The act of reading

• Reading is a form of communication between the author and readers.
• It is a way to explore ideas, thoughts, and imagination.
• Reading enhances one's personality.

Definitions of Reading

• Leo James English: Reading is giving meaning to written or printed words.
• Kenneth Goodman: Reading is a psycholinguistic guessing game where the reader reconstructs a message from the text.
• James Dee Valentines: Reading is the ultimate nourishment for the brain.

Purposes of Reading

• To be entertained
• To gain information and new knowledge
• To explore desired destinations in imagination
• To study other cultures

Types of Reading

Emett Albert:

• Skimming: Focuses on finding specific information in a text.
• Scanning: Aims to understand the meaning of the entire text.
• Study Reading: Combines small ideas to achieve a thorough and accurate understanding.

Mildred Dawson & Henry Bamman:

• Oral and Silent Reading
• Critical Reading
• Recreational Reading
• Work-type Reading

Reading Processes

Top-Down Theory (Inside Out)

• Understanding begins in the reader's mind (top) and moves toward the text (down).
• Influenced by Gestalt psychology, which views reading as a holistic process.

Bottom-Up Theory (Outside In)

• Reading involves recognizing written symbols to produce corresponding sounds.
• Learning to read starts with recognizing letters, words, phrases, and sentences before interpreting meaning.
• Information for understanding comes from the text, not the reader.

Schema Theory

• Texts do not have inherent meaning.
• Directs the listener or reader on how to use and interpret information based on prior knowledge.
• Explains how we organize and understand information in our minds.

Interactive Theory

• Emphasizes understanding as a process rather than a product.
• Analyzes the student's response process.
• Highlights metacognition, which is the awareness and knowledge of one's own knowledge and skills.

Types of Texts

Informative Text

• Presents new knowledge, events, and information to readers.
• Aims to provide essential information, clarifying doubts about the topic.
• Organized logically and sequentially.
• Presented clearly and coherently.
• Answers the questions: Who, When, Where, What, and How.
• Sources include newspapers, books, graphs, and dictionaries.

Types of Informative Text:

• Cause and Effect: Shows the relationships between events, focusing on "Why did things happen?" and their results.
• Comparison: Shows similarities and differences between things, concepts, or events.
• Definition: Explains the meaning of a word, terminology, or concept.
• Classification Listing: Divides topics into categories for systematic discussion, starting with a general definition and then classifying it.

Skills in Reading Informative Texts:

• Activating prior knowledge
• Forming inferences or opinions
• Having rich experiences
• Recognizing discourse markers

Descriptive Text

• Expresses impressions through the senses.
• Describes or illustrates.

Types of Descriptive Text:

• Ordinary: Uses simple language.
• Artistic: Expresses a vivid picture based on emotions. Uses carefully chosen words, including figures of speech and idioms.

Tools for Clear Description:

• Language: Creates clear and effective descriptions, usually using adjectives and adverbs.
• Details: Reinforces the expressed description.
• Perspective: Descriptions can vary based on the experience and attitude of the person describing.

Persuasive Text

• Aims to persuade readers.

Types of Persuasive Text:

• Commercial: Used by companies to promote products, such as advertisements.
• Non-commercial: More formal persuasion, like manifestos, editorials, and advocacy pieces.

Three Appeals:

• Ethos (Brain): Uses credibility or image to persuade.
• Pathos (Heart): Uses the emotions of the reader.
• Logos (Mouth): Uses logic and information.

Narrative Text

• Aims to tell a story to avoid misunderstandings.

Methods of Narrative Text:

• Flashback
• Stream of Consciousness: One topic to another without a specific focus.

Types of Narrative Text:

• Informative Narrative: Provides information.
• Artistic Narrative: Entertains readers (e.g., short stories, plays, and novels).

Argumentative Text

• Defends a position and expresses an opinion.

Types of Argumentative Reasoning:

• Inductive Reasoning: Starts with specific facts and moves toward a general conclusion or generalization.
• Deductive Reasoning: Starts with a general statement and moves toward specific examples.

Procedural Text

• Provides knowledge for the correct sequence of steps in performing a task or project, answering "how."

Types of Procedural Text:

• Recipes
• Instructions
• Rules (Reminders)
• Manuals and "Directions"