PROFILE OF AUTISM STUDENT IN READING COMPREHENSION AT ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF IAIN SURAKARTA THESIS
PROFILE OF AUTISM STUDENT IN READING
COMPREHENSION AT ENGLISH EDUCATION
DEPARTMENT OF IAIN SURAKARTA
THESIS
By:
AMBARWATI
SRN. 143221179
ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
CULTURES AND LANGUAGES FACULTY
DEDICATION
This thesis proudly dedicated to: 1. The researcher‟s beloved parents (Bapak Ngadiman and Ibu Masiyem) who always give their loves, supports, and motivations
2. My second parents Drs. K. H. M. Ismail Thoyib, M. Pd and Ibu Nyai Nur Fauziah in Al-Istiqomah Islamic Boarding House Kartasura and also K. H.
Minanul Aziz Asy-Syathori, M. Pd and Ibu Nyai Indiana Ajeng Putri in An-Najah Gondang Islamic Boarding House 3. My Almamater IAIN Surakarta
MOTTO
Every single person has their advantages and disadvantages.
Kami tidak bisa berimajinasi
Kami tidak punya khayalan
Kami tak bisa bersosialisasi
Namun, bukan kami bodoh
Mama Papa jangan sedih
Kumampu berprestasi
Teman, jangan kecil hati
Ayo buktikan
Mungkin cara Tuhan beri kita keganjilan
Tunjukkan pada dunia tentang Maha Kuasa-Nya
(piece of song entitled “Autisme”, created by The Head of SLB Negeri Semarang, Drs. Ciptono)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Alhamdulillahirabbil‟alamin, all praises be to Allah, the single power, theLord of the universe, master of Day of Judgment, for all blessing and mercies so the researcher was able to finish this thesis entitled “Profile of Autism Student in Reading Comprehension at English Education Department of IAIN Suraka rta”. Peace be upon Prophet Muhammad SAW, the great leader and good inspiration of the world revolution.
The researcher is sure that this thesis would not be completed without the helps, supports, and suggestions from several sides. Thus, the researcher would like to express her deepest thanks to all of those who had helped, supported, and suggested her during the process of writing this thesis. This goes to:
1. Dr. H. Mudofir, S. Ag., M. Pd., as the Rector of the State Islamic Institute of Surakarta 2. Dr. H. Giyoto, M. Hum., as the Dean of Cultures and Languages Faculty of the State Islamic Institute of Surakarta
3. Dr. Imroatus Solikhah, M. Pd., as the Head of the English Education Department in Cultures and Languages Faculty and as Advisor for her guidance, preciously advice, and motivations for the researcher
4. The researcher‟s beloved parents (Bapak Ngadiman and Ibu Masiyem), 2 elder brothers (Mas Iskandar and Mas Dedy Purnomo) and their wife (Mbak
TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE ............................................................................................................. i
ADVISOR SHEET ......................................................................................... ii
RATIFICATION ........................................................................................... iii
DEDICATION ................................................................................................ iv
MOTTO .......................................................................................................... v
PRONOUNCEMENT .................................................................................... vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ............................................................................ vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................... ix
ABSTRACT .................................................................................................... xii
LIST OF FIGURE ......................................................................................... xiii
LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................... xiv
LIST OF APPENDICES ............................................................................... xv
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study ................................................................ 1 B. Limitation of the Problem ............................................................... 9 C. The Problem Formulation ................................................................ 10 D. The Objectives of the Study ............................................................ 10 E. The Benefit of the Study .................................................................. 10 F. The Definition of The Key Terms ................................................... 11 CHAPTER II: THEORITICAL REVIEW A. The Nature of Reading .................................................................... 12 1. The Kind of Reading ..................................................................... 14 2. The Model of Reading................................................................... 15 B. Reading Comprehension ................................................................. 17 1. Reading Comprehension ............................................................... 17 2. Component of Comprehension ..................................................... 19
2. Criteria of Autism ......................................................................... 26 3.
Factor of Autism ........................................................................... 30 D. Learning Style of Autism ................................................................ 33 E. WCC (Weak Central Coherence) .................................................... 34 F. Testing of Reading Comprehension ............................................... 37 G.
Biography of Subject ....................................................................... 40 H. Inclusive Education ......................................................................... 42 I. Previous Study Related to The Topic .............................................. 44
CHAPTER III: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY A. Research Design .............................................................................. 47 B. Subject of the Study ......................................................................... 49 C. Setting of the Research .................................................................... 49 D. The Research Instrument ................................................................. 49 E. Data and Source of the Data ............................................................ 50 F. Technique of Collecting Data .......................................................... 51 G. Technique of Analyzing Data .......................................................... 52 H. Trustworthiness of the Data ............................................................. 54 CHAPTER IV: RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION A. Research Findings .......................................................................... 56 1. Result of First Meeting in Testing Reading Comprehension ........ 58 2. Result of Second Meeting in Testing Reading Comprehension ... 60 3. Result of Third Meeting in Testing Reading Comprehension ...... 63 4. Result of Fourth Meeting in Testing Reading Comprehension .... 71 5. Result of Fifth Meeting in Testing Reading Comprehension ....... 79 6. Result of Sixth Meeting in Testing Reading Comprehension ....... 81 B. Discussion ........................................................................................ 83 1. Result of First Meeting in Testing Reading Comprehension ........ 84 2. Result of Second Meeting in Testing Reading Comprehension ... 88
6. Result of Sixth Meeting in Testing Reading Comprehension ..... 96
CHAPTER V CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION A. Conclusion ...................................................................................... 99 B. Suggestion ....................................................................................... 100
.......................................................................................... 102
BIBLIOGRAPHY
APPENDICES ................................................................................................ 104
ABSTRACT
Ambarwati. 2014. Profile of Autism Student in Reading Comprehension at English
Thesis, Surakarta: English Education Education Department of IAIN Surakarta. Department, Cultures and Languages Faculty.
Advisor : Dr. Imroatus Solikhah, M. Pd Key words : Autism, Reading Comprehension, Testing Reading Comprehension This research aims at giving a description about the Reading Comprehension of
Autism Student. The subject of this research is Yn, the student of IAIN Surakarta in English
Education Department with Autism IAIN Surakarta. This campus is one of Inclusive
education, because it is indirectly has some students with disability. One of them is Yn,
student with Autism.The researcher used the descriptive qualitative research. The research was
conducted from September until November 2018 in English Education Department program
of IAIN Surakarta. The researcher collected the data from testing, observation,
documentation, and interview. This research did six meetings in testing and also did
observation while Yn was doing the testing. The researcher did interview with mother of
Yn and her therapist. In this research, the researcher was as participant observation (the
researcher interacts with the participant and becomes one of them to observe and record
behavior). The researcher did three steps to analyze the data such as; reduction the data,
display the data and verification or drawing conclusion, the researcher used theory by Miles
and Huberman (2002). To prove the trustworthiness of the data, it used the triangulation
especially methodological triangulation that developed by Moleong (2002).The research results reveal that Yn profile in Reading Comprehension is (1) level of
Reading Comprehension: Yn is ranking in Advance level, shown from the average in tests
(first-sixth) are 84, and also more effectively doing testing Reading Comprehension in
morning time (with the average score is 95) than afternoon (with the average score is 73),
(2) behavior of Yn during the test are: Yn has less eye-contact with the peer of speech,
doing repetitive behavior such as; (mengepak-ngepakkan (move hands up-down or right
left) and jinjit-jinjit (standing or running with tip of toe only in footstep)). Besides, she
tends talk-active, high memory, and perfectionist. She is also visual learner, proves with she
more pay attention in written form than spoken. From the results, the researcher suggests:
(1) for the lecturer: they should aware in teaching student with Autism because she has
special behaviour. The use of written form instruction is better than spoken form for student
with Autism. In learning time student with Autism has better concentration in the morning
than afternoon. (2) for Autism parent: they should follow more seminar about Autism and
also the should give guidance in learning at home, (3) for classmate of Autism: if they want
to get Autism attention, the can do slap their hand.LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1 The Divison of Reading ....................................................................15 Figure 2 The Comprehension Process ..............................................................22 Figure 3 Interactive model of analysis by Miles and Hubberman ....................54
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1 Data on the Model “T” Ford ................................................................39
Table 2 Assessing Rubric ................................................................................39 Table 3 Result of Testing Reading Comprehension .........................................57
LIST OF APPENDICES
Appendix 1 Field Note ......................................................................................106 Appendix 2
Students‟ Worksheet Appendix 3 Photo Documentation
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION This chapter presents about introduction of the research. It consists of five
sections involving: (1) background of the study, (2) limitation of the problem, (3) problem formulation, (4) the objectives of the study, (5) the benefits of the study.
A. Background of The Study
Education is a right by each people. It means education is done in the same, not underestimate each people from religion, race, ethnic, physical or nation. From this physical case, not all people capable acquire education rightfully. (Nastiti in her thesis, 2015: 1). This cases which concerned with difable student. According to UNICEF executive summary concerning the condition of children in the World 2013, difable students susceptible towards discrimin ation in society and also didn‟t obtain education service rightly, so that they got underestimate than the other students. In other way, Stubbs in Nastiti said that there are some international documents which discusses about all circles included difable students, but not all discusses its implication straightaway, that is, the realization of inclusive education for difable student. One of the international documents is Education For All or EFA. According to Peraturan
Menteri Number 5 a and b, Year 2011 about the equality of Children Education
in Indonesia. It mentions that; a) every single children have gotten education and teaching of individual development and intelligent degree appropriate with talent about Sistem Pendidikan Nasional obligates Government and Region Government for giving easy and serve, and also certify in doing quality education for every societies without discrimination.
From regulations above, our country has facility to give education for all society, such as disabilities children. It comes from Elementary School till Senior High School, but not for university degree. It makes as discrimination as for getting education in all degree, why government not makes l ike “SLB (Sekolah
Luar Biasa)” in university degree? They did not get the right like the others just
because they have weakness whereas they have strength in each individual.Finally, the disability student enters university, the rightly they should get education according their portion. These are same with some university which receives the disabilities student not intentionally. Because the selection in university doesnot yet use face to face interview, but just using written test. It effects the university as inclusive class which the college students are normally and disabilities students. According to the researcher, the university as UIN Sunan Kalijaga Jogjakarta, UIN Walisongo Semarang, and IAIN Kudus has disabilities student. It is also IAIN Surakarta receives disabilities besides normal students, it is proven by there is a program especially for disability students, it is
PSLD (Pusat Studi dan Layanan Disabilitas) . This program actually, does not
yet realize but it is prepared to be realized by Mr. HS as the chairman of PSLD.According to Government regulation of Republic Indonesia no. 70 in 2009 about Inclusive School, cited in Bashirs‟ thesis:
(1) Any student who has a physical, emotional, mental, and social or have the intelligence and/ or special talents eligible for inclusive education in educational unit. According to the particular needs and abilities, (2) students who have disorder as define in paragraph, (1) shall consist of; (a) blind, (b) hearing impairment, (c) mental retardation, (d) quadriplegic, (e) learning disabilities, (f) autism, and (g) motor disorder.
Those government regulations explain that inclusive education means every single child has opportunities to learn at school in his/her neighborhood.
Inclusive education concentrates in implementing best practices for children with special needs within regular classroom. By using inclusive classrooms, all students have occasion to interact with and learn from their peers. Moreover, it can be said that inclusive education is an educational service admitting disable, gifted, talented student, and autistic student into curriculum. Inclusive environments can provide opportunities for children with autism to increase their social interaction and improve their social skills. Inclusive education give chance for Autistic student to interact with peers and gives students with Autism a chance to practice communication skills, develop friendships, and see how peers behave in day to day situations. In IAIN Surakarta, in real condition there are some disable students who include in the campus, such as blind and autism. The campus to handle the problem faces, rector makes a unit for handling the disable students above, the name is PSLD (Program Studi dan Layanan Disabilitas).
The researcher found a student with Autism in IAIN Surakarta and has good ability in reading. Reading is language ability. The raw material of reading sounds, words, sentences, communicative intentions in much the same as that of language in general. Thus, over the years, reading has been described as to read have some parallels. People who currently use the term “whole language” acknowledge that reading is language ability and should be taught in close and meaningful connection with the whole spectrum of language abilities including talking, listening, writing, and thinking. (Gillet and Temple, 1994: 3). In addition, reading is one of the most important in language skill beside listening, writing, and speaking. Because with reading someone can open the world, its better reading books, book is window of the world. The complex process of learning to read is a fundamental task in children‟s development; a life skill:
“The ability to read is essential for successful functioning society and therefor is one of the most “survival” to teach our children. In virtually, all instances the goal of reading is to identify the meaning or the message of the text at hand. Doing so involves the execution and integration of the processes”.
(Van den Broek, Kendeou, Kremer, LYnch, Butler & White cited in Paris & Stahl, 2005 p 107), cited in Robbertss‟ Thesis.
The nature of reading has many sides of activities as being stated by Bamman in Arifin (2014: 12). It shows that reading can be described as mode of thinking. As thinking, reading requires that the reader follows the line of thought, which the writer has expressed. The process of reading therefore must (1) recall pertinent previous experiences and already learned facts that will help him understand the printed material; (2) follow the writer‟s development and, organization of ideas; (3) evaluate the accuracy and appropriateness of information and conclusion; (4) see how the printed data can apply a problem the reader may be trying to solve; (5) select the fact that is important to his purposes, and so on. Unless the reader understands the writer‟s message and thinks along with him, there is actually little or no reading. Mere word calling is not reading.
Thus, reading can be seen as the processing of information. The reader brings to texts his own store of general information derived from his native culture, education, personal experience, and normally some specific knowledge of the topic of the written text. At the same time, the reader also possesses a linguistic competence including knowledge of words (lexis), of how these, words are developed according to the linguistic system in order to form sentence (syntax), and of rhetorical patterns and linguistic convention which characteristics different types of text (Haarman et. Al., 1988: vii cited in Arifin (2014: 12)).
Darland (1996) in Sastra (2011: 134) stated that Autism is from Greece language auto, means own self. The condition of autism is held by the thought or behavior leaning to own self and subjective. Beside, autism has communication disorder and behavior seriously. Furthermore, Bashir in his thesis, autism is a developmental disability that affects the normal functioning of the brain. Autism presents from birth and has an effect on how an individual learns. It is usually diagnosed by three years of age and continuous through adulthood. Individuals with autism often have difficulty with communication skills, social skills, and reasoning. From statements of scientist above, we can conclude that autism is a child disorder, usually appear since three years old which the autism children has complex disorder in communication, interest with their own world so they usually individualistic.
Based on the pre-research interview with the lecturer and therapist, the in English Education Department. The result of the interview (1) with the lecturer, Miss MW (Academic Readings‟ lecturer in third semester of the object)
th
in July 25 , 2017 said that the autism student always active when teaching and learning process in the classroom, especially in her class. She said that this autism student when there was a student reading a text, she will make more intention with her friends‟ reading. Therefore, she feels there is something that she knows about the text, she cut the readings‟ friend, she asked something that she didn‟t know or she shared something which has correlation about the text.
Moreover, when she is asked to reading a text in the classroom, she is actively to make something that having correlation with the text, and also she made the structure of the text with grammar session. The teaching and learning classroom is same like have two block students, the normal student and the disable student, cause miss MW must make more intention with the autism student when she is asking something related with the text (outside the material), if Miss MW didn‟t respond her, she would be angry and also make chaos the class, so Miss MW must respond first than carry on the next materials with the all students in the class. (2) With the therapist, Miss DW, she have said that YN is Autism with high level (Asperger) has strong memory to memories what they see, what they read, because their IQ are so high. In step with the object of this study, the researcher will study how the reading comprehension of an autism English Education Department student in IAIN Surakarta.
In other research related to the topic above are from the thesis of
Bridging theory, Research and Practice”. This research is divided into two
sessions; first the researcher researched 24 children ASC (Autism Spectrum Condition) of their reading, cognitive, and receptive language ability. The findings are the heterogeneity of reading and cognitive profiles and receptive language abilty of them. To make easier in learning process, the researcher gave intervention in each level. Study Two involved the development of a reading comprehension intervention involving three children from Study One, in their first term of secondary education. Findings are discussed with reference to the theories of autism and implications for parents, teachers and Educational Psychologists supporting the learning of children with ASC‟s.
For second research in the same topic is from Melissa L. Ball-Erickson with the title “Effective Reading Comprehension Strategies For Students With
Autism Spectrum Disorders In The Elementary General Education Classroom ”.
This study focuss on the research centered on effective reading comprehension strategies for students with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) in the elementary general education classroom. The result and conclusion of this study indicated all of the discussed strategies proved to be effective to the various small groupings of participants. Recommendations for improving effectiveness of reading comprehension strategies for students with ASD in the elementary general education classroom include the concept that no single isolated reading diagnosis can be given to all children with ASD.
For next same research is about “Reading Comprehension Interventions El Zein et. al. The researcher investigated the reading intervention studies conducted between 1980 and 2012 with K-12 students identified with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Nine single-subject design studies, one quasi- experimental study, and two single-group design studies met the criteria for inclusion. Findings from the studies indicate that modifying instructional interventions associated with improved comprehension for students with reading difficulties may improve reading comprehension in students with ASD.
Four studies implemented strategy instruction that included (a) question generation; (b) graphic organizers; and (c) making predictions. Two studies utilized anaphoric cueing instruction, three implemented explicit instruction, and three examined student grouping practices. Among the reviewed studies, the majority (n = 9) measured reading comprehension through researcher-developed probes, and two studies reported results from standardized measures.
The last is from ThereseAnne Carberry “Teaching Reading
Comprehension to Students with High Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder: A
Review of the Literature”. The researcher reviewed the literature surrounding effective reading comprehension strategies for teaching students with High Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders. Theories were also examined surrounding Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and the cognitive processes that researchers have determined potentially affect students with this disorder and their learning. Individuals with autism need effective strategies for reading comprehension to be consistently implemented in the curriculum in order to approaches that have proven to be beneficial in studies for students with ASD. Educators should examine, consider, and even combine strategies based individually on student need, and how successful students could be using the approach to improve their reading comprehension skills.
From some statements above, the researcher will investigate how the autism student of English Education Department, because Miss DW said that she has high IQ, Asperger Autism, which if someone has high IQ, so they will have high capable to memories something. In line with the reading lecturers‟ statement, Miss MW said that she has high ability in memories something, especially in reading, which she got high score though she has autism diagnosed, but she has capability to take on the education especially in scholarship. She has detail focus, in line with Ericksons‟ statement cited in Carberry said that ASD are often detached and very detailed- focused” (2014: 22). Although, she has weakness, as Autism, explained some experts above she cannot be society with around kindly.
Based on the description above, the researcher conducted the research focused on PROFILE OF AUTISM STUDENT
IN READING COMPREHENSION AT ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT STUDENT OF IAIN SURAKARTA.
B. Limitation of the Problem
Based on the discussion in the background of the study, this research needed the limitation problem area in order to have distinctive focus. On the occasion of this research, the researcher limited the scope of how the reading comprehension skill of Autism English Education Department student at IAIN Surakarta.
C. The Problem Formulation
Based on the background of the study and limitation of the problem, the research problem is how the profile of Autism student in Reading Comprehension at English Education Department of IAIN Surakarta, especially in level of Reading Comprehension and behavior during reading test?
D. The Objective of The Study
Based on the problem formulation above, the objective of the study is to describe the profile of Autism student in Reading Comprehension at English Education Department of IAIN Surakarta, especially in level of Reading Comprehension and behavior during reading test.
E. The Benefits of The Study
In this study, the researcher expects that this research paper has benefits. In theoretical benefit, this research is hoped, can give knowledge contribution for longitudinal studying. In this research, the researcher gives more descriptions about the reading comprehension of student who diagnosed as autism deeply. In practically benefit, this research is hoped can be useful for non-scientist reader as the addition knowledge literature concerning how the reading comprehension of autism student. This research can also give benefit for the researcher so that she gets new experience in communicating with autism.
F. Definition of Key Terms 1.
Reading Comprehension Comprehension is a multifaceted process affected by a variety of factors.
The reading process is a dynamic one, requiring active, meaningful communication between the author and the reader. Reading without meaning is an unsatisfying and inconsequential exercise. The goals of reading program should be aimed toward furthering children‟s comprehension abilities (Heilman et. al.: 1981: 236).
2. Autism
Darland (1996) in Sastra (2011: 134) stated that Autism is from Greece language auto, means own self. The condition of autism is held by the thought or behavior leaning to own self and subjective. Beside, autism has communication disorder and behavior seriously.
CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW A. The Nature of Reading Reading is language skill. The raw material of reading sounds, word,
sentences, communicative intensions is much the same as that of language in general. Thus over the years, reading has been described as psycholinguistic guessing game”. The processes of learning to talk and learning to read have some parallels. People who currently use the term “whole language” acknowledge that reading is language ability and should be taught in close and meaningful connection with the whole spectrum of language abilities including talking, listening, writing, and thinking. (Gellet and Temple in Arifin, 2014: 11)
Harmer (2005: 6) stated that reading is useful for other purposes too: any exposure to English (provided students understand it more or less) is a good thing for language students. In addition, Heilman et. al. (1981: 2) said, reading is one of the basic communicative skills, but it is a very complex process. It is difficult to arrive at a precise definition of the reading process.
Related to the description above, Bamman in Arifin (2014: 12) suggested that the nature of reading has many sides of activities. It shows that reading can be described as a mode of thinking. As thinking, reading requires that the reader follows the line of thought, which the writer has previous experiences and already learned facts that will help him understand the printed material; (2) follow the writer‟s development and, organization of ideas; (3) evaluate the accuracy and appropriateness of information and conclusion; (4) see how the printed data can apply a problem the reader may be trying to solve; (5) select the fact that is important to his purposes, and so on. Unless the reader und erstands the writer‟s message and thinks along with him, there is actually little or no reading. Mere word calling is not reading.
From some statements from experts above, the researcher concludes that reading is a basic communication skill which very complex process and also it is as a mode of thinking. Reading should be taught in whole language abilities such as; speaking, listening, writing, and thinking. For this, the subject YN has this basic skill and very complex, though she is diagnosed as autism but she gets this skill good enough from education levels before with the effective method in teach her.
Edmund Huey, a pioneer in research on reading, wrote in early 1900s in Heilman et. al. (1981: 4):
And so to completely analyze what we do when we read would almost be the acme of a psycholinguist‟s achievements, for it would be to describe very many of the most intricate workings of the human mind, as well as to unravel the tangled story of the most remarkable specific performance that civilization has learned in all its history.
Heilman et. al. (1981: 4) stated that reading is currently available to help plan for reading instruction, there are some aspects of reading: a.
Reading is interacting with language that has been coded into print. b.
The product of interacting with the printed language should be comprehension c.
Reading ability is closely related to oral language ability.
d.
Reading is an active and ongoing process that is affected directly by an individual‟s interaction with his environment.
1. The Kind of Reading
Broughton et. al. in Arifin (2014: 13) suggests that the word „reading‟ has a number of interpretations. It means reading aloud a very complex skill, which involves understanding the black marks first, and then the production of the right noises. It must be recognized that reading aloud is primarily an oral material and for those who teach a foreign language, it is closer to pronunciation than it is to comprehension.
According to Sonka in Arifin (2014: 14-15), intensive and extensive reading has two major components: efficiency and comprehension, both of which need readers‟ good understanding of the organization of text. The efficiency to reading speed that is, the readers management to understand more material in less time. Comprehension can be divided into general reading skills and skills for reading particular kinds of materials.
The division of Reading thus can be described as follows: Figure 1 The Divison of Reading
The efficiency requires the reader to be able to recognize and use the organization provides the reader with a rough mental outline, which he then completes by reading. It gives him a basis for anticipating what follows, and thus establish the appropriate mental set for understanding an assimilation of new material (Sonka, 1979 in Arifin, 2014: 15). Then, Dwyer in Arifin (2014: 15) said that the efficiency also can be supported by reading by phrases rather than by words. This can be achieved successfully only by having well developed knowledge of grammar, especially, its SYntactic components by which he can guess or predict unfamiliar words.
2. The Model of Reading
The analysis toward reading comprehension process cannot be separated from the implementation of two models of reading, namely bottom-up and top-down. With the bottom up model, reading is viewed as a process of decoding written symbols, working from smaller units (individual letters) to larger ones (word, clauses, and sentences). In other word, readers use strategies to decode written forms in order to arrive at meaning. The bottom up model of reading has come in some rather severe criticism over the years. Smith (1978), as being rioted by Nunan (1995: 33), in fact, argues that reading actually works in the reverse order from that proposed by the bottom up model. In other words the readers need to comprehend meaning in order to identify words and that they generally need to identify words in order to identify letters. This model is called top-down model of reading.
The other research indicates that both bottom-up and top-down strategies may be used in learning to read and that efficient reading may require the integration of both bottom-up and top-down strategies (Stanovic, 1980 in Nunan, 1989: 33). Dubin Bycina (1991) calls this model as „interactive‟ model of reading. It stresses the interplay of all meaning gathering activities, which take place during reading. Interactive theory acknowledges the role of previous knowledge and prediction but, at the same time, reaffirms the importance of rapid and accurate processing of the actual words of the text. According to the interactive model, the reading process works like this. First, clues to meaning are taken up from the page by the eye and transmitted to the brain. The brain then tries to match existing knowledge to the incoming data in order to previous experience, prediction is made about the content of the text, which, upon further sample of the data, is either confirmed or revised (Dubin and Bycina, 1991: 197).
Finally, there are three models of reading: bottom-up, top-down, and interactive, each of which has its own effectiveness according to whom the models are implemented. The implementation of those three models are based the need of the readers.
B. Reading Comprehension 1.
Reading Comprehension Comprehension is a multifaceted process affected by a variety of factors. The reading process is a dynamic one, requiring active, meaningful communication between the author and the reader. Reading without meaning is an unsatisfying and inconsequential exercise. The goals of reading program should be aimed toward furthering children‟s comprehension abilities (Heilman et. al.: 1981: 236). The comprehension process is the realization that it is an internal, mental process that cannot be observed or studied directly. The tremendous expert who has influence on American education, Thorndike defined reading as thinking. He stated in Heilman et. al. (1981: 238):
The reading of a paragraph involves the same sort of organization and analysis as dose thinking. It includes learning, reflection, judgment, analysis, sYnthesis, problem-solving behavior, selection, inference, organization, comparison of data, determination of relationships, and critical evaluation of what is read. It also includes attention, association, abstraction, generalization, Although direct observation of the comprehension process cannot be made, numerous research studies, theories, and models have been advanced to provide probable explanations relating to its components and development. Most of these hypothesized explanations view reading comprehension as composed of a multiple number of skills and abilities that are interrelated and interdependent.
The researcher can conclude that reading comprehension is a realization in internal of human, which as a mental process for analyzing as does thinking includes; attention, association, abstraction, generalization, concentration, and deduction.
Goodman in Heilman et. al. stated a crucial factor affecting comprehension is the importance of the reader‟s background of experience. One important area of a child‟s background of experiences is that related to language development and growth. The following factors are among those that affect the comprehension of written material: a.
Oral language development related to real objects, experiences, and pictures.
b.
Ability to listen with understanding to stories read aloud c. Firsthand experiences with people, objects, and places d.
Continuous development of a child‟s listening and speaking vocabularies e.
Oral language development of sYntactic and semantic features of our language.
2. Components of Comprehension
A study by Davis cited in Heilman (1981: 241) is generally regarded as the significant attempt to delineate separate comprehension skills. His analysis showed the following five comprehension skills: a.
Recalling word meanings (vocabulary knowledge) b.
Drawing inferences from content c. Following the structure of a passage d.
Recognizing a writer‟s purpose, attitude, tone, mood e. Finding answers to questions answered explicitly or in paraphrase.
In addition, Heilman et. al. (1981: 243) mentioned the summary of five Barret‟s Taxonomy of Cognitive and Affective Dimentions of Reading Comprehension: a.
Literal comprehension This dimension focuses on ideas and information explicitly stated in the selection. Purpose for reading may range from simple to complex, encouraging recognition and recall of simple or detailed facts.
b.
Reorganization It requires the student to analyze, sYnthesize and/or organize ideas and information explicitly stated in the selection. He may utilize verbatim the author‟s statements or paraphrase or translate the author‟s statements. Reorganization tasks are: Classifying, Outlining, Summarizing, and SYnthesizing.
c.
Inferential comprehension It is stimulated by purposes for reading and teacher‟s questions which demand thinking and imagination that goes beyond the printed page.
Here the pupil uses the ideas and information explicitly stated, his intuition, and personal experiences as a basis for conjecturing and hypothesizing.
d.
Evaluation Evaluation deals with judgment and focuses on qualities of accuracy, acceptability, worth, or probability of occurrence. There are five judgments as follow: 1)
Judgment of Reality or Fantasy. Could this reality happen? This judgment is based on experience.
2) Judgments of Fact or Opinion. Does the author provide adequate support for his conclusion? Is he attempting to sway your opinion?
This required analyzation and evaluation of the reader‟s knowledge as well as the author‟s and the intent of the author.
3) Judgments of Adequacy and Validity. Is the information in keeping with your knowledge of the subject? This requires comparing sources of information with agreement and disagreement or completeness and incompleteness.
4) Judgments of Appropriateness. What part of the story best describes the main character? This requires judging relative adequacy of different parts of the selection to answer the question.
5) Judgments of Worth, Desirability and Acceptability. Was the character right or wrong in what he did? Was his behavior good or bad? How would you have handled the situation? Such questions call for judgments or moral codes and value systems.
e.
Appreciation Appreciation involves all the previously cited cognitive dimensions, for it deals with the psychological and aesthetic impact of the selection. Appreciation includes the knowledge of and emotional response to literary techniques, forms, styles, and structures.
3. Comprehension Processes
As cited in Heilman et. al. (1981: 242-246) there is table of comprehension process as follow:
Figure 2 The Comprehension Process Reading comprehension is a process of making sense of written ideas through meaningful interpretation and interaction with language.
Reading comprehension is best viewed as a multifaceted process affected by several thinking and language abilities.