The Underlying Reasons for Giving Journal Assignments in Academic Reading Class
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4. To check the students’ comprehension or understanding about the content of the articles
It is necessary for the teacher to make sure that the students really read the text in every class meeting because if they do not read the text before, then the
discussion during the classroom‘s activity will not work. So, what will happen is, for example, when the teachers ask about the main idea of the first paragraph, and
there will be no answer because the students do not read the text yet. It is also important for the teacher to guide the students by asking questions in class
discussion that will direct the students to some important point of the text or the article. The teachers usually have in-class discussion in every class meeting
because there will be one reading passage for every class meeting. This is the way to check all of the students‘ comprehension or understanding about the text. Then,
to check the personal understanding about the text, the students have to write a journal.
These are some of the participants‘ opinion that said to check the students‘ comprehension or understanding about the content of the articles in giving
assignment in the form of journal in Academic Reading Class:
Extract 4:
Mrs. B: Well, yes. First, I would like to check whether they understand, comprehend the content of the article.
There are similarities among Mrs. B, Mr. C, Mr. D, and Mrs. E; all of them would like to check their students‘ understanding about the content of the article
text. But, each of them shows similar way in making the activity to check their students‘ comprehension about the text. For example Mrs. B and Mr. C, they
The Underlying Reasons for Giving Journal Assignments in Academic Reading Class
23 would like to have a journal to check the comprehension level, as Mrs. E stated
that journal will be based on the students‘ understanding of what they read, Mr. C like to feel students‘ understanding or confidence that pour down in journal.
Otherwise, Mr. D, he likes to make his students produce a poster presentation so that he can see how far his students‘ understanding about those text, whether
they really had a deep thought of reading or just a last minute work.
5. To make the students prepared read before class
