My Collection Campus: Makalah Teaching Reading

A. Definition of Reading

Reading is an activity that can add someone’s knowledge about important news and also some new vocabulary items.

“Reading is a process of constructing meaning from written texts. It is a complex skill requiring the coordination of interrelated sources of information” (Stanley, 2007) Taken from: Stanley, S. (2007). An Analysis of Rx for Discovery Reading RTM for Elementary Students Below Average in Reading. The United States of America: Pro Quest Information and Learning Company.[1]

B. Reason for Reading

There are many reasons why getting students to read English texts is an important part of the teacher’s job. In the first place, many students want to be able to read texts in English either for their careers, for study purposes or simply for pleasure. Anything we can do to make it easier for them to do these things must be a good idea.

Reading is useful for language acquisition. Provided that students more or less understand what they read, the more they read, the better they get at it. Reading also has a positive effect on students’ vocabulary knowledge, on their spelling and on their writing. Reading texts also provide good models for English writing. At different times we can encourage students to focus on vocabulary, grammar or punctuation. We can also use reading material to demonstrate the way we construct sentences, paragraphs and whole texts.

Lastly, good reading texts can introduce interesting topics, stimulate discussion, excite imaginative responses and provide the springboard for well-rounded, fascinating lessons.[2]

C. Different kinds for Reading

There are two kinds of teaching reading; Extensive and Intensive. Extensive and Intensive are different in some cases.

The first difference is that Extensive Reading covers large area, while Intensive Reading covers narrower area. According to Graham Stanley, Extensive Reading involves students reading long texts or large quantities for general understanding, with the intention of enjoying the texts. It means that students are given freedom to choose their own topic which they think are interested to be discussed. In this case, the students also have to find supported articles related to the topic in order to give them background knowledge, so that they know more about the topic they have chosen. It is different from Intensive Reading that does not allow the students to find a topic they like. The topic is given by the teacher. The students also do not necessary to look for supported articles because the topic which is chosen by the teacher is usually short and easy to understand.

The second difference is about students’ activity in class. In Extensive Reading the students’ activity is more complex than in Intensive Reading. The students, in Extensive Reading class, usually are asked to write a summary after reading an article/ passage. As we know, writing summary is not an easy thing to do. It allows learners to assert full control, both of the main factual or fictional content of an article/ book, and of the grammar and vocabulary used to express it (Bell, 1998). Besides, the students also will do a short presentation on what they have read. By doing short presentation, the students will have knowledge of the right preparation, self- independence and autonomy (Bell, 1998). While in Intensive Reading, instead of writing summary and having presentation, the students are asked to answer some questions related to the topic which is given by the teacher. Usually, all of the answers are available on the text, so that the students only rewrite it.

The last, Extensive Reading will discourage the over- use of dictionary (Bell, 1998); on the contrary dictionary is a must in Intensive Reading. It is true that dictionary have an important place in reading activity, but as stated by Bell (1998) that the students will focus only on the language if they always consult the dictionary every time they find an unfamiliar word. They will not pay attention to the message conveyed. Bell also said that this habit will cause inefficient reading and destroy the pleasure that reading is intended to provide. Graham Stanley from British Council, Barcelona said that by avoiding dictionary, the students are expected to be encouraged to jot down the words they come across in a vocabulary notebook and they can look them up after they have finished reading. It will make the students guess the meaning based on the context. By doing this, the students are able to always remember the meaning of a word because they find it by themselves. Meanwhile in Intensive Reading, students have to find difficult words while they are reading. The frequency of using dictionary is often because in Intensive Reading, a text will be used to answer some questions, so the students have to know the meaning of all words in the text in order to make them easy to answer the question.[3]

D. Level of Reading

For students to develop communicative competence in reading, classroom and homework reading activities must resemble (or be) real-life reading tasks that involve meaningful communication. They must therefore be authentic in three ways.

1. The reading material must be authentic: It must be the kind of material that students will need and want to be able to read when traveling, studying abroad, or using the language in other contexts outside the classroom.

When selecting texts for student assignments, remember that the difficulty of a reading text is less a function of the language, and more a function of the conceptual difficulty and the task(s) that students are expected to complete. Simplifying a text by changing the language often removes natural redundancy and makes the organization somewhat difficult for students to predict. This actually makes a text more difficult to read than if the original were used.

Rather than simplifying a text by changing its language, make it more approachable by eliciting students' existing knowledge in pre-reading discussion, reviewing new vocabulary before reading, and asking students to perform tasks that are within their competence, such as skimming to get the main idea or scanning for specific information, before they begin intensive reading.

2. The reading purpose must be authentic: Students must be reading for reasons that make sense and have relevance to them. "Because the teacher assigned it" is not an authentic reason for reading a text.

To identify relevant reading purposes, ask students how they plan to use the language they are learning and what topics they are interested in reading and learning about. Give them opportunities to choose their reading assignments, and encourage them to use the library, the Internet, and foreign language newsstands and bookstores to find other things they would like to read.

3. The reading approach must be authentic: Students should read the text in a way that matches the reading purpose, the type of text, and the way people normally read. This means that reading aloud will take place only in situations where it would take place outside the classroom, such as reading for pleasure. The majority of students' reading should be done silently.[4]

E. Reading Skill

There are different styles of reading for different situations. The technique you choose will depend on the purpose for reading. For example, you might be reading for enjoyment, information, or to complete a task. If you are exploring or reviewing, you might skim a document. If you're searching for information, you might scan for a particular word. To get detailed information, you might use a technique such as SQ4R. You need to adjust your reading speed and technique depending on your purpose.

Many people consider skimming and scanning search techniques rather than reading strategies. However when reading large volumes of information, they may be more practical than reading. For example, you might be searching for specific information, looking for clues, or reviewing information.

Skimming, scanning, and critical reading are different styles of reading and information processing.

Skimming is used to quickly identify the main ideas of a text. When you read the newspaper, you're probably not reading it word-by-word, instead you're scanning the text. Skimming is done at a speed three to four times faster than normal reading. People often skim when they have lots of material to read in a limited amount of time. Use skimming when you want to see if an article may be of interest in your research.

There are many strategies that can be used when skimming. Some people read the first and last paragraphs using headings, summarizes and other organizers as they move down the page or screen. You might read the title, subtitles, subheading, and illustrations. Consider reading the first sentence of each paragraph. This technique is useful when you're seeking specific information rather than reading for comprehension. Skimming works well to find dates, names, and places. It might be used to review graphs, tables, and charts.

Scanning is a technique you often use when looking up a word in the telephone book or dictionary. You search for key words or ideas. In most cases, you know what you're looking for, so you're concentrating on finding a particular answer. Scanning involves moving your eyes quickly down the page seeking specific words and phrases. Scanning is also used when you first find a resource to determine whether it will answer your questions. Once you've scanned the document, you might go back and skim it.

When scanning, look for the author's use of organizers such as numbers, letters, steps, or the words, first, second, or next. Look for words that are bold faced, italics, or in a different font size, style, or color. Sometimes the author will put key ideas in the margin.

Reading off a computer screen has become a growing concern. Research shows that people have more difficulty reading off a computer screen than off paper. Although they can read and comprehend at the same rate as paper, skimming on the computer is much slower than on paper.[5]

F. Reading Principle

Principle 1: Encourage students to read as often and as much as possible.

The more students read, the better. Everything we do should encourage them to read extensively as well as - if not more than - intensively. It is a good idea to discuss this principle with students.

Principle 2: Students need to be engaged with what they are reading.

Outside normal lesson time, when students are reading extensively, they should be involved in joyful reading - that is, we should try to help them get as much pleasure from it as possible. But during lessons, too, we will do our best to ensure that they are engaged with the topic of a reading text and the activities they are asked to do while dealing with it.

Principle 3: Encourage students to respond to the content of a text (and explore their feelings about it), not just concentrate on its construction.

Of course, it is important for students to study reading texts in class in order to find out such things as the way they use language, the number of paragraphs they contain and how many times they use relative clauses. But the meaning, the message of the text, is just as important as this. As a result, we must give students a chance to respond to that message in some way. It is especially important that they should be allowed to show their feelings about the topic - thus provoking personal engagement with it and the language. With extensive reading this is even more important. Reading for pleasure is - and should be - different from reading for study.

Principle 4: Prediction is a major factor in reading.

When we read texts in our own language, we frequently have a good idea of the content before we actually start reading. Book covers give us a clue about what is in the book; photographs and headlines hint at what articles are about; we can identify reports as reports from their appearance before we read a single word. The moment we get these clues – the book cover, the headline, the web-page banner - our brain starts predicting what we are going to read. Expectations are set up and the active process of reading is ready to begin. In class, teachers should give students ‘hints’ so that they also have a chance to predict what is coming. In the case of extensive reading - when students are choosing what to read for pleasure - we should encourage them to look at covers and back cover copy to help them select what to read and then to help them ‘get into’ a book.

Principle 5: Match the task to the topic when using intensive reading texts.

Once a decision has been taken about what reading text the students are going to read (based on their level, the topic of the text and its linguistic and activation potential), we need to choose good reading tasks - the right kind of questions, appropriate activities before during and after reading, and useful study exploitation, etc. The most useful and interesting text can be undermined by boring and inappropriate tasks; the most commonplace passage can be made really exciting with imaginative and challenging activities, especially if the level of challenge (i.e. how easy it is for students to complete a task) is exactly right for the class.

Principle 6: Good teachers exploit reading texts to the full.

Any reading text is full of sentences, words, ideas, descriptions, etc. It doesn’t make sense, in class, just to get students to read it and then drop it and move on to something else. Good teachers integrate the reading text into interesting lesson sequences, using the topic for discussion and further tasks, using the language for study and then activation (or, of course, activation and then study) and using a range of activities to bring the text to life. Where students have been doing extensive reading, we should use whatever opportunities present themselves to provoke useful feedback.[6]

G. Conclusiom

> talked about the fact that the more students read the better they get at reading. We suggested that reading is good for language acquisition in general, provides good models for future writing and offers opportunities for language study.

> made a distinction between intensive and extensive reading, stressing the beneficial effects of the latter (especially in relation to simplified readers).

> said that teachers should encourage students to read in a variety of genres and that, where possible, the language of the texts should be authentic, unless it is too difficult for students (in which case we will offer authentic-like language).

> said that students need to realize how to read for different purposes - including skimming, scanning, reading for pleasure and reading for detailed comprehension.

> come up with six reading ‘principles’: read as often and as much as possible; students need to be engaged while they are reading; students should be encouraged to respond to the content of a text (and explore their feelings about it), not just concentrate on its construction; prediction is a major factor in reading; match the task to the topic when using intensive reading texts; and good teachers exploit reading texts to the full.

> looked at three reading sequences comprising a newspaper article, a magazine article and an extended Internet-based web quest.

> listed a number of other reading possibilities.

> discussed ways in which students can be encouraged to read extensively by providing libraries and time, letting students have choice and getting them to give feedback.