english

Name

Professor

Subject

6 October 2008

English

Reading is the act of interpreting printed and written words . It is a basic tool of education and one of the most important skills in everyday life (World Book Encyclopedia 150

In school , students should possess reading ability in to be able to pass all the subjects . Students make regular use of textbooks library books , current periodicals , and professional journals , take notes and review for examination which require reading ability . At work reading ability is needed in choosing a career , in

signing contracts , in performing office tasks . By acquiring additional knowledge and skills through reading , workers can advance to more important and better paying positions . It is a continuous source of inspiration and pleasure since it provide us with ways to gain additional information that we can apply in our daily lives . The more knowledge one has , the better chance he or she has to understand other people and their ideas and to communicate effectively with them . Reading can also be a recreational hobby . It can provide insight into the behavior of other people enable one to learn new technology teaches one to learn sports bring interest in classics biographies , science and historical events . It also takes readers to learn and share experiences of different people throughout history

There is four-step process involving reading which occurs more or less simultaneously during the act of reading . The first step is perception wherein student can recognize and pronounce the printed words correctly Poor perception may cause a person to read with little understanding The second is comprehension which is the ability to recognize the use of words and their relationship to one another that helps students to understand main ideas and related details of the reading material . The third is reaction which occurs when reading becomes a two-way conversation between the reader and the author . The fourth is application is when the information read provides new insights , broaden interests or solve problems of the reader

Teaching reading , like training athletes , should be started at an early age once children have shown signs of oral-language development interest and mental maturity . The methods and materials to be used in teaching must be interesting and challenging at all stages . To introduce reading to children , parents may provide them with simple well-illustrated picture books , or read poems or short stories that children can understand and appreciate

Teaching reading comprehension skills to children at home involves four steps namely initial understanding , interpretation , personal reflection and response , and demonstration of actual stance . Parents can teach their children to understand simple words while and after reading stories during the initial understanding . In interpretation , parents can train children to become more observant and listen to small details by showing how the end of the books links to the middle and beginning or vice-versa . Personal reflection and response helps parents move new knowledge to the long-term memory part of the child 's brain by linking the , scenario and characters of the story...