Top-Down Processing Bottom-Up

Using the incoming input as the

basis for understanding Definition use of background knowledge in
understanding the meaning of a
the message. message.

Comprehension begins with the received data that is use of background knowledge in
analyzed as successive levels of organization – sounds, understanding the meaning of a
words, clauses, sentences, texts – until meaning is derived. message.

“When I went to the post

office yesterday, I’d been
crashed by a car.”
When we heard only these few
words in the sentence, although
it is not a complete
sentence but we know what the
meaning that people said.
Group Members:
Chong Kar Kee, Goh Xue Heng, Soo Jing Yu, Tan Xuan
Er
Example “I heard on the news there was a big
earthquake in Los Angeles last
night.”
On recognizing the word “earthquake” we generate a set of questions we want to
hear or obtain responses to:
Where exactly was the earthquake?, How big was it?, Did it cause a lot of
damage?, Were many people killed or injured?, What rescue efforts are under
way?
These questions guide us through the understanding of any subsequent discourse
that we hear and they focus our listening on what is said about the questions.