Reading in High Schools

CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

I. LITERATURE REVIEW

A. Reading in High Schools

The English subject in Senior High School includes three components. First, the expression of ability which concerns in the ability to understand and produce speech and written text and realized in four skills, i.e. speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Second, comprehension and production ability of various short functional and monolog text along with essay of text types genre such as procedure, descriptive, recount, narrative, report, news item, analytical exposition, hortatory exposition, spoof, explanation, discussion, review, and public speaking. The last, support of competence i.e. linguistic competence the use of grammar, vocabulary, phonetic, and structure, socio culture competence the use of expression and action language receive in various context communication, strategy competence the ability to overcome the problem which appears in communication process by using various methods, and building expression competence the use of instruments of expression competence. According to Nunan 2003:68, reading is a fluent process of combining information from a text and background knowledge to build meaning. It means that reader needs to activate herhis background knowledge in order to comprehend the message being conveyed. In other word, reading is not only the way to get new information but also to renew old information. 8 In addition, Seyler 2004:3 explains that reading is the process of obtaining or constructing meaning from a word or cluster of words. In this case, the reader has to be able to create the meaning of single word and the combination of word. Beside, the reader also can find new knowledge where it can help the reader construct new understanding about an idea or issue. Reading is not always about a text or a passage; it can be about a word, a phrase, or a single sentence. The reader is required to find the meaning of what has been read. That is why reading in high school needs a complete skill to read the letters appropriately and to comprehend the words successfully.

B. The Nature of Reading