WHAT IS READING COMPREHENSION

Reading comprehension is the ability to understand the whole content of the text
passage, to understand the meaning of the text passage and be able to integrate
with what the reader already knows. The ability to comprehend the text is
influenced by reader’s skills and their ability to process information. The
purpose of reading determines the reading technique.

A. There are many purposes of reading;

1. Reading for pleasure
To most of you, reading have many pleasures, for example reading the latest
best- selling novel, the daily newspaper or a popular magazine. Your purpose in
reading may be to take your mind off the problems of the day or to relax your
mind or to make you be keeping up to date on current happenings reported in
newspapers and magazines. When reading for pleasure, it is not necessary to
absorb every detail or to remember all facts or to read critically.

2. Reading for specific information

When hunting for information such as name, date, data, certain number that is
somewhere within a block of reading material, you should skip or skim in order
to make the best use of reading time.
a. What is skipping or scanning?
Skipping is jumping over large portions of material that are not needed to
serve your reading purpose. For example, read the title of article or
reading passage, read the first and the last sentence of paragraph in the
article or reading passage, notice any pictures, charts or graphs. Look for
any words in the passage that are in italics or bold printed.
b. What is skimming?
Skimming means moving your eyes rapidly down a page, stopping to
read only significant facts and phrases. You don’t read everything. The
purpose is to find the main idea of a paragraph in an article or reading
passage.
3. Reading to absorb information.
Reading to absorb information that is always required of you as a student,
whether the reading is from a textbook or from some resource material. It needs
your active participation, you must understand the meaning and must remember
what you read as well as be able to make summary of each paragraph.

B. How to increase your understanding in reading

1. Scan or previewing the material
2. Involve your mind actively when you read.
 a. Concentrate your mind in what you are reading.
b. Read actively
c. Try to relate what you are reading to what you already know.
3. Make a brief notes
a. Underline or circle some key words or phrases.
b. Record main ideas of each paragraph. Usually there is only one main
idea in every paragraph. The main idea is often in the first sentence of
paragraph but sometimes it may be in the last sentence of paragraph
4. Organize your notes to make a summary of what you are reading. One way is
by creating a word web. A word web can help you easily to see how the
information in the passage is organized.