phonetic symbols and their various sounds of English alphabet. As be known that letters in English makes many different variety of sound, so that it could
make the reader feel complicate to decode the text. Those are some statements that assume reading comprehension. In
other words, reading comprehension is a complex activity that includes many purposes such as reading to get the specific information and general idea of
the text. Moreover, the reader has to read a lot and train his ability to get the idea of the text.
3. The Strategies of Reading Comprehension
Reading comprehension is a complex activity, therefore, the reader should concern on some strategies on reading comprehension. There are many
experts propose the strategies of reading comprehension, and there are various strategies that could be used by the reader.
The first assumption comes from Jo McDonough. According to Jo McDonough and Christopher Shaw, the students could use some strategies for
reading, they are skimming and scanning. “Skimming and scanning are clearly useful strategies for learners to operate; however there is arguably a limit to
their usefulness in the context illustrated above, in the sense that the learner scans for particular information and then does not actually have to do anything
with it.”
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It points out that scanning is used to find out the specific information in a text, while skimming is to get the general information.
Reading for detailed comprehension means that the reader should be aware of the importance of the way they read. Jeremy Harmer assumes that,
“One of the teacher’s main functions when training students to read is not only to persuade them of the advantage of skimming and scanning, but also to
make them see that the way they read is vitally important.”
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The reader
12
Jo McDonough and Christopher Shaw, Materials and Methods in ELT; A Teachers’
Guide, Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1993, p.107.
13
Jeremy Harmer, How to teach English, Edinburgh Gate: Pearson Education Limited, 1998, p. 70.
should know how to scan and skim but also they have to know that scanning and skimming is a way that is very important that should be used.
Nevertheless, according to Deborah Daiek and Anter, there are six key strategies of reading comprehension. They explain those strategies into six
chapters that have detailed explanation. The strategies are locating stated main ideas, finding supporting details, using inference to identify implied main
ideas, textbook methods of organization, using preview study read and review strategies, and textbook marking.
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It shows that there are some steps to get the comprehension of the text, such as pay attention to the main ideas,
supporting details, inference, book organization, book review, and marking the text. Those strategies are appropriate on reading the big scale of text as a
book. Moreover, Raymond Philippot and Graves propose eight strategies of
reading comprehension. They state that the strategies could not stand alone, they need on another. The strategies are discussed as follows:
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a. Using prior knowledge. Should students have little or no prior
knowledge about given topic, it is important that you provide them with at least a basic framework for understanding whatever
topic they are going to encounter. b.
Asking and answering questions. A reader asks questions both prior and while reading a selection; then she attempts to address
the questions as she progresses through the text. c.
Determining what is important. This strategy entails having readers understand what they have read and forming judgments
about what is and is not crucial information. d.
Summarizing. Summarizing is best described as focusing on the primary idea or compelling reason why an author has chosen to
write on a particular topic.
14
Daeik and Anter, 2004, op. cit., p. 135.
15
Raymond Philippot and Michael F. Graves, Fostering Comprehension in English Classes, New York: A Division of Guilford Publications, Inc., 2009, p. 107.
e. Making inference. When students use this strategy, they infer
meanings by using information from the text and their existing schemata to fill in information that is not explicitly stated in the
text. f.
Dealing with graphic information. Readers give special attention to the visual information supplied by the author.
g. Imaging. Readers create mental pictures of the text they are
reading, or they can graphically represent the relationship among elements of a text.
h. Monitoring comprehension. Readers carefully consider what they
desire to gain from a text and their understanding-or lack thereof- of the text as they read.
It shows that the reader not only should use hisher prior knowledge, also have to make the question before reading and answer it after reading.
While reading, the reader has to create mental pictures on hisher imagination, determining what is important for himher, and monitoring comprehension by
making summary of the reading. Those are some strategies that proposed by some experts. As can be
seen the experts have their own strategies to comprehend the text. So that the writer could conclude that the reader could use those strategies based on their
needs.
4. The Purpose of Reading
A person may read by many purposes, and that purposes help him to be more comprehend about what is read. It could be a pleasure and enjoyment
that felt by the reader. The reader would read very quickly or slowly based on his feeling and emotion when he reads for pleasure. But if the reader is reading
for study or getting information, he would read very slowly and carefully. There are many reasons why people reading. As Jeremy Harmer
states that, “In the first place, many of them want to be able to read texts in
