36 example, to organize the information, to get the meaningful information,
to actively engage in the text, and to think critically and logically related to what they are reading.
6. Background knowledge
Background knowledge is regarded as a fundamental element that exists when the learners want to comprehend a reading. Students can
create meaning in connection with their background knowledge Gunning, 2010: 1. Also, realizing the benefit of background knowledge to
comprehension is important because they connect new information with their prior knowledge before they integrate and organize the new
information Meroellin, 2007: 19. When the readers have adequate background knowledge related to their reading, it will be easier to
comprehend what they read. Hence, building background knowledge is important for students in reading. In giving the passage, the topic must be
considered well to make the students have good background knowledge and ability to comprehend the reading material.
e. Theory of Teaching Reading
A common paradox in reading lessons is that while teachers are encouraging students to read for general understanding, without worrying
37 about meaning of every single word, the students, on the other hand, are
desperate to know what each individual word means. Harmer, 213
a. Bottom up and top down processing Brown said that in bottom up processing readers must first recognize a
multiplicity of linguistic signals; letters, morphemes, syllables, words, phrases, grammatical cues, and discourse makers. And use their linguistic
data processing mechanism to impose some sort of order on these signals. Virtually all reading involves a risk-
a guessing game, in Godman‟s words-because readers must, through a puzzle solving process, infer
meanings, decide what to retain and not to retain and move on. This is where a complementary method of processing written text is imperative;
top down, processing in which we draw on our own intelligence and experience to understand a text.
b. Scheme theory and background knowledge Schema theory is led by some questions like how do readers contract
meanings? How do they decide what to hold on to, and having made the decision, and how do they infer a written message. The readers bring
information, knowledge, emotion, experience, and culture to the printed word. Back ground knowledge, indeed, has a role in reading activities.
38 c. Types of written language
There are hundreds of different type of written texts, a much larger variety than found in spoken texts. Each of the types listed of below
represent a genre of written language. Each has certain rules or conventions for its manifestation, and we are thus able immediately to
identify a genre to know what to look for within the text. Below are types of written text;
1 Nonfictions, editorials, essays, articles, etc. 2 Fiction novels, sort stories, jokes, drama, poetry.
3 Letters, personal, business. 4 Greeting cards
5 Diaries, journals 6 Recipes
7 Manuals 8 Menus
9 Advertisements 10 Invitations
f. Teaching Reading in Junior High School
