Reading
“Reading is the ability to draw meaning from the printed page and interpret the information
appropriately”.
A cognitive as well as physical process that involves decoding symbols to arrive at meaning.
Reading is an interactive process between the reader and the writer as Brunan W.K. (1989), for
instance, defines reading as a two way interaction in which information is exchange between
the reader and the author.
“Reading is an act of communication in which information is
transferred from a transmitter to a receiver” (Smith 1973)
The Reading Process
A process which involves recognizing words, leading to the development of comprehension.
The pre-reading stage: allows the reader to activate background knowledge, preview the text,
and develop a purpose for reading.
A strategy for students to utilize during this stage is to look at the title of the selection and list all
the information that comes to mind about the title.
During reading stage: the reader makes predictions as they read and then confirms or revises
the predictions.
The After reading stage: allows the reader to retell the story, discuss the elements of a story,
answer questions, and/or compare it to another text.
For example, students can create summaries, where they take a huge selection and reduce it to
its main points for more concise understanding.
Reading skills consists of several micro-skills:
Deciphering the script
Recognizing vocabulary
Picking out key words
Figuring out meaning
Recognizing grammatical word classes
Detecting sentence constituents
Recognizing the basic syntactic patterns
Reconstructing and inferring
Getting main point
Distinguishing ideas
Sample Reading Strategies
Specifying a purpose for reading
Planning what to do/what steps to take
Previewing the text
Predicting the contents of the text or section of text
Checking predictions
Posing questions about the text
Finding answers to posed questions
Connecting text to background knowledge
Summarizing information
Making inferences
Connecting one part of the text to another
Paying attention to text structure
Rereading
Guessing the meaning of a new word from context
Using discourse markers to see relationships
Checking comprehension
Identifying difficulties
Taking steps to repair faulty comprehension
Critiquing the author
Critiquing the text
Judging how well objectives were met
Reflecting on what has been learned from the text
Qualities of a Good Reader
An efficient reader is versed in many ways of interacting with various types of text and choose
appropriate reading strategies.
Ur (1996) suggests various criteria that distinguish the efficient from the inefficient readers:
Access to content by changing reading speed according to text.
Select significant features of a text and skim the rest.
Guess meaning from context.
Think ahead by predicting outcomes.
Use background knowledge to understand meaning.
Motivated to read challenging text.
Reading research shows that good readers:
read extensively
integrate information in the text with existing knowledge
have a flexible reading style, depending on what they are reading
are motivated
rely on different skills interacting: perceptual processing, phonemic processing,
recall.
read for a purpose; reading serves a function
Reading Materials
Directions
Labels Non-fiction: reports, editorials, essays, notices, reference resources.
Fiction: novel, short stories, jokes, drama, poetry.
Letters: personal, business.
Greeting cards
Diaries, journals
Memorandums
Academic writing: tests, theses, textbooks.
Forms, applications
Questionnaires
Signs
Recipes
Bills and other financial documents
Maps
manuals
Menus
Schedules
Advertisements
Invitations
Directories
