Unit-1 Sub Point –(A)Definition and Importance of Reading

There are four language skills. They are arranged in an order by the language experts i.e. L,S,R,W. The speaking and writing are the expressional skills. If we observe it carefully than all the skill are interrelated to one another. Unless you listen or read the accurate language you cannot speak or write language accurately. Some are of the opinion that Reading Skill is a simple, passive process that involves reading words in a linear fashion and internalizing their meaning one at a time. But reading is actually a very complex process that requires a great deal of active participation on the part of the reader. Reading is complex activity in terms of getting the gist of the text. It consists of making out the meaning of written language. The meaningful response is the very heart of the reading process. Reading has been defined as an activity which involves the comprehension and interpretation of ideas symbolized by written or printed page. However, various reading experts have defined reading in different ways.

Definitions

Manzo and Manzo – define Reading ‘as the act of simultaneously reading the lines, reading between the lines, and reading beyond the lines.’ The first part of their definition, reading the lines refers to the act of decoding the words in order to construct the author’s basic message. The next part, reading between the lines, refers to the act of making inferences and understanding the author’s implied message. And finally, reading beyond the lines involves the judging of the significance of the author’s message and applying it to other areas of background and knowledge.

Roy Harris in Rethinking Writing (2000) – ‘What do we read? The message is not something given in advance–or given at all– but something created by interaction between writers and readers as participants in a particular communicative situation.

Goodman (1970) – ‘The purpose of reading is the reconstruction of meaning. Meaning is not in print, but it is the meaning that the author begins with, when he writes. Somehow the reader strives to reconstruct this meaning as he reads’.

Jenkinson (1973) – ‘Reading has been defined as the act of responding to printed symbols so that meaning is created.’

Tinker (1952) – ‘Reading involves the reconstruction of printed or written symbols which serve as stimuli for the recall of meanings built up through past experience, and the reconstruction of new meanings through manipulation of concepts already possessed by the reader.’

Gibson (1965) also characterizes reading behaviour as (a) receiving communication, (b) making discriminative responses to graphic symbols, (c) decoding graphic symbols to speech, and (d) obtaining meaning from printed page. 􀂏 Betts (1966) has defined reading ‘as a thinking process’. No doubt thinking is an important aspect of reading process, but not the whole of it.

Kenneth Goodman in Journal of the Reading Specialist (1967) ‐ ‘Reading is a psycholinguistic guessing game. It involves an interaction between thought and language. Efficient reading does not result from precise perception and identification of all elements, but from skill in selecting the fewest, most productive cues necessary to produce guesses which are right the first time. The ability to anticipate that which has not been seen, of course, is vital in reading, just as the ability to anticipate what has not yet been heard is vital in listening. ,

Note: The above definitions were discussed in the class. Following are some more definitions.

Gray (1956) – ‘A good reader understands not only the meaning of the passage, but its related meaning as well which includes all the reader knows that enriches or illuminates the literal meaning. Such knowledge may have acquired through direct experience, through wide reading or through listening to others.’

 Walker – ‘Reading is an active process (not a product, like history) in which readers shift between sources of information (what they know and what the text says), elaborate meaning and strategies, check their interpretation (revising when appropriate), and use the social context to focus their response.’

Fries (1963) indicates that while reading is not a simple process, it can be summed up in a simple statement, ‘one can read in so far as he can respond to the language skills represented by graphic shapes as fully as he has learned to respond to the same language signals of his code represented by patterns of auditory shapes.’

 This statement reflects his view that teaching of reading is largely a matter of developing the child’s ability to respond to letters and spelling patterns. If these could be converted from print into spoken form then this could be regarded as reading.

The Importance of Reading

1.“The man who doesn’t read good books has no advantage over the man who can’t read them.” MarkTwain.  􀂙 The ability to read is generally regarded not only as the basis of education but also as an essential possession of the citizens of civilized countries. Of all the valuable skills the average person learns in his life time, the ability to read is the most important since it is the most universal and the most useful for everyone today.

2. It helps to develop creativity and critical thinking among the reader

3. There is a strong correlation between reading and academic success. In other words, a student who is a good reader is more likely to do well in school and pass exams than a student who is a weak reader.

4. Good reader can understand the individual sentences and the organizational structure of a piece of writing. They can comprehend ideas, follow arguments, and detect implications. In summary, good readers can extract from the writing.

5.They can do the task assigned to them quickly.

6. Educational researchers have also found a strong correlation between reading and vocabulary knowledge. In other words, students who have a large vocabulary are usually good readers. This is not very surprising, since the best way to acquire a large vocabulary is to read extensively, and if you read extensively you are likely to be or become a good reader!

7.  Strang (1967) says, “Reading proficiency is the royal road to knowledge; it is essential to the success in all academic subjects. In modern life, learning depends largely upon one’s ability to interpret the printed page accurately and fully.”

8. Reading helps the individual to understand society and his role as a citizen, as a worker and individual with his own personal needs and problems.

9. Reading involves the whole personality, promising countless personal and social values. It is essential for fuller personal development and enrichment of life.

10. Reading is one of the most rewarding uses of the expanded leisure that comes as a result of automation.

11. Reading provides experience through which the individual may expand his horizons; identify, extend, and expand his interests, and gain deeper understandings of himself, of other human beings, and of the world.

12. Reading has social significance in the modern world. The democracy of any country can survive only if the people of that country achieve a certain general level of reading competence.

13.  Russell (1949) has rightly said, “A good general level of reading ability is essential to the working of democracy.” Reading is, no doubt, a potent force for national integration.

Some of the Importance of Reading is as follows

14.  Reading develops a person’s creativity. Unlike movies where everything is determined by the producer, writer and director, books allow students to create in their minds how a particular character looks like or imagine how a scene plays out. Reading a book therefore, allows a student to exercise and cultivate her/his creative thinking skills.

15. Developing good reading skills can improve students’ ability to comprehend concepts and ideas.

16. Ones’ fluency in a language and, consequently, communication skills are improved by reading.

17.  Reading introduces students to new things and has the ability to broaden their interests.

18. Reading can develop positive values in students.

19.  One of the main problems of today’s students is their inability to concentrate on their lessons (a result of their shortening attention span.) A solution to this problem is to encourage students to read. 20. According to studies, reading increases a student’s ability to concentrate.

21. Reading also improves students’ writing skills as they are able to “subconsciously acquire good writing style.”

22. If you are a good reader it really helps you to present your arguments with full confidence even while doing job if you read you absolutely came across with new words structure which help you to deal the important documents.

Unit-1-(B) Process of Reading

The psychological processes involved in reading are highly complex. The modern psychology of learning views reading as more than the simple association of printed symbols with their meaning. Hildreth (1958) is of the view that ‘Reading is a two‐fold process: first, there is the mechanical aspect: the psychological responses to the print consisting of certain oculomotor skills, the eye movements through which sensations are conveyed to the brain; and second, the mental process through which the meaning of sense impressions is perceived and interpreted, involving thinking, with swift inferences.’ As the eyes move rhythmically across the lines of print, sensations are received which are interpreted almost instantly by the mind as ideas expressed in language.

1. Physiological Process of Reading / Physical component: Recognize a word is the first step of the reading process. Reading as a visual taskThe

visual symbol of the written or printed word is the means by which the appropriate sounds and images are evoked in the mind of the reader. To receive a clear image of the printed word the eyes must focus on it. In reading the eyes do not make a continuous sweep across the page. Rather they move in quick, short successive movements known as pauses or fixations. A pause or fixation is the stop that the eyes make so that it can react to the graphic stimuli. In the initial stages of reading the duration of each fixation will tend to be relatively long. There will be many regressive movements also when the reader will make return movements to words that were not recognized or comprehended before. Gradually as the child’s reading ability increases the duration of each fixation will decrease and the number of fixations per line will become smaller with fewer regressions. As a skilled reader we seldom sound out the letters in a word or the words in a sentence. We do not even look at them individually. Eye fixation studies show that in reading the eyes jump three or four times a second taking in gulps of information at each pause.

Eye‐movement skills develop rapidly during the first four or five grades. A slight improvement may occur between grades six and ten after which a leveling process occurs. Tinker (1959) found that the eye movements of college students were only slightly more mature than for ninth grade pupils. Normally eye movements vary according to the difficulty of reading matter or with a change of purpose. A good reader is distinguished from poor reader by his better word recognition, word analysis and comprehension and these are frequently reflected in more efficient eye movements.

2. Psychological Process of Reading / Psychological Component:

Perception: Perception refers to the interpretation of everything that we sense, since the symbol has no meaning of its own, perception must go beyond the sensory data. The reader does not see the object, person or experience of which the author writes. Meaning does not come automatically out of word. The child’s reactions to the printed words are determined by the experiences that he has had with these objects or events for which the symbol stands. Thus perception is a cognitive process by which the visual impressions become meaningful in the light of the individual’s past experience and present needs. Individuals differ in their perceptual sytles. Strang (1967) is of the view that able learners and better readers see words as wholes while the poor readers perceive word fragments and tend to be preoccupied with unimportant details. Able readers recognize familiar syllables and words almost as quickly as individual letters and take in phrases and short sentences as readily as single words. Efficient readers require fewer clues than do poor readers in order to recognize words or phrases.

Concept Formation: The idea of forming perceptions is related to the idea of forming concepts. When perceptions are grouped into larger patterns that embrace classes or categories, conceptualization occurs. A concept is a process which helps a person to recognize similarities in otherwise diverse objects, situations or events. It contributes further to abstract thinking and generalization. Suppose the teacher wants to teach a child about a tree. Once the child has seen a mango tree, he should be able to recognize the coconut tree also as a tree by referring back to his old experience inspite of the fact that both the trees are quite different in their shape and size. So the child learns after a variety of experiences to see the similarities in the trees although they look different from each other. He begins to generalize‐or see that they stand straight ‐they have leaves etc. “So this is how the concepts are formed ‐the idea of taking all of the similarities from a body of diverse things and seeing them as having certain common family characteristics”. (Berg, 1977). Persons lacking in the ability of concept formation and generalization find it difficult to recognize an idea unless it is very specific and well explained. Conceptual ability and reading proficiency have a positive relation. Children of normal intelligence who often fail in reading in upper primary grades are often deficient in this ability. The teacher should help the students to classify, to organise, to unify ideas and details under generalized headings. This training will help the student to learn concepts more effectively.

Recognition of word meaning: Children go through stages as they learn to interpret words. Concrete and specific concepts are developed first i.e., relating an object to its function: a chair is to sit. The child gradually engages in more complex thinking. ‘The concept of time in sequence, and the concepts of latitude, sphericity, altitude or longitude, for example generally do not develop before grades six or seven. Cause and effects relations rarely are understood before the age of nine, and many social concepts escape children until they are twelve or thirteen’ (Dechant, 1964,). Major determinants of meaning are‐ experience, culture, affective factors and our own perception of them. These elements combine to make our interpretations of a word very personalistic experience. Effective word recognition is basic to all progress in reading. Sounding out a word will give the reader its meaning if the word is in his speaking vocabulary. But if the word is unfamiliar, he will have to use other ways of unlocking its meaning. Such as (a) deriving the meaning from the context,  (b) studying the form and structure of the word to get clues from familiar parts, (c) looking it up in the dictionary. In making an accurate interpretation of the meaning of a passage one must take into account the context‐time and place, the authors’ intention and purpose etc.

Comprehension: Comprehension is the ultimate goal of all readings. It carries the understanding of a word or a phrase beyond recognition to the understanding of the meaning intended by the author. This involves determining the meanings of words in their language setting and at the same time linking the meaning into larger language patterns and fusing them to a chain of related ideas, usually those that author has in mind (Chacko, 1966). Whether one is reading for knowledge and information or for sheer pleasure, demand for meaning is central. The degree of understanding depends upon many factors, such as, the nature of the reading task, the clarity of its expression, the reader’s purpose, interest and his back‐ ground and past experience. Comprehension takes place on three levels: literal meaning or construction of meaning, interpretation of meaning, and evaluation of meaning. Edgar Dale has called them ‘Reading on the lines’, ‘Reading between the lines’, and ‘Reading beyond the lines’.

Literal Meaning: The first level requires the students to derive literal meaning from sequential words and their grammatical relations in sentences and paragraphs. This is the stage of reproduction of author’s words and translation of his thoughts into one’s own words. Here the reader recognizes word meaning, the sentence and paragraph meaning and the meaning of continuous written discourse. He understands the main idea in a passage and follows the sequence of ideas expressed in it. He follows the author’s arguments, generalizations and conclusions. In short, the reader has to understand what the author is saying though he may not go deep into it.

Interpretation of Meaning–The second level of comprehension is interpretative level. This involves grasping implied and inferred meanings, reading critically, or reading between the lines. The mature reader recognizes the author’s motives, intention and purpose, interprets his thought, passes judgment on his statements, assesses the relevance of the material read, summarizes the passage, selects the suitable title and identifies the tone of the passage. He establishes a purpose for reading draws and supports conclusions and makes inferences or predictions. This is also known critical reading. In the words of Strang (1961), “Critical reading involves the examination of ideas. Students should examine a sweeping generalization, state it in their own words, note the evidence offered in support of it, check it against their own experience and information, and finally give their considered appraisal of the statement”.

 Evaluation of Meaning: Evaluation involves critical reaction to the material read, which may include many intellectual processes such as discriminating, imagining, analyzing, judging and problem‐solving. It also involves deriving implications, speculating about consequences, and drawing generalizations not stated by the author, i.e., ‘reading beyond the lines’. On this level, the reader may arrange the author’s ideas into new patterns by extending their scope or fusing them with ideas that he himself has gained from reading or from experience. While doing so the reader first evaluates the meaning gained through interpretation of the material read. He maintains an objective attitude which demands proof or checking of sources, and evaluates the statements that conflict with or contradict one another. He detects special pleading, such as, emotional appeal or propaganda, and understands that the materials will differ greatly in validity and reliability because of the time of writing, pressure of circumstances, bias of writer and many other factors. Strang (1967) is of the view that by means of both analysis and synthesis, the reader gains a new insight or a higher level of understanding that enables him to reflect on the significance of the ideas. In this rewarding type of reading, he brings initiative, originality and thought to bear on the literal meaning of the printed page.

Reaction: Effective writing arouses in the reader some type of emotional reaction, either one of pleasure or indifference or dislike. Strang and others (1961, p. 14) observed that “a piece of writing may evoke feelings of pleasure in the author’s felicity of expression, approval of his point of view, sympathetic understandings of his characters, delight, or exultation. Or it may evoke’ feelings of boredom, annoyance, prejudice, dislike, resentment, or fear.” Great books or poems may be a source of self‐revelation‐they stimulate us to explore our selves and our world. One appreciates reading if he is interested in it and if he reacts appropriately to the excellent qualities which good reading matter possesses. If students read creatively, they involve themselves in the book or article, empathizing with a fictional or real character as he fights and suffers. Some degree of emotional involvement in the article or book is basic to creative reading. A mature reader must react to What he reads in order to make his reading effective and pur‐ poseful.

Application: Most certainly the highest level of reading process is the application of what is read to one’s own life. This application of what is read is called creative or integrative reading. ‘Integration of what is read requires that the reader should be able to take understandings, knowledges and attitudes gained in reading and apply them to the solving of his own problems or to the improvement of his own life’ (Miller, 1972). Unless the reader makes use of ideas he gains from reading, the act of reading may have little significance as a means of improving his thinking and his ways of living. According to Yoakam (1955) the ability to use ideas gained from reading depends on the reader’s skill in comprehension, organisation, and retention of ideas and upon his ability to gain new ideas and to develop new appreciations. His mind must be alert and he must be willing to make an effort to profit from what he reads. There is such a wide range of reading materials available today that it should certainly be possible to find books that will be of much use to an individual. The ideas gained through reading must be reflected in his conversation or discussion, and should modify his judgements, increase understanding and suggest new ways of behaviour resulting into all round development of personality.

Unit-1 Sub point (C) Purposes of Reading

Following are some of the purposes of reading: 1. To get information 2. To be motivated

3. To motivate others 4. To encourage ourselves and others  5. To improve one’s skills  6. To pass leisure time  7. To get delight 8. For mental development 9. For spiritual development 10. For learning social skills 11. For learning about other cultures 12. For sharing your views 13. For passing knowledge to next generation 14. For recreational purpose

Note: We have discussed many other points in the class. You can put here

Unit-1 (D) Types of Reading

We read in different ways, depending on the purpose for which we are reading a text. Let us look at few different types of reading.

1.      Skimming: Let us say that you are a student of reading skills; and as suggested by your teacher, you need to buy a reference text book, or to write a conceptual paper. You go to a book store and see a rack full of books, with the same title, but different authors. You don’t have time to read the pages before deciding on buying the book. Therefore, you quickly go through the contents, title page and the blurb. By now you have decided buy one book. This type of reading is known as “Skimming”. Thus skimming may be defined as “looking over a text/book quickly, in order to get a general or superficial idea of the content”. When you read quickly to gain a general impression as to whether the text is of use to you. You are not necessarily searching for a specific item and key words. Skimming provides an ‘overview’ of the text. Skimming is useful to look at chapter/section headings, summaries and opening paragraphs. The purpose of skimming: To check relevance of text. Sets the scene for the more concentrated effort that is to follow, if the text is useful.

2.      Scanning: As you read a text or a article, you may suddenly come across a word that is not familiar to you. Naturally, you would like to know the meaning of the word, for you own benefit. So you get the dictionary and carefully find word. You see the spelling, pronunciation, meaning and also the various uses of the same word. This type of careful reading to find out the specific, clear details is known as “scanning”. For example, scanning a telephone book, you are looking for it quickly. You know what you are searching for (key words and names). You ’see’ every item on the page, but you don’t necessarily read the pages ‐ you ignore anything you are not looking for. Thus, when you discover the key words being searched for, you will be unable to recall the exact content of the page.

3.      Extensive Reading: As we have already mentioned, our way of reading is influenced by the purpose of our reading. Most of us have the habit of reading especially when we are free, or have a lot of leisure time. We might get hold of a novel, a comic strip, or a magazine. When we read for the pure pleasure of reading, it is known as “extensive” reading.

4.      Light type of reading: Reading for leisure tends to be ‘light’: Read at a pace which feels comfortable. Read with understand. Skim the boring, irrelevant passages. An average light reading speed is 100‐200 words per minute. This form of reading does not generally require detailed concentration.

5.      Intensive Reading: when we read shorter text like a research paper for getting specific details or information, we read slowly with a lot of concentration. This is known as intensive reading. When you read a book as resource material for research, you read it intensively because the overall understanding is not the objective or purpose of our reading. When you read an article in order to write a review on it, you read it intensively. We use all the skill of reading when we do intensive reading.

6.      Word by Word Type Reading : This type of reading is time consuming and demands a high level of concentration. Some material is not readily understood and so requires a slow and careful analytical read. People use this type of reading for unfamiliar words and concepts, scientific formulae. It can take up to an hour just to read a few lines of text.

7.      Loud and Silent Reading: Most of our day‐today‐ reading is done silently. When we read an article or an advertisement, we are engaged in the process of deriving meaning from the passage. Actually when we read aloud, our concentration is divided between reading and speaking. This makes reading difficult and may cause problems in understanding the matter. However, there are situation when we may have to read things aloud when others do not have access to them ‐ for example, notice and circulars. We need to read the instructions aloud to student or employees, so that there is no confusion later. Apart from these extraordinary situations, most of the time the natural way of reading is silent reading, which is ideal and helps comprehension.

SQ3R Technique of Reading: This technique of reading was developed by Robinson in his book “Effective Study” (1970).SQ3R stands for the initial letters of the five steps in studying a text. The method involves five simple steps; Survey, Question, Read, Recall and Review.

Survey: skim through to gain an overview and not key points. • Question: devise questions you hope the text will answer. • Read: slowly and carefully. • Recall: from memory, write down the main points made by the chapter. • Review: revisit your questions ‐ compare these to your recall and establish how well the text has answered them; fill in any gaps by further reading and note‐ taking.

Unit-1 Sub Point (E) Study Habits

The successful students possess good study habits. They used to apply these habits to all of their works. Read about each study habit. Work to develop any study habit you do not have.

1.       Try not to do too much studying at one time: If you try to do too much studying at one time, you will tire and your studying will not be very effective. Space the work you have to do over shorter periods of time. Taking short breaks will restore your mental energy.

2.      Plan specific times for studying: Study time is any time you are doing something related to schoolwork. It can be completing assigned reading, working on a paper or project, or studying for a test. Schedule specific times throughout the week for your study time.

3.      Try to study at the same times each day: Studying at the same times each day establishes a routine that becomes a regular part of your life, just like sleeping and eating. When a scheduled study time comes up during the day, you will be mentally prepared to begin studying.

4.      Set specific goals for your study times: Goals will help you stay focused and monitor your progress. Simply sitting down to study has little value. You must be very clear about what you want to accomplish during your study times.

5.      Start studying when planned: You may delay starting your studying because you don’t like an assignment or think it is too hard. A delay in studying is called “procrastination.” If you procrastinate for any reason, you will find it difficult to get everything done when you need to. You may rush to make up the time you wasted getting started, resulting in careless work and errors.

6.      Work on the assignment you find most difficult first: Your most difficult assignment will require the most effort. Start with your most difficult assignment since this is when you have the most mental energy.

7.      Review your notes before beginning an assignment: Reviewing your notes can help you make sure you are doing an assignment correctly. Also, your notes may include information that will help you complete an assignment.

8.      Tell your friends not to call you during your study times: The study problems can occur if your friends call you during your study times. First, your work is interrupted. It is not that easy to get back to what you were doing. Second, your friends may talk about things that will distract you from what you need to do. Here’s a simple idea – turn off your cell phone during your study times.

9.      Call another student when you have difficulty with an assignment: This is a case where “two heads may be better than one.”

10.  Review your schoolwork over the weekend: Yes, weekends should be fun time. But there is also time to do some review. This will help you be ready to go on Monday morning when another school week begins. These ten study habits can help you throughout your education. Make sure they are your study habits.

Unit-1 (G) Different Models of Reading

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.

Definition:

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

1.     Top‐down Reading 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.  This Proceeds from whole to part.

Reader’s prior knowledge to semantic cues to syntactic cues to other more specific Information. Top‐down reading models suggests 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.

Definition

A 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)

Examples: A widely accepted educational philosophy that utilizes a top‐down approach to reading is called whole language.

Features:

Here are some features of a top‐down approach to reading (Gove 1983):

Ø  Readers can comprehend a selection even though they do not recognize each

word.

Ø  Readers should use meaning and grammatical cues to identify unrecognized

words.

Ø  Reading for meaning is the primary objective of reading rather than mastery of letters, letter/sound relationships, and words.

Ø  Reading requires the use of meaning activities rather than the mastery of a series of word‐recognition skills.

Ø  The primary focus of instruction should be the reading of sentences, paragraphs, and whole selections.

Ø  The most important aspect about reading is the amount and kind of information gained through reading.

(2) Bottom‐up Reading Model

Emphasizes the written or printed text, Says comprehension begins by processing the smallest linguistic unit (phoneme), and working toward larger units (syllables, words, phrases, sentences), Proceeds from part to whole. Phoneme to syllable to word to sentence. A 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 reader’s world

knowledge, contextual information, and other higher‐order processing strategies (Dechant 1991).

Definition:

A 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

Discussion:

Here 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 reader’s 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)

Example: 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 letters combine letters to recognize spelling patterns link spelling patterns to recognize words, and Then proceed to sentence, paragraph and text‐level processing.

(3) Interactive Reading Model

Recognizes the interaction of bottom‐up and top‐down processes simultaneously throughout the reading process. 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 itone of the most promising approaches to the theory of reading today. (McCormick, T.1988)

Definition:

An interactive reading model is a reading model that recognizes the interaction of bottom‐up and top‐down processes simultaneously throughout the reading process. Proponents: Here are some proponents of the interactive reading model:

 Rumelhart, D. 1985, Barr, Sadow, and Blachowicz 1990,  Ruddell and Speaker 1985

Discussion:

Here 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).

Examples: The distinction between reading methodologies which are classified as whole‐language (top‐down) in contrast to interactive is not always clear. Here are some examples, though, of instructional programs that incorporate the interactive reading model.

The Multistrategy method with its workbook track and storybook track is a fairly clearcut example of a methodology which attempts to focus on all levels of the reading hierarchy. Another method which is traditionally labeled as bottom‐up but does have components which attempt to guide the reader through all levels of the reading hierarchy is the Gudschinsky method.

An interactive whole language instructional program developed by SIL in Papua New Guinea focuses on using whole texts to teach reading. These texts are reproduced in primers, story books, or Big books. Various reading activities are constructed around the texts. Lessons include the systematic teaching of phonics or syllables. If primers are constructed, their lessons link with the story in focus.

Note:The following is the reference material taken from internet, articles, books, magazine and blogs you may use it as a reference.

Reading Skill Stevenson‐ “Reading takes us out of our country and ourselves. Reading is a process which helps one to understand the world.” Gray stated that‐‘Complete reading involves recognition, understanding and integration.’

According to Francis Keppel (1964) “‐‐‐every learning disorder seems to show some association with reading disability.” Burton (1964) felt that “Reading in the broadest sense is the development of meaning in response to stimuli and for the purpose of guiding behaviour.” Purposes of reading— • To receive useful information from the writer • To inspire ourselves • To motivate ourselves • To persuade ourselves • To learn to perform something • To pass leisure time • To enjoy ourselves • To solve our problems • To be benefited from other’s experiences • To keep ourselves rooted in our culture • To broaden our mental horizon • To know of the culture of others • To get aesthetic pleasure • To become more humane • To be more tolerant • To know about universal human values • To know about heights and depths of human nature • To develop our imagination

• To refine our sensitivity • To be far sighted • To learn about our shortcomings • To get moral lessons • To get peace and solace in the company of books • To develop our creativity • To learn new skills • To be acquainted with adventures • To help in social reform • To know about our past • To imagine about our future • To critically evaluate ourselves • To love nature • To preserve our environment • To think about the welfare of all Reading Process It involves our sense organ eye but basically it is a cognitive process. Our eyes see certain symbols on the paper and the mind receives the message and decodes it according to its attitude .Merely seeing and decoding the symbols is not reading as it involves comprehension also. A child if he is introduced to symbols can decode the symbols but may not be able to comprehend the text which is above his level. In that case it is not actual reading. According to Bloomfield –“Reading involves nothing more than the co‐relation of a sound image with its visual image.” Artley “Reding is the art of reconstructing from the printed image, the writer’s ideas, feelings moods and sensory impression.”

Carrol‐“He identifies the reding skill as getting meaning from printed or written pages. According to him the reader‐ • Looks at the printed page • Comprehends meaning • Reacts to meaning he has developed • Uses some of the meanings according to his requirements • Thus reading is Visual • Thus reading is thinking process. • It is a step to personal development • For proper reading following components are necessary‐ • Seeing the printed page • Concentration and eye movement to decode the message • Decoding of the message by the mind according to one’s cultural background, attitude and perception. It is because of these reasons that different people perceive different meanings in the same text. Meaning is in the mind of the readers. That is why only seeing written marks on the pages some people laugh some weep some feel spiritually elevated.

Types of reading: • Loud Reading • Silent Reading • Semi‐vocal Other classification: • Skimming • Scanning • Reading effectively‐Speed and Comprehension Causes of less speed • Loud reading • Sub‐vocalization • Hand movements

• Habit of taking support • Less eye span • Less concentration • Less Interest • More difficulty level • Habit of regression • Habit of re‐ reading • Less vocabulary • Vocalization • Ignoring peripheral vision According to Dechant “Rate of learning should always be dependent on the purpose, intelligence , experience and knowledge of the reader’s motivation and his psychology and physical state, his mastery of the basic reading skills and the format of the materials. Basic reading skills depend on – • Purpose • Interest • Experience • Difficulty Level To improve reading one must pay attention to the following factors‐ • Willingness • Working with appropriate materials • Sense of progress and satisfaction Rapid Reading Technique • Concentrate • Avoid loud reading and sub‐vocalizing • Maximse eye span • Avoid regression • Improve your vocabulary • Develop ability to guess

Comprehension: Literal comprehension means recognizing the writer’s mood, comprehending the writer’s tone and recognizing the writer’s purpose. Comprehension of one child may differ another because each child brings to the book different personal feelings and experiences. Comprehension is made up of a number of basic abilities including skills in recognizing words and their meanings, in grouping words into thought units and in giving the proper emphasis to the thought units so that the sentence may be understood. The ability to ascertain the relationship between the sentences that enables the reader to understand the paragraph then whole article, essay or book.

Teacher’s Role in Effective Reading A teacher can help in increasing reading efficiency in following ways‐ • Stating the purpose • Providing clear statements about the skills required by each text type • Providing pre‐reading questions • Building required knowledge • Using various approaches toward teaching • Focus on silent reading • Training for Sub‐skills • Training for adequate comprehension Teacher should help at Pre‐reading stage, while reading stage and the post‐reading stage Teacher should use following tasks and activities to enhance reading efficiency: • Skimming –Asking for the main idea • Scanning‐ Asking for specific information • Preparing an outline • Reading critically • Reading inferences • Possible questions • Paraphrasing

A teacher should help the students‐ (1)By being a role‐model himself (2) By ascertaining the needs and concerns of the child (3 )By making good reading material available(4)By discussing impact of books Factors affecting reading(

1) Vision (2) Hearing (3) Speech Defects (4) Vocalizing (5) Word by word reading (6) Monotonous Plodding‐ Reading all material at the same speed (8) Finger pointing (9) Head movements(10) Backtracking (10) Re‐reading Mode and Purpose: • Serious Subject matter • Light Subject matter Environment: • Light • Printed matter Types of Text: This can be divided in two ways: 1) According to purpose‐ • For recreation or leisure • For getting information • For serious study 2) According to subject matter•

Literary • Scientific • Philosophical • Economic • Spiritual • Light • Current Affairs Reading to Interpret: It means getting the meaning of words as they relate to each other in sentences then in paragraph then in the whole write‐up. It depends on active thinking process, vocabulary maturity, and interest and difficulty level of the subject‐matter. Edmund Burke‐ Reading without understanding is like eating without digestion. Bond and Tinker‐ A definition of rate of reading must be redefined as a rate of comprehension of printed and written material. Reading between the Lines‐ Generally only hints are given. The readers develop the ability to guess and fill‐in the gaps with experience and maturity. IN the books of small children all facts are given but gradually something is left to the imagination of the readers to guess, conclude and interpret according to his attitude mental set, experience, knowledge, maturity and perception. Some examples‐ • The Gift of Maggie‐ It highlights selfless and unconditional love • The Old Man and the Sea‐ Man’s fight against the powerful forces of Nature • Maternity‐ True humanity knows no barriers of caste, creed and nation. • The Background‐ It shows that when art is considered more important than life then life becomes miserable. • Justice‐ Justice system sometimes unduly punishes a person too harshly for minor fault. • Saint Jones‐ Saints are to be only worshipped and not welcome in the actual world • Hamlet‐ Inaction and too much brooding can sometimes result in satastrophe. • Othello‐ Rash decisions and carelessly executing them without thinking of their effects can sometimes bring grief and tragedy. • Books of Sharat Chandra‐A good reader can interpret the pitiable condition of women and poor. His story The Drought effectively brings out the plight of a poor person in a oppressive feudal system. • Writings of Rabindranath Tagore‐he presented longing for freedom in his writing in a subtle way • Novels of Prem Chandra‐ Only a careful reader can know about the contemporary conditions, condition of poor farmers, pitiable state of education, condition of widows, oppressive feudal system His novels Godan,Gaban Sevasadanand stories Sava Ser Gehun, Poos Ki Raat bear testimony of this. • Blanket‐ Treatment towards a old person

• Frost‐ Stopping by Woods hints at man’s insatiable urge to reach to newer heights • Bronte Sisters‐ Poor state of orphanage • Dickens‐ Great Expectations – poor state of orphanage • Maupasnt‐The Diamond Necklace‐ The sad result of artificiality and showing off. • Ruskin Bond’ novels‐ simplicity and problems of the people living in hilly regions, animals and birds • Tulsidas‐ Ideal relationship • Gita‐ Importance to selfless work • Tennyson’s Ulysses – An old man’s urge for further conquest of unknown lands and an insatiable quest for knowledge‐To follow knowledge like a sinking star Yet all experience is an arch Wherethro’ gleams that untravelled world whose margin fades Wordsworth’s poem‐To ‘The Skylark’‐ Flies high but comes back to the earth Shelley’s Skylark flies higher and higher in the sky telling about the poet’s desire to escape from this mundane world. He writes‐ Trumpet of prophecy O Wind! If winter comes can spring be far behind Keats’ Poems show his love for beauty‐ Beauty is truth, truth beauty That is all you know on earth And all ye need to know A thing of beauty is joy for ever Thomas Gray in his elegy describes fate of the common people who remain neglected in this materialistic world Full many a gem of the purest ray serene, The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear. Full many a flower born to blush unseen, And waste its fragrance in the desert air. Thomas Davis‐“What is this life if full of care We have no time to stand and stare.” G.B Shaw‐ Arms and the Man‐ Destructive power of war

Jane Austen’s novels – True portrait of Eighteenth century England when marriage was the only career for women and bliss in matrimony was considered the ultimate goal for women. Thomas Hardy’ Novels‐ It portraits condition of rural area of EnglandRobert Browning’s poems give message of hope and optimism‐ “I was ever a fighter so one fight more” Yash Pal’s novels present superstitions and old customs of India. His novel ‘Meri teri uski Baat’ faithfully presents condition of India at the time of partition. Communal violence, oppressions on women and children. Reading Beyond the Lines: Shirley is of the opinion that personal involvement in reading can make a difference. Identification with characters or situations can lead to apperception of one’s worth in the worldly scheme. Such insights can in turn lead to decision making and actions implementing these decisions. According to Gandhi, Ruskin and Thoreau, it was dishonest not to practice an idea accepted in principle; belief and action must go together. For some readers reading is only intellectual and aesthetic but for others it requires intense participation and involvement. Gandhi’s life was moulded by ‘The Bhagvad Gita’ and Ruskin’s ‘Unto the Last’.Nehru impressed by ‘Stopping By the Woods.’ Reading beyond the Text helps persons in following ways‐ People not only understand the inherent ides presented by the writers. They understand the true intention and try to draw values for themselves. Thus ‘Reading beyond the text’ makes a man nobler and virtuous.A person reading the poems of the fomous Hindi poets Ramdhari Singh Dinkar and Shyam Narayan Pandey may feel urge to die for our beloved country. A person reading biography of Shri Jagdis Chandra Bose who refused to accept less salary than the British in pre‐independence time may feel himself bold enough to oppose the wrong. Similarly one may feel proud for such great players as Dhayan Chand who refused to coach German Hockey team though he was facing financial difficulties. His plea was “Where will I show my face when German team will defeat India.”A person reading the story ‘Love Across The Salt Desert’ may feel the power of true love which crosses all barriers even geographical boundaries of nations. ‘Arms and the Man’ may encourage people to think that we should live in peace. This world should be a planet having peace and love. Hardy’s novels may motivate us to think that urban people should not interfere in the rustic lifeas it results in the utter chaos as it resulted in the novels like ‘Tess, The Mayor of Casterbridge, and Far From The Madding Crowd’.