What is a reading model.doc

What is a reading model?IntroductionIn the last 40 years reading researchers have been studying the link between the reading process (what goes on in the brain) and how to teach reading. Depending on their interpretation of the reading process, they have developed a model of reading.DefinitionA reading model is a graphic attempt “to depict how an individual perceives a word, processes a clause, and comprehends a text.” (Singer and Ruddell 1985) KindsHere are some kinds of reading models.Although there are many models of reading, reading researchers tend to classify them into three kinds. Top-downo Emphasizes what the reader brings to the text, such as prior knowledge and experiences o Says comprehension begins in the mind of the reader, who already has some ideas about the meaning of the text o Proceeds from whole to partExample: Readers prior knowledge to semantic cues to syntactic cues to other more specific information Bottom-upo Emphasizes the written or printed text o Says comprehension begins by processing the smallest linguistic unit (phoneme), and working toward larger units (syllables, words, phrases, sentences) o Proceeds from part to wholeExample: Phoneme to syllable to word to sentence Interactiveo Recognizes the interaction of bottom-up and top-down processes simultaneously throughout the reading process. What is a top-down reading model?IntroductionTop-down reading models suggest that processing of a text begins in the mind of the readers with meaning-driven processes, or an assumption about the meaning of a text. From this perspective, readers identify letters and words only to confirm their assumptions about the meaning of the text. (Dechant 1991)The proponents generally agree that comprehension is the basis for decoding skills, not a singular result, and meaning is brought to print, not derived from print. ProponentsHere are some proponents of the top-down reading model: Goodman, K. 1985 Smith, F. 1994 DefinitionA top-down reading model is a reading model that emphasizes what the reader brings to the text says reading is driven by meaning, and proceeds from whole to part. Also known as: inside-out model concept-driven model whole to part model DiscussionHere are the views of some researchers about the top-down reading model:Frank Smith, a journalist turned reading researcher: Reading is not decoding written language to spoken language. Reading does not involve the processing of each letter and each word. Reading is a matter of bringing meaning to print, not extracting meaning from print. (McCormick, T. 1988) Kenneth S. Goodman, reading specialist at the University of Arizona: “.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). Although Goodman is often referred to as a leading advocate of the top-down approach, his model by his own admission is interactive, “.it is one which uses print as input and has meaning as output. But the reader provides input too, and the reader, interacting with text, is selective in using just as little of the cues from text as necessary to construct meaning.” (Goodman, K. 1981) ExamplesA widely accepted educational philosophy that utilizes a top-down approach to reading is called whole language.FeaturesHere are some features of a top-down approach to reading (Gove 1983): Readers can comprehend a selection even though they do not recognize each word. Readers should use meaning and grammatical cues to identify unrecognized words. Reading for meaning is the primary objective of reading rather than mastery of letters, letter/sound relationships, and words. Reading requires the use of meaning activities rather than the mastery of a series of word-recognition skills. The primary focus of instruction should be the reading of sentences, paragraphs, and whole selections. The most important aspect about reading is the amount and kind of information gained through reading. What is a bottom-up reading model?IntroductionA bottom-up reading model emphasizes a single-direction, part-to-whole processing of a text.In the beginning stages it gives little emphasis to the influences of the readers world knowledge, contextual information, and other higher-order processing strategies. (Dechant 1991).DefinitionA bottom-up reading model is a reading model that emphasizes the written or printed text says reading is driven by a process that results in meaning (or, in other words, reading is driven by text), and proceeds from part to whole. Also known as: part to whole modelProponentsHere are some proponents of the bottom-up reading model: Flesch 1955 Gough 1985 LaBerge and Samuels 1985 DiscussionHere are the views of some researchers about the bottom-up reading model: Leonard Bloomfield: The first task of reading is learning the code or the alphabetic principle by which “written marks.conventionally represent.phonemes.” (Bloomfield and Barnhart 1961) The meaning of the text is expected to come naturally as the code is broken based on the readers prior knowledge of words, their meanings, and the syntactical patterns of his/her language. (McCormick, T. 1988) Writing is merely a device for recording speech. (Bloomfield and Barnhart 1961) Emerald Dechant: “Bottom-up models operate on the principle that the written text is hierarchically organized (i.e., on the grapho-phonic, phonemic, syllabic, morphemic, word, and sentence levels) and that the reader first processes the smallest linguistic unit, gradually compiling the smaller units to decipher and comprehend the higher units (e.g., sentence syntax).” (Dechant 1991) Charles Fries: The reader must learn to transfer from the auditory signs for language signals.to a set of visual signs for the same signals. (Fries 1962) The reader must learn to automatically respond to the visual patterns. The cumulative comprehension of the meanings signaled then enable the reader to supply those portions of the signals which are not in the graphic representations themselves. (Fries 1962) Learning to read.means developing a considerable range of habitual responses to a specific set of patterns of graphic shapes. (Fries 1962) Philip B Gough: Reading is a strictly serial process: letter-by-letter visual analysis, leading to positive recognition of every word through phonemic encoding. (McCormick, T. 1988) Lexical, syntactic and semantic rules are applied to the phonemic output which itself has been decoded from print. (McCormick, T. 1988) ExampleA widely accepted instructional program that incorporates several bottom-up principles is the phonic approach to reading.FeaturesHere are some features of a bottom-up approach to reading:Bottom-up advocates believe the reader needs to identify letter features link these features to recognize letters combine letters to recognize spelling patterns link spelling patterns to recognize words, and then proceed to sentence, paragraph and text-level processing. What is an interactive reading model?byKen Boothe Leah B. Walter IntroductionAn interactive reading model attempts to combine the valid insights of bottom-up and top-down models. It attempts to take into account the strong points of the bottom-up and top-down models, and tries to avoid the criticisms leveled against each, making it one of the most promising approaches to the theory of reading today. (McCormick, T. 1988)DefinitionAn interactive reading model is a reading model that recognizes the interaction of bottom-up and top-down processes simultaneously throughout the reading process.ProponentsHere are some proponents of the interactive reading model: Rumelhart, D. 1985 Barr, Sadow, and Blachowicz 1990 Ruddell and Speaker 1985 DiscussionHere are the views of some researchers about the interactive reading model:Emerald Dechant: The interactive model suggests that the reader constructs meaning by the selective use of information from all sources of meaning (graphemic, phonemic, morphemic, syntax, semantics) without adherence to any one set order. The reader simultaneously uses all levels of processing even though one source of meaning can be primary at a given time. (Dechant 1991) Kenneth Goodman: An interactive model is one which uses print as input and has meaning as output. But the reader provides input, too, and the reader, interacting with the text, is selective in using just as little of the cues from text as necessary to construct meaning. (Goodman, K. 1981) David E. Rumelhart: Reading is at once a perceptual and a cognitive process. It is a process which bridges and blurs these two traditional distinctions. Moreover, a skilled reader must be able to make use of sensory, syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic information to accomplish the task. These various sources of information appear to interact in many complex ways during the process of reading (Rumelhart, D. 1985). ExamplesThe distinction between reading methodologies which are classified as whole-language (top-down) in contrast to interactive is not always cle