Reading is the process of constructing meaning from text, whether written or graphic, paper based or digital.
When reading we use four different cue systems (sources) to construct meaning from a text we are reading. They are:
Reading practices or reader roles that effective readers use when they are interacting with texts. (According Allan Luke and Peter Freebody , 1990,1999).
When reading we use four different cue systems (sources) to construct meaning from a text we are reading. They are:
- Semantic information (knowledge about meanings, including topic information and vocabulary)
- Gramatical information (knowledge about language and how it works)
- Phonological- graphological information (knowledge about how the sounds of language relate to the printed words)
- Visual/ pictorial information (knowledge about the images used in a text)
Reading practices or reader roles that effective readers use when they are interacting with texts. (According Allan Luke and Peter Freebody , 1990,1999).
- Code breaking practices- The reader recognises the whole words and uses the letter-sound relationships and morphemes to decode words. The knowledge of language (grammatical knowledge), the meanings of words (vocabulary) and the topic of the text (semantic information) also help in decoding the words.
- Text-participant practices- Here the reader uses his own knowledge about the topic or text, makes use of the pictures and diagrams,knowledge of word meanings, language expressions and relate the text to their own personal and cultural experiences and also with the experiences with other texts. By using these strategies the reader tries to extract the literal and inferential meaning of the text.
- Text -user practices- Here the reader is concerned with knowing about the structure of different texts and the ways they are used in different social situations (e.g: a train timetable, a recipe, a movie or a newspaper).
- Text- analyst practices - The reader critiques the underlying and unstated assumptions in a text and the way a text attempts to position them as readers. Detecting propaganda and bias and weighs the arguments presented against their own knowledge of the topic is another trait of a text- analyst.