Reading Process

διαδικασία ανάγνωσης

How reading works




How we interpret the text we are reading

The sociocultural, cognitive, and linguistic systems readers use to make sense of print are largely intuitive. For example, few are aware that they use their life experiences to interpret text, and that as life experiences differ from reader to reader and from community to community so, too, do interpretations of a given text.

Similarly, few are aware that when they are reading about statistics they understand the phrase all the figures on the right hand side of the table means numerals in rows and columns. But when they are reading about crafts they understand the same phrase means figurines on a piece of furniture; nevertheless, they do.

What systems do readers use

The systems readers use to make sense of print are interrelated and partially redundant. For instance, in the sentence “There are some books on the table”, the words “some” and “are” and the letter s in books signal that there is more than one book. This redundancy permits readers to sample print, using only what they need to construct meaning effectively and efficiently.

Readers also use these interrelated systems to make predictions concerning what the print says, to confirm or disconfirm their predictions, and to connect these meanings to form a coherent understanding of the text.

Why do we read



Writers also contribute to how well readers are able to read a text. The writer’s language and knowledge of the topic as well as skill in using written language influence the reader’s ability to construct meaning. The degree to which readers and writers share the same understanding of the language and the topic of the text influences how well they communicate with each other.