Reading process

Reading process

by	Leah B. Walter
	Kenneth A. Boothe

Introduction
	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)

Benefits
	Understanding the reading process will help you in the areas of
	material production teaching, and training teachers.
	“The most successful reading instruction is that which is based on a solid understanding of the reading process itself, and which promotes...the acquisitions of good reading strategies.” (Weaver, C. 1980).

Definitions

How children define reading
	Here are some definitions of reading that children have given:
	“It's filling out workbooks. It's pronouncing the letters. It's when you put sounds together. Reading is learning hard words. Reading is like thinking...you know, it's understanding the story. It's when you find out things.” (Harste 1978)

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.

Discussion
	“The essential skill in reading is getting meaning from a printed or written message.” (Carroll 1985). Reading specialists would generally agree that that reading skill includes the following components (Carroll 1985):
	Knowledge of the language to be read Ability to separate spoken words into component sounds Ability to recognize and discriminate the letters of the alphabet Understanding of the principle of reading from left-to-right or right-to-left Understanding of the correspondence between letters and sounds Ability to recognize printed words from a variety of cues such as context, analogy, syntactic, semantic, or letter shapes Ability to comprehend a text

See also
	What is a reading model? What are reading skills? What are reading readiness skills?

Sources
	Adams 1990 Barr, Sadow, and Blachowicz 1990 Carroll 1985 Dechant 1991 Flesch 1955 Goodman, K. 1981 Harste 1978 Klein, Peterson, and Simington 1991 Weaver, C. 1980

Context for this page:

Fact module: Reading process, by Leah B. Walter and Kenneth A. Boothe
In overview module: Reading research, by Kenneth A. Boothe and Leah B. Walter
In overview module: Reading and learning research, by Kenneth A. Boothe (contributor) and Leah B. Walter (contributor)
In modular book: Implement a literacy program, by Carole P. Spaeth (compiler) and Leah B. Walter (compiler)
In bookshelf: Literacy

This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library, Version 4.0, published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 1999. [Ordering information.]

Page content last modified: 16 September 1999

© 1999 SIL International