CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW
The discussion of this section is divided into three main parts, 1 a theoretical review which discusses theories related to this research, 2 reviews of
related studies which comprise relevant research to this study, and 2 a conceptual framework which relates the theories in the theoretical review to this
research.
a. Theoretical Review
This part discusses theories related to this research. The discussion is divided into four main topics, i.e. the nature of reading, the nature of reading
comprehension, teaching reading comprehension in junior high school, and the summarizing activities. This study focuses on the implementation of summarizing
activities to improve students‟ reading comprehension ability. To strengthen the conceptual framework of the study, this section presents underpinning theories
related to this research.
1. Nature of Reading
a. Definitions of Reading
Reading is an activity to get information presented in the text. It is an activity to interpret the text. According to Murcia and Olshtain 2002:119,
reading is a process of trying to understand a written text by readers through decoding, interpreting the message and eventually understanding the writer‟s
intention.
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Celce-Muria 2001:154 states that reading is a complex, interactive process. Reading involves a text, a reader and a social context in which reading
takes place. In reading, meaning is constructed through interpretation of written symbols that represent language. The interpretation is influenced by the reader‟s
past experience, language background, cultural framework and purpose for reading.
Meanwhile, Anderson 2003 defines reading as an interaction between the reader and the text. In the process of reading, the reader also thinks about what it
means to him, how it relates to things he knows and to what expects to come next in the texts.
According to Brown 2007:357, reading is a process of a negotiation of a meaning. It means that readers combine information from text and their
background knowledge to build meaning. Readers have to employ all knowledge in their brain to make sense of text and they pay attention to the text itself for the
words, phrases, clauses, sentences, and the connection between sentences to comprehend the text.
Furthermore, Johnson in Mickulecky 1990:2 defines the reading as more than interaction between the reader and the text. He defines reading as a complex
behavior that involves conscious and unconscious use of various strategies including problem solving strategies to build the meaning which the writer
intended. Problem solving strategies are useful for the resolution of many difficulties in reading.
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