Reading Comprehension RELATED LITERATURE REVIEW

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CHAPTER 2. RELATED LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter explains the theories of the research. The theory is needed to give information and to strengthen the research. These theories are reading comprehension, reading comprehension achievement, types of reading text, cooperative learning, jigsaw technique, the strengths and the weaknesses of jigsaw, students’ participation, steps of teaching reading using Jigsaw IV technique, and action hypothesis. All theories are explained in the following parts.

2.1 Reading Comprehension

Reading can be defined as a process of gaining and interpreting information from a text. Cline et al. 2006:2 argue that reading is the process of deriving meaning from text that involves decoding written text. It means that reading is an activity of receiving and understanding information stated by a writer in a text. In addition, Carrell Eisterhold 1988 in Khand 2004 point out that reading is an interactive process that involves knowledge and various types of the language knowledge in text comprehension. In line with this idea, Alyousef 2005 states that reading can be seen as an interactive process between a reader and a text that happen automatically. It can be said that reading is an activity in which the readers connect the prior knowledge and interpret it with the text. Comprehension is the readers’ understanding of what is being read. If readers can read the words but do not understand what they are reading, they are not really reading. The National Reading Panel 2000 defines comprehension as the intentional thinking during which meaning is constructed between the reader and text. Comprehending involves strategies that students learn to use when reading independently. The strategies include discussing what they read, making connections with prior knowledge, and identifying the main ideas in the text. From that definition, it can be seen that comprehension is very crucial for students in reading a text. Without that, students are not able to construct meaning of a text. Reading comprehension means understanding the idea stated by the writer in a text. By knowing the meaning of the words in a text, readers will be able to take some information needed. Thus, it is very essential to have a skill of comprehending text. If not, readers will get nothing from a text they read. This statement is also powered by Grellet 1996:3. He says that reading comprehension is the understanding of a written text to get the needed information efficiently. He claims that reading is an active skill in which reading involves some activities, like guessing, predicting, checking, and asking oneself questions. It can be concluded that reading comprehension is an important skill that is used to gain information of a written text.

2.2 Reading Comprehension Achievement