Identification of the Problem

Similar to Anderson, Grabe and Stoller stated that reading is taking general comprehension which requires the reader to combine information from a text and knowledge that the reader already has. 5 They also defined reading in more general definition as they presented a single-sentence definition of reading on Teaching and Researching Reading that reading is the ability to draw meaning from the printed page and interpret the information appropriately. 6 Another statement comes from Smith who said that reading is not just a visual activity, because both of visual and nonvisual information are interrelated and really important in reading to construct the meaning. 7 In reading, visual information are intended as source of information in a form of written text. It can be books, magazines, newspapers, etc. Whereas, nonvisual information comes from the readers mind, experiences, and background knowledge. In addition, reading is important as it provides the reader with the new ideas and experiences that will change the way they see the world. 8 From some of the definitions above, it can be concluded that reading is a process in getting the general meaning from written text which requires collaboration between information from the text and the readers prior knowledge, so that the reader can interpret the information appropriately.

2. The Purpose of Reading

Everyone has a reason for their actions. Even something like reading is an action someone has willfully chosen. The purposes of reading are various from one to another. According to Smith, people read to make sense of everything that they experience in the world. 9 The purpose of reading is also to help the reader 5 William Grabe and Fredricka L. Stoller, Reading for Academic Purposes: Guidelines for the ESLEFL Teacher, in Celce-Murcia ed. Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language 3 rd Edition, Boston: Hainle Hainle, 2001, p. 188. 6 William Grabe and Fredericka L. Stoller, Teaching and Reserching Reading, England: Pearson Education, 2002, p. 9. 7 Frank Smith, Understanding Reading —a Psycholinguistic Analysis of Reading and Learning to Read Sixth Edition, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2004, p. 94. 8 Ibid., p. 47. 9 Ibid., p. 2.