in understanding the printed symbols as a mental process ”.
6
That is why readers have to integrate their skills when reading texts because as a complex process,
reading needs understanding to process the information on mind. Therefore, to understand the meaning of a text in reading activity, the
reader makes use of interaction among eyes and mind to grasp the message related to what the author is trying to communicate.
Based on those statements above, reading is a complex process in getting meaning or in understanding the message. According to Christine Nuttall,
”reading is essentially concerned with meaning, specifically with the transfer of meaning
from mind to mind: the transfer of a message from writer to reader ”.
7
Elizabeth Bernhardt also states that “Reading is regarded as a cognitive process in which it
demands a process to apprehend the meaning, to gain information, and to learn in which those should be considered to the process of mind
”.
8
2. The Purpose of Reading
Reading is an activity with a purpose. A person may read in order to gain information or verify existing knowledge, or in order to critique a writer’s ideas or
writing styles a person may also read for enjoyment, or to enhance knowledge of the language being read. According to Rivers and Temporally, they suggest that
“second language learners will want to read for the following purposes: a.
To obtain information for some purposes or because we are curious about some topic.
b. To obtain instructions on how to perform some task for our work or daily
life e.g. knowing how an appliance works. c.
To act in a play, play a game, do a puzzle. d.
To keep in touch with friends by correspondence to understand business letters.
6
J.Charles Alderson, Assessing Reading, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000,p. 9- 10
7
Christine Nuttall, Teaching Reading Skills in A Foreign Language, Oxford: Hainemann, 1996, p.3.
8
Elizabeth B. Bernhardt, Loc Cit.
e. To know when or where something will take place or what is available.
f. To know what is happening or has happened as reported in newspapers,
magazines, reports. g.
For enjoyment or excitement”.
9
In real life, our reading purposes constantly vary and therefore, when devising exercises, we should vary the questions and the activities according to
the type of text studied and purpose in reading it. And it prevents students to develop their reading strategies adapted to the true purposes of reading.
There are some purposes of reading which is declared by Francoise Grellet who stated that
” there are two main reason for reading; reading for pleasure and reading for informationin order to find out something or in order to do something
with the information you get ”.
10
People read for many purposes. Some of them read for pleasure and some read for getting information in which different purposes gain different technique
used. Christine Nuttall stated that” whatever your reasons for reading excluding any reading for language learning, it is not very likely that you were interested in
the pronunciation of what you read, and even less likely that you were interested in the grammatical structures used. You read because you wanted to get
something from the writing”.
11
This statement also emphasizes on no matter the reader’s technique used in reading, it aims to convey the message of the text.
According to William Grabe and Frederica L. Stoller ,” the purposes of
reading are: a.
Reading to search for simple information. b.
Reading to learn from texts. c.
Reading to integrate information, write and critique texts. d.
Reading for general comprehension”.
12
9
David Nunan, Designing Task for The Communicative Classroom, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989. P.34.
10
Francoise Grellet, Developing reading Skills: A Practical Guide to Reading Comprehension Exercises, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986,p.4.
11
Christine Nuttall, Loc Cit.
12
Nida Husna, Step by Step to Reading Skills, Jakarta: UIN Jakarta, 2005,p. 9-10.
