Reading Comprehension Strategies The Nature of Reading and Reading Comprehension

17 cognitive system, involving active, conscious focus and acting of someone towards events inside or outside her or him, relatively lasting but something which is easy to forget, involving some forms of practice, perhaps reinforced practice and a change in behavior. Those concepts of learning show that in the learning process, learners get information or skills through some steps and forms of practices. In this process, such aspects as the memory, behavior and cognitive aspects are involved. All of those aspects are connected each other in determining the process of learning. In relation to English teaching and learning in Indonesia, Brown 2007: 1 suggests that language learning is not a set of easy steps that can be designed in a quick individual activity. It needs total commitment, total involvement, total physical intellectual and emotional response in the process of sending and receiving messages in the second language. In other words, second language learning is affected by various factors such as the first language, a new way of thinking, feeling and acting toward the new language. In addition, Brown 2007: 102 states that stressing the role of the native language on the target language has been common in the second language teaching. The native language is an obvious set of prior knowledge which underlie the further learning process. As a result, people who learn second language use their previous experiences to facilitate the second language learning process. In reference to the theories above, the process of language teaching and learning is not only the process of transferring knowledge from the 18 teacher to the students. In fact, it involves various factors which influence the effectiveness of language teaching and learning process. Some of those factors are the teachers, students‘ background knowledge and the teaching method and strategies. In other words, an understanding toward the concept of language teaching and learning is essential to determine the success of language teaching and learning in the classroom.

a. Teaching English as a Foreign language

The rapid growth of English as an international language has stimulated interesting discussion about the status of English in Indonesia. Brown 2001: 118 states that English is increasingly used as a tool for interaction among non-native speakers. He adds that most of English language teachers across the globe are non-native English speakers. It means that their language is not monolingualism, but bilingualism. Instead, English as a second or foreign language has become a tool for international communication in transportation, education, commerce, banking, tourism, technology, and diplomacy in the world including Indonesia. Moreover, Harmer 2001: 4 states that a foreign language does not have immediate social and communication function with the community where it is learned. It is used mostly for communication elsewhere. Furthermore, foreign languages are those in which the students do not have a readiness for communication beyond their classroom. They may be obtainable through language clubs and social media or books. 19 Those statements strengthen the position of a foreign language in non- native language community, which has not used the language in the daily communication of its society including in Indonesia. In the daily life, English is learned in a very limited environment such as at schools. In junior and senior high schools, English is a compulsory subject which is also being to be tested in the National Examination. Those facts indicate that English has a strong position in Indonesian education.

b. Teaching English as a Foreign Language at Junior High School

Ways of teaching language for different age level are very different. Each level, especially teens, requires special consideration in order to guide teachers into the right choices of teaching strategies, lesson planning, conducting activities, etc. Therefore, it is important to understand the characteristics of teens before deciding to apply certain teaching method or strategy in the English teaching and learning process in the junior high school. Brown 2001: 92 states that the period of teens, which is between the childhood and adulthood, is an age of transition, confusion, self- consciousness, growing, and changing bodies and minds. This affects in the things to be taken into account before teaching them. He also explains that around the age of twelve, intellectual capacity adds abstract thought. This also influences the ability to focus on something. Moreover, self-importance, self- image, and self-admiration are crucial for them. Besides, teens are very sensitive to the others‘ perception toward their physical and emotional