1.

Definition of Reading

For many years, three basic definitions of reading have driven literacy programs in the United
States (Foertsch, 1998). According to the first definition, learning to read means learning to
pronounce words. According to the second definition, learning to read means learning to identify
words and get their meaning. According to the third definition, learning to read means learning
to bring meaning to a text in order to get meaning from it.

Although these definitions reflect long-standing views of reading, current literacy research
supports a more comprehensive definition of reading. This new definition includes all of the
above definitions and places learning skills in the context of authentic reading and writing
activities. It recognizes the importance of skill instruction as one piece of the reading process. It
also supports balanced reading instruction for all students.

Reading
 The act of one who reads; perusal; also, printed or written matter to be read.
 Study of books; literary scholarship; as, a man of extensive reading.
 A lecture or prelection; public recital.
 The way in which anything reads; force of a word or passage presented by a documentary
authority; lection; version.
 Manner of reciting, or acting a part, on the stage; way of rendering.
 An observation read from the scale of a graduated instrument; as, the reading of a
barometer.
 Of or pertaining to the act of reading; used in reading.
 Addicted to reading; as, a reading community.
 the act of measuring with meters or similar instruments; "he has a job meter reading for
the gas company"
 the cognitive process of understanding a written linguistic message; "he enjoys reading
books"
 a datum about some physical state that is presented to a user by a meter or similar
instrument; "he could not believe the meter reading"; "the barometer gave clear
indications of an approaching storm"
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 a mental representation of the meaning or significance of something
 written material intended to be read; "the teacher assigned new readings"; "he bought
some reading material at the airport"
 a particular interpretation or performance; "on that reading it was an insult"; "he was
famous for his reading of Mozart"
 a public instance of reciting or repeating (from memory) something prepared in advance;
"the program included songs and recitations of well-loved poems"
How children define reading

Her
e
are
som
e
defi
niti  “It's filling out workbooks.
ons  It's pronouncing the letters.
of  It's when you put sounds together.
read  Reading is learning hard words.
ing  Reading is like thinking...you know, it's understanding the story.
that  It's when you find out things.” (Harste 1978)
chil
dren
hav
e
give
n:

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How those working in the reading field define reading

Here are some definitions and characterizations of the reading process by those
working in the reading field:

 “Skillful reading depends uncompromisingly upon thorough familiarity with

individual letters, words, and frequent spelling patterns. Only to the extent
that we have developed such familiarity can the written word flow
effortlessly from print to meaning.” (Adams 1990)
 “Reading is an active process in which readers interact with text to
reconstruct the message of the author. Research in recent years emphasizes
the extent to which reading depends on the background knowledge of
readers. Printed symbols are signs which lead an active mind to reflect on
alternatives during the process of constructing knowledge.” (Barr, Sadow,
and Blachowicz 1990)
 “Reading is clearly a process which is complete only when comprehension is
attained. The critical element is that the reader reconstruct the message
encoded in the written language. Full comprehension occurs when the
reconstruction agrees with the writer's intended message...That
comprehension depends as much or even more on the information stored in
the reader's brain than on the information stored in the text.“ (Dechant 1991)
 “Reading means getting meaning from certain combinations of letters. Teach
the child what each letter stands for and he can read.” (Flesch 1955)
 “...the goal of reading is constructing meaning in response to text...It
requires interactive use of grapho-phonic, syntactic, and semantic cues to
construct meaning.” (Goodman, K. 1981)
 “Most of the contemporary definitions of reading include the following:
reading is a process, reading is strategic, reading is interactive, and reading
instruction requires orchestration.” (Klein, Peterson, and Simington 1991)

Controversy, where it exists, now focuses more on the reading process than on the
outcome.

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 Many people have tried to understand and define the reading process. Over the years,
theoretical assumptions regarding the reading process have varied greatly.

Nevertheless, “definitions of reading are generally divided into two major types: a)
those that equate reading with interpretation of experience generally,... and b) those that
restrict the definition to the interpretation of graphic symbols.” (Dechant 1991)

In general, the following two broad definitions reading summarize what reading skills
constitute.
'Reading' is a complex cognitive process of decoding symbols for the intention of constructing
or deriving meaning (reading comprehension). It is the mastery of basic cognitive processes to
the point where they are automatic so that attention is freed for the analysis of meaning.
Reading is a means of language acquisition, of communication, and of sharing information and
ideas. Like all language, it is a complex interaction between the text and the reader which is
shaped by the reader’s prior knowledge, experiences, attitude, and language community which
is culturally and socially situated. The reading process requires continuous practices,
development, and refinement.

Reading is described in many ways by different people. Some describe it as a thinking

(cognitive) process. Others say it is the reconstruction and interpretation of meanings behind
printed symbols. Still others say it is the process of understanding written language. All these
explanations of reading are accurate. Despite continuing disagreement about the precise nature
of the reading process, there are some points of general agreement among reading authorities.

One such point is that comprehension of written material is the purpose of reading. In fact, we
consider reading comprehension and reading to be synonymous because when understanding
breaks down reading actually has not occurred. Perhaps more than any other, the word
"meaning" appears in definitions of reading. Readers are involved in constructing meaning from
text.

Understanding the reading process will help you in the areas of

 material production

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  teaching, and
 training teachers.

The Value/importance of Reading in the Foreign Language Context

There are many factors involved if one wants to learn English in a good way. In order to learn
English a person should be mentally prepared to take challenge and promise him or herself that
they will be able to complete this mission. A lot of efforts, hard work and determination are
required when one wants to learn English. It can not be spoon fed in to your brain and needs a lot
of practice and understanding. If a person does not concentrate properly there is no use of
learning English.

Listening skills are very important if a person wants to learn English. As long as a person listens
carefully, he can learn any language in this world very easily. One should listen to the tones of
the English speaking person and try to grasp it in their minds. Try to listen to English television
programs and news as it has a great effect on your learning ability.

Reading skills are also very impotent when one wants to learn English. It is important not only to
speak in English but also to write in English as it will enhance the spoken English more. Lastly it
is very important to converse in English with people around you to practice the language. The
more you speak, the better it will become .You might make mistakes at the beginning; you will
improve your English day by day.
The Necessity of Reading
A. Reading can help absorb all kinds of information: At current time, human has entered the
21st century, an era of intellectual economy or rather the Internet .Peoples' knowledge is
increasing at an astonishing speed. By the way of reading ,a learner can master these high-tech
and cultural knowledge concerning English -speaking countries. As reading is the only time-
saved way to absorb foreign advanced technology, by reading, we can learn more and make
contributions to the construction of our motherland .In that case, reading becomes necessary and
urgent.

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B. Reading can help us develop our interest: People in the 21st century have a strong desire to
learn more knowledge and read more original books and newspapers. So people should be
encouraged to do more reading in English. Reading English books, magazines etc can improve
reading ability step by step, speeding up cultivating and forming good reading habits. Then
people can realize how English is used in reality by reading.
C. Reading can improve our Intelligence: By reading a lot, one can advance their English
background knowledge and broaden his or her vision, inspire his thought, build the values, train
the creative performance and develop his intelligence. If a person master the English reading
skills and form a good reading habit, she or he can master English forever.
Reading is an essential part of language instruction at every level because it supports learning in
multiple ways.
 Reading to learn the language: Reading material is language input. By giving students a
variety of materials to read, instructors provide multiple opportunities for students to
absorb vocabulary, grammar, sentence structure, and discourse structure as they occur in
authentic contexts. Students thus gain a more complete picture of the ways in which the
elements of the language work together to convey meaning.
 Reading for content information: Students' purpose for reading in their native language
is often to obtain information about a subject they are studying, and this purpose can be
useful in the language learning classroom as well. Reading for content information in the
language classroom gives students both authentic reading material and an authentic
purpose for reading.
 Reading for cultural knowledge and awareness: Reading everyday materials that are
designed for native speakers can give students insight into the lifestyles and worldviews
of the people whose language they are studying. When students have access to
newspapers, magazines, and Web sites, they are exposed to culture in all its variety, and
monolithic cultural stereotypes begin to break down.
When reading to learn, students need to follow four basic steps:
 Figure out the purpose for reading. Activate background knowledge of the topic in
order to predict or anticipate content and identify appropriate reading strategies.
 Attend to the parts of the text that are relevant to the identified purpose and ignore the
rest. This selectivity enables students to focus on specific items in the input and reduces
the amount of information they have to hold in short-term memory.
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  Select strategies that are appropriate to the reading task and use them flexibly and
interactively. Students' comprehension improves and their confidence increases when
they use top-down and bottom-up skills simultaneously to construct meaning.
 Check comprehension while reading and when the reading task is completed. Monitoring
comprehension helps students detect inconsistencies and comprehension failures, helping
them learn to use alternate strategies.
2. Understanding the Reading Process
Good readers understand the processes involved in reading and consciously control them. This
awareness and control of the reading processes is called metacognition, which means "knowing
about knowing." Some students don't know when they don't know. They continue to read even
though they are not comprehending. Poor readers tolerate such confusion because they either
don't realize that it exists or don't know what to do about it. Poor readers focus on facts, whereas
good readers try to assimilate details into a larger cognitive pattern.

The following table gives a summary of characteristics of poor and successful readers.

Characteristics of Poor Readers Characteristics of Successful Readers

Think understanding occurs form "getting the Understand that they must take responsibility for
words right," rereading construction meaning using their prior
knowledge

Use strategies such as rote memorization, Develop a repertoire of reading strategies,

rehearsal, simple categorization organizational patterns, and genre

Are poor strategy users: Are good strategy users:

* They do not think strategically about how to * They think strategically, plan , monitor their
read something or solve a problem. comprehension, and revise their strategies.
* They do not have an accurate sense of when * They have strategies for what to do when they
they have good comprehension readiness for do not know what to do
assessment

Have relatively low self-esteem Have self-confidence that they are effective
learners; see themselves as agents able to
actualize their potential

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See success and failure as the result of luck or See success as the result of hard work and
teacher bias efficient thinking

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
Is reading slowly and carefully always best?

Does reading slowly and carefully always lead to better comprehension? Not always. As noted
in Module 1, there are times when slow, thoughtful reading is appropriate, but reading
everything at the same slow, plodding pace is a characteristic of a poor, not a power reader!

Poor readers read with:

 no clear idea of purpose

 poor reading techniques

 faulty eye movements

 no flexibility in reading mode

These are all comprehension and retention inhibitors. In this course you will learn many
techniques for reading flexibility, but it is not too early to begin now to practice varying your
reading speed to suit your purpose for reading.

Do I have any poor reading habits that I should change? How can I get rid of bad habits
that hinder my reading efficiency?

Correcting bad reading habits is sometimes as easy as becoming aware of the problem and
deciding to solve it. Some changes, however, are not that easy and require effort and consistent
practice. Just like the good habits discussed above, poor reading habits can be classified as poor
mental habits (ones that interfere with your ability to concentrate) or inefficient physical habits.
As you read the following, assess your own reading. Do you have any of these bad habits? If so,
make a conscientious effort to follow the suggestions for getting rid of them.

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Eliminate poor mental habits.

 Passive reading: Do you sometimes read in the same way you take a shower, letting
the words wash over you with little or no active mental involvement? If so, you will
likely retain, at most, around 10-20% of what you have read. If you will become
actively involved in your reading, that retention can be easily raised to 75% or higher
while investing approximately the same amount of time. This is especially important
for study reading. In subsequent modules we will explore study reading strategies in
detail. For now, practice activities like underlining, highlighting, making notes in the
margins, asking questions, and making predictions; think about what you are reading
and what you hope to learn. This will help to improve your comprehension, retention,
and concentration. Staring at the words on the page with a disengaged mind is
somewhat like driving down the highway staring at the lane divider stripes. That
hypnotic effect can put you to sleep; with increased mental and physical involvement
your brain will be fully occupied in processing and have little energy left to wander or
become distracted.
 Purposeless reading: Do you begin college reading assignments with no clear idea of
what you need to learn, what comprehension level is required, how long this
assignment should take to complete, and which reading mode is most appropriate?
Remember the importance of previewing before you read. It doesn't take long and will
save you time in the long run.

 Regressing: We've all experienced this. You realize you have just read a sentence (or
even an entire paragraph) over 9 times; you were unaware you were rereading
(regressing); and you have no idea what you just read. Sounds like a lack of
concentration resulting in passive, purposeless reading, doesn't it? Your eyes were
processing print and attempting to convey information your brain, but your brain was
elsewhere, unavailable to receive input. Regression is reading a word, phrase, sentence,
or paragraph over and over again. Sometimes, with especially difficult, unfamiliar
material or vocabulary, regression may be necessary for comprehension. Often,
however, regression is an unnecessary, inefficient habit.

o What causes regression? It may be a lack of concentration, poor

comprehension, low self-confidence, or just a nervous habit. Whatever it is, it

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 is slowing you down.

o How do you stop regressions? Becoming aware that you have this bad habit is
the first step. Later in this course, you will learn hand pacing techniques that
will focus your attention, keep your eyes moving, and pull your eyes forward
and down the page. As you become increasingly aware of keeping your eyes
moving efficiently, you'll be able to avoid regression.

 Poor concentration: Here it is again. One of the most important tools in the students'
tool box - the ability to concentrate at will. Attitude is the key. Don't allow yourself to
rationalize this bad habit: "I get tired easily." "I fall asleep when I read." "My mind
wanders, and I end up daydreaming." You are not helpless here; take control and focus
your attention on the task at hand. More key factors that will lead to better
concentration:

o Increase your reading speed. If you slow down, your mind has time to wander.
The faster and more actively you read, the more engrossing the material
becomes and the more your comprehension will increase.

o Hand pacing is a fundamental tool to better concentration because it forces

your attention to the material you are reading.

o Physical essentials to concentration include good nutrition and hydration,

adequate sleep, overall good health, and good vision. Don't make concentrating
more difficult by neglecting any of these.

o Check out this website for more Strategies for Improving Concentration and
Memory.

Correct inefficient physical habits.

 Lip reading: Moving your lips while you read slows you down. The average person
speaks at around 150-200 words per minute. If you are moving your lips as you read,
you will not be able to read faster than you speak. Try this test: Hold your fingers over
your lips or grip a pencil between your lips as you read a short selection. If the pencil
falls, you are moving your lips. Getting rid of this habit will encourage the direct
eye/mind connection (remember the mental telepathy that Steven King writes about?)
and allow you to visualize concepts and main ideas rather than mouthing one word at a
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 time. Breaking this bad habit will really speed up your reading. Usually becoming
aware and deciding to change are all it takes.
 Head Wagging: Many people are not aware that their heads are actually moving from
left to right as they are reading. To test yourself, place your elbow on your reading table
or the arm of your chair and hold your chin in the palm of your hand while you read a
paragraph or two from a book. This one can usually be quickly eliminated once you are
aware that you are engaging in this inefficient body movement.

 Vocalizing: Do you whisper each word as you read? To find out place your fingers on
your Adam's apple. If you feel any vibration or humming, you are probably whispering
and limiting yourself to word by word reading. Vocalization is sometimes used to
intentionally slow down the reading process for especially difficult material or if
external distractions are pulling your attention away from the material. In general,
however, it is a time-waster; concentrate on eliminating vocalization and reading
faster.

 Sub-vocalizing: This is "hearing" the words as you read silently; saying them in your
mind, at the same rate you would read out loud. Be careful of this. It slows you down,
but you may need to subvocalize as you improve. As you become better, you can
subvocalize less. Some tips:

o Thinking about not subvocalizing doesn't make it go away, only speed does. It's
like getting an airplane off the ground. Only at a certain speed does it become
possible.

o The last thing you should be doing when you're reading is thinking about
whether or not you're subvocalizing. Drills such as those provided in the
reading lab assignments will develop your speed and take you into visual
reading.

o Learn to "trust your eyes". This involves shifting your mental reading process
from "see->say->understand" to just "see->understand". One way to make this
leap is to build up your visualization muscle. (We'll learn more about this in
Mod. 2.3)

o One way to stop subvocalizing is to increase the rate at which your eyes move
across the page to the point where it is impossible to subvocalize. This means

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 switching your reading strategy to a point where you notice gulps of words at
each eye resting point (fixation). These gulps sometimes involve pulling words
from multiple lines. When students succeed with this strategy, they often notice
that they are still understanding what they are reading, but in a different way.
You may catch yourself thinking: "But now I'm not really reading." In other
words, part of your mind still believes that the definition of reading is to look at
every word and sound it out in your mind.

o Another way to look at this issue of subvocalization is that you should develop
multiple reading strategies, some of which may include subvocalization and
some do not. You wouldn't want a car that only has one speed. You want to
have multiple gears (i.e., reading styles) that can be applied based on the
unique demands of each situation.

o Here's a technique for eliminating subvocalization that many have found

helpful.

Changing some of these habits may be as easy as the decision to take action. Others may
require developing and practicing new skills. In Module 2.3 we will take a closer look at one
important skill for becoming a more effective and efficient reader - developing your
"visualization muscle."

How to Improve Reading Comprehension

Key Point: Good reading means building frameworks for connecting words to thoughts.
 Improving Comprehension: Reading comprehension requires motivation, mental
frameworks for holding ideas, concentration and good study techniques. Here are some
suggestions.
 Develop a broad background: Broaden your background knowledge by reading
newspapers, magazines and books. Become interested in world events.
 Know the structure of paragraphs: Good writers construct paragraphs that have a
beginning, middle and end. Often, the first sentence will give an overview that helps
provide a framework for adding details. Also, look for transitional words, phrases or
paragraphs that change the topic.
 Identify the type of reasoning: Does the author use cause and effect reasoning,
hypothesis, model building, induction or deduction, systems thinking? See section 20 for
12
 more examples on critical thinking skills.
 Anticipate and predict: Really smart readers try to anticipate the author and predict
future ideas and questions. If you're right, this reinforces your understanding. If you're
wrong, you make adjustments quicker.
 Look for the method of organization: Is the material organized chronologically,
serially, logically, functionally, spatially or hierarchical? See section 10 for more
examples on organization.
 Create motivation and interest: Preview material, ask questions, discuss ideas with
classmates. The stronger your interest, the greater your comprehension.
 Pay attention to supporting cues: Study pictures, graphs and headings. Read the first
and last paragraph in a chapter, or the first sentence in each section.
 Highlight, summarize and review: Just reading a book once is not enough. To develop
a deeper understanding, you have to highlight, summarize and review important ideas.
 Build a good vocabulary: For most educated people, this is a lifetime project. The best
way to improve your vocabulary is to use a dictionary regularly. You might carry around
a pocket dictionary and use it to look up new words. Or, you can keep a list of words to
look up at the end of the day. Concentrate on roots, prefixes and endings.
 Use a systematic reading technique like SQR3: Develop a systematic reading style,
like the SQR3 method and make adjustments to it, depending on priorities and purpose.
The SQR3 steps include Survey, Question, Read, Recite and Review. See Section 14 for
more details.
 Monitor effectiveness: Good readers monitor their attention, concentration and
effectiveness. They quickly recognize if they've missed an idea and backup to reread it.
 Should You Vocalize Words? Yes, although it is faster to form words in your mind
rather than on your lips or throat. Eye motion is also important. Frequent backtracking
slows you down considerably.
In general, Reading Processes involves
a. WORD ANALYSIS
Decoding is the ability to use appropriate word-identification skills to read a word.
Automaticity/Fluency is the processing of information in a way that requires little effort or
attention.

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Predicting is using knowledge about words and context to anticipate what will come next.
b. COMPREHENSION
Retelling is describing events or information from text.
Inferring is using the stated information in text and the reader's own prior knowledge or
experiences to generate additional information or answer questions about text.
Analyzing is identifying parts and looking at the relationships the parts have to each other and to
the whole. Typical analysis activities are comparing/contrasting and classification.
Synthesizing is incorporating information from multiple sources to create something unique.
Evaluating is making a judgment and supporting it with data.
Summarizing is making a brief statement containing the essential ideas of a longer passage.
c. VOCABULARY
Defining is explaining the appropriate meaning for words or phrases.
Understanding is using the target word in a variety of contexts and/or providing examples of
other related terms.
d. WORK/STUDY SKILLS
Decision Making is analyzing the purpose(s) of reading and selecting an appropriate strategy to
complete the task. It is also making predictions based on new text information.
Scanning is reading text quickly, but selectively, for a particular purpose.
Researching is locating information to meet a specific purpose.

3. Tips to improve you reading skills

In the modern age of information, reading truly is a fundamental survival skill. Here are ten tips
that anyone can use to improve their reading skills.
A. You don't have to be a great reader to get the point: Some people read fast and remember
everything. Others read slowly and take a couple of times to get all the information. It doesn't
matter, really, so long as you read, you get information you're seeking. Everyone should do more
reading to improve his or her reading skill.
B. Know why you're reading: Are you reading for entertainment or to learn something? Decide
why you're reading before you start and you'll greatly improve your comprehension and your
enjoyment. So reading can bring us happiness, we should do more reading.
C. You don't need to read everything: Not every magazine, letter, and email you receive
contains information you need .In fact, most of it is simply junk. Throw it away, hit the delete
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key! Just doing this wills double the amount of time you have available to read. Choose good
material to read so that to save our reading time.
D. You don't need to read all of what you do read: Do you read every article of every
magazine, every chapter of every book? If so, you’re probably spending a lot of time reading
stuff you don't need.
E. Scan before you read: Look at the table of contents, index, topic headers, photo captions,
etc. These will help you determine if, a) you have a real interest in this reading, and b) what
information you're likely to get from it.
F. Prioritize your reading: You can't read everything all at once (and wouldn't want to).If it's
important, read it now. If it's not, let it wait.
G. Optimize your reading environment: You will read faster and comprehend more if you
read in an environment that's comfortable for you. So try to choose a comfortable environment
before your read.
H. Once you start, don’t stop: Read each item straight. If you finish and have questions, go
back and re-read the pertinent sections. If you don't have questions, you got what you needed and
are ready to move on. Once you start reading a article you should keep reading ahead, do not
stop.
I. Focus: Remember, you’re reading with a purpose, so focus on that purpose and the material. If
you lose interest or keep losing your place, take a break or read something else. You can keep
track of where you are by following along with your hand. This simple technique helps you
focus and increase your concentration.
J. Practice: The more you read the better reader you are. We should do more reading to improve
our reading speed, If you enjoy your reading, you will like reading better.
Styles of Reading
It is also important to understand the different styles of reading that a learner can use in a reading
exercise. These are:
 Receptive: Reading a short story, newspaper, or textbook
 Reflecting: reading/reflecting/backtracking
 Skim: Getting a global impression of the content of a text
 Scanning: Finding a specific point of information
 Intensive: Involves looking carefully at a text

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 1. Be an active reader. Being an active reader means setting reading goals, having a
personal purpose for reading, developing an understanding of the organization of the
reading, reading selectively, reading to link key ideas to important details and with a view
to connecting ideas to a context, and reading thoughtfully and critically.
2. Use a strategy. We have discussed a strategy that involves surveying, questioning,
reading, reciting and reviewing. If you choose not to subscribe to any particular strategy,
use the principles that underlie them: previewing for an overview, questioning,
summarizing, recording ideas in key word form, reciting ideas, reflecting about what was
read, reviewing learning regularly.
3. Skimming and scanning processes have specialized applications for reading. The
process of skimming is helpful for establishing general awareness about the contents of a
specific reading. Skimming the structural elements of a reading (headings, sub-headings,
topic sentences etc.) is a common way to preview a reading. The process of scanning is
used to identify the organization of a reading and then to locate specific information
quickly and accurately. Finding a number in a phone book is an example of scanning.
4. Record the ideas you find important. in your readings and reflect on and review these
regularly. Taking notes provides us with a fairly permanent, abbreviated record to return
to so that we can continue to process and think about the ideas we have read. Reviewing
these notes regularly helps to keep us thinking and helps support our memory of the
knowledge we have encountered.
Apply questions to what you read. Reading is a tool of thinking. Questioning at various levels
moves you to thinking at those various levels. When we ask only the most basic questions, we
think only the most basic thoughts. When we question at deeper levels, we think more deeply.
The four levels of questions that we discussed were
(1) fundamental questions;
(2) part-whole-connection questions;
(3) hypothesis questions;
(4) critical questions.
4. VIEWS OF READING

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David Pearson (1985) referred to the comprehension revolution. By this he meant the movement
from traditional views of reading based on behaviourism to visions of reading and readers based
on cognitive psychology.

Traditional Views New Definition of Reading (Modern)

Research Theory Behaviourism Cognitive

Constructing meaning and self-

Goals of Reading Mastery of isolated facts and skills
regulated learning

Mechanically decodes words; An interaction among the reader, the

Reading as Process
memorizing by rote text, and the context

Learner Passive; learner receives knowledge Active; strategic reader, good strategy
Role/Metaphor from external sources user, cognitive apprentice.

Comprehension results from an interaction among the reader, the strategies the reader employs,
the material being read, and the context in which reading takes place.
The purpose(s) for reading and the type of text determine the specific knowledge, skills, and
strategies that readers need to apply to achieve comprehension. Reading comprehension is thus
much more than decoding. Reading comprehension results when the reader knows which skills
and strategies are appropriate for the type of text, and understands how to apply them to
accomplish the reading purpose.

17
 UNIT 2: APPROACHES TO READING
Exploring Second Language Reading
How Can ESL/EFL Teachers Improve a Learner's Reading Skills?
Some second language learners dislike reading because they are afraid of failure or lack
confidence. Others hate L2 reading because they read too slowly. How can teachers deal with
these issues and make L2 reading easier for learners?
Good readers are fast readers: If you want to run a race, you need to practice. The same is true
of reading. Learners who read more often will get better at reading, and subsequently improve
their skills, increasing their reading rate. Not all fast readers are good readers, but research does
indicate that learners who read at a slow rate tend to dislike reading.
It's a question of exposure: Yes and no. The more we are exposed to something, the better we
get at it, and reading in another language is no different. However, current research in ESL/EFL
suggests that not all learners can become proficient readers based on exposure alone. Teachers
must find strategies to help improve learners’ reading skills.
A Brief History of Second Language Reading Trends (Reading Approaches/
Models/Theories)
Thirty years ago, reading was all about meaning: top down skills. Teachers were encouraged to
activate a learner’s prior knowledge in order to build schemata from which learners could form
ideas around, thus increasing comprehension. Nowadays, however, there has been a shift to
focus more on learners’ bottom-up skills, and assure literal comprehension of the text first.
In the reading process,
 top-down model argues that readers bring a great deal of knowledge, expectation,
assumptions, and questions to the text and they continue to read as long as the text
confirms their expectation (Goodman, 1967), whereas Aebersold and Field further
explain that the top-down theory as “readers fit into knowledge (cultural, syntactic,
linguistic, historical) they already possess, then check back when new or unexpected
information appears” (1997, p. 18).
 the bottom-up theory views reading as “matching the written symbols with their aural
equivalents and blending these together to form words, and deriving meaning” (Nunan,
1999, p. 252). In this sense, reading is a process of decoding written symbols into their
aural equivalents in a linear fashion and arriving at the meaning of the words is therefore
the final step in the process (1999, p. 253).
18
The most salient difference between the two reading models

 In the top-down view of second language reading, the reader is an active participant,
making predictions and processing information by “relating them to his or her past
experience and knowledge of the language” (Carrell & Esdey, 1988, p. 2).
 Reader’s prior experience or background knowledge they bring to the text, which is
known as schematic knowledge, also plays a significant role in the reading process
(Aebersold & Field, 1997, p. 16). In this view, not only is the reader’s prior linguistic
knowledge (“linguistic schemata) and level of proficiency in the second language are
important, but the reader’s prior background knowledge of the content area of the text
(content schemata) as well as of the rhetorical structure of the text (formal schemata) are
also important (Carrell & Esdey, 1988, p. 2), for they provide the readers with a basis for
comparison, thus for making prediction.

On the other hand, the central notion behind the bottom-up approach is that
 reading is basically a matter of decoding a series of written symbols into their aural
equivalents (Nunan, 1991, p. 64). Cambourne also provides the following illustration of
how the bottom-up process is supposed to work: print — every letter discriminated —
phonemes and graphemes matched — blending — pronunciation — meaning (1991, p.
64).
 According to the bottom-up model, more emphasis is given to the written or printed text
and the readers are put in a fairly passive position in which they decode whatever written
in the text in a mechanical way. However, researchers in this field find it is not the
picture that reflects reading in both first and second language. For instance, Nunan argues
“we don’t process print in a serial, linear, step by step way. Nor do we process print as
visual tape-recorder” (1999, p. 256). Eskey et al. (1973) also claimed that the decoding
model was inadequate because it “understestimated the contribution of the reader”, and it
failed to recognize that student’s expectation about the text were based on their
knowledge of language and how it works (Cited in Carrell & Esdey, 1988, p. 3). Due to
the deficiency of bottom-up model, Widdowson (1978, 1983) began to view second

19
 language reading as an active process in which the reader is an active information
processor who predicts while sampling only parts of the actual text.

Theoretically, the two reading models provide us with completely different pictures about
reading process. Yet, taking the definition of reading and our own reading experience into
consideration, we may realize that no matter in first or second language reading, we, readers,
never passively wait for the encounter of the single letters to form sentence and then create
meaning, rather, we “tend to bring our interpretation to the word according to its general shape
and the sense of the text as soon as there is meaningful context” (Ur, 1996, p. 140). In this sense,
readers are always actively involved in the reading process. Therefore, to understand reading, we
need to understand the way the reader acts, what the reader brings to the text, what strategies the
reader uses, what assumptions the reader has about reading (Aebersold & Field, 1997, p. 19).
What is more, the reading text, after being encoded by the author, becomes meaningful only after
the reader’s interpretation. Different reader may interpret the same text differently due to their
unique schematic knowledge. Considering such dynamic relationship between reader and text,
the top-down model seems to facilitate EFL readers more when constructing meaning from the
written text than the bottom-up one, which indicates, in second/foreign language reading skills
training, we need adopt more top-down strategies to train our learners to be efficient readers.

The Top-down Approach

This approach focuses on “meaningful” learning. Reading becomes a dialog between the text and
reader. It relies on Schema Theory, which, briefly, says that a reader’s experience and
background knowledge is essential for understanding a text. Types of reading activities that
focus on this approach are:
 predicting the text using titles, pictures
 writing a journal entry about a time the learner had a similar experience
 expressing an opinion or reaction to the text
 writing a summary of the text or of the author’s point of view
 taking notes in the margin of the main ideas of each paragraph
 relating the text to something in current events
The Bottom-up Approach

20
This approach focuses on the smaller units of language that help us decode a message: word and
structure recognition, the sound-letter relationship, making meaning of syntactic units (phrases
and sentences). The argument is that, without a literal or fundamental understanding of the
language, no top-down processing can occur. Improving bottom-up skills can create faster
readers, as learners improve their sight-word recognition. Examples of reading activities that
exhibit this approach are:
 finding or underlining examples of tenses (e.g. future, past) or grammar structures (e.g.
prepositions of place, conditional sentences)
 scanning a text for specific information (e.g. someone’s age, the population of a country)
 making a timeline of the events in the text
 finding synonyms or definitions for words in bold
An interactive approach
Although many teachers often favor one approach over the other, it can be argued that both have
their place in the language classroom. In fact, the two approaches tend to be compensatory –
learners weak in a bottom-up approach compensate by using top-down skills, and vice versa. The
two approaches also influence one another – if bottom-up skills are ignored, there is the risk of
misunderstanding the basic meaning from which top-down skills are built. On the other hand, if
top-down skills are ignored, learners become passive readers, and do not develop the analytical
skills important to good readers. As with most things in teaching, it is necessary to create a
balance between the two.
In general, Reading as a Process is an interactive process that goes on between the reader and the
text, resulting in comprehension. The text presents letters, words, sentences, and paragraphs that
encode meaning. The reader uses knowledge, skills, and strategies to determine what that
meaning is.

Reader knowledge, skills, and strategies include

 Linguistic competence: the ability to recognize the elements of the writing system;
knowledge of vocabulary; knowledge of how words are structured into sentences
 Discourse competence: knowledge of discourse markers and how they connect parts of
the text to one another
 Sociolinguistic competence: knowledge about different types of texts and their usual
structure and content
21
  Strategic competence: the ability to use top-down strategies (see Strategies for
Developing Reading Skills for descriptions), as well as knowledge of the language (a bottom-
up strategy)

In general, the following outlines summarize the reading models/approaches.

Top-down
 Emphasizes what the reader brings to the text, such as prior knowledge and experiences
 Says comprehension begins in the mind of the reader, who already has some ideas about
the meaning of the text
 Proceeds from whole to part
Ex. Reader's prior knowledge to semantic cues to syntactic cues to other more
specific information
Drawback of Top-Down
 When reading topics which are completely new and foreign, it
is inefficient, impractical and perhaps impossible to make
predictions about the reading
Bottom-up
 Emphasizes the written or printed text
 Says comprehension begins by processing the smallest linguistic unit (phoneme), and
working toward larger units (syllables, words, phrases, sentences)
 Proceeds from part to whole
Ex Phoneme to syllable to word to sentence
Drawbacks of Bottom-Up
 The idea of linear processing
 Underestimated the contribution of the reader
 Failed to recognize that students utilize their expectations about
the text based on their knowledge of language and how it works
 Failure to include previous experience and knowledge into
processing
Interactive
 Recognizes the interaction of bottom-up and top-down processes simultaneously

22
 throughout the reading process.

Reading Comprehension Strategies in Second or Foreign Language Teaching

It is for long researchers and teachers have attempted to identify the reading strategies that the
readers use in order to construct meaning from a text. According to Aebersold and Field, in spite
of the unique characteristics each reader has, successful readers share much in common thus
derive more or less the same meaning form the same text (1997, p. 17). Reviewing the literature
in reading, there are nineteen reading strategies suggested by the researchers that successful
readers use when reading:
 Recognize words quickly
 Use text features (subheadings, transitions, etc.)
 Use title(s) to infer what information might follow
 Use world knowledge
 Analyze unfamiliar words
 Identify the grammatical functions of words
 Read for meaning, concentrate on constructing meaning
 Guess about the meaning of the text
 Evaluate guess and try new guesses if necessary
 Monitor comprehension
 Keep the purpose of reading the text in mind
 Adjust strategies to the purpose for reading
 Identify or infer main idea
 Understanding the relationships between the parts of a text
 Distinguish main ideas from minor ideas
 Tolerate ambiguity in a text (at least temporarily)
 Paraphrase
 Use context to build meaning and aid comprehension
 Continue reading even when unsuccessful, at least for a while

23
With a closer look at the efficient reading strategies, we may find among the nineteen reading
strategies, top-down strategies account for a fairly high percentage (15 out of 19) than the
bottom-up ones in the constitution of such effective reading skills. It suggests that successful
readers employ the reading strategies such as predicting, guessing, inferring, paraphrasing, using
contextual clue, reading for meaning etc. to read effectively and fluently in the second or foreign
language reading process. Therefore, we may be convinced that in the training of reading
comprehension skills, the top-down strategies should be given more priority than the bottom-up
ones, especially, when taken into account the active role that readers play in the process of
constructing meaning from a text.

With the second look at the top-down model, we may find it focuses on the “guessing game”
(Goodman, 1967) between the reader and the text. Someone may wonder if such guessing really
facilitates reading comprehension. Doff (1988, p. 68) provides an example (A m—was walk—d
—n the s—t, c-r—a gr—n—) to show even though half of the letters were missing, we could
read the sentence without difficulty, and some readers even automatically guess the last word
without the help of any letters. Doff’s example gives a strong support to the top-down theory
which indicates that when we read for meaning, we need not read every letter or every word in
each sentence, rather, we guess all the time, and as soon as we guess the second word, it helped
us to guess the whole of the first part of the sentence (Paran, 1996, p. 27). Ur also asserts that “it
is very difficult, sometimes, impossible to read successfully a text where our own schemata can
not be brought to bear” (1996, p. 141). However, with bottom-up model, some inefficient
reading habits are developed due to the focus on single letters or words. As Ur points out, “ the
dictionary is often over used, resulting in slower, less fluent reading, as well as frequent
misunderstanding through the selection of the wrong definition” (1996, p. 149). What Ur
mentions here is also the major constraint that prevents most Chinese EFL learners from reading
fluently and efficiently.

Reading University Level Materials

Through "Reading University Level Materials" you have encountered a number of principles and
strategies related to reading effectively at university. You have learned about the importance of
reading actively through setting reading goals, developing a purpose for reading, using the
24
Survey, Question, Read, Recite, Review (SQ3R) strategy, thinking critically and analytically
about the notes and summaries you make from your various readings, and about reviewing and
reciting in preparation for exams. As well, you have read about the intentional use of question
frames which prompt you to read and think at a variety of levels, including: summary and
definition, analysis, hypothesis, and critical judgment. Throughout, I have tried to underscore the
importance of reading with a strategy that matches your purpose for reading, in a way that is
"thinking intensive", with the aim of assisting you in becoming an effective and efficient reader.
Remember, no strategy can guarantee that readings will proceed without difficulty. As you
continue to apply these new-found strategies, endeavor to remain flexible in your approach to
reading and to always read with a view of improving your skills.

25
 UNIT 3: Phases of Reading

Reading is described in many ways by different people. Some describe it as a thinking

(cognitive) process. Others say it is the reconstruction and interpretation of meanings behind
printed symbols. Still others say it is the process of understanding written language. All these
explanations of reading are accurate. Despite continuing disagreement about the precise nature of
the reading process, there are some points of general agreement among reading authorities.

One such point is that comprehension of written material is the purpose of reading. In fact, we
consider reading comprehension and reading to be synonymous because when understanding
breaks down reading actually has not occurred. Perhaps more than any other, the word
"meaning" appears in definitions of reading. Readers are involved in constructing meaning from
text.

What is fluent reading?

During the reading process, there is an interplay between the reader's preexisting knowledge and
the written content. Fluent reading is an active process in which the reader calls on experience,
language, and prior knowledge to anticipate and understand the author's written language. Thus,
readers both bring meaning to print and take meaning from print.

The nature of the reading process alters as students mature. In the early stages of reading, word
identification requires a reader's concentration. Eventually, however, readers are able to use their
reading ability (ability to interpret written language) for pleasure, appreciation, knowledge
acquisition, and functional purposes. Thus, reading competence has many faces. Proficient,
fluent readers locate materials and ideas that enable them to fulfill particular purposes, which
may be to follow directions, to complete job applications, or to appreciate Shakespearean plays.
In addition, fluent readers adjust their reading style as they move from narrative to expository
content. Finally, they read with various types of understanding - literal, affective, interpretive,
critical, and creative.

What are the cognitive factors that affect reading comprehension?

 Reader interest
 Motivation
 Schema
Reader interest and motivation are fairly obvious, but what is Schema? How do we activate
schema?

Why is activating schema an important pre-reading activity?

26
Many educators (constructionists) argue that knowledge (or learning) is constructed from
experience and stored in memory as opposed to knowledge being absolute and absolute meaning
existing on a page. We all have a uniquely personal store of knowledge gained through a lifetime
of experiences.

This stored knowledge along with its storage structure is called schemata. This term is often used
in its singular form - schema - that refers to an organized chunk of knowledge or experience,
often accompanied by feelings or emotions associated with experience at the time the
information was stored. For example, when someone mentions the word "exams," your mind
begins searching all the related information stored in memory. That information may include
specific information you learned for exams, feelings associated with exams, or even sounds
associated with taking an exam.

When students have little or no schema (background knowledge or prior experience) for a
subject, comprehension is greatly impaired. Sometimes referred to as the filing system your brain
uses to catalog information, schema is also often compared with the files on a computer and the
storage system by which those files are organized in the computer's memory. This theoretical
construct of cognitive structure again argues for reading as a meaning making activity that is
unique to the individual - idiosyncratic. Comprehension does not proceed independently of a
reader's fund of related experiences and background knowledge or schemata.

To understand the importance of your schema to your comprehension, read the following
paragraph and try to determine (comprehend) what is being described.

The procedure is actually quite simple. First you arrange things into different groups. Of course
one pile may be sufficient depending on how much there is to do. If you have to go somewhere
else due to lack of facilities that is the next step, otherwise you are pretty well set. It is important
not to overdo things. That is, it is better to do too few things at once than too many. In the short
run this may not seem important, but complications can easily arise. A mistake can be expensive
as well. At first the whole procedure will seem complicated. Soon, however, it will become just
another facet of life. It is difficult to foresee any end to the necessity for this task in the
immediate future, but then one never can tell. After the procedure is completed one arranges the
materials into different groups again. Then they can be put into their appropriate places.
Eventually they will be used once more, and the whole cycle will then have to be repeated.
However, this is a part of life. (Bransford and McCarrell, "A Sketch of a Cognitive Approach to
Comprehension" 1974)

Schema theory then establishes our first prerequisite for reading comprehension: Does the reader
have schemata (background knowledge) relevant for understanding the text? For more
information on the power of schema check out:

How Does Schemata Influence Comprehension?

27
Constructionists and reading theorists argue that schema is the driving force in the
comprehension process. That it is this, more than any other process or cueing system that will
make or break comprehension. The degree to which new, incoming information is consistent
with the expectations generated from existing schemata determines the presence or absence of
comprehension. In other words, the degree of "fit" between new information and prior
knowledge determines the ease, difficulty, or lack of comprehension. So the richer the existing
knowledge structure, the better the comprehension of new information. This holds true, of
course, not only for reading and writing, but also for all types of communication.

It is also very important that this existing knowledge structure, schema, on the particular subject
of, and on topics related to, the new information be immediately accessible. Learning takes place
when new information is connected to existing schema, and this is accomplished much more
efficiently if the existing knowledge has been very recently reviewed. When we activate schema
we take time prior to reading to think, to remember, to review everything we already know about
this topic. In this way, that information is in the forefront of long term memory rather than buried
under a mountain of more recently acquired or activated schemata. This is why activating
schema is such an important pre-reading activity.

Learning, then, is the accumulation of ever more rich knowledge structures. Schemata is a
system of categorizing and making sense of the world around us, the surrounding environment. It
is the filing system in your head and all the information stored there - everything you know and
the horse it rode in on.

Assimilation fits new information into existing schemata. The richer the schemata, the more able
the reader/learner will be to fill in gaps by interpreting, reading between the lines, supplying
missing information, making inferences, etc. When new information is assimilated, the schemata
grow richer.

Accommodation becomes necessary if wrong information or none existed in schemata to begin

with. Accommodation means adjusting or modifying existing schemata to accept radically new
or discordant information, e.g., cats without tails/ neutered cats still spray/ decoding does not
equal reading/ bumblebees don't sting. When you accommodate, you throw out misconceptions
and restructure schemata.

Another possibility is that the new information will be ignored or rejected if it doesn't fit into the
individual's prevailing view of the world. Without guidance or additional input, students'
misconceptions may override information presented in the text.

Assimilation and accommodation are, of course, dependent upon an individual's existing

schemata. Assimilation is also made easier if the material matches the student's cultural
perspective. Other major factors, which influence comprehension, are interest and motivation.

28
Much-studied topics, they have repeatedly been shown to have a direct, positive impact on
comprehension even when prior knowledge is low.

What is Metacognition?

Another important concept related to the development of fluent reading is that of metacognition
or metacognitive awareness. Simply stated metacognition is knowing about knowing, thinking
about thinking.

Metacognition is knowing "what we know" and "what we don't know." Just as an executive's job
is management of an organization, a thinker's job is management of thinking, a learner's job is
management of learning. The basic metacognitive strategies are:

1. Connecting new information to former knowledge.

2. Selecting thinking strategies deliberately.
3. Planning, monitoring, and evaluating thinking processes.

A thinking person is in charge of her behavior. She determines when it is necessary to use
metacognitive strategies. She selects strategies to define a problem situation and researches
alternative solutions. She tailors this search for information to constraints of time and energy.
She monitors, controls and judges her thinking. She evaluates and decides when a problem is
solved to a satisfactory degree or when the demands of daily living take a temporary or
permanent higher priority. Learning how to learn, developing a repertoire of thinking processes
which can be applied to solve problems, is a major goal of education.

Metacognitive activities, of course, vary according to the current cognitive processing task. For
example, a student who is engaged in metacognition and critical thinking might be thinking
about her thinking while she is thinking in order to improve her thinking. Luckily for us,
metacognition as applied to the reading process is a slightly less layered process. Fluent readers
might be thinking about their reading (comprehension and processing) while they are reading in
order to improve their reading.

As students transition from learning to read to reading to learn, reading is no longer an end in
itself. Instead, learning specific information and then using that information to perform some
task becomes the goal of reading. This type of reading involves a number of complex activities
such as understanding and remembering the main idea of the selection, monitoring
comprehension and learning, and knowing when and how to use fix-up strategies when there is a
breakdown in comprehension.

What are the Three Stages of Reading?

29
Our exploration of the reading process organizes itself most naturally into an examination of
three phases: pre-reading, active reading, and post-reading.

STAGE THEORY / TERMS STRATEGIES

Preview
Activate schemata
Pre-reading Schema Theory Set purpose for reading

What do I know?
What do I want to know?

Construct meaning
Evaluate comprehension
Influence of Schemata
Active Reading on Comprehension Employ fix-up strategies as needed
Am I understanding?
Metacognition If not, what should I do about it?
Am I fulfilling my purpose?

Review

Evaluate understanding

Post-reading Reflection Evaluate reading process

What have I learned?

What changes/improvements are needed in my reading

habits/skills?

Taking Control of Your Reading

 What are the factors that affect reading rate, flexibility, and concentration?
 What are the six modes of reading I will practice in this course?

 What is the importance of background knowledge?

 Why is it important to read widely and read a lot?

 What activities should I be practicing during the three stages of reading?

 How can I put the concepts I am learning in Read 110 to work for me?

What are the factors that affect reading rate, flexibility, and concentration?
30
The four main factors are:

 Purpose for Reading

 Familiarity and Interest in the Material
 Training
 Practice

In this handout you will explore techniques to help you determine your purpose for reading and
efficiently fulfill that purpose. In addition you will begin to understand the important role that
familiarity and interest in the material play in your success as a fluent reader.
What are the six modes of reading flexibility I will practice in this course?

MODE DESCRIPTION TYPICAL PURPOSES APPROPRIATE RATE

Finding answers to specific questions

Fastest rate; rate (WPM) not really
SCANNIN

Locational; highly not requiring thorough reading;

pertinent; chapters, articles, sections of
selective locating dates, numbers, names, and
books can be scanned in minutes
other facts.
G

Combined locational
Gaining an overview of a selection; Second fastest; Second most selective;
and rapid reading;
identifying certain key ideas to answer speed varies with task, e.g., 4 pages per
sample selected parts of
SKIMMING

specific questions; determining the minute to identify key ideas; 5-15

content; use summaries,
organizational structure of selection, minutes to identify the general idea
topic sentences, and
chapter or book structure of a 30 page textbook chapter
headings

Gaining a broad, fairly solid

Varies: 600 WPM (2 pages per minute)
Speeded, thorough understanding of content in as little
on thorough reading of unfamiliar
READING

reading of longer time as possible; generally more

content to 1000 WPM on thorough
RAPID

content concerned with understanding key

reading of relatively easy content
ideas then with remembering specifics

Typical unpressured
Wide variety of personal reasons; Neither pressure nor studious; 300-400
READING
PLEASUR

reading for information

reading to learn and/or for pleasure, WPM (with adequate comprehension) is
and enjoyment;
enjoyment, escape a good normal rate
moderately thorough
E

Careful, thorough Appropriate for a wide variety of

reading and rereading; higher-level mental tasks that center
Slow, selective reading; rate is not an
in depth assessment of on non literal content, e.g.,
ANALYTIC
CRITICAL/

issue; rate will vary with type of analytic

READING

ideas, organization, determining cause and effect,

task
reasoning, and writer's identifying inference and conclusion,
purpose propaganda techniques, etc.

31
 Multiple planned and
Thorough understanding; learning;

READING
varied reading; very Involves multiple readings; study-
overlearning (retention in memory);
STUDY
thorough; combined use reading efficiency can be improved
solving problems; passing exams
of other modes

How fast and how carefully you read mainly depends on your purpose as noted above. You
should have not a single rate, but several different rates. Reading everything fast (or, on the
contrary, reading everything slowly) is a sign of a poor reader. The fluent reader develops
flexibility instead of constant speed.

Remember, your approach (mode/rate of reading) depends upon:

 Your purpose for reading (Why am I reading this material?)

 The level of difficulty of the material (How difficult do I find the subject matter and
vocabulary?)
 Personal familiarity with the material (How well-developed is my schema, prior
knowledge of this topic?)

You, the reader, make a deliberate choice of the unique approach best suited to you.

What is the importance of background knowledge?

As you learned in the previous section, your schemata is your uniquely personal storage
structure contain all the knowledge you have gained through a lifetime of experiences and
learning. Obviously, if you have highly developed schema (an organized chunk of knowledge or
experience on a particular topic) on, for example, DNA, you will be able to read and understand
your textbook chapter on that topic much more easily than someone who has very little prior
experience or existing background knowledge.

Prior knowledge of relevant vocabulary is also an imperative. If you encounter more than 3
unknown words per page, your ability to read quickly and with comprehension will be seriously
impaired. If you must interrupt your reading to search the dictionary or glossary for unknown
words, you will break your train of thought, interrupt your learning, and disrupt your
concentration.

Why is it important to read widely and read a lot?

This is the best way to build background knowledge in a wide variety of subjects. It is also one
of the best (and easiest) ways to build vocabulary. Reading research has shown that if students
read 1,000,000 words in a year's time, they will encounter and learn at least 1,000 new words.
Isn't that exciting?!

32
In addition, consider this from Bill Gates, founder of computer giant Microsoft, on the virtues of
reading:

People cannot become truly knowledgeable without being excellent readers. While multi-media
systems can use video and sound to deliver information in compelling ways, text is still one of
the best ways to convey details.

What activities should I be practicing during the three stages of reading?

In order to achieve your goals regarding flexible and fluent reading, you must learn certain
reading behaviors and then practice them until they become automatic. We call this practicing to
the point of automaticity. In this way you will learn to increase your reading rate, maintain your
focus and concentration, and enhance your comprehension.

To review, active reading is a complex cognitive process by which the reader constructs meaning
from text; an interactive process that depends on what the reader brings to the material. To
accomplish this, the reader uses:

1) the information provided by the author,

2) information from his schema, and

3) inferencing skills as necessary.

As information is received the reader forms hypotheses. As more information becomes available
the reader will revise his hypotheses when necessary. For each of the three stages in the reading
process (pre-reading, active reading, and post-reading), it is important to go through all the steps
of the process as you read. For each stage, you should complete the activity described to get the
most out of the selection.

33
 STAGE ACTIVITIES
Activate schema on topic of reading
Preview the reading:
 Get the big picture - overview skimming
 Identify the main idea/thesis
 Read headings and sub-headings
 Read captions accompanying pictures/graphics
Set your purpose for reading
Choose an appropriate mode of reading
Question:
Pre-reading

 What do I already know about this topic?

 What do I need to learn about this topic?
Make predictions
Check unknown vocabulary
Think as you read; read for ideas and concepts, not word by word
Visualize patterns of organization
Actively construct meaning
Anticipate upcoming information
Verify the main idea and identify significant details
Look for answers to your pre-reading questions and predictions
Consciously add to or modify schema integrating old and new knowledge
Self-monitor; assess your understanding:
 Evaluate comprehension
 Employ fix-up strategies as appropriate
 Am I understanding?
Active Reading

 If not, what should I do about it?

 Am I finding out what I wanted to know?
Practice meta-cognitive behaviors of good readers.
Read Background Information on Reading Comprehension and Meta-cognitive Behaviors of
Good and Poor Readers
Review and reinforce learning
 Write a summary, make notes
 Construct a graphic organizer
 Reread difficult or important parts
 Check unusual or unfamiliar vocabulary
Reflect
 Evaluate understanding/ comprehension
o What have I learned?
Post-Reading

o Did I answer all my relevant questions?

 Evaluate your reading processing
o Did I choose an appropriate mode?
o What changes do I need to make in my reading?
o What did I do well that I want to repeat in future reading?

How can I put the concepts I am learning

Practice, practice, practice. Training yourself to read at a rapid rate with good concentration and
comprehension takes practice.
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Some tips for practicing:

 Begin with short sessions and relatively easy material.

 Push yourself to read at a rate that is slightly uncomfortable. Pull yourself out of that
passive comfort zone.
 Practice every day at a time when you are mentally alert
 Don't try to incorporate changes to reading techniques when you are tired, hungry or can't
get rid of distractions.

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