Interactive Reading Approach in Teaching the English Language to the non-speakers in the 21st Century as a basis for the intervention Program in English

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

It has been a great challenge for all of us in the field of education to mold and to hone students to be globally competitive and really competent in their chosen specialization. Now, that there is a shift towards the Outcome-based Education, how possible is it if learners in the junior high school level are considered to be non-readers? What intervention or program could help them fit into the world so they can be as productive as the world expects them to be? There are different approaches to teach Language or reading specifically. Reading is at once a perceptual and a cognitive process. It is a process which bridges and blurs these two traditional distinctions. Moreover, a skilled reader must be able to make use of sensory, syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic information to accomplish the task. These various sources of information appear to interact in many complex ways during the process of reading (Rumelhart, D. 1985).

METHODS

The authors used the purposive sampling which is defined as a non-probability sampling method. Out of the 204 Grade 7 students, the researcher chose the 27 non-readers and slow readers in English 7 which is 13% of the total population.

RESULTS

After the study was conducted, it was found that most of the respondents need supervision in decoding. It was also observed that most of them can read. Though reading is limited to reading itself, comprehension and giving meaning to what is read is even more limited. There is a problem when it comes to understanding. With this premise, the interactive reading approach can be applied. The interactive reading model, as developed by David E. Rumelhart in 1977, describes a reading process and the way linguistic elements are processed and interpreted by the brain. The model combines both surface structure systems to build meaning and memory for all learners.

DISCUSSIONS

Readers use both knowledge of word structure and background knowledge to interpret the texts they read. For example, a student who encounters an unknown word might use surface structure systems like graphophonic, or letter-sound, knowledge to decode the word. A different student might find it easier to use deep structure systems like semantic knowledge, such as meaning and vocabulary, to decode the same unknown word. Each student makes connections in different ways. This process validates and supports both methods of understanding, realizing that individuals process information in very different ways