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14 Adopt a flexible approach and vary reading strategies according to the
type of material being read and the purpose for which it is being read.
2. Theory of Reading Comprehension a. The Nature of Reading Comprehension
There are several definitions about reading comprehension. Snow 2002:11 defines reading comprehension as “the process of simultaneously
extracting and constructing meaning through interaction and involvement with written language. As the discussion of the definition of reading itself,
readers extract information of the printed texts to construct the meaning of the texts.
Furthermore, Klinger, Vaughn, and Boardman 2007:8 state that reading comprehension involves much more than readers’ responses to text. Reading
comprehension is a multi-component, highly complex process that involves many interactions between readers and what they bring to the text previous
knowledge, strategy use as well as variables related to the text itself interest in text, understanding of text types.
According to Snow 2002, comprehension consists of three major elements: the readers, the texts, and the activities. The readers are the
elements that do the comprehending. They use their skills, the micros and the macros, to comprehend the texts. The texts are elements that are to be
comprehended. Reading activities definitely deal with all printed texts. Readers make comprehension through it. The activities of reading are the
elements in which the interaction between readers and texts occurs.
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In addition, Duke and Pearson 2002:205 affirm that much work on the process of reading comprehension has been grounded in studies of what good
readers do when reading: 1
Good readers are active readers. 2
From the outset they have clear goals in mind for their reading. Then look over the text before reading, noting such things as the structure of the text
and the text sections that might be most relevant to their reading goal. 3
As they read, good readers frequently make predictions about their reading, what to read carefully, what to read quickly, what not to read, and
what to read. 4
Good readers try to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words and concepts in the text, and they deal with inconsistencies or gaps as needed.
5 They draw from, compare, and integrate their prior knowledge with
material in the text, and also monitor their understanding of the text, making adjustment in their reading as necessary.
6 Comprehension is a consuming, continuous, and complex activity, but one
that, for good readers, it both satisfying and productive. Related to reading comprehension, Lems, Miller, and Soro 2010:170
state that reading comprehension ability is the ability to construct meaning from a given written text. Reading comprehension is not a static competency,
it varies according to the purpose for reading and the text that is involved. Other reading expert, Alderson 2000:1 said that reading comprehension
ability is to process text meaning through some processes of interaction with
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print. Not only looking at the point, the readers also „deciding’ what they „mean’ and how they relate to each other. Current research views reading
comprehension as a dynamic process in which the reader „constructs’
meaning based on information that a reader gathers from a text. A reading expert, Katherine Maria in Arietta 2005:2 defines reading
comprehension as: . . . holistic process of constructing meaning from written text through the interaction of
1. The knowledge the reader brings to the text, i.e. word recognition
ability, word knowledge, and knowledge of linguistic conventions; 2.
The reader’s in interpretation of the language that the writer used in constructing the text; and
3. The situation in which the text is read.
Moreover, Pulverness and Williams 2005 explain that comprehending a textinvolves understanding the language of the text at word level, sentence
level, and whole- text level. In addition, Brown 2004 inserts that in the attempt to comprehend texts, readers use a set of schemata or their knowledge
about the word while they are reading. In short, it can be concluded that readers try to understand a text when they read it. To do that, they do not only
interact with the text itself but also activate their background knowledge about the text. This comprehension can be achieved after they manage to
understand words and sentences composing the text so as to make them understand the whole text.
