What is a Reading Model? IntroductionIntroduction 

In  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)

Kinds

Here are some kinds of reading models.Although there are many models of reading, reading researchers tend to classify them into three kinds.

A. Top-downA. Top-down 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)

Proponents

Here are some proponents of the top-down reading model: Goodman, K. 1985 Smith, F. 1994

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.

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

Discussion Here 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)

DID YOU KNOW?DID YOU KNOW?A 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.

B. Bottom-upB. Bottom-up IntroductionIntroduction

A bottom-up reading model emphasizes a single-A bottom-up reading model emphasizes a single-direction, part-to-whole processing of a text.direction, part-to-whole processing of a text.

In the beginning stages it gives little emphasis to the In the beginning stages it gives little emphasis to the influences of the reader's world knowledge, influences of the reader's world knowledge, contextual information, and other higher-order processing information, and other higher-order processing strategies. (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 model

ProponentsHere are some proponents of the bottom-up reading model: Flesch 1955Gough 1985LaBerge and Samuels 1985

Discussion 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)

DID YOU KNOW?DID YOU KNOW?A widely accepted

instructional program that incorporates several bottom-up

principles is the phonic approach to reading.

Features 

Here 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 letterscombine letters to recognize spelling patterns link spelling patterns to recognize words, andthen proceed to sentence, paragraph and text-level

processing.

C. Interactive Introduction

An 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).

What is Schema Theory? Linguists, cognitive psychologists, and psycholinguists have used

the concept of schema (plural: schemata) to understand the interaction of key factors affecting the comprehension process.

Simply put, schema theory states that all knowledge is organized into units. Within these units of knowledge, or schemata, is stored information.

A schema, then, is a generalized description or a conceptual system for understanding knowledge-how knowledge is represented and how it is used.

Schemas clearly affect our recall of events.

Schemas also affect our ability to learn things.

According to this theory, schemata represent knowledge about concepts: objects and the relationships they have with other objects, situations, events, sequences of events, actions, and sequences of actions.

The importance of schema theory to reading comprehension also lies in how the reader uses schemata. This issue has not yet been resolved by research, although investigators agree that some mechanism activates just those schemata most relevant to the reader's task.

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