The Definitions of Reading

commit to user 11

CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter will discuss theoretical description that consists of reading comprehension, internet-based material, textbook, and learning motivation. Next, the writer will discuss rationale based on the reviewed theories to propose the basic assumption. Eventually, based on the rationale, the writer proposes the hypotheses of this study.

A. Reading Comprehension

1. The Definitions of Reading

Williams 1984: 2 defines reading as a process whereby one looks at and understand what has been read. The key word here is ‘understand’ – merely reading aloud without understanding does not count as reading. Urguhart 1998: a 15 states that reading involves processing languages messages. Furthermore, he also defines that reading is a process of receiving and interpreting information encoded in language via the medium of print 1998: 22. Nuttal in Aebersold and Field, 1997: 5 explains that reading is like an infectious disease: it is caught not taught. And you cannot catch it from someone who hasn’t got it ….. commit to user 12 De Boer and Dallman 1964: 17 state that reading is a process of activity as follows: Reading is a much more complex process. We know that effective reading involves all of the higher mental process. It involves recall, reasoning, evaluation, imagining, organizing, applying, and problem solving. Good reading requires good thinking …. We shall think of reading as an activity which involves the comprehension and interpretation of ideas symbolized by written or printed language. From the explanation above it can be concluded that reading is not only looking at, receiving the text, and understanding the information from the text but also an activity to get the comprehension and interpretation from the ideas in written or printed. Rumelhart 1994: 864 states that reading is the process of understanding written language. It begins with a flutter of patterns on the retina and ends when successful with a definite idea about the author’s intended message. Thus, reading is at once a “perceptual” and a “cognitive” process. Further, Aebersold and Field 1997: 15 define reading as follows: In a general sense, reading is what happens when people look at a text and assign meaning to the written symbols in that text. The text and the reader are the two physical entities necessary for the reading process to begin. It is, however, the interaction between the text and the reader that constitutes actual reading. Granted, the meaning the reader gets from the text may not be exactly the same as the meaning the writer of the text wished to convey. In line with Rumehart, Aebersold, and Field, Grabe and Stoller propose the reading as the ability to draw meaning from the printed materials. They explain that it also highlights that how to draw meaning from a text and interpret this meaning varies in line with the second language L2 proficiency of the reader 2002: 9-10. commit to user 13 From those definitions of reading, it can be concluded that reading is a perceptual and cognitive process. In reading, the reader has a purpose of perceiving a written text in order to interpret and understand its meaning. Besides, reading is a process of understanding what has been read including receiving and interpreting information. So, reading is a complex process that would be undergone until one can interpret the idea of what he has read without changing the meaning.

2. The Purposes of Reading