Significance of the Study
• The activity in which comprehension is a part.
In considering the reader, we include all the capacities, abilities, knowledge, and experiences that a person brings to the act of reading. Text is
broadly construed to include any printed text or electronic text. In considering activity, we include the purposes, processes, and consequences associated
with the act of reading. These three dimensions define a phenomenon that occurs within a larger socio-cultural context see Figure 1 that shapes and is
shaped by the reader and that interacts with each of the three elements.
6
The RRSG‟s RAND Reading Study Group thinking about reading comprehension was informed by a vision of proficient readers who are
capable of acquiring new knowledge and understanding new concepts, are capable of applying textual information appropriately, and are capable of
being engaged in the reading process and reflecting on what is being read. The RRSG began its thinking by defining the term reading comprehension as the
process of simultaneously extracting and constructing meaning through interaction and involvement with written language. It consists of three
elements: the reader, the text, and the activity or purpose for reading. The RRSG developed a heuristic to show how these elements interrelate in reading
comprehension, an interrelationship that occurs within a larger socio-cultural context that shapes and is shaped by the reader and that interacts with each of
the elements iteratively throughout the process of reading.
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From the opinion above, writer can conclude that reading comprehension is emphasis in understanding the meaning from the written
text. Readers should not comprehend everything from the text, but the messages or the ideas can be understood. Each paragraph can represent one
6
Catherine, Snow. Reading For Understanding, Pittsburg: RAND, 2002, p. 33
7
Ibid., p. 11
main idea that could be comprehended and concluded by the reader from no meaning to complete understanding the text.