Differing Theories About the Reading Process

Making Meaning and Gaining Fluency Through Steady Practice

Oct 14, 2009

Reading is an activity that can be improved through constant practice. This improvement is reflected in varying theories about the reading process.

In the past, reading simply meant to extract visual information from any given codes or systems. However, thereafter, reading became much more complex and involved the understanding of a whole text composed of written signs.

Two Different Theories About the Reading Process

There are two conflicting theories about the process of reading. The first theory deals with reading as a linguistic process. In this theory, reading is defined as both linear and phonological and it is based on the formation of sounds. These bits of sounds are then linked together and converted into larger “comprehensive units.” Gradually, only after putting all the various sounds together, is an understanding of the terms and of the unit achieved.

This “bottom-up” theory can be best applied to new, beginning and some mediate readers. In these cases, all the reading is literal and after putting sound to different signs, these readers eventually advance to larger units and complexes of sounds.

The second theory considers reading as a “visual semantic process”. Everything – whether pictures, phrases or whole sentences – is taken in at the same time, so there is no act of deconstructing words into syllables or smaller units.

After having been exposed to these groups of signs, the reader manages to “form a direct pathway between sign and sense”, and as such is “bypassing sound altogether”. This means that the sound formations are not necessary anymore and readers directly recognize those words at sight, which makes for fluent adult reading.

This occurs mainly with people who read frequently; they become more fluent at reading through constant practice and exposure to signs and groups of words. Hence, they can minimize sound and maximize sense, being able to focus more on the meaning. It becomes for them easier to grasp a difficult text because they would use up less time on the very act of reading and instead concentrate on the semantic aspects.

Which Theory is Correct Then?

In fact, both theories are correct since they each point to a different level of reading competence. The first one applies to new and elementary readers who need to use the phonological process, while the second theory applies to fluent readers who use the visual semantic process and focus more on the meaning than the sounds of words.

As a result, it becomes clear that the more one reads the better one gets at it. Fluency is the degree with which one is already familiar with the words and one is able to take in more information at a time. This allows each person to have more time to digest the information and focus on meaning, thus fluent readers are able to understand more complex and more difficult texts in a quicker fashion.

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