WhaL ls 8eadlng?

An LxcerpL from keoJloq fot uoJetstooJloq

8y ChrlsLlne Czlko CynLhla Creenleaf Lorl PurwlLz 8uLh Schoenbach
ub||cat|on 1he CuarLerly vol 22 no 3
Date Summer 2000

lL ls probably selfevldenL LhaL Lhe concepLlons educaLors hold abouL Lhe naLure of readlng shape Lhelr
approaches Lo helplng sLudenLs lmprove Lhelr readlng ablllLles Some currenL approaches Lo supporLlng
adolescenL readlng lmprovemenL address sLudenLs wordlevel readlng problems as a precondlLlon for
worklng on oLher levels of readlng lmprovemenL Cur readlng apprenLlceshlp approach ls dlfferenL
because our undersLandlng of Lhe naLure of readlng ls dlfferenL Pere ls a brlef ouLllne of whaL we have
learned from exlsLlng research and our own observaLlon
kead|ng |s not [ust a bas|c sk|||
Many people Lhlnk of readlng as a sklll LhaL ls LaughL once and for all ln Lhe flrsL few years of school ln
Lhls vlew of readlng Lhe credlL (or blame) for sLudenLs readlng ablllLy goes Lo prlmary grade Leachers
and upper elemenLary and secondary school Leachers aL each grade level need Leach only new
vocabulary and concepLs relevanL Lo new conLenL Seen Lhls way readlng ls a slmple process readers
decode (flgure ouL how Lo pronounce) each word ln a LexL and Lhen auLomaLlcally comprehend Lhe
meanlng of Lhe words as Lhey do wlLh Lhelr everyday spoken language 1hls ls noL our undersLandlng of
readlng
kead|ng |s a comp|ex process
1hlnk for a momenL abouL Lhe lasL Lhlng you read A sLudenL essay? A school bulleLln? A newspaper
analysls of rlslng confllcL ln anoLher parL of Lhe world? A reporL on waLer quallLy ln your communlLy? A
novel? lf you could recapLure your menLal processlng you would noLlce LhaL you read wlLh reference Lo
a parLlcular world of knowledge and experlence relaLed Lo Lhe LexL 1he LexL evoked volces memorles
knowledge and experlences from oLher Llmes and placessome long dormanL some more lmmedlaLe
lf you were readlng complex LexL abouL complex ldeas or an unfamlllar Lype of LexL you were worklng Lo
undersLand lL your readlng mosL llkely characLerlzed by many false sLarLs and much backLracklng ?ou
were probably Lrylng Lo relaLe lL Lo your exlsLlng knowledge and undersLandlng ?ou mlghL have
sLumbled over unfamlllar words and found yourself Lrylng Lo lnLerpreL Lhem from Lhe conLexL And you
mlghL have found yourself havlng an lnLernal conversaLlon wlLh Lhe auLhor sllenLly agreelng or
dlsagreelng wlLh whaL you read
As experlenced readers read Lhey begln Lo generaLe a menLal represenLaLlon or qlst of Lhe LexL whlch
serves as an evolvlng framework for undersLandlng subsequenL parLs of Lhe LexL As Lhey read furLher
Lhey LesL Lhls evolvlng meanlng and monlLor Lhelr undersLandlng paylng aLLenLlon Lo lnconslsLencles
LhaL arlse as Lhey lnLeracL wlLh Lhe LexL lf Lhey noLlce Lhey are loslng Lhe meanlng as Lhey read Lhey
draw on a varleLy of sLraLegles Lo read[usL Lhelr undersLandlngs 1hey come Lo LexLs wlLh purposes LhaL
gulde Lhelr readlng Laklng a sLance Loward Lhe LexL and respondlng Lo Lhe ldeas LhaL Lake shape ln Lhe
conversaLlon beLween Lhe LexL and Lhe self (8uddel unrau 1994)
Whlle readlng a newspaper analysls of global hosLlllLles for example you may sllenLly argue wlLh lLs
presenLaLlon of facLs quesLlon Lhe asserLlons of Lhe wrlLer and flnd yourself revlslLlng heaLed debaLes
wlLh frlends over uS forelgn pollcy ?ou may plcLure evenLs Lelevlsed durlng earller wars LosL ln your
recollecLlons you may flnd LhaL even Lhough your eyes have scanned several paragraphs you have
Laken noLhlng ln so you reread Lhese passages Lhls Llme focuslng on analysls

kead|ng |s prob|em so|v|ng
8eadlng ls noL a sLralghLforward process of llfLlng Lhe words off Lhe page lL ls a complex process of
problem solvlng ln whlch Lhe reader works Lo make sense of a LexL noL [usL from Lhe words and
senLences on Lhe page buL also from Lhe ldeas memorles and knowledge evoked by Lhose words and
senLences AlLhough aL flrsL glance readlng may seem Lo be passlve sollLary and slmple lL ls ln LruLh
acLlve populaLed by a rlch mlx of volces and vlewsLhose of Lhe auLhor of Lhe reader and of oLhers
Lhe reader has heard read abouL and oLherwlse encounLered LhroughouL llfe
I|uent read|ng |s not the same as decod|ng
Sklllful readlng does requlre readers Lo carry ouL cerLaln Lasks ln a falrly auLomaLlc manner uecodlng
sklllsqulck word recognlLlon and ready knowledge of relevanL vocabulary for exampleare essenLlal
Lo successful readlng Powever Lhey are by no means sufflclenL especlally when LexLs are complex or
oLherwlse challenglng
?eL many dlscusslons abouL sLruggllng readers confuse decodlng wlLh fluency lluency derlves from Lhe
readers ablllLy noL [usL Lo decode or ldenLlfy lndlvldual words buL also Lo qulckly process larger language
unlLs ln our lnqulrles lnLo readlngour own and LhaL of our sLudenLswe have seen LhaL fluency llke
oLher dlmenslons of readlng varles accordlng Lo Lhe LexL aL hand When readers are unfamlllar wlLh Lhe
parLlcular language sLrucLures and feaLures of a LexL Lhelr languageprocesslng ablllLy breaks down 1hls
means for example LhaL Leachers cannoL assume LhaL sLudenLs who fluenLly read narraLlve or llLerary
LexLs wlll be equally fluenL wlLh exposlLory LexLs or prlmary source documenLs
lluency beglns Lo develop when sLudenLs have frequenL opporLunlLles Lo read LexLs LhaL are easy for
Lhem MulLlple rereadlngs of more dlfflculL LexLs help broaden a readers fluency (lkulskl 1998)
erhaps mosL lmporLanL for adolescenL readers fluency grows as Lhey have opporLunlLles supporL and
encouragemenL Lo read a wlde range of LexL Lypes abouL a wlde range of Loplcs
kead|ng |s s|tuat|ona||y bounded
A person who undersLands one Lype of LexL ls noL necessarlly proflclenL aL readlng all Lypes An
experlenced reader of desserL cookbooks can undersLand whaL ls meanL by Lurn ouL on a wlre rack Lo
flnlsh coollng buL may be compleLely unable Lo make sense of a legal brlef A pollLlcal sclence
undergraduaLe can undersLand LhaL Lhe phrase on Lhe oLher hand l wlll argue leads lnLo Lhe auLhors
maln polnL and LhaL Lhe maln polnL wlll be ln conLrasL Lo Lhe earller dlscusslon 8uL LhaL same
undergraduaLe may feel losL when Lrylng Lo read Lhe poeLry recommended by a frlend A good reader of
a moLorcycle repalr manual can make sense of dlrecLlons LhaL mlghL sLump an Lngllsh llLeraLure
professor buL may be unable Lo comprehend her sons chemlsLry LexL And a chemlsLry Leacher may feel
compleLely lnsecure when Lrylng Lo undersLand some of Lhe orlglnal source hlsLory maLerlals on a
colleagues course readlng llsL
ln oLher words readlng ls lnfluenced by slLuaLlonal facLors among Lhem Lhe experlences readers have
had wlLh parLlcular klnds of LexLs and readlng for parLlcular purposes And [usL as socalled good or
proflclenL readers do noL necessarlly read all LexLs wlLh equal ease or success a socalled poor or
sLruggllng reader wlll noL necessarlly have a hard Llme wlLh all LexLs 1haL sald researchers do know
some Lhlngs abouL Lhose readers who are more conslsLenLly effecLlve across a broad range of LexLs and
LexL Lypes

rof|c|ent readers share some key character|st|cs
ulfferenL readlng researchers emphaslze dlfferenL characLerlsLlcs of good or proflclenL reader Powever
desplLe conLenLlon ln many oLher areas of readlng research when lL comes Lo proflclenL readers
wldespread agreemenL has emerged ln Lhe form of a seL of key hablLs of proflclenL readers 1hls
consensus could be summarlzed as follows (8aumann uuffy 1997)
Cood readers are
MenLally engaged
MoLlvaLed Lo read and Lo learn
Soclally acLlve around readlng Lasks
SLraLeglc ln monlLorlng Lhe lnLeracLlve processes LhaL asslsL comprehenslon
SeLLlng goals LhaL shape Lhelr readlng processes
MonlLorlng Lhelr emerglng undersLandlng of a LexL and
CoordlnaLlng a varleLy of comprehenslon sLraLegles Lo conLrol Lhe readlng process