11 Another expert claims other reading strategies. Brown 2004:188-189
suggests 10 reading strategies for reading comprehension. They are 1 identify why read a text;
2 use spelling rules and conventions for bottom-up decoding; 3 apply lexical analysis prefixes, roots, suffixes to determine meaning;
4 guess at meaning of words, idioms when there is unfamiliar words; 5 skim the text for the gist and for main ideas;
6 scan the text for specific information names, dates, key words; 7 apply silent reading techniques for rapid processing.
There are some discussions about strategies in reading that can aid the learners in the classroom. In order to understand the written message, it is
necessary for a reader to use the reading strategies. Thus, students should know and understand the reading strategies in order to be a proficient reader. However,
it belongs to the students themselves to determine and choose the effective and appropriate reading strategies for them.
2. Teaching Reading
a. Principles of Teaching Reading
Reading is one of the four skills taught in the English subject. There are a lot of subskills and strategies of reading that a student should know. These
subskills and strategies will help students understand a text. In order to help students to master this skill, a good teacher should know first the principles of
teaching reading. The principles of teaching reading can guide a teacher in the design and
practice of a reading lesson. According to Nation 2009: 6-8, there are four strands of principles of teaching reading. They are explained as follows:
12 1
Meaning-Focused Input Three points become the focus point in this strand of principle. First, the
activities in reading should be done for a range of reading purposes. These purposes consist of reading to search for information, reading to learn, reading for
fun, reading to integrate information, reading to critique text and reading to write. Next, a teacher should design a reading lesson that suits with hisher students’
language proficiency level. Finally, reading should be used as a way of developing language proficiency. When a student read, he can also develop his
reading subskills. For example, when a student read, he learns new vocabulary from the text.
2 Meaning-Focused Output
Meaning-focused output principle stressed out how reading can be related to other language skills. A teacher should design activities that involve not only
reading skills, but also listening, speaking and writing skill. It is because one skill cannot be separated from the other skills.
3 Language-Focused Learning
There are four points that is emphasized in this strand of principle. The first point is a teacher should help students to develop the skills and knowledge
needed for effective reading. The lesson should work on the subskills of reading and the language features needed to read, including phonemic awareness
activities, phonics, spelling practice, vocabulary learning using word cards, and grammar study. A teacher should also teach hisher students how to use reading
strategies. Furthermore, activities that integrate a range of strategies should also
