Therefore, it can be said that reading has two main processes within, firstly, recognizing the symbols or word and then it will be processed in the
humans brain to interpret the symbols. Further, the result of the interpretation will be comprehended by people and they can get the idea,
information of textual things. Jeremy Harmer claim
ed that “Reading is an exercise dominated by the eyes and the brain. The eyes receive messages and the brain then has to
work out the significance of these messages.”
39
Moreover, Jo Ann Aebersold and Mary Lee Field said that everything which happens when people look at the text and compute the
meaning to written symbols from the text is reading.
40
Hence, from the explanation above about various definitions of reading, it can be said that a universally acceptable reading definition does
not exist. However, a simple conclusion can be given to make easier comprehend the definition of reading. Reading is a process, activities or
ability on purpose to comprehend the meaning or information whether from printed page or not.
b. Purpose of Reading
Reading is an activity with a purpose. Whatever materials that people read, definitely they have an objective in reading. People may read in
order to get further information and idea or verifying an existing knowledge, then in order to analyze a writer’s ideas or writing style. They used to read
to get pleasure or enjoyment and hobby. Further, person also read to enhance their knowledge of the language being read.
38
Edward David Allen and Rebecca M. Valette, Classroom Techniques: Foreign Languages and English as a Second Language, New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc,
1977, p. 249.
39
Jeremy Harmer, The Practice of English Language Teaching, Essex: Longman, 1991, p. 190.
40
Jo Ann Aebersold and Mary Lee Field, From Reader to Reading Teacher: Issues and Strategies for Second Language Classrooms, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003,
p.15.
According to Christine Nutall, when people read, it means that they want to get something from the writing, such as facts, ideas, enjoyment or
even feelings of the letters. Whatever ways the writer expressed the message, the readers will get and need the message.
Even though people read only for spending time, it is still a purpose or objective. In term of reading for pleasure, it is different than reading
textbooks or recipe, they read it for information. However, for term of reading for pleasure, they read to get the information that exists in the
source which they like. As Jeremy Harmer has divided the purpose of reading, he divided
the purpose into two general objectives. The first is reading for pleasure. People read because they get interesting to the material which they read,
such as, reading comics, novels or magazines. The second is reading for general language improvement. People read for they need information
contained in the text, like, textbook, newspaper, encyclopedia, etc.
41
Meanwhile based on Williams cited in Jo Mc Donough Christopher Shaw, he classified the purpose of reading into three; getting general
information from the text, getting specific information from the text and pleasure or for interest.
42
Also, Rivers and Temperly elaborated more detail about the purpose of reading as cited in Materials Method in ELT by Jo Mc Donough
Christopher Shaw, list of the following is examples of some reason that L2 students may need or want to read:
to obtain information for some purpose or because we are curious about some topic
to obtain instructions on how to perform some task for our work or daily life
41
Jeremy Harmer, op.cit., p. 182.
42
Rivers and Temperly in Jo Mc Donough Christopher Shaw, Materials Method in ELT, Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1993, p. 90.
to keep in touch with friends by correspondence or to understand business letters
to know when or where something will take place or what is available
to know what is happening or has happened as reported in newspapers, magazines or reports
to have enjoyment and excitement
43
Additionally, William Grabe Fredricka L. Stoller claimed and concluded reading aims into seven, they are for finding simple information,
skimming information quickly, learning from texts, integrating information, writing or finding information needed for writing, criticizing texts and
getting general comprehension.
44
From those statements above, it can be overgeneralized that the main or primarily aims of reading is to get information whether they read for
pleasure or not. Information is a crucial aspect that people want for fulfilling their need when they are reading, it is for getting comprehension or meaning
of the material content.
3. Reading Comprehension
Comprehension is the reason of people to read. They will find lots of texts in daily life for being comprehended. Then, in comprehending a topic
or main idea, people definitely interact with the text relating pre-questioning of the text to prior experiences of construct meaning which can be found in
the text. Hence, it is necessary for people especially students in Senior High School to master reading comprehension in order to they can understand
every texts they will be read along learning English. Edward David Allen and Rebecca M. Valette stated in their book,
“Reading is more than just assigning foreign language sounds to written
43
Jo Mc Donough Christopher Shaw, Materials Method in ELT, Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1993, p. 90.
44
William Grabe and Fredricka L. Stoller, op.cit., p. 13.
