The Definition of Reading Comprehension

14 background knowledge is being utilized to make sense of the new information. 2 Using sensory images Sensory experiences are a significant aspect of readers‘ background knowledge. When we think about our sensory experiences, we are creating representations of those experiences in our memories Marzano in Moreillon, 2007: 39. In this strategy, the use of senses sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell in understanding texts plays an important role. Inviting students to close their eyes and imagine the text as it is read aloud, and then asking them to share the pictures in their heads, is the basic technique used to teach visualization. 3 Questioning Questioning refers to students asking or writing self-initiated questions about the content of a text, before and during reading, to help them understand the text and the topic. Students ‘ reading processes change dramatically when they pose questions about the topic of a book or text before reading. Their questioning serves several roles in the comprehension process. If they are students‘ personal questions, they com e from the students‘ knowledge. They flow out of personal experiences and represent those experiences as the students encounter new ones Guthrie and Taboada, 2004: 93. 15 4 Making prediction and inferences Predictions are educated guesses about what will happen next based on what is known from reading the text; prediction can also involve readers‘ background knowledge. Inferences require that readers go beyond literal meaning; they use the print and illustrations plus their prior knowledge and experience to interpret the text. Through these processes, readers find clues or connecting points, make predictions or inferences, and draw conclusions. These conclusions or interpretations are a critical part of reading comprehension. Readers who make predictions and inferences before, during, and after they read are actively engaged in the meaning-making process. 5 Determining main ideas Main ideas are the foundation on which the details rest. Readers must learn how to prioritize information as an essential skill in reading comprehension as well as in information literacy. They can use main ideas to develop their schemas and to shore up their ability to store and recall information.

2. English Teaching and Learning

Dealing with improving reading comprehension of the second year students, one of the things should be done is that understanding the theory of teaching and learning. Discussions on the notion of teaching and learning are presented as follows. 16 According to Brown 2007: 8, teaching can be defined as guiding and facilitating, encouraging the learners to learn and setting the condition for learning. Supporting this definition, Brown 2007: 8 defines that teaching is the activities to show or help someone to learn how to do something, give instructions, guide in the study of something, provide with the knowledge, cause to know, understand knowledge and give new knowledge. From the definition above, teaching can be defined as helping, facilitating, and giving instructions how to learn and get something or knowledge. Those statements also show that teaching is an active process which enables someone to know and understand certain new thing or knowledge. Blum in Richard and Renandya 2002: 21 proposes that an effective teaching considers some crucial aspects including curriculum which is used to guide instructions, efficient classroom activities, instructional groups which are formed in the classroom to fit the instructional needs, standard for classroom behavior, personal interactions between the teacher and students and reward which are used to promote students‘ achievement. With regard to the above aspects, teaching is not only a matter of transferring knowledge. Many aspects are involved in the process of teaching which determine the effectiveness of the teaching process. Those aspects of effective teaching can be some guidance to create an effective English teaching learning process. Brown 2007: 8 proposes that learning is acquisition or getting, keeping of information or skills which implies storage systems, memory and