Foundation –Teaching Reading Unit-1 Definitions and meaning of Reading

Most of us think of reading as 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. 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. 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.

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.

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.’

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.’

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.’

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. ,

James Gee in Social Linguistics and Literacies (1996) – ‘Literacy practices are almost always fully integrated with, interwoven into, constituted as part of, the very texture of wider practices that involve talk, interaction, values, and beliefs.’ As you can see, reading involves many complex skills that have to come together in order for the reader to be successful. For example, proficient readers recognize the purpose for reading, approach the reading with that purpose in mind, use strategies that have proven successful to them in the past when reading similar texts for similar purposes, monitor their comprehension of the text in light of the purpose for reading, and if needed adjust their strategy use. Proficient readers know when unknown words will interfere with achieving their purpose for reading, and when they won’t. When unknown words arise and their meaning is needed for comprehension, proficient readers have a number of word attack strategies available to them that will allow them to decipher the meaning of the words to the extent that they are needed to achieve the purpose for reading.

Reading is also a complex process in that proficient readers give to the text as much as they take. They make meaning from the text by using their own prior knowledge and experiences. Proficient readers are constantly making predictions while reading. They are continuously anticipating what will come next. Their prior knowledge and experiences with texts as well as with the world around them allow them to do this. It is this continuous interaction with the text that allows readers to make sense of what they are reading.