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e. Problems in reading
Difficulty in reading is a common problem happened to a reader. The reasons of difficulty in reading vary from person to person. Some people do not
read wide enough variety of materials Raygor Raygor, 1985, p.191. One of the most important skills in reading is the knowledge of words. The number of
words that students know determines the difficulty and complexity of the material students can read and understand. Failure to develop will definitely hold you back
in your efforts to improve comprehension Raygor Raygor, 1985, p.xi. According to Pressley and Afflerbach, problems during reading can be due
to text characteristics, reader characteristics, or interactions between text and reader. On the text side, there are a number of ways that text can be poorly
written, from problems at the word level to the overall meaning of the passage. On the reader side, difficulties can be due to lack of background for text topic or
insufficient lexical knowledge. There can be difficulties due to reader-text interactions; for example, when beliefs of readers clash with opinions expressed in
texts 1995, p.66.
5. Teaching reading for university student
In college, the reading material will be more varied such as textbooks, supplementary books, and some of those will have been written in other centuries
Wood, 1991. It is not just textbook and supplementary book, but also other reading materials, for instance, scholarly articles and reports, class handouts and
instructions, exam questions, library materials of all sorts, and the various types of information and instructions. In one situation, the college students are asked to
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read a novel, the purpose might include learning and remembering it for the test, analyzing it and writing a paper about it, using it as a model for writing, skimming
and quoting from it in a research paper, or using it to generate ideas for a paper or a class discussion.
The main purposes of the college reading are to read, understand, and remember the material. Other purposes, however, might include consulting for
quick information, scanning to prepare for class, or reviewing to prepare for a test. Reading will become a valuable source of information for you. You will also learn
that reading is thinking. Improved reading will result in the improved thinking you need to generate new ideas and solve problems.
a The needs to do the college reading
To become a better college reader, the students will need to work for improvement in three areas. According Wood 1991, they are as follows.
1 The students will need to increase your background knowledge and
vocabulary by reading widely about a variety subject 2
The students will need to increase the awareness of how authors write and which rules they follow
3 The students will need to learn some new study skills and active reading
strategies to help them get the meaning from the reading b
Active reading strategies The key to more effective reading is to use active strategies that the
students can organize into an active reading process Wood, 1991. Many times, when the material is easy and the students have sufficient background about the
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subject, they will ‘just read’ and understand enough. On the other hand, when the material is complicated and new for the students, active strategies can help them
to get the meaning when ‘just reading’ is not enough.
B. Overview on Basic Reading I in English Education Study Program of
Sanata Dharma University KPE 110 Basic Reading I is designed to introduce students with the
reading strategies. In this course, the students are provided with the hands-on experience in applying the reading strategies when reading various types of
texts. Moreover, the course helps the students develop their English vocabulary and reading aloud ability. It also helps the students become independent and
effective readers. The topics of this course include: basic reading skills which consist of various reading strategies and exercises. This course is compulsory
and offered in Semester I. There is no prerequisite course for Basic Reading I Syllabus of Basic Reading I, 2011.
On completing this course, the students will be able to do the learning objectives. They are as follows.
a. read aloud with correct pronunciation
b. understand the types of the basic reading strategies
c. understand various types of texts.
d. apply the reading strategies when reading various types of texts.
Reading is one of the crucial skills besides listening, speaking, and writing. Basic skills in reading are important to be learnt, then. According to
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