text. To know the purposes of descriptive text are important for students. There are some purposes of descriptive text: a. Can entertain readers, it can be found in newspaper, magazine, novel, etc b. Can convey feelings or express the emotions c. Can relate experience and share everything they see or hear about place, people, etc d. Can inform something because it is described in detail 34 Sanggam Siahaan and Kisno Shinoda, Generic Text Structure, Yogyakarta: Graha Ilmu, 2008, p. 89. 35 Nur Zaida, Mandiri: Practice Your English Competence for SMPMTs Class VIII, Jakarta: Penerbit Erlangga, 2006, p. 9. 36 Santi V. Buscemi and Charlotte Smith, 75 Readings Plus: 8 th Edition, New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc, 2007, p. 37. e. Can persuade someone, because when something or someone is described in well description, it can move reader’s emotions to do a particular way for instance in advertisements. 37 3. Elements of Descriptive Text As mentioned before that description is to describe something, therefore the readers should be aware of the elements of description. Those elements of descriptive text are: a. Concrete details. It can support, reflects, or expands a writers’ attitude or purpose by specific description. b. Image. It is known through one of the five senses, so that the image should be concrete, literal real and actual description of person, physical object or sensory experience. c. Similes. Sometimes, description compares two or more things, so that the using of like or as is often found and the comparison are different in one aspect. d. Metaphors. It can be said as the comparison between two things that has implied comparison and usually without use of like or as. e. Connotative language. It means that description sometimes use or combine words that create the different meaning or unreal meaning with the original version. 38 Those are types of text in reading and one of them is descriptive text. To sum up, descriptive is one of the types of text that describes something such as people, place, animals, event, etc. In addition, this text is usually learnt in junior high school. The students of junior high school are suggested to know the types of text in order to know the functions of text itself. 37 Barbara Fine Clouse, Patterns for a Purpose: A Rhetorical Reader, New York: McGraw Hill, 2006, p. 103. 38 Lila Fink, et all, Choices: A Text for Writing and Reading, Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1983, pp. 41 —42.

D. Previous Studies

Satihat has conducted the correlation research by the title “The Relationship between Students’ Vocabulary Mastery and Reading Comprehension Achievement”. It conducted on 30 December 2007 till May 2008 at SMPN 10 Cilegon Banten. In which the sample were about 64 students of second grade of SMPN 10 Cilegon Banten. The objective of her research was to know the correlation between vocabulary and reading of the students. She used test as instruments to collect data; the test was about vocabulary and reading. Then, the test was done in two days, first day was vocabulary test and the second one was reading test by the time given of both test was about 60 minutes. To analyze the data, she used Pearson Product Moment as formula. And the result of her research was 0,734; it means that there is positive correlation between student’s vocabulary and their reading. There are the similarity and the differences between this research and the writer’s research. The similarity of this study is both of them concern on the correlation between vocabulary and reading comprehension. Then, the instruments which was used also same, both of them used vocabulary and reading test as the instrument. Meanwhile, the differences of both studies are this study concerns on all kind of reading text, but the writer’s study concern on descriptive text only. In addition, this study was conducted on two days, and the sample had to answer the questions of both test in the different days; however the writer’s study provided one day to give both tests for the samples. Later, Mezynski conducted the research by the title “Issues Concerning the Acquisition of Knowledge: Effects of Vocabulary Training on Reading Comprehension .” The objective of her research is to know about the effect of vocabulary instruction on word learning and reading comprehension. She identified 8 studies. She designed the research by selecting words that would be taught about 6-1800 words, setting the duration of time in teaching the students, and applying the method of teaching that she used such as using flash cards and semantic associations. The result of her research is that all studies demonstrated gains in vocabulary knowledge for words taught, but only 4 of 8 studies that demonstrated well of vocabulary instruction on comprehension of reading.