Reading Models

a reasonable framework that provides a general understanding of the reading comprehension process.

A reading model is

Reading Models

1. Reading Process

2. Two Analogies

3. Reading Models

Reading Process

Start with a purpose and planPreview and predictSimplify complex sentencesIdentify cohesive devicesMake inferencesSummarize information Recognize the topic sentenceLook for the thesis statementWork out the text structureReview the textReflect on the writing

Pre-reading

In-reading

Post-reading

An analogy

Examine the following mazes and try to interpret the reading comprehension process by analogy.

That is, in what way is reading comprehension different from or similar to the solution of a maze?

Another analogy

Examine the following map and try to interpret in another way the reading comprehension process by analogy.

That is, in what way is reading comprehension different from or similar to finding the way to your destination?

Reading Models

1. The bottom-up model

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

1.

1. The top-down model

1. The interactive model3.

2.

Guess what they assume respectively.

The bottom-up model

Emphasizes the written or printed text

Says reading is driven by text

Says comprehension begins by processing the smallest linguistic unit, and working toward larger units

Proceeds from part to whole

What do you think of this model?

The top-down model

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

Says meaning is brought to print, not derived from print

Proceeds from whole to part

What do you think of this model?

The interactive model

Recognizes the interaction of bottom-up and top-down processes simultaneously throughout the reading process.

suggests that the reader constructs meaning by the selective use of information from all sources of meaning without adherence to any one set order.

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.

What do you think of this model?