Methods in Teaching Reading
English plays
the important part in the development of knowledge, science, technology, and
communication. In teaching English, there are four Basic English skills
–reading, speaking, listening, and writing. According to Harmer, there are two
kinds of reading, extensive reading and intensive reading. Extensive reading
refers to reading which students do often away from the classroom language. It
is called reading for pleasure. On the other hand, intensive reading refers to
the detailed focus on the construction of reading texts which takes place
usually in the classroom (2007: 99). By
reading, students can be introduced to interesting topics, stimulated
discussion, exited imaginative responses, and provided the springboard for
well-rounded, fascinating lesson. However, reading is the most difficult skill because
in reading students must have good vocabulary knowledge to help them in
understanding the passage. Moreover, to be good reader they need to have good
pronunciation. Therefore, teachers need to have good and suitable methods for
students in order to make successful teaching learning process. Here, two of
some effective methods that can be used in teaching reading.
The first method
is KWL method. This is a flexible and popular method for guiding students'
thinking about the text before, during and after reading. It is aimed to
be an exercise for a study group or class that can direct the students in
reading and understanding a text. The letters K
stands for Know. In this step,
students think what they understand about the topic and make a list about
that. This activity constructs knowledge of the new material, build a scaffold
to support it, and think of it as a pre-reading inventory. The second step is W
that stands for Want. It requires
students to list a series of questions of what they want to know more about the
subject, based upon what they have listed in the first stage (know). The last step is L which stands for Learned. In this step students need to
answer their questions as well as a list what new information the students have
learned either while reading or after the students have finished.
The
last method is SQ4R (Survey-Question-Read-Recite-Record-Review
Method. The first step of this method is Survey which is reviewing the reading material to determine the overall
content and organization. In this step, students should skim and scan the text
in order to get the general idea of the content, structure, organization, and
plan of the text. Question is the second
step which is establishing a purpose for reading by reviewing the
questions posed by the teacher. Reading for specific purposes positively
influences their comprehension.
The next step is Read. Reading
promotes an active search for answers to the specific questions that students
have developed. It forces the student to concentrate for better comprehension
and aids in lengthening attention span. Students should read each section of
the text to answer questions that were developed in the step before. Recite is the next step. By reciting what
the students’ read, the students are able to see how much information the
students absorbed, areas the students didn’t understand and need to review, and
answers to the questions the students generated for the students. If the
students cannot answer the questions, go back to the material and reread. Next is Record that is marking the
textbook to increase the understanding of the material for the present and for future
reference. The process of selecting and marking requires the students to find
the main ideas. Later, when the students evaluate the text for exam purposes,
the students will find that the textbook markings and highlights enable the
students to grab the essential points without having to read whole paragraphs
and text again. The last is Review. Teachers
should include regular review periods as an effective strategy for retaining information.
To
sum up, no one method of teaching that can be successful in teaching reading,
but teacher should have at least an appropriate method to teach student, such
as KWL method and SQ4R.
REFERENCES
Harmer,
Jeremy. 2007. How to Teach English.
New York : Longman.
Mohamad,
Nurdin. 2011. Belajar dengan Pendekatan P.A.I.L.K.E.M.
Jakarta: Bumi Aksara.
