8 Rizkiana Hidayati 2009 conducted a research dealing with technique for
teaching English to elementary school students. The research entitled “The Use of Miming Stories as a Technique in Teaching Listening to Elementary School Students”
The Case of the Fifth Grade Students of SD Negeri 1 Procot, Tegal in the Academic Year of 20082009. The conclusion of her research is miming stories was effective as a
technique in teaching listening to elementary school students. The interesting technique is able to grab students’ attention in learning English.
Dealing with the use of cards for teaching English to elementary school students, a research entitled “Teaching Simple Noun Phrases Using Quartet Cards to
the Fifth Graders of SD 1 Mlati Kidul Kudus in the Academic Year of 20062007” was conducted by Anita Mardiana in 2007. The result is the activities using quartet cards
could help the students in mastering simple noun phrases. After reviewing the previous study, I can conclude that there are many
researchers that discussed about teaching English to Elementary school students especially in reading, the technique in reading, and the media that was used. From the
techniques that have applied, I would like to use look and say as a technique to teach reading to elementary school students.
2.2 General Concept of Reading
Few of us can remember the exact moment when we learned how to read. This is mostly because we learned to read when we were very young and it is difficult to
remember our very early years. Few of us can remember the moment when we suddenly knew that print represented meaning.
9 According to Caroline T. Linse 2006: 69, reading is a set of skills that involves
making sense and deriving meaning from the printed word. In order to read, we must be able to decode sound out the printed words and also comprehend what we read. For
second-language learners there are three different elements which impact reading: the child’s background knowledge, the child’s linguistic knowledge of the target language,
and the strategies or technique the child uses to tackle the text. For example, if a child is going to learn how to decode letters, she must understand what different written
symbols represent. In some language such as English, Spanish, Arabic, and Korean, a certain symbol represents a specific letter. These languages are known as alphabetic
languages. Furthermore, children who are able to read in their native language are at an advantage over children who cannot read in their native language because they
understand the key concept that printed symbols can be used to represent spoken words. Also, children who can read in their native language may also know that reading can be
for both pleasure and information. By developing strong literacy skills in their native language, it will be easier for young learners to transfer those skills into English.
As a teacher of young learners, it is helpful to ascertain what reading concepts children have acquired in their native language so we can assist in the transfer of the
relevant skills from first-language to second-language literacy Caroline T. Linse 2006: 69.
Decoding
Decoding means finding the meaning of something, especially something written in code Hornby, 302. Reading decoding skills is the ability to make sense of printed
words. This involves recalling and recognizing the spoken word that is represented by
10 the printed word. In other words, reading decoding skills is the ability to understand
that a printed word represents the spoken word, and that this printed word is made of a sequence of phonemes. To take it a step further, reading decoding skills also require the
ability to recognize the individual phonemes and phoneme blends. In order to read, we must recognize the symbols that form or make up words.
When readers decode, they decipher individual words. Many languages use a phonetic alphabet. In these languages, written symbols represent a specific sound or phoneme.
English has approximately 40 sounds but uses only 26 symbols. This can cause problems for speakers of language which have a one-to-one sound-letter
correspondence, such as Russian or Spanish. Because of the exceptions to soundsymbol correspondence in English, children can get very frustrated when they try
to decode English words. For example, the letter c is used to decode both a hard and
soft sound in English. The hard c sound, k, found in cat and carpet is more common than the soft c sound, s, found in cereal. However in Russian, the symbol c is always
used to denote the soft s sound Caroline T. Linse: 70.
Comprehension
Comprehension is the power of understanding Hornby: 235. And the aim of reading is comprehension. Some individuals equate decoding with reading. Just because a learner
knows how to pronounce written words correctly, doesn’t mean that he can read. Reading comprehension refers to reading for meaning, understanding, and
entertainment Caroline T. Linse: 71. It involves higher-order thinking skills and is much more complex than merely decoding specific words. Teaching children how to
derive meaning as well as analyze and synthesize what they have read is an essential
11 part of the reading process. There are two main reasons that people read: the first is for
pleasure and the second is for information.
2.3 Teaching English in Elementary School
