SECTION II: INTERSECTION

OF TEXT AND THE READER

Pgs. 67-78

Introduction to Section II

Theory: a statement or set of statements that

set out to explain a certain set of widely
accepted phenomena or facts.

Theory plays a role in teachers being able to

successfully guide students in the process of
making meaning.

Interactions between readers and texts have

become elements of or entire theories in and of
themselves.

This Interaction of the Text and Reader is

at the

(Heart)
of how reading and meaning-making are
explained.

What does this mean?

Researchers test theories and analyze the

results of the studies they conduct and models
of the reading process throughout the 21 st
century.
Theory Examples
* In this section you will
-Top-down
read and learned about
these theories. Here is quick
- Bottom-up
snapshot of those theories.
-Interactive
-Transactional
-Affective

Top-Down Theory

The Top Down method asks students to

bring their own sense of self and
understanding to literature by reading
whole segments of text without
dissecting vocabulary. -Smith and
Goodman

Bottom-Up

Bottom-up theories hypothesize that

learning to read progresses from children
learning the parts of language (letters)
to understanding whole text (meaning).
- Gough

Interactive
An interactive reading
model is a reading
model that recognizes
the interaction of
bottom-up and topdown processes
simultaneously
throughout the reading
process. Ruddell and
Speaker; Rummelhart

Transactional

Comprehension resulted from the

transaction between the reader and the
written word. To apply transactional
theory, teachers must show students
how to use what they read and what
they know to build meaning.
-Rosenblatt; Goodman

Affective

Attitude is one of a set of factors

influencing an individual's intention to
read and learning to read.
- Mathewson

No single theory or
approach can
thoroughly explain
the reading process
for all readers.

What to look forward to in the section

Digital age of the 21st century

Various factors that impact a readers
first experience of interacting with the
text
Schema Theory
Schema Acquisition
Reader and text interactions
Moving forward to Chapter 3.

Ch. 3 What is a text?

21st Century Definition

What image or images come to

mind when you hear the word
text?

Definition of a text

A text can be as small as an utterance,

spoken or written. A text can also
include visual texts such as dance, art,
theatre, movies and television shows. It
can be either a linguistic or nonlinguistic
sign.

-Anything that has

meaning!

Linguistic Vs. Nonlinguistic

Linguistic (written materials)
-stories, chapters, articles, poems and
essas

Nonlinguistic (types of materials that

can be read)
-film, video, dance, music, photography or
paintings

The definition of text has changed and

continues to do so.
Cause = since technology is deictic
Effect= literacy.

Meaning: As the technology with which we communicate

advances so do the texts we use to communicate to read
and comprehend.

20th-Century Theorists
Mikhail Bakhtin
Text is the reality of thought and
experience.
-no text, no object of study, no object of
thought

Text is not only written but also works of

art
Verbal texts
Human acts can be potential text

Contd

The event of the life of the text

Always develops on the boundary

between two consciousnesses, two
subjects
This where two texts meet:
the ready-made text and the reactive text

Julia Kristeva

Her view of text is a mosaic of

quotations
(Dialogic and heteroglossia)

Relating to dialogue and diversity of voices, points of views or

discourse in type of literary work.

-traditionally called a novel

Roland Barthes

He has several views approaches to his

view of text.

1st approach- text is not an object but

rather a process of demonstration and
speaking (language)

Contd
2nd approach- text does not end at (good)
literature
-should not classify a text or even a writer
under the constraints of literary manuals
into a specific genre.

Contd
3rd approach- Work verses Text
Work (tangible) occupies part of a space
of a book. Ex. Library
Work is finite- relates to teaching
literature with one right answer or
interpretation of what the author means.
Text does not take occupy physical
space. It creates associations and
carryovers for the reader. (intertextual)

Contd
4th Approach- Collaboration between the
reader and the text
When a reader is reading a text, he/she
creates meaning and there is pleasure in
this meaning, or internal writing of a
text.

Louise Rosenblatt & James Paul Gee

Text is anything that stands without

meaning until the reader transacts with
it in order to create meaning- Rosenblatt

In order to give a text its meaning, one

must interpret it with another text either
out loud or in ones head. - Gee

-the first text was nothing until interpreted, then we use this
to translate into another text (building background
knowledge).

Douglas Hartman
Defines text as flexible unit of
meaning.
-Does not need to be confined to a printed
page, can be remembered experiences
and memories (things in past, situations
in life)
-music, art, drama, an utterance, or even
a gesture

Common Theme
Text is NOT just written words
Text is anything from which
meaning can be created
No text stands alone, rather
build upon one another
Readers interact with the text