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level, readers are facilitated to criticize, identify and consider the authors ’
viewpoints, attitudes, the authority of texts and their messages, and infer motives of characters and themes Carnine, Silbert, Kameenui, 1997.
Based on the characteristics of each reading comprehension level above, it can be inferred that high school students are best to deal with
interpretive and applied reading. These levels require proficient background knowledge and ability to think critically so later the implicit meaning from the
text can be obtained. Hence, it has to be ensured that high school students are facilitated to read texts which require higher thinking ability.
c. Purposes of Reading Comprehension
Snow 2002 believes that the purpose of reading could affect students’ comprehension. Therefore, students need to know the purpose of reading so
they will know what they are looking for. By doing so, the reading activity will not be meaningless. However, the reading activities are adjusted to the
type and the social function of the text in order to facilitate students in understanding the whole text.
According to Tarigan 1979, the purpose of reading is closely related to meanings. There are some goals in reading depending on its necessity. In
reading comprehension, readers are doing reading for “details or facts, reading
for inference, reading to compare or contrast, reading to evaluate ” Tarigan,
1979, pp. 9-10. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
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Tarigan 1979 describes reading for details or facts as finding out what the character is, what he has done, what happen to him, or what issue is taking
place in the text. The next is reading for inferences which requires readers’
ability to understand information and figure out what the author is trying to convey. The inferences are then done by interpreting and drawing conclusion.
Reading also intends to compare or contrast two or more concepts. The concepts might be available in the text but it is also possible that the
comparison is between the information in the text and readers’ background knowledge. Besides, reading can be done for evaluation. Readers here
evaluate what has been written and connect it to readers’ current situation. Readers might also evaluate the position or attitude of the authors.
d. Process of Reading Comprehension
The ability to comprehend the text successfully is strongly related to the way it is done. It is best to do it step by step particularly if it is done in the
classroom. It is not only merely giving the text and asking students to read without any further involvement from the teacher. In order to accomplish the
goals mentioned in the previous section, it is highly recommended that teachers divide the reading activity into several interrelated steps. They are
pre-reading, while reading, and post-reading William, 1984. 1
Pre-reading Activities Pre-reading activities are supposed to make students aware of the
reasons why they have to read the text. After informing why they should read, PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
