A.

Reading Comprehension
1. The Nature of Reading Comprehension
Kennedy (1981: 188) says that comprehension is the ability of one
to find, interpret and use ideas. While in Oxford Advance Learners
Dictionary, comprehension is defined as a power to understand
something (Hornby, 1995: 235).Moreover, Websters dictionary in
Journal by Prasetyarini (2007: 68) states that comprehension is the
capacity for understanding fully, the act or ction of grasping with the
intellect.
According to Grellet (1981: 1), he defines the reading
comprehension skill as abilities to extract the required information
from written text as efficiently as possible. While Kennedy (1981:
192) defines that
Reading comprehension as a thought process through which
readers become aware of an idea, understand it in terms of their
experiential background, and interpret it in relation to their own
needs and purpose.

From those definitions, it can be conclude that reading
comprehension is the process that finding, interpreting, grasping and
using ideas or the meaning to understand the text.
2. Levels of Reading Comprehension
Like as Kennedy (1981: 193) says that comprehension includes all
the skills and abilities necessary for th literal, inferential and critical
reading to be considered. There are three levels of reading
comprehension according to Jack Richards et all (1985: 238), namely:
a. Literal ccomprehension
Reading in order to understand, remember, or recall the
information explicitly contained in a passage.

b. Inferential comprehension
Reading in order to find information which is not explicitly stated
in a passage, using the readers experience and intuition and by
inferring.
c. Critical or evaluative comprehension
Reading in order to compare information in a passage with the
readers own knowledge and value. Critical reading requires higher
degree of skill development and perception. Critical reading
requires reading with an inquiring mind and with active, creative
looking for false statement by making judgment. It means
questioning, comparing, and evaluating.
3. Factors Influencing Reading Comprehension
So many factors influence the depth and ease of comprehending
the ideas on page. Dalmann (1982: 164) states that there are many
factors that affect reading comprehension, they are:
a. Difficulty of material
One of the major causes of lack of comprehension on the part of
boys and girls is that teachers expect them to read the materials
beyond their level.
b. Intelligence
The slowest learner can grow in comprehension but it considers
that the growth is slow.

c. Environment
Noisy surroundings, inadequate lighting, high or low temperatures,
stimulating or distracting surroundings may interfere with
maximum comprehension. Interest on the part of the learner is one
of the determinants of the effect of potential distracter.
d. Emphasis on word recognition
Methods of teaching that concentrate on the recognition of
individual words but neglect attention to meanings or can be
derived from connected discourse may account for deficiencies in
comprehension.
e. Emphasis on oral reading
Oral reading can have effects on comprehension, because the
readers not only see but also hear what he reads.
f. Background for reading selection
A frequent cause of poor comprehension is lack of an experience
background essential to the understanding of what is being read.
g. Adjustment of reading techniques to purpose and the type of
material
There should be an adaptation of reading method to the reading
purpose and to the nature of the material being read.
h. Rate of reading
The failure to adjust reading rate to the type of material is a cause
of difficulty in comprehending what is being read.