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2. The Purpose of Reading
Students may read for various purposes. They may read for pleasure, to study about something, to announce something important, or else.
The purpose of reading is divided into four main headings:
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a. Reading to search for simple information
It is a kind of common reading ability, though some researchers seeing it is a relatively independent cognitive process. It is used so often in
reading tasks that it is probably best seen as type of reading ability. In reading to search, ones typically scan the text for a specific piece
of information or a specific word. Sometimes ones slow down process the meaning of a sentence or more to find out if ones are reading the right
passage, section, or chapter. Skimming is also including in this type of aim. It is a common part of many reading tasks and a useful skill in its
own right. A combination of strategies for guessing where important
information might be in the text, and then using basic reading comprehension skill on those segments of the text until a general idea is
involved in this skill. b.
Reading to learn from text
It usually occurs in academic and professional context when people need to learn a considerable amount of information from a text.
This purpose usually carried out a reading rate somewhat slower than general reading comprehension mainly due to rereading and
reflection strategies to help remember information. c.
Reading to integrate information, write, and critique text
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Nida Husna, Step by Step to Reading Skills: Step 1, Jakarta: English Department, Faculty of Tarbiya and Teachers Training “Syarif Hidayatullah” State Islamic University, p. 7.
73 This purpose requires additional decisions about the relative
importance of complementary, mutually supporting or conflicting information and the likely restructuring of a rhetorical frame to
accommodate information from multiple sources.
d. Reading for general comprehension
Reading for general comprehension requires very rapid and automatic processing of words, strong skills in informing a general
meaning representation of main ideas, and efficient coordination of many processes under very limited time constraints.
The essential purpose of all reading generally is to get new information and or pleasure, not to go over what is known already or what
is inconsequential to the reader in the first place.
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3. Approaches and Principles in Reading Instruction