READING COMPREHENSION

READING COMPREHENSION

By Leonardus Nana

Nonik Nana     : Can You read?

Sinyo Nana     : The answer is YES, of course

Nonik Nana     : But can you COMPREHEND what you read?

Sinyo Nana     : It is the PROBLEM. I found too many words that I do not know

Nonik Nana     : You are right. Many people could read but they do not truly understand what they read

Sinyo Nana     : Henceforth, how could we comprehend a reading passage?

Nonik Nana     : Kindly follow these procedures:

1.      Read QUICKLY and UNDERLINE the words you do not know

2.      Do not use any dictionary when you read

3.      READ again and summarize each PARAGRAPH to CATCH what comes before and after a word, a phrase and a statement you are reading. This helps you to FIX the MEANING. You call this CONTEXT

4.      Now you can use DICTIONARY. Please avoid a translation dictionary.

Sinyo Nana     : By the way what is the meaning of READING?

Nonik Nana     : Reading is an activity to look at and able to understand something written

Sinyo Nana     : Thank for the explanation. Is there an easy way to catch the meaning in a part or in the whole text?

Nonik Nana     : Yes, you can do it by scanning the text. Scanning means you run the eyes over every part of a text to catch the sign words/key words of each paragraph.

Sinyo Nana     : Does a reading text have construction?

Nonik Nana     : Yes, it has. A READING TEXT is constructed by ORIENTATION, COMPLICATION AND RESOLUTION.

Sinyo Nana     : What do we learn in Orientation, Complication And Resolution?

Nonik Nana     : in ORIENTATION, you will identify the characters and the setting of place and time. It means you will know who are involved in the story, where and when. In COMPLICATION, you will learn a SERIES OF EVENTS which main character attempts to SOLVE THE PROBLEM and in RESOLUTION you will find the Solution to problem arises in the complication.