Purposes of Reading

1. Purposes of Reading Ahmad Sofwan sofwan1589@yahoo.com

2. Purposes of Reading • To search for simple information • To skim quickly • To learn from texts • To integrate information • To write (or search for information needed for writing) • To critique texts • For general comprehension

3. To search for simple information & to skim • Typically scan the text for a specific information or a specific word (e.g. a telephone directory to find key information) • To skim sampling segments of the text for general understanding • A combination of strategies to find the location of the information and use basic reading comprehension skills to obtain a general idea about the text

4. To learn from texts • Typically occurs in academic/professional contexts to learn a considerable amount of information from a text. • To remember main ideas & details of the main and supporting ideas in the text • Recognize and form rhetorical frames • Link the text to the reader’s knowledge base • Carried out at a slower reading rate • Makes stronger inferencing demands to connect the text information with background knowledge

5. To integrate information, write & critique texts • Requires critical evaluation of the information to decide what information to integrate and how to integrate it for the reader’s goal • Requires abilities to compose, select & critique information from a text

6. For general comprehension • Requires very rapid and automatic processing of words, strong skills in forming a general meaning representation of main ideas, efficient coordination of many processes

7. Reading Strategies • Specifying a purpose of reading • Planning what to do/what steps to take • Previewing the text • Predicting the contents of the text or section of text • Checking predictions • Posing questions about the text • Finding asnwers to posed questions • Connecting one part of the text to another • Paying attention to text structure

8. Reading Strategies • Rereading • Guessing the meaning of a new word from context • Using discourse markers to see relationships • Checking comprehension • Critiquing the author • Critiquing the text • Judging how well objectives were met • Reflecting on what has been learned from the text

9. Processes in fluent reading comprehension • a rapid process(200-300 words per minute) • an efficient process(coordinated & carried out automatically) • an interactive process(recognizing words & analyzing sentence structure to find clause-level meaning, finding main ideas, monitoring comprehension, etc; linguistic information from the text and background knowledge)

10. John is willing to help • John is difficult to help • John is willing to help someone • John is difficult for someone to help

11. Processes in fluent reading comprehension • a strategic process(recognize processing difficulties, address imbalances between text information & reader knowledge, & make decisions for monitoring comprehension and shifting goals for reading) • a flexible process(adjust with the changing purposes and ongoing monitoring of comprehension) • an evaluating process(must decide if the information is coherent and matches the purposes of reading; reader’s motivation, attitudes, feelings, expectation

12. Processes in fluent reading comprehension • a purposeful process(different ways based on different purposes; motivation is triggered by individual tasks or purposes) • a comprehending process(to understand a text) • a learning process(to learn new information through reading) • a linguistic process(not a reasoning process, understanding linguistic elements is important for text comprehension)

13. Reading processes occurring each & every two seconds we read • Focus on and access 8 to 10 word meanings • Parse a clause for information and form a meaning unit • Figure out how to connect a new meaning unit into the growing text model • Check interpretation of the information according to their purposes, feelings, attitudes, and background expectations, as needed • Monitor their comprehension, make appropriate inferences, shift strategies and repair misunderstanding, as needed • Resolve ambiguities, address difficulties and critique text information, as needed

14. Models of reading • Metaphorical models of reading • Bottom-up models • Top-down models • Interactive models • Specific models of reading • Psycholinguistic Guessing Game Model • Interactive Compensatory Model • Word recognition models • Simple View of reading Model

15. Bottom-up models • All readings follows a mechanical pattern in which the reader creates a piece-by-piece mental translation of the information in the text, with little inference from the reader’s own background knowledge. • The reader processes each word letter-by-letter, each sentence word-by-word, and each text sentence-by-sentence in a linear fashion.

16. Top-down models • Primarily directed by reader goals and expectations. • The reader has a sets of expectation about text information & samples enough information from the text to confirm or reject. • The reader directs eyes to the most likely places in the text to find useful information

17. Interactive models • Take useful ideas from a bottom-up perspective and combine them with key ideas from a top-down view. • Word recognition needs to be fast and efficient, but background knowledge is a major contributor to text understanding. • Highlight the number of processes, particularly automatic processes, being carried out primarily in a bottom-up manner with little interference from other processing levels or knowledge resources.

18. Psycholinguistic Guessing Game Model • A universally applicable interactive process of (a) hypothesising, (b) sampling, and (c) confirming information based on a background knowledge, expectations about the text, a sampling of surface features of the text and context information from the text.

19. Interactive Compensatory Model • Readers develop efficient reading processes. • Less automatic processes interact regularly. • Automatic processes operate relatively independently, and • Reading difficulties lead to increased interaction and compensation, even among processes that would otherswise automatic. • Using context clues to understand a text better or to decide what a word means is a compensatory strategy when normally expected abilities break down, or have not been developed.