Theories of the Reading Process

• Bottom-up• Top-down• Interactive• Transactional

Bottom-up•Theory which focuses on the belief that students who have a strong understanding of the relationship between letters and sounds will be successful when they encounter unfamiliar words

•Begins with the introduction of letters and sounds; once mastered, words are presented; after knowledge of these, sentences are taught; from there, paragraphs are addressed with the final phase being reading full text

Bottom-up•The ultimate goal in this theory is the comprehension of text

•Automaticity: the internalization of a process until it is so automatic it no longer requires attention

•Worksheets and various other things that promote practice are used to help teach the letters, sounds, and words

Top-Down•Capitalizes on the experiences and knowledge a child brings to the reading process, coupled with the child’s purpose for reading

•Supporters believe that children can learn to read by using their experiences and knowledge of print to make sense of what they read

•The more students know about what they are to read, the less they need to rely on exact interpretation

Top-down•Instruction is based on children’s own language (LEA: Language Experience Approach)

•Shares characteristics of the whole language movement

•Ultimate goal is comprehension of text

Interactive•Combination of the bottom-up and top-down theories

•The classroom teacher makes use of precise letter-sound activities and student generated writing

•Unknown words from the whole book are dissected

Interactive

•Theory suggests that readers use their background knowledge and their decoding skills simultaneously to find meaning in text

•Ultimate goal is comprehension

Transactional•An elaboration of the interactive model, with emphasis on the context

•Instead of an interactive relationship, the reader and text have a circular relationship in which each affects the other

•Shares characteristics of Rosenblatt's reader response theory

Transactional•The reading can be aesthetic (enjoyment) or efferent (information), depending on the purpose

•The context (purpose) for reading affects the content of the retained material

•Ultimate goal is comprehension

Artwork

“Reading My Book” by LauraAge 10

Macomb County, Michigan