SCANNING

 

Scanning as a technique, which means read quickly in order to identify specific information is appropriate to be applied in various types of texts. In teaching learning process, the teacher built students‟ skill in reading by using scanning technique. Teacher gives times to students to find out the specific information in the text quickly without reading the whole text. In brief, by using scanning technique in reading process can make the readers become flexible in reading a text. Good readers are active readers who must be active in identifying the information they want in the text without reading the whole text. It can be said that scanning technique can be useful in teaching reading because it can help the students become good and flexible reader. 

Scanning is quickly going through a text to find a particular piece of information. According to Vaezi (2003:5), scanning is reading rapidly to find a specific piece of information (name, place, and time, etc). The readers know what they want to look for, so they are concentrating on finding a particular answer. Scanning involves moving the reader‟s eyes quickly down the page seeking specific information without reading the whole text. Meanwhile, Grellet (1985) argue that scanning is quickly searching for some particular piece of information in the text.

 In addition, in reading by using scanning technique, the teacher gives students time to search specific information (time, place, and name) in the text quickly, so the students do not need to read the whole text. According to Sarwono (2013: 2), scanning is a technique used to find specific information by looking at the text to find information we need. And according to Casey (2003: 2), scanning is a device used to locate details-specific question that may be asked at the end of the assignment, it is very useful for students to find specific information to get answers from the questions in the assignment or exam, and minimize their time to answer the questions in the text. 

a) The Step for Scanning 

A good scanning technique needs some steps in order to reach the efficient and effective result in reading process. There are five steps for scanning, they are: 

1) Have all the fact or pieces of information about what want to find clearly in mind. Make some list of all pieces of information that want to look. 

2) Start at the beginning of the selection and move the eyes systematic and fast: - Like a bow, directly to the middle and run down to the page. - With S pattern or Zigzag. 

3) Use any heading or subheadings; bold type and italicized words to find quickly the part of information that probably contain the specific information. Look for the key words in every part of the text by seeing if there are a date, capital letters, bold types words.

4) When key words or words have found; read around it or them to see if the information is there. 

5) Make either a mental or a written note about the information that has found. Select another piece of information to look for, and start the process again. Making questions that related to the text with a certain number of minutes helps students to improve their ability in using scanning. The role of teacher is also important in this process especially to lead students to get the best, effective and efficient result.