Bottom Up and Top Down Processes

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a. Text Selection

Reading activity can be very useful in the learning processes in the school. McKim 1958: 15 states that “reading is important aspect of living in school”. It implies that printed sources, which are used in the reading activity, are very familiar to the students as they often learn using text books. Nevertheless, in using reading texts to support the learning in schools, the teacher should pay attention to the text selection, that is how the teacher chooses the text suitable for learning purposes, and the teacher should know the type of the text to be used in order to understand the function of each type of text. In preparing the reading texts for the students, the teacher needs to be very selective. There are several things to be considered in preparing the reading texts in teaching learning process. Duffy 1985: 147 points out three important aspects to be measured in preparing usable texts for teaching. The aspects are as follows: 1. Audience Audience means the reader of the text. Duffy 1985: 147 states that audience of a text can be different. He implicitly says that a text may be very useful for a group of audience, but not for others. However, a usable text should be written by considering the readers so that the message can be understood by the readers well. Teachers should consider the readers’ cultural background, linguistics competence, and also interest. Otherwise, the message of a text will not be grasped by its readers. 22 2. Purpose Duffy 1985: 148 reveals that “printed materials used for many purposes to learn, to execute procedures related to work, as reference materials, and so on”. As so many purposes the reading activity gives, it is important for teachers to decide a definite purpose of a text to be read by the students first. By deciding the purpose of the text, it will be easier to choose an appropriate text. 3. Context Context refers to the situation around the readers. The situation in which the texts are used also contributes a significant role of the reading activity. Carter categorizes context into four aspects, namely size of the text, style or type, clarity of graphics, and type of the paper. By considering the context, the text selected will be more appropriate to the audience. Goh 2002: 45 agrees that the use of literary texts is suitable for listening. Nevertheless, teachers should be able to prepare the text by considering three important criteria. Goh recommends that the teacher should use texts which are simple. Teacher should be able to adjust the difficulty of the text and the level of students. The text used is supposed to be simple in which it really can help students construct their knowledge. The second one is that the teacher should consider students’ cultural factor. The chosen texts should support the students to have sufficient background knowledge that will be used 23 to understand what they listen to. The last criterion deals with theme. In selecting the text for listening, the teacher should be able to choose theme that students can identify. Therefore, in selecting the texts for the students, the teachers need to be very selective.

b. Types of Texts

Reading text can be classified into two types, namely authentic and non- authentic texts. The division of the type of reading texts is influenced by the concept of communicative setting or elements contained in the text. 1. Authentic Text An authentic text is defined as any original source materials which are made for the real world communication. Although this type of text is written for outside classroom use, it can be also very suitable for learning in the classroom. One reason stated by Murdoch 1999: 3 is that it challenges the learners. However, in the application in the classroom, there will be no modification of the text. Authentic texts are commonly used in classroom nowadays. Indeed, the authentic texts offer some advantages. Murdoch 1999: 3 points out that “authentic text provides an alternative to outdated textbook”. However, it is implied that the use of an authentic text can increase students’ motivation and interest to learn since this type of text offers different point of view from PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI