*

*

*READING COMPREHENSION SKILLS

H. Suparman, S.Pd., M.A., Ph.D. Magister Pendidikan Bhs. Inggris Program Pascasarjana Universitas Prof. Dr. Hamka Jl. Limau II, Kebayoran Baru Jakarta Universitas LampungEmail: suparman@unila.ac.idujang.suparman2010@gmail.com

*

*Reading is a construct process of guessing, (Grellet, 1981: 7); Reading is an active process of deriving meaning (Goodman, 1976, Smith, 1978) and what one brings to the text is often more important than what one finds in it, (see The Kingdon of Kay Oss).

*

*Consequently, from the very beginning, the students should be taught to use what they know to understand unknown elements, whether these are ideas or simple words. This is best achieved through a global approach (Grellet, 1981: 7) to the text.

*

*Global Approach to Comprehension

*

*Why Reading?There are two major reasons for reading:

Reading for pleasureReading for information (in order to find out something or in order to do something with the information you get)

*

*What to read?There are many text types which one usually finds in his or her daily life. Here are the main types of them:

Novels, short stories, tales, other literary texts (diaries, biographies, essays, annecdotes)PlaysPoems, limericks, nursery rhymes

*

*

Letters, postcards, telegrams, notesNewspapers and magazines (headlines, articles, editorials, letters to the editor, stop press, classified ads, weather forecast, radio/tv, theatre programs)Specialized articles, reports, reviews, essays, business letters, summaries, prcis, accounts, pamphlets (political and other)What to read?

*

*Handbooks, textbooks, guidebooksRecipesAdvertisements, travel brochures, cataloguesPuzzles, problems, rules for gamesInstructions, directions, notices, rules and regulations, posters, signs, forms, (e.g. application forms), graffiti, menus, price lists, tickets

What to read?

*

*Statistics, diagrams, flow/pie charts, time tables, maps, picturesTelephone directories, dictionaries, phrasebooksComic strips, cartoons and caricatures, legends (of maps, pictures).What to read?

*

*How to read?... To understand the message, what do we use?

Is it the letters that give us the meaning?Is it the sounds of the letters?Is it the whole word?Is it the knowledge we bring to the text?

*

*Now lets examine the processes involved in reading. Glancing (ideally for 1/10 second) at a line of randomly seleced letters:

c l x r h e k y v b a d u w g p i m z f i n e g s

Four or five of the twenty-five letters are usually recalled.

How to read?...

*

*However, if we glance in the same way at a line of 25 letters presented in a more familiar form,

eight again sneeze horse quiz

probably 2 or 3 words, the equivalence of 10-15 letters, are recalled. Why are we able to recall more letters this time?

How to read?...

*

*This time the letters were presented in the form of familiar words. We can read these single meaningful units more efficiently because a lot of information can be added to the visual symbols on the page.Through our knowledge of language and of commonly used letters and letter combinations we are able to guess or predict what letters are more or less likely to occur.

How to read? ...

*

*Finally, if we glance at a selection of 25 letters which are arranged in a meaningful sequence,

School begins at eight oclock

We are probably able to recall the whole sentence. Why are we able to do so?

How to read? ...

*

*This time the whole sentence is a single meaningful unit so recognition of a few words allow us to bring a great deal more information to the print and to predict what successive words might be. For example, we know how words go together in English (begins is usually followed by a time phrase) and we know when schools usually begins in Indonesia. Therefore, we are able to recall the whole sentence.

How to read? ...

*

*The experiment above shows, what enables us to read, what gives the meaning,

How to read? ...is not only the visual information what lies on the page (Hood et al, 1985:5)but also non-visual information our knowledge of the world and language (Hood et al, 1985:5) that we bring to the text.

*

*we also read different things in different waysGrellet (1981:4) divides the main ways of reading into four activities:

Skimming: quickly running ones eyes over a text to get the gists of it.Scanning: quickly going through a text to find a particular piece of information.Extensive reading: reading longer texts, usually for ones own pleasure. This is a fluency activity, mainly involving global understanding.Intensive reading: reading shorter texts, to extract specific information. This is more an accuracy activity involving reading for detail.

*

*Various Purposes of ReadingIn our real life, including at a university, our reading purposes vary. Therefore, when preparing for exercises, we should vary the questions and activities according to the type of text studied and the purpose in reading it.

*

*Reading skills Recognizing the script of a languageDeducing the meaning and use of unfamiliar lexical itemsUnderstanding explicitly stated informationUnderstanding information when not explicitly statedUnderstanding conceptual meaning

*

*Reading skills... Understandingthe communicative value (function) of sentences and utterancesUnderstanding relations within the sentenceUnderstanding relations between the parts of a text through lexical cohesion devicesUnderstanding relations between the parts of a text through grammatical cohesion devicesInterpreting text by going outside it

*

*Recognizing indicators in discourseIdentifying the main point or important information in a piece of discourseDistinguishing the main idea from supporting detailsExtracting important points to summarize (the text, an idea etc.)Reading skills...

*

*Selective extraction of relevant points from a textBasic reference skillsSkimmingScanning to locate specifically required informationTranscoding information to diagrammatic display. Reading skills...

*

*

How to teach reading comprehension? To teach reading comprehension, we should focus on helping the students be able to make sense of the ideas conveyed in a text. To achieve this objective, we should arrange the activities before a reading class begins as follows:

*

*1. Preliminary activities:This involves sharing knowledge and experience by the students in preparation for a particular reading task. It might occur before the students see the text, or it might be prompted by parts of the text such as pictures, headlines or photos.

*

*2. BrainstormingBrainstorming is when we provide a cue, associated with a text, and elicit from students any words or phrases that come to mind. The cues may be key words or phrases, headlines, general topics, pictorial or other contextual clues. Some students may need further prompts such as Where? When? Who? and What?

*

*Brainstorming activities aim:to make use of students own experience and knowledgeto introduce some of the vocabulary from the text in a meaningful wayto encourage the students to build up associations of words and ideasto encourage the students to think about the context of the text, to build up their expectations of meaning and to provide motivation to read.

*

*3. Headlines and Titles, Pictorial and Contextual CluesThese parts of a text can help prepare students for what they are going to read by providing important clues to meaning. They allow the students to use their experience to work out the possible content and to formulate questions to be answered by reading.

*

*For example:

Give students the headline of the news article. Discuss the headline and the story that is likely to follow.Ask questions such as What happen? Where did it happen? And write up responses on the board. (e.g. Blue Mountains/bus fell off mountain.)BUS CRASH

*

*Then using an accompanying photo and the extra clues provided, elicit more details, (e.g. bus went off near Kebon Jeruk flyover, tow truck arrived soon after the accident, ambulance arrived and took the injured to the nearest hospital.)Ask a few more questions to help students predict the content of the news/article.

*

*Example of Questions:Why did the bus crash?Did a tire blow out?Did the brakes fail?Were the roads slippery?Do you think many people were injured seriously?What sight greeted the rescuers?

*

*4. Skeleton TextsThese provide just the bones or framework of a text but none of the substance. The aim of such preparatory activities is to encourage students to draw on major contextual features, to work at the main function of the text and the possible content.

*

*Example of skeleton textsDiscuss the clues given, and the messages the texts might contain.

*

*5. Sequencing PicturesSequencing pictures that are related to the text can help to provide some background knowledge and to establish a context. It can set expectation of meaning and prompt discussion on certain key concepts or cultural assumptions in the text.

*

*For Example:Separate the illustrations from a reader. In group or individually, students arrange the illustrations in the order they think they will occur, discussing and asking questions for clarification where necessary.Perhaps the students could provide their version of the story before reading the original.

*

*Content WordsThese aim to prepare students by setting up expectations of meaning. They involve extracting 6-10 content words from a suitable text, then presenting these words to students in the order in which they occur in the text.

*

*Example of content words:pursestrugglecar-parkchase pushedground

Discuss possible stories, making sure the students understand the meaning and uses of such words. Some stories may be used to role-play activities.

*

*Content Words...Beside preliminary activities, we should also introduce our students with:the global approach to readingskills involved in a reading processreading strategies a variety of exercises appropriate with the skills

*

*Fig. 1. Reading program at schools(Moris, 1984)

*

*

THANK YOU

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*