CHAPTER II THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
A. Reading Comprehension
1. General Concept of Reading Comprehension
Reading is one of the language skills which is very important to develop students’ knowledge in their studies. Reading is a tool of learning;
students need a variety of reading skills to understand textbooks, reference materials, magazines, newspapers, etc. Therefore, if a student does not
read them, heshe will miss the latest information of science and technology.
In order to know exactly what reading is, here are some definitions of reading according to some experts.
According to Peter Streven, reading is “a skill of great importance to the students because it provides him to access to great quantity of further
experience of the language and gives him a window into the normal means of continuing his personal education”.
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It means that reading is a basic of the language skills in teaching English and it is also very useful skill for
the students in order to get more information for their education. Jo Ann Aebersold also stated in her book that “Reading is the ability to
comprehend the thoughts and feelings of another mind via the medium of text; reading constitutes a powerful activity that confers knowledge,
insight, and perspective readers”.
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However, according to Peter David Fumprey in his book that “Reading is more than ability to understand the explicit meaning of the passage
presented. It is an essence, a constructive thinking process which includes comprehension of explicit and implicit meaning. It involves application,
1
Peter Streven, New Education in Teaching of English, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997, p.26
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Jo Ann Aebersold and Field, From Reader to Teaching Reading: Issues and Strategies for Second Language Classroom, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997, pp. 5-6.
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analysis evaluation and imagination. It is one activity through which the child’s cognitive development can further”.
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Here are some definitions about reading comprehension. Reading is a form of communication between reader and the author. In
the process of reading, a reader has to understand and catch the meaning of the text. At the same time, the author tries to give understanding through
the words. As Farris 2004 said that reading comprehension is the process of understanding the message that the author tries to convey.
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In short, there is an interaction between a reader and an author. The result of this
interaction, the readers should understand what the author means. While reading, a reader tries to understand the information from the text they
read. Understanding a written text means extracting the required information from it as efficiently as possible.
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Therefore, there is no meaning if a reader just reads without comprehending and catching the
information from it. Jo Mc Donough quoted from Devine who said that, “Reading
comprehension is the process of using syntactic, semantic, and theoretical information found in the printed text to reconstruct in the reader mind”.
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Comparison with the definition of Devine, William Grabe said that, “Reading comprehension is most likely a simple multiplication of word
recognition abilities and general language comprehension abilities”.
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A reader and the author are the subjects in reading process. There is a connection among them. An author tries to explain hisher idea through the
words and the readers also tries to understand the text they read. Zemelman, Daniels, and Hyde 1998 stated that the essence of reading is
3
Peter David Fumprey, Measuring Reading Abilities: Concept, Sources, and Application, London: Hodder and Soughton Educational, 1997, p. 2
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Pamela J. Farris, Teaching Reading: A Balanced Approach for Today’s Classroom, New York: McGraw-Hill, 2004, p.321
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Francoise Grellet, Developing Reading Skills: A Practical Guide to Reading Comprehension Exercise, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 1996, p.3
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Jo Mc Donough and Christoper Shaw, Materials and Methods in ELT, Sidney: The University of England, Black Well, 1993, pp. 101-102
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William Grabe, Reading Research and Its Implication for Reading Assessment, Flagstaff, Arizona: Northern Arizona University, 1985, p. 2
a transaction between the words of an author and the mind of a reader, during which meaning is constructed.
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In short, there is a construction of understanding concept. The readers have to construct their own
understanding about the text they read. However, reading can not be separated from other skills like writing,
listening, and speaking. There is a relationship among them, especially in writing. According to Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis as cited in
Farris 2004, “Like writing, reading is an act of composition. When we write, we compose thoughts on paper. When we read, we compose
meaning in our minds. Thoughtful, active readers can use the text to stimulate their own thinking and to engage with the mind of the writer”.
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Based on these opinions, it could be summarized that reading is likely an easy task to do by the students, but comprehension is very difficult to
do in learning language. The writer concludes that the reading comprehension is a process to understand the contents of the text which is
done by readers to get information. It is given through written language and aimed to comprehend the meaning of the text.
2. Factors Influencing Reading Comprehension
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