THE EFFECTIVENESS OF CONTEXTUAL TEACHING AND LEARNING TO TEACH READING COMPREHENSION VIEWED FROM STUDENTS’ INTELLIGENCE

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THE EFFECTIVENESS OF CONTEXTUAL TEACHING AND
LEARNING TO TEACH READING COMPREHENSION
VIEWED FROM STUDENTS’ INTELLIGENCE
(An Experimental Study in SMPN 14 Surakarta in the Academic Year of
2009/2010)

THESIS
By
Kitri Katon Peni
S 890209119

Submitted to Fulfill One of the Requirements for the Completion of the Graduate
Degree in English Education

ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
GRADUATE SCHOOL
SEBELAS MARET UNIVERSITY OF SURAKARTA

2011
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PRONOUNCEMENT
This is to certify that I myself write this thesis, entitled “THE
EFFECTIVENESS OF CONTEXTUAL TEACHING AND LEARNING TO
TEACH

READING

COMPREHENSION

VIEWED

FROM

STUDENTS’

INTELLIGENCE” (An Experimental Study in SMPN 14 Surakarta in the Academic
Year of 2009/2010). It is not a plagiarism or made by others. Anything related to
other’s work is written in quotation, the source of which is listed on the bibliography.
If then the pronouncement proves incorrect, I am ready to accept any academic

punishment, including the withdrawal or cancellation of my academic degree.

Surakarta, June 2011
Faithfully yours

Kitri Katon Peni

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ABSTRACT
KITRI KATON PENI. The Effectiveness of Contextual Teaching and Learning to
Teach Reading Comprehension Viewed from Students’ Intelligence: An
Experimental Study in SMPN 14 Surakarta in the Academic Year of 2009/2010. A
Thesis: English Education of Graduate School, Sebelas Maret University of
Surakarta, 2010.

The objectives of the research were to examine: (1) whether the contextual
teaching and learning method was more effective than grammar translation method in
teaching reading for the eighth grade students of SMPN 14 Surakarta in the academic
year of 2009/2010; (2) whether the students having high intelligence quotient had
better reading comprehension than those having low intelligence quotient for the
eighth grade students of SMPN 14 Surakarta in the academic year of 2009/2010; and
(3) whether there was an interaction between teaching methods and the students’
intelligence in teaching reading for the eighth grade students of SMPN 14 Surakarta
in the academic year of 2009/2010.
The research was carried out at SMPN 14 Surakarta, from November 2009 to
August 2010. The method used for the research was experimental study. The
population of the research was the eighth grade students of SMPN 14 Surakarta. The
sampling technique used was cluster random sampling. The sample of the research
was two classes; they were experimental class which was taught using contextual
teaching and learning method and control class which was taught using grammar
translation method. The number of sample used in the research was 36 students from
experimental class and 36 students from control class. The technique of collecting
data was documentary and test technique. The first was used to collect the data of
students’ intelligence scores. The latter was used to know the students’ ability in
reading comprehension. The reading test was in the form of multiple choices with

four options. It had been tried out first, in order to know the validity and reliability of
instrument. Meanwhile, to analyze the data, Multifactor Analysis of Variance
(ANOVA) test of 2x2 and Tukey test were used. Before conducting the ANOVA test,
normality and homogeneity test were conducted.
The result of data analysis showed that: (1) contextual teaching and learning
method was more effective than grammar translation method in teaching reading for
the eighth grade students of SMPN 14 Surakarta in the academic year of 2009/2010;
(2) the students having high intelligence had better reading comprehension than those
having low intelligence for the eighth grade students of SMPN 14 Surakarta in the
academic year of 2009/2010; and (3) there was an interaction between teaching
methods and students’ intelligence in teaching reading for the eighth grade students
of SMPN 14 Surakarta in the academic year of 2009/2010.
Seeing the result of the research, it could be concluded that contextual
teaching and learning method was an effective method to teach reading
comprehension. The research also showed that the effect of teaching methods
depended on the degree of intelligence. Therefore, the English teachers were
recommended to apply the seven components of contextual teaching and learning
method in the classroom, particularly in teaching reading comprehension.

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MOTTO

Our goal as faculty is to train minds, not merely transmit subject matter
(G. Doyle Daves)

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Thanks to Allah S.W.T., Almighty God, for the blessing, mercy, health, and
guidance in leading her thesis entitled “The Effectiveness of Contextual Teaching and
Learning to Teach Reading Comprehension Viewed from Students’ Intelligence: An
Experimental Study in SMPN 14 Surakarta in the Academic Year of 2009/2010” to
the accomplishment.
She realizes that this thesis can be finished with the help of so many people.
She would like to express her profound gratitude and appreciation to:
1.

Prof. Drs. Suranto, M. Sc., Ph.D. as the Director of Graduate School of Sebelas
Maret University who has given his permission to write this thesis.

2.

Dr. Ngadiso, M. Pd. as the Head of English Education of Sebelas Maret
University and the first consultant who has patiently and willingly given
valuable advice, guidance, and time.

3.

Dr. Abdul Asib, M. Pd. as the second consultant who has patiently and willingly
given valuable advice and guidance.

4.

Hj. Ratna Purwaningtyastuti, S. Pd., M. Pd as the Headmaster of SMPN 14
Surakarta for her generosity in giving permission to study or conduct the
research.

5.

Her beloved husband, mother, children and friends by whom the writer has been
assisted, supported, and encouraged over the months.

6.

All her students, who have taken part in her research.
The writer realizes that this thesis is still far from being perfect. Therefore,

she will accept all constructive criticism and suggestion for the progress of the next

study. May this thesis be useful to increase the quality of the educational activities.

Surakarta, June 2011
KK

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TABLE OF CONTENT

Page
TITLE ....................................................................................................................

i

APPROVAL ..........................................................................................................

ii

LEGITIMATION ................................................................................................. iii
PRONOUNCEMENT ............................................................................................ iv
ABSTRACT ...........................................................................................................

v

MOTTO ................................................................................................................. vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ..................................................................................... vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ....................................................................................... viii
LIST OF APPENDICES ........................................................................................

x

LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................. xi
LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................... xii
CHAPTER I

CHAPTER II

INTRODUCTION ......................................................................

1

A. Background of the Study ......................................................

1

B. Identification of the Problems ..............................................

5

C. Limitation of the Problems....................................................

6

D. Statement of the Problems ....................................................

7

E. Purpose of the Study .............................................................

7

F. Benefits of the Study .............................................................

8

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURES ...............................

9

A. Theoritical Description .........................................................

9

1. Reading Competence .....................................................

9

a. Definition of Reading ................................................

9

b. Types of Reading Competence ................................. 10
c. Reading Comprehension Skill ................................. 11
d. Approaches to Reading ............................................ 13
e. Strategies for Reading Comprehension ..................... 15
f. Micro Skills for Reading ........................................... 17

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g. Classroom Approaches to Reading .......................... 20
h. Factors Influencing Reading .................................... 22
2. Teaching Method ............................................................ 25
a. Grammar Translation Method .................................. 25
1) The Characteristics of GTM ................................. 25
2) The Advantages of GTM ...................................... 29
3) The Disadvantages of GTM .................................. 30
4) The Teaching Procedure of GTM. ........................ 32
b. Contextual Teaching and Learning .......................... 34
1) Contextual Teaching and Learning ...................... 34
2) The Characteristics of CTL .................................. 35
3) The Components of CTL ..................................... 36
4) The Principles of CTL ......................................... 37
5) The Teaching Procedure of CTL .......................... 40
6) The Advantages of CTL ...................................... 43
7) The Disadvantages of CTL .................................. 46
3. The Nature of Intelligence ............................................. 46
a. The Meaning of Intelligence .................................... 46
b. The Elements of Intelligence .................................... 47
c. The Requirements of Intelligence Test ..................... 52
d. The Types of Intelligence Test.................................. 53
e. The Influence of Intelligence on Reading ................ 56
B. Rationale .............................................................................. 56
C. Hypotheses ........................................................................... 60
CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY .............................................. 61
A. Place and Time of the Research ........................................... 61
B. Research Method .................................................................. 61
C. Research Design ................................................................... 62
D. Subject of the Research ........................................................ 63
E. Technique of Collecting the Data ........................................ 64
F. Technique of Analyzing the Data ........................................ 67

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CHAPTER IV THE RESULT OF THE STUDY .................................................. 71
A. The Description of the Data ................................................. 71
B. Normality and Homogeneity Test ......................................... 80
C. Hypothesis Test .................................................................... 82
D. Discussion of the Result of the Study .................................. 86
CHAPTER V CONCLUSION, IMPLICATION, AND SUGGESTION ............. 94
A. Conclusion ............................................................................. 94
B. Implication ............................................................................. 94
C. Suggestion ............................................................................. 95
BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................. 97
APPENDICES ...................................................................................................... 100

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LIST OF APPENDICES
Page
Appendix 1

Lesson Plan .............................................................................

101

Appendix 2

Blueprint of Reading Test (1) ................................................

201

Appendix 3

Instrument of Reading Test (1) ..............................................

202

Appendix 4

The Valid and Nonvalid Items of Reading Test (1) ..............

215

The Valid and Nonvalid Items of Reading Test (2) ..............

221

Appendix 5

Reliability ...............................................................................

226

Appendix 6

Blueprint of Reading Test (2) .................................................

227

Appendix 7

Instrument of Reading Test (2) ..............................................

228

Appendix 8

Scores of Reading Test ...........................................................

238

Appendix 9

Scores of Intelligence Test......................................................

243

Appendix 10

Descriptive Statistic ................................................................

247

Appendix 11

Normality Test ........................................................................

267

Appendix 12

Homogeneity Test ...................................................................

281

Appendix 13

Hypothesis Test ......................................................................

283

Appendix 14

Lilliefors Tabel .......................................................................

290

Appendix 15

Table Values of rproduct moment ...................................................

291

Appendix 16

Q Table Tuckey ......................................................................

292

Appendix 17

Table Chi-Square ....................................................................

294

Appendix 18

Table Nilai F0,05 ......................................................................

296

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LIST OF TABLES

Page
Table 1

Teaching Procedure of GTM in Teaching Reading .......................

32

Table 2

Teaching Procedure of CTL in Teaching Reading ........................

40

Table 3

Important Elements of Intelligence ................................................

47

Table 4

Sample Items Similar to Those Used in WAIS-R..........................

55

Table 5

Time Schedule for the Research ....................................................

61

Table 6

Frequency Distribution of Data A1 ................................................

72

Table 7

Frequency Distribution of Data A2 ...............................................

73

Table 8

Frequency Distribution of Data B1.................................................

74

Table 9

Frequency Distribution of Data B2 ................................................

75

Table 10 Frequency Distribution of Data A1B1 ............................................

77

Table 11 Frequency Distribution of Data A1B2 ...........................................

78

Table 12 Frequency Distribution of Data A2B1 ............................................

79

Table 13

Frequency Distribution of Data A2B2 ...........................................

80

Table 14 The Summary of Normality Test using Lilliefors ..........................

81

Table 15 The Homogeneity Test ...................................................................

81

Table 16 Multifactor Analysis of Variance ..................................................

82

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LIST OF FIGURES

Page
Figure 1

Research Design ............................................................................

62

Figure 2

Design of Multifactor Analysis of Variance ..................................

67

Figure 3

Histogram and Polygon of Data A1................................................

73

Figure 4

Histogram and Polygon of Data A2................................................

74

Figure 5

Histogram and Polygon of Data B1 ................................................

75

Figure 6

Histogram and Polygon of Data B2 ...............................................

76

Figure 7

Histogram and Polygon of Data A1B1............................................

77

Figure 8

Histogram and Polygon of Data A1B2............................................

78

Figure 9

Histogram and Polygon of Data A2B1 ...........................................

79

Figure 10 Histogram and Polygon of Data A2B2............................................

80

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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study
Based on School-Based Curriculum (Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan
Pendidikan) 2006 for junior high school, the aim of teaching English is to
develop communicative competence. Having communicative competence here
means to understand and express the information, minds and feelings in their
daily life. It is also to develop technology, science, and culture. The learners
are expected to master the ability to communicate completely. The ability is
called communicative competence. This is supported by the learners’
linguistic, actional, socio-cultural, and strategic competences in an integrated
way. The learners afterwards are able to produce the spoken and written text
realized in listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
One of the four language skills that the students have to master is
reading skill. Aebersold and Field (1997: 15) state, “Reading is what happens
when people look at a text and assign meaning to the written symbols in that
text”. Moreover, Dawson and Bamman (1997: 1) say, “Reading is truly a
basic mean of learning in all subjects” because in every subject, students’
learning activities involve reading. Through reading, students are able to
expand their view of all things, such as information, ideas, skills, values, and
ways of thinking, as it is stated by Williams (1996: 13) below:
The teachers’ reasons of having the learners read a foreign language (i.e.
English) are as follows:

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1) Learners can have further practice of language that they have already met
through listening and speaking,
2) They can practice language in order to re-use it in writing,
3) They can learn how to make sense of texts, in order to extract the
information they need from them,
4) They can find enjoyment through reading, and finally
5) The teachers can relax from time to time in the classroom.
The objective of teaching reading for junior high school students is
providing them with comprehending knowledge. It means that the ability of
reading must be followed by understanding or comprehending the text. The
competence standard and the basic competence for the eighth grade want the
students to be able to comprehend meaning. This meaning covers ideational,
interpersonal, or textual from various interactive and monolog written texts.
These texts are short functional text and genre, particularly in the form of
descriptive and recount. The comprehension of reading is measured from the
ability to identify words’ meaning, main idea, supporting details, factual
information, rhetorical steps, and purpose.
However, in reality the students of SMP 14 Surakarta still get
difficulties in comprehending the English text. It is indicated by their low
score of reading comprehension. Commonly, the students face the difficulty in
finding the main idea and supporting details, in getting meaning of word,
phrase, and sentence, in understanding text organization; and in answering the
questions dealing with the text. In addition, the students are not enthusiastic
and interested in learning reading. They find it difficult in comprehending a

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text when finding many new vocabularies and look sleepy and bored during
the lesson. The students are not actively engaged in learning activities.
Another factor influencing to the problem is the condition of the
students that come from different social situation, creativity, intelligence and
others. In the teaching and learning process, frequently, there are some
students that are able to study fast, but some cannot understand the items.
Meanwhile, the teachers get difficulty to be able to control the child one by
one whether they have understood the lesson or not. It happens because the
time available is limited, the number of the students is 35-40 children and
sometimes the students do not have the bravery to express the questions. That
is why it needs a method of teaching to make the students interact, collaborate,
assist and discuss with each other to solve the problems.
The fact that the teaching method is still dominated by traditional
system arises some serious problems. Most students could not relate what they
have learnt with the knowledge in recent and future life. It means that learning
was not meaningful for students to solve the problems occurring in their lives.
Learning had not been able to develop language knowledge, language skills,
and language competence comprehensively. It happened because the teaching
and learning process did not correlate the materials with the students’ daily
life, was not contextual, gave more abilities to memorize, but not to think
creatively, critically, and analytically.
Therefore, the researcher is interested in conducting an experimental
study by proposing a method of teaching reading comprehension, namely
contextual teaching and learning (CTL). This approach assumes that learning

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process would be actually occurring if the students could find meaningful
correlation between abstract thinking and practical application in the real
context. In such learning experience, facts, concepts, principles and
procedures as subject materials that are internalized through discovery,
reinforcement, interrelationship, and integrated processes. Contextual learning
is coordination between subject materials or content and intellectual skills that
should be possessed by the students in a situation which is suitable with the
students’ cognitive psychology and environmental needs (http://coe.ssusb.edu/
scarcella/help.pdf)
Furthermore, Johnson (2005: 25) describes contextual teaching learning
as an educational process that aims to help students see meaning in the
academic material they are studying by connecting academic subjects with the
context of their daily lives, that is, with context of their personal, social, and
cultural circumstance. To achieve their aims, the system encompasses the
following eight components: making meaningful connections, doing
significant work, self-regulated learning, and collaborating, critical and
creative thinking, nurturing the individual, reaching high standards, and using
authentic assessment.
Besides the teaching method, other factors which may influence the
effectiveness of students’ learning are external factors and internal factors.
External factors can be classified into two groups: social and non-social
factors. Social factors usually come from the students themselves and nonsocial factors can be the place, the weather, and the time when the learning
process happens. Internal factors can also be classified into two groups. They

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are physiological factors and psychological factors. The physiological factors
include the function of certain organs that students have. The psychological
factors cover students’ intelligence, motivation, and interest.
Intelligence is an important determinant of reading. Reading is a
process of thinking. Intelligence is the ability to learn and to apply what has
been learned. A measure of verbal intelligence was significantly more strongly
correlated with the rate of reading, single- word reading, vocabulary or word
knowledge, and understanding of what was read in a text (Sue, et al., 2009: 2)
Considering the characteristics of contextual teaching and learning
method and the intelligence, thus there is an expectation that this learning
method will be able to give a positive contribution towards English teaching
and learning particularly in improving students’ reading comprehension. In
order to be more convinced whether this research works well, the writer tends
to compare the result of students’ reading comprehension achievement
between the control class taught using grammar translation method (GTM)
and the experimental class taught by using CTL viewed from their
intelligence.

B. Identification of the Problems
Based on the background of the study, there are many problems that
may arise. The writer identifies some problems as follows:
1. Why do students tend to have low reading comprehension?
2. Do students need a good environment in teaching learning process?
3. Can students apply the knowledge in their daily life?

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4. Does the teacher create a real situation in a class which supports teaching
and learning process?
5. What kinds of technique can be used to improve students’ reading
comprehension?
6. To what extent is CTL effective and helpful in teaching reading
comprehension?
7. Does students’ intelligence also influence their reading comprehension?

C. Limitation of the Problems
The research has a broad scope and it is nearly impossible for the writer
to handle all of the problems. Therefore, in this research the problems are only
focused on the following aspects:
1. The teaching methods used in this research are CTL and GTM
2. Reading comprehension in this study is limited to the level of literal and
interpretative

comprehension

such

as

identifying

main

points,

understanding explicitly stated information, understanding implicitly
stated information, guessing the meaning of words from context,
understanding or finding reference, identifying the generic structure of a
text and finding the communicative purpose of a text.
3. The effectiveness in this study is based on the mean score of reading
comprehension test conducted after the teaching learning process for the
students taught using CTL (experimental group) and those taught using
GTM (control group)
4. The research is viewed from the students’ intelligence of the eighth grade
students of SMP 14 Surakarta in the academic year of 2009/2010.

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D. Statement of the Problems
In order to be operational, the problems of the study can be formulated
into the following questions:
1. Is CTL method more effective than GTM in teaching reading
comprehension for the eighth grade students of SMPN 14 Surakarta in the
academic year of 2009/2010?
2. Do

the

students

having

high

intelligence

have

better

reading

comprehension than those having low intelligence for the eighth grade
students of SMPN 14 Surakarta in the academic year of 2009/2010?
3. Is there any interaction between teaching methods and students’
intelligence in teaching reading comprehension for the eighth grade
students of SMPN 14 Surakarta in the academic year of 2009/2010?

E. Purpose of the Study
Related to the title and the problems stated above, the purposes of the
study are as follows:
1. To examine whether the CTL method is more effective than GTM method
in teaching reading comprehension for the eighth grade students of SMPN
14 Surakarta in the academic year of 2009/2010
2. To examine whether the students having high intelligence have better
reading comprehension than those having low intelligence for the eighth
grade students of SMPN 14 Surakarta in the academic year of 2009/2010
3. To find out whether there is an interaction between teaching methods and
the students’ intelligence in teaching reading comprehension for the eighth
grade students of SMPN 14 Surakarta in the academic year of 2009/2010

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F. Benefits of the Study
1. For students
a) The students hopefully are able to develop their deep understanding of
reading material thoroughly.
b) The students are more interested in studying English since the
materials given are related to students’ real life, not abstract.
c) The teaching learning process will be fun, so the students are actively
involved during teaching and learning process.
2. For teachers
a) The teachers will be able to implement the suitable teaching method to
improve students’ reading comprehension.
b) The teachers are able to determine the contextual materials which
relate to students’ real life, so what she gives to her students will be
meaningful for their life.
c) The teachers are able to explore their creativity to teach reading
comprehension for students with high and low intelligence.
3. For other researcher
a) Hopefully the coming researchers can conduct any further research in
the field by extending it to other levels and subjects.
b) The research can give additional contribution to develop instructional
model and strengthen the similar theory.

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CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURES

A. Theoretical Description
1. Reading Competence
a. Definition of Reading
William (1996: 2) defines reading as a process whereby someone looks
at and understands what has been written. Along with the definition it is said
that reading involves processing language messages, a process of receiving
and interpreting information encoded in language via the medium of print
(Urguhart, 1998: 15). According to Nunan (2003, 68) reading is a fluent
process of readers combining information from a text and their own
background knowledge to build meaning.
Moreover, Dechant and Smith (1977: 237) explain that an effective
reading should include not only a literal comprehension of an author’s word,
but also an interpretation of his mood, tone, feeling, and attitude. It means that
reading for comprehension skill is not only merely the ability to recognize
words and sentences but the intention of the writer as well. When people read
something they understand it at three levels. First, the purely literal responding
to the graphic signals only with little depth of understanding, the second level
at which the reader recognizes the author’s meaning and the third level where
the reader’s own personal experiences and judgments influence his response to
the text.

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On the other hand, there is a definition of reading stating that there are
three basic definitions of reading. The first definition states that learning to
read means learning to pronounce words. The second definition says that
learning to read means learning to identify words and get their meaning. And
the third definition explains that learning to read means learning to bring
meaning

to

a

text

in

order

to

get

meaning

from

it

(http//www.ncrel.org/sdrs/ares/issues/content/cntares/reading /li7lkl.htm)
So, it can be concluded that there are two types of reading. They are
reading aloud of written material and reading for comprehension.

b. Types of Reading Performance
Reading aloud of written material is also called oral performance but
reading for comprehension is recognized as silent performance. Reading aloud
is closer to pronunciation than to comprehension. The reader shares
information that the members of the audience want. The real life purpose of
reading aloud to others is to convey information to them, to entertain them, or
to share a good story that they do not have.
Brown (2001: 312) shows a chart of classroom reading performance as
follows:
Classroom Reading Performance
Oral

Silent

Intensive

Linguistic

Content

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Extensive

Skimming

Scanning

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Reading performance in classroom activity can be classified into oral
and silent performance. The first deals with pronunciation skill and the latter
with intensive and extensive performance. Intensive reading performance
focuses on linguistic and semantic details of a passage. Intensive reading calls
students’ attention to grammatical forms, discourse markers, and other surface
structure details for the purpose of understanding literal meaning,
implications, rhetorical relationships, and the like.
Extensive reading performance has to do with general understanding of
a text, usually longer text (book, long article, or essays, etc.).

c. Reading Comprehension Skill
Comprehension takes place when a person is reading. It needs a set of
skills that let her find the information and able to understand it. Grellet (1998:
3) states that reading comprehension means extracting the required
information from it as efficiently as possible. And according to Smith and
Robinson (1980: 54), reading comprehension is the understanding, evaluating,
and utilizing of information and idea gained through an interaction between
the reader and author.
Kennedy (1981: 192) defines reading comprehension as a thought
process through which readers become aware of an idea, understand it in terms
of their experiential background and interpret it in relation to their own needs
and purpose. Husein and Postlethwaithe (1994: 4940-4941) state that reading
comprehension is an extraction of certain meaning from text by the reader. It
is an adaptive that is a dynamic process where the reader applies different

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cognitive strategies according to both their aims and the given situational
context. This idea is supported by Yoakam (in Smith and Dechant, 1961: 213).
He says that comprehending reading matter involves the correct association of
meanings with word symbols, the evaluation of meanings which are suggested
in context, the selection of the correct meaning, the organization of ideas as
they are read, the retention of these ideas and their use in some present or
future activity.
Kustaryo (in Widiastuti, 2003: 18) states that reading comprehension
skill cannot be completely isolated because they are so interrelated that one
skill depends on some degree on another skill. In a broader sense
comprehension could be divided into three levels of skills, namely:
1) Literal Comprehension
Literal reading refers to the ideas and facts that are directly stated on
the printed page. Literal reading places much emphasis on what a writer
says. It requires ability to locate specific facts, to identify happenings that
are described directly, to find answers to questions based on given facts, to
classify or categorize information given and to summarize the details
expressed in a selection.
2) Inferential Comprehension
Inferential reading is referred as reading between the lines. It means
that if students want to get inferences, implied meaning, from the reading
material one must read between lines. Inferences are ideas a reader
receives when he goes beneath the surface to the sense relationships, put
facts and ideas together to draw conclusions and make generalizations, and

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detects the mood of the material. Making inferences requires more
thinking on one’s part because one must depend less on the author and
more on personal insight. Finding what a writer says is not always enough.
3) Critical Comprehension
Critical reading requires higher degree of skill development and
perception. Critical reading requires reading with an inquiring mind and
with active, creative looking for false statement by making judgment. It
means questioning, comparing, evaluating and appreciating.

d. Approaches to Reading
Nuttall (1996: 16-17) proposes two approaches to reading: a top-down
approach and a bottom-up approach.
1) The top-down approach
The top-down approach is the approach to reading in which one can
make predictions based on the schemata he/she has acquired – to
understand the text. This kind of processing is used when one
interprets assumptions and draws inferences. He/she makes conscious
use of it when he/she tries to see the overall purpose of the text, or get
a rough idea of the pattern of the writer’s argument, in order to make
a reasoned guess at the next step. This approach might be compared
to an eagle’s eye view of the landscape. From a great height, the eagle
can see a wide area spread out below; it understands the nature of the
whole terrain, its general pattern and the relationships between
various parts of it, far better than an observer on the ground. A reader
adopts an eagle’s eye view of the text when he considers it as a whole
and relates it to his own knowledge and experience. This enables him
to predict the writer’s purpose, the likely trend of the argument and so
on, and then use this framework to interpret difficult parts of the text.
The top-down approach gives a sense of perspective and makes use of
all that the reader brings to the text: prior knowledge, common sense,
etc, which have sometimes been undervalued in the reading class.

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In this case, the reader brings a great deal of knowledge (cultural,
syntactic, linguistic, and historical) they already possess to the text, then
check back when new/unexpected information appears.
2) The bottom-up approach
The bottom-up approach is the approach to reading in which the
reader builds up a meaning from the black marks on the page:
recognizing letters and words, working out sentence structure. One
can make conscious use of it when the initial reading leaves him
confused. Perhaps he cannot believe that the apparent message was
really what the writer intended; this can happen if his world
knowledge is inadequate, or if the writer’s point of view is very
different from his own. In that case, one must scrutinize the
vocabulary and syntax to make sure he has grasped the plain sense
correctly. Thus bottom-up processing can be used as a corrective to
‘tunnel vision’ (seeing things only from one’s own limited point of
view). One’s image of bottom-up processing might be a scientist with
a magnifying glass examining the ecology of a transect – a tiny part
of the landscape the eagle surveys. The scientist develops a detailed
understanding of that one little area (which might represent a
sentence in the text); but full understanding only comes if this is
combined with knowledge of adjacent areas and the wider terrain, so
that their effects on one another can be recognized. In other words,
bottom-up and top-down approaches are used to complement each
other.

Here, the readers construct the text from the smallest units (letters to words
to phrases to sentences, etc) and use their linguistic data to understand the
text well.
3) The interaction of top-down and bottom-up processing
Although logically one might expect that he ought to understand the
plain sense if he wants to understand anything else, in practice a
reader continually shifts from one focus to another, now adopting a
top-down approach to predict the probable meaning, then moving to
the bottom-up approach to check whether that is really what the
writer says. This has become known as interactive reading. Both
approaches can be mobilized by conscious choice, and both are
important strategies for readers.

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In order to be able to understand or interpret the text comprehensively,
both top down and bottom up approach can be used to complement each
other.

e. Strategies for Reading Comprehension
A successful reading comprehension is much determined by the effective
strategies conducted in classroom activities. Brown (1984: 291-296) shows ten
strategies for reading comprehension as follows:
1) Identifying the purpose in reading
Effective reading consists of clearly identifying the purpose in reading
something. Therefore, learners will understand what they are looking for
in the reading materials.
2) Using grapheme rules and patterns to aid in bottom-up decoding
At the beginning levels of learning English, one of the difficulties
students encounter in earning to read is making the correspondence
between spoken and written English. In many cases, learners have become
acquainted with oral language and have some difficulty learning English
spelling conventions. They may need to be given hints and explanations
about certain English orthographic rules and peculiarities.
3) Using

efficient

silent

reading

techniques

foe

relatively

rapid

comprehension
The efficiency of silent reading techniques can be increased by giving
learners some reading rules as follow:
3.1.

Minimizing to pronounce each word

3.2.

Trying to perceive visually more than one word at a time

3.3.

Trying to infer meaning through context

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4) Skimming
Skimming is one of the most important and useful reading skills. It is a
method of quickly gathering information from the printed page. It also
gives readers the advantages of being able to predict the purpose of
passage, the main topic or message, and possibly some of the developing
or supporting ideas (Brown, 1994: 293).
5) Scanning
In scanning the reader runs his eyes down the page with the purpose of
finding an answer to a specific question (Dechant and Smith, 1983: 284).
The purpose of scanning is to extract certain specific information without
reading through the whole text (Brown. 1994: 293).
6) Semantic mapping
The strategy of semantic mapping helps the readers to provide some
order to the chaos. Learners attempt to explore ideas or events relating to
certain passage.
7) Guessing
Guessing is an extremely board category. Learners can use it to their
advantage to:
7.1.

Guess the meaning of a word

7.2.

Guess a grammatical relationship

7.3.

Guess a discourse relationship

7.4.

Infer implied meaning

7.5.

Guess about a cultural reference

7.6.

Guess content messages

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Teachers can make their students become accurate guessers by
encouraging them to use effective compensation strategies in which they
fill gaps in their competence by intelligent attempts to use whatever clues
are available.
8) Vocabulary analysis
Several techniques in analyzing vocabulary are as follows:
8.1.

Looking for prefixes

8.2.

Looking for suffixes

8.3.

Looking for roots that are familiar

8.4.

Looking for grammatical context that may signal information

8.5.

Looking for the semantic context for clues

9) Distinguishing between literal and implied meanings
The fact that not all language can be interpreted appropriately by
attending to its literal, syntactic surface structure makes special demands
on readers. Implied meaning usually has to be derived from processing
pragmatic information.
10) Capitalizing on discourse markers to process relationships
There are many discourse markers in English that signal relationships
among ideas as expressed through phrases, clauses, and sentences. A clear
comprehension of such markers can greatly enhance learners’ reading
efficiency.

f. Micro Skills for Reading
Reading comprehension involves some skills that can indicate the
students’ competence in having good reading skill. Brown (2001: 307) states
that there are fourteen micro-skills for reading comprehension:

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1) Discriminating among the distinctive graphemes and orthographic patterns
of English.
2) Retaining chunks of language of different lengths in short-term memory.
3) Processing writing at efficient rate of speed to suit the purpose.
4) Recognizing a core of words, and interpret word order patterns and their
significance.
5) Recognizing grammatical word classes (noun, verb, etc), systems (e.g.
tense, agreement, pluralization), patterns, rules, and elliptical forms.
6) Recognizing that a particular meaning may be expressed in different
grammatical forms.
7) Recognizing cohesive devices in written discourse and their role in
signaling the relationship between and among clauses.
8) Recognizing the rhetorical forms of written discourse and their
significance for interpretation.
9) Recognizing the communicative functions of written texts, according to
form and purpose.
10) Inferring context that is not explicit by using background knowledge.
11) Inferring links and connections between events, ideas, supporting ideas,
etc., deducing causes and effects, and detecting such relations as main
idea, supporting idea, new information, given information, generalization,
and exemplification.
12) Distinguishing between literal and implied meanings.
13) Detecting culturally specific references and interpret them in a context of
the appropriate cultural schemata.

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14) Developing and use a battery of reading strategies such as scanning and
skimming, detecting discourse markers, guessing the meaning of words
from context, and activating schemata for interpretation of texts.
In relation to what Brown states, here are sub skills that can also be used:
1) Recognizing the script of a language.
2) Deducing the meaning of unfamiliar lexical items.
3) Understanding explicitly stated information.
4) Understanding conceptual meaning.
5) Understanding the communicative values of sentences and utterances.
6) Understanding relations within the sentence.
7) Understanding relations between sentences through grammatical and
lexical cohesive devices.
8) Interpreting text by going outside it.
9) Identifying main points in a discourse.
10) Extracting salient points to summarize.
11) Basic reference skills (contents, index, abbreviations, ordering)
12) Skimming
13) Scanning
14) Transcoding written information to tabular or diagram form and vice versa
(file://G:/reading/Approaches%20to%20Reading.htm).
From the definition given above, reading comprehension can be
summarized as the act of one’s mind to understand or to interpret written or
printed material containing information. It involves the activity of the mind to
comprehend the meaning of the text intended by the writer, to know the

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organization of the ideas and finally reuse it in writing or future activity.
Those activities include deducing the meaning of unfamiliar lexical items,
guessing the meaning of words from context, understanding explicitly stated
information, distinguishing between literal and implied meanings, detecting
culturally specific references, detecting such relations as main idea, and
recognizing the communicative functions of written texts, according to form
and purpose.

g. Classroom Approaches to Reading
William (1996: 35) says that there are some common problems that
teachers have in teaching reading. They are learners lack motivation to read;
teachers are uncertain as to how they should carry out language preparation;
teachers are unsure about selecting and devising reading – related activities.
Furthermore, he proposes three phases to teach reading: pre-reading,
while-reading, and post-reading.
1) Pre-Reading
‘Please turn to page 34. Read the passage and answer the questions.’
A teacher who starts the lesson in this way is hardly likely to
motivate the learners. What the pre-reading phase tries to do is:
1. to introduce and arouse interest in the topic
2. to motivate learners by giving a reason for reading
3. to provide some language preparation for the text
Of course not all of these aims will be relevant for all texts. In some
cases the language might already have been introduced, or there may
be no particular language problems. In any case, language preparation
does not mean that the teacher should explain every possible
unknown word and structure in the text, but that he should ensure that
the learners will be able to tackle the text tasks without being totally
frustrated by language difficulties. Furthermore, as we shall see,
language preparation can often be carried out by the learners, as well
as by the teacher.

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In order to know what knowledge, ideas or opinions might the learners
already have on the topic and how this knowledge can be drawn out and
used, the phase should be carried out in the classroom. The other ways of
pre-reading may be in visuals (eg diagrams, maps, photographs) drawing
up of lists, or answering questions (oral or written).
2) While-Reading
This phase draws on the text, rather than the learner’s ideas previous
to reading. The aims of this phase are:
1. to help understanding of the writer’s purpose
2. to help understanding of the text structure
3. to clarify text content
The traditional ‘comprehension exercise’ at the end of a text is a
typical while-reading activity. In other cases the learners may be
asked to find the answers to questions given at the beginning of the
text (pre-text questions), or to questions inserted at various points
within the text. Completing diagrams or maps, making lists, taking
notes are other types of while-reading work.

In this phase, learners are supposed to know the function of