IDEA ENGINEERING

Improving Reading Skills Through Understanding the

Main Idea

BY GROUP 5:
1. CINDY ROSA LUMBANTOBING (2223121056)
2. CINDY THERESIA (2222421009)
3. FEBRIYANI BR BARUS (2223121065)
4. INDRI RAVELINA BORU MANULLANG (2223121020)
5. MAWAR MAGDALENA BR SIMANJUNTAK (2223121084)
6. ZAMANI AHMAD FAHRI (2223121072)

CLASS: DIK F 2022

LECTURER : Drs.WILLEM SARAGIH, M.Hum.
SUBJECT : RECEPTIVE WRITTEN LANGUAGE SKILLS

LANGUAGE AND ART FACULTY

ENGLISH AND LITERATURE DEPARTMENT
SEPTEMBER 2022

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 TABLE OF CONTANT

Contents
SUMMARY................................................................................................................................3
CHAPTER 1...............................................................................................................................5
PRELIMINARY.........................................................................................................................5
Background.............................................................................................................................5
Purpose and Benefit...............................................................................................................5
CHAPTER 2...............................................................................................................................6
GENERAL FRAME OF MIND/OVERVIEW.........................................................................6
CHAPTER 3.............................................................................................................................10
IMPLEMENTATION METHOD...........................................................................................10
CHAPTER 4.............................................................................................................................11
DISCUSSION...........................................................................................................................11
CHAPTER 5.............................................................................................................................14
CONCLUSION.........................................................................................................................14
REFERENCE...........................................................................................................................16

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 SUMMARY

Reading is one of the keys to student progress. Reading activities must be followed
by an understanding of what is read. In other words, there must be a way of reading to
be able to understand the reading namely by understanding the main idea. Reading is
one of the keys to student progress, but many students cannot understand what they are
read. This study tries to uncover the causes of students' difficulties in finding the major
idea in a paragraph.

The purpose of this idea engineering is to know the students' reading ability by
looking for a main idea and to increase students' interest in reading. The benefit of this
idea engineering is that the reader can better understand the main idea in a paragraph
and also to develop the reading skills of each individual, especially the ability to bring
reading to students.

The implementation method used to improve students' reading skills is by using an

approach to students, reading various other reading sources to improve Idea
Engineering. Ways that we can do to improve reading skills are by providing education
on how to read properly and correctly, providing explanations about understanding the
main ideas to make it easier for them to understand reading, and applying a relaxed, and
not boring learning system.

From the research conducted, noted that the word "idea" can be used to refer to a
sentence's main notion. Ideas can also be defined as propositions or ideas expressed in a
statement. The main idea is important information in a reading that is at the level of an
article or discourse. The main idea of a discourse or article can be found by reading the
title. By finding the main idea in the reading text, it can indirectly know the contents of
the reading that has been read. Finding the main idea does seem pretty simple, as though
anyone could accomplish it. Despite the fact that this is untrue, a lot of people truly
struggle when asked to identify the primary concept of a sentence or a remark.

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 We can try to identify the topic by read the entire section, and do so. What or about
whom the paragraph is composed can also make reading concise. Reading is essentially
an activity to understand the author's ideas. In a reading generally there are main ideas
and explanatory ideas. The skill of reading is used by the reader to anticipate text
information, selecting key information, organize and mentally summarize information,
monitor comprehension, repair comprehension breakdowns, and match comprehension
output to the reader goals. Every reader has their own way of reading to do that which is
appropriate with them.

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 CHAPTER 1
PRELIMINARY
Background

Reading is one of the keys to student progress. In fact, there are still many who
have not been able to enjoy a reading. Reads but cannot understand what is read.
Therefore, reading interest is reduced, because reading is considered a tedious
job. Based on this phenomenon, reading activities must be followed by an
understanding of what is read, in other words, there must be a way of reading to
be able to understand the reading, namely by understanding the main idea.
This is very influential on students, especially on the level of reading
comprehension. In addition, the low understanding of students in finding the
main idea in a paragraph found in this study indicates that students have
difficulty in finding the main idea in a paragraph. This study tries to uncover the
causes of students' difficulties in finding the main idea and tries to provide
empirical evidence that causes students' difficulties in finding the main idea in a
paragraph.

Purpose and Benefit

Based on the background that has been described, the purpose of this idea
engineering are as follows:
1. To know the students' reading ability by looking for a main idea.
2. To improving reading skills
The benefit of this idea engineering is that the reader can better understand the
main idea in a paragraph and also to develop the reading skills of each
individual, especially the ability to bring reading to students.

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 CHAPTER 2
GENERAL FRAME OF MIND/OVERVIEW

A person can be said to understand reading when he has obtained information or

messages conveyed by the author, either express or implied. Davies (1997: 1) gives the
definition of reading as a mental process or cognitive process in which a reader is
expected to follow and respond to the author's message. From the definition above, it
can be seen that reading activities are an active and interactive activity. With his
knowledge, the reader must be able to follow the path of the author's mind and with his
critical power is challenged to be able to respond by approving or even not approving
the ideas or ideas raised by a writer. Relates about reading comprehension.

The comprehension of sentences would not be possible without the support of

understanding over the relationship of content between times. For this reason, in order
to have high readability, sentences arranged in a discourse must always pay attention to
the elements of the outer structure, the structure of the content, and the relationship
between the two. According to its phrasing, single sentences are easier to understand
their meaning or meaning than compound sentences.

Through reading, we can communicate with thoughts in the past and in the present.
Through reading, we can gain experience. At the level we can open printed symbols and
associate them with meaning, there is a process of recognition that is effective in
communicating ideas. So, it can be concluded that the notion of reading is a
combination of letter recognition, intellect, emotion associated with the reader's
knowledge to understand a written message. An effective and efficient reader is a
flexible one. namely readers who can adjust or regulate the provisions of reading travel
time with the aim of reading and various existing conditions, such as characteristics and
levels of reading difficulty, reading interest, reading strategies, etc. From some of the
explanations above, it can be concluded that reading comprehension is reading to
understand the contents of the reading if it has received the information or message
conveyed by the author, either expressly or impliedly.

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By reading, we can not only understand the contents of the reading text as a whole, but
can also get a lot of information to be used as material for speaking and writing. It can
be seen that the main purpose of reading is to seek and obtain information, including
content, understanding the meaning of reading.

The main idea or main idea is important information in a reading that is at the level of
an article or discourse. Every good article always contains a main idea and an
explanatory thought. The main idea of a discourse or article can be found by reading the
title. Ideas can appear in a relatively short time; it can also take a long time to assemble
various previous inspirations or ideas. A system, also begins with the emergence of one
or more ideas. Thus, it can also be called the accumulation of various ideas. By finding
the main idea in the reading text, it can also indirectly know the contents of the reading
that has been read.

Reading is essentially an activity to understand the author's ideas. The author's ideas in a
reading can be divided into two, namely the main idea or main idea and the main idea
explanatory. The author's ideas, on a smaller level, appear in the ideas in paragraphs. A
paragraph contains the main idea and supporting ideas. Therefore, the introduction of
main ideas and explanatory ideas is very important in reading (Subyantoro 2004: 22). In
a reading generally there are main ideas and explanatory ideas. The main idea in a
paragraph is the main idea contained in the paragraph. A paragraph will not be perfect if
it contains only the main idea, but in a paragraph, there must be an explanatory idea.
The main idea usually acts as the core of the reading text. While the explanatory idea
acts as an explanation of the intent of the main idea. With an explanatory idea, the
contents of the reading can be conveyed well to the reader so that the reader can
properly capture the contents of the reading.

According to Keraf in Emiliya (2009: 37), there are four kinds of forms of the location
of a main idea in a paragraph, namely as follows. At the beginning of the paragraph the
initial understanding of this paragraph can be the first sentence, it can also be the second
sentence. This kind of paragraph is usually deductive in nature, first stating the main
issue, then following detailed descriptions. At the end of the paragraph, the topic
sentence can also be placed at the end of the paragraph. In this case, the paragraph is

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inductive. This kind of paragraph must be arranged in various ways so that it can reach
a climax in the topic sentence at the end of the paragraph. At the beginning end of the
paragraph Topic sentences can also be placed at the beginning and end of the paragraph.
In this case the last sentence often repeats the idea in the first sentence with little stress
or variation. In all paragraphs, the topic sentence or main sentence can also be included
in all paragraphs. In this case, there is no specific sentence that becomes the topic. This
kind of paragraph is mainly found in descriptive or narrative descriptions. In general,
the main idea is stated in the topic sentence, while the explanatory idea is stated in the
explanatory sentence.

The skill of reading is used by the reader to anticipate text information, selecting key
information, organize and mentally summarize information, monitor comprehension,
repair comprehension breakdowns, and match comprehension output to the reader goals.
Every reader has their own way of reading to do that which is appropriate with them.

A fundamental reading skill is identifying the primary theme in a piece of writing.

Identifying the core concept, or the most crucial message that the author wishes to
convey, is the basic goal of comprehension for all expository texts.

Important material that elaborates on the primary idea of a paragraph or section of a text
is referred to as the major idea. The broad, overarching theme or message is the topic. It
is referred to as the subject by some. The "key concept" being represented is the core
idea. You can understand the writer's point(s) better if you can identify the main idea
and any supporting elements. Understanding the connection between them will improve
your understanding.

The main idea of a paragraph is what that paragraph is about. The rest of the sentences
are details that support the main idea. To find the main idea, ask yourself, “what is it
about?

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On our reading comprehension tests, the key idea questions are common, but they can
occasionally be challenging to answer, particularly if you are unsure of your
understanding of the main idea. But one of the reading abilities you should be able to
master is identifying the primary concept of a paragraph or longer body of text. This is
in addition to making inferences, determining the author's intent, and comprehending
vocabulary items in context.

Doing so will help you succeed on the reading comprehension section of your next
standardized test. Also, to develop increased reading comprehension it needs reading
strategies (Erliana, 2011). Understanding what the main idea is and following a few
simple steps will help you learn to identify it.

What is the main idea? The main idea of a paragraph is the point of passage, minus all
the details. The author's core message or concept regarding the subject is what she
wants the audience to understand. Consequently, the topic phrase in a paragraph is
where the primary concept is directly communicated. In a multipara graph essay, the
fundamental idea is represented in the thesis statement, which provides the overarching
idea of what the paragraph is about and is reinforced by the facts in the paragraph.

The succinct but comprehensive overview contains the key idea. When an author
doesn't convey the major idea explicitly, it should still be assumed and is known as an
implicit main idea. It encompasses all the paragraph discusses in general but leaves out
the specifics. In order to understand what the author is trying to convey, the reader must
carefully examine the text and pay attention to certain phrases, sentences, and images
that are used and repeated. The reader may need to put in a little extra work on this.

Finding the main idea is critical to understanding what you are reading. It helps the
details make sense and have relevance, and provides a framework for remembering the
content

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 CHAPTER 3
IMPLEMENTATION METHOD

The implementation method used to improve students' reading skills is by using an

approach to students, reading various other reading sources to improve Idea
Engineering. Ways that we can do to improve reading skills are by providing education
on how to read properly and correctly, providing explanations about understanding the
main ideas to make it easier for them to understand reading, and applying a relaxed, and
not boring learning system.

10
 CHAPTER 4
DISCUSSION

In improving reading skills, there are many things we can do, such as switching to
reading every day, readers know the type of text they will read so that readers can easily
obtain information, then what is your purpose for reading, there are people who aim to
get information, there are also those who want to learn vocabulary. There are various
kinds of goals for someone in reading, then one can also make notes or summaries of
what has been read.

But this time the author will discuss how to improve reading skills through
understanding the main idea, by knowing where the position is, by knowing the
keywords we can easily find information from a text, knowing what the author wants to
convey to the reader.

As far as we are known, mind produces ideas. The word "idea" can be used to refer to a
sentence's main notion. Ideas can also be defined as propositions or ideas expressed in a
statement.

When using the term "idea," this is what constitutes the core idea as a component of the
idea. According to Suyono (2004), an idea is anything that is accompanied by
information that is intended to inform and persuade the reader while also providing data,
facts, and other supporting evidence.

There is a lot in ideas. Typically, a statement or the primary notion of an idea is

contained within it. The main idea is the notion that is intended to be conveyed by a
sentence, statement, information, data, fact, or any supporting evidence.

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The beginning of the sentence is typically where the main idea appears. The key notion
is then explained in a subsequent sentence. The essential concept, however, could be
located in the beginning, middle, or end of the statement.

Finding the main idea does seem pretty simple, as though anyone could accomplish it.
Despite the fact that this is untrue, a lot of people truly struggle when asked to identify
the primary concept of a sentence or a remark.

Readers are frequently instructed to locate the major sentence first to make it simpler for
them to identify the primary idea. The key notion is typically found in the main
sentence.

This main sentence can have several different variations. The three primary types of
sentences are mixed, inductive, and deductive. Additionally, the fundamental idea is
frequently difficult to isolate because to the variety of forms. It is also necessary to
research the core idea's qualities for convenience. The core idea has the qualities listed
below:

1. In the form of a complete sentence that can be read on its own.

2. Without being connected to other sentences, has a distinct meaning.
3. Contains the problem's topic.
4. Without transitions or conjunctions.
5. In an inductive paragraph, the main idea is marked with key words such as, as a
conclusion, which is important, therefore, thus, and so on.

How can we identify the main idea? First and last sentences in a paragraph or article are
common places for writers to place the major idea. So, split up the sentences to evaluate
if the overarching subject of the piece still makes sense.

Watch out for words like but, conversely, however, and others that the author
occasionally uses. This would suggest that the second sentence is the one that contains
the key concept. The second sentence is the main idea if any of the words listed above
negate or fill the first sentence.

Then we can try to identify the topic, read the entire section, and do so. what or about
whom the paragraph is composed.

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Can also make reading concise. Put it all in one phrase using your own words. Imagine
you have ten to twelve words to summarize the meaning of the text.

Finally, Pay Attention to Word or Sentence Repetition. If you read a paragraph in its
entirety and find that there is too much information to summarize, seek for a word,
phrase, or related idea that keeps coming up.

The major concept or main idea can be a term, phrase, or statement that is used often
and frequently. Additionally, thoroughly read each sentence in the paragraph. then grasp
the main points of what is being covered in the text.

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 CHAPTER 5
CONCLUSION

Understanding reading is a combination of letter recognition, intelligence, emotion

related to the reader's knowledge and understanding to understand the contents of the
reading conveyed by the author, both express and implied. Effective and efficient
readers are flexible readers, namely readers who can adjust or manage running time
with the aim of reading and various existing conditions, such as characteristics and
levels of reading difficulties, reading interests, reading strategies, etc.

Reading activities are active and interactive activities carried out by everyone. The
reader must be able to follow the author's way of thinking and his critical power is
challenged to be able to respond and agree with the ideas or ideas proposed by an
author. The main purpose of reading is to seek and obtain information, including
content, and understand the meaning of reading.

Reading skills are used by readers to anticipate text information, select key information,
organize and summarize information mentally, monitor comprehension, correct
comprehension disorders, and match comprehension output to the reader's goals. The
basic reading skill is to identify the main theme in a piece of writing. Identify the core
concept, or the most important message the author wants to convey.

In improving reading skills, there are many things we can do, such as switching to
reading every day. But this time the author will discuss how to improve reading skills
through understanding the main idea, by knowing where it is located, by knowing the
keywords we can easily find information from a text. The beginning of a sentence is
usually where the main idea appears. The key ideas are then explained in the next
sentence. Important concepts, however, can be located at the beginning, middle, or end
of a statement.

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Suggestion

Readers can carry out reading activities every day to improve reading abilities and
skills, by knowing the location of the main ideas to make it easier for readers to
understand reading so that the reader can focus and know the main points of reading, it
is better to be in a quiet and quiet room.

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 REFERENCE

http://digilib.iain-palangkaraya.ac.id/950/1/15.%20Kamalasari%20157-
176.pdf
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-esc-
introtocollegereadingandwriting/chapter/identifying-the-main-idea/

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