2.2.1 Word Comprehension
It is basically important in reading comprehension to understand word meaning because it is impossible for the students to comprehend the text if they do not understand
the meaning of the word. As Torgesen 2000: 56 argues that to comprehend written material,
“children need to be able to identify the words used to convey meaning, and they must be able to construct meaning once they have identified the individual words in print
”. From the very beginning, the students should be taught to use what they know to
understand unknown elements whether or not these ideas are simple words. Further, Grellet 1996:15 suggests that if the reader does not understand some words of the reading text, he
will probably escape or miss some of the facts and ideas. It means that students must understand about word comprehension first to enable them to the writer intended meaning.
The following is an example of word comprehension question. Michael Schumacher, the Formula 1 driver, won the first heat in the beginning of
the season. The possible word
question is, “What does the underlined word mean?” a.
Early stage of competition b.
Amount of temperature c.
The weather in that circuit d.
The condition of the driver
The answer to the question is “early stage in a competition A”, because heat is not about
temperature. The word heat also has another meaning such as “amount of temperature” as
the mean of “hot”, that sometimes makes the student confused. The competition of Formula 1 car race always attracts the best competitor, that is why it is create a very enthusiastic
situation, which is said with the word “heat”. So the students should be sure which meaning suits to the sentence.
2.2.2 Sentence Comprehension
The second important thing in reading comprehension is to understand the sentence. A sentence is a group of words expressing a complete thought Carino, 1991:146.
Sentence comprehension itself means understanding a group of words that express a complete idea in a sentence. It is important to understand the meaning of some word
constructed in sentence than to understand the meaning of word by word Grellet, 1996:15. It means that students must understand well how to comprehend information from the
sentences before the reader moves on to the paragraph comprehension. The following is an example of sentence comprehension question
Ray can play the guitar and the piano. What does the sentence mean? a Ray plays the keyboard.
b Ray plays two instruments. c Ray only plays the piano.
d Ray wants to play the guitar instead. Source: http:www.english-test.netesllearnenglishgrammarei194esl-test.php
The answer is “b”, because Ray can play guitar and also the piano so he can play
two instruments. There are three types of sentences; they are simple sentences, compound sentences,
and complex sentences Wood 1991:15. But the researcher focused on simple sentence type only.
a. Simple Sentences A simple sentence has the most basic elements that make it a sentence: a subject, a
verb, and a completed thought. A simple sentence can also be referred to as an independent clause. It is referred to as independent because, while it might be part of a compound or
complex sentence, it can also stand by itself as a complete sentence. Examples:
1. Rahardian and Darmaji play tennis every afternoon. 2. Zulkarnain goes to market and buys vegetable every day.
b. Compound sentences A compound sentence refers to a sentence made up of two independent clauses or
complete sentences connected to one another with a coordinating conjunction. For, and, nor, but, or, yet, so belong to coordinating conjunction.
Examples: 1. Joe waited for the train, but the train was late.
2. Mary and Samantha left the bus before I arrived, so I did not see them at the bus station. c. Complex sentence
A complex sentence is made up of an independent clause and one or more dependent clauses connected to it. A dependent clause is similar to an independent clause,
or complete sentence, but it lacks one of the elements that would make it a complete sentence.
1. Because Mary and Samantha arrived at the bus station before noon, I did not see them at the station.
2. While he waited at the train station, Joe realized that the train was late.
2.2.3 Paragraph Comprehension
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