Republic of the Philippines

Department of Education
DIVISION OF GENERAL SANTOS CITY
Tiongson St. Lagao, General Santos City

ature of Reading
PRIMA A. ROULLO
Regional Presenter
THALIA R. CARREON
Division Presenter

ALJUN J. ALEGRIA
Division Presenter
Session
Objectives:
At the end of the session, participants are expected to:

 Explain the nature of reading;

 Recognize the importance of understanding the nature of
reading in planning reading instruction; and
 Cite teaching practices that shall be stopped or sustained
to make learners read successfully.
 Agree or
Disagree?
________1. Before children learn to read, they should know the sounds of
most letters.
________2. The more symbols (letter or words) there are in a text, the
longer it will take to read it.
________3. We gather meaning from what we read.
________4. When one reads one tries to find some cues to make sense
of the written text.
________5. Visual information provided by maps, charts, or pictures help
young readers store and retrieve information they have read.
________6. A reader who is familiar with the subject matter of a text
already has a basis for making sense of it.
Why READING
matters?
Why READING
matters?
Even though reading is an acquired skill and not a natural
process, most people do become fluent readers, but not without a lot
of work. Learning to read is a long, gradual process that begins in
infancy. Basic competency usually is not reached until middle
childhood. As reading researcher Sally Shaywitz, professor and director
of the Yale Center for Learning and Attention, states, “Reading is the
most complex of human functions” (Shaywitz, 2003).
 What is
Reading?
Reading is a dynamic process in which
the reader interacts with the text to construct
meaning. Inherent in constructing meaning
is the reader’s ability to activate prior
knowledge, use reading strategies, and
adapt to the reading situation.
 The
Reading
Pyramid
 Characteristics of the
 Complex Reading Process
 Two-way
 Largely visual
 Active

Reading makes use of linguistic system which enables readers to be

more effective users of written language.

Effective reading is partly dependent on reader’s prior knowledge or

background experiences.
Alternative Views about
Reading:
Reading as SKILL
Reading as PROCESS
Reading as COMPREHENSION
Reading as DEVELOPMENT
Reading as STRATEGY
Reading as a Skill
While the reader’s knowledge of
language is recognized as an integral part
of reading print, reading is viewed as a
skill that is learned. In fact, reading is a
unitary skill that we use to process texts.
Reading as a Process
The reading process, also known as
the meaning – making process, provides
an explanation of “how reading happens”
(Cambourne, 1998). To construct meaning,
readers draw on, or sample the language
information available to them.
Reading as Comprehension
Comprehension occurs in the transaction
between the reader and the text.

Reading Situation:
 Purpose
 Setting
 Factors affecting
Comprehension:
The Reader brings the following to the text:

Script Knowledge – knowledge and beliefs about the world

Knowledge about Language – graphophonic, syntactic,
semantic, pragmatic.
Knowledge of text structure – text cohesion, general text
structure (narrative, expository...)
 Pragmatic System – how language is used in social settings.
Interactive Model of Reading
Comprehension
Reading as Development
Reading is an interplay of one’s
experience, oral language, and ability to
interpret written symbols as shown in the
diagram.
Reading as Strategy
Strategies are conscious, flexible plans a reader
applies to a variety of texts.
The use of strategies implies awareness, reflection,
and interaction between the reader and the author.
Strategies do not operate individually or
sequentially but are interrelated and recursive.
The goal is the active construction of meaning
and the ability to adapt strategies to varying reading
demands.
READING AS… DESCRIPTION
SKILL unitary ability that can be learned

making sense of what is read

PROCESS
(the “how” of reading)
COMPREHENSION transaction between reader and text

interplay formed by experience, oral language,

DEVELOPMENT
and printed symbols
STRATEGY cognitive and metacognitive considerations
A child who is not at least a modestly
skilled reader by the end of third grade is
unlikely to be a skilled reader in high
school.
The Importance of
Learning
culture. Humans haveto used Read:
Literacy is a relatively recent addition to human
oral language for perhaps 4
million years, but the ability to represent the sounds of
language by written symbols has been around for only 4,000
to 5,000 years.
Until the twentieth century, nearly every human on
earth was illiterate. Literacy is a relatively recent addition
to human culture.
100 percent of the population will be able to read and comprehend.
Why learning to read is
difficult…
Almost every child will master speech just by
spending time with people who already speak. Spoken
language has become “hardwired” in the brain with
structures built specifically for language.
As the eye chases the words in a sentence
across the page, the brain must continuously use neural
systems designed by nature for entirely different tasks,
such as looking for food or predators.
Why learning to read is
difficult…
Learning to read is a long, gradual process
that begins in infancy. Basic competency usually is
not reached until middle childhood. As reading
researcher Sally Shaywitz, professor and director of
the Yale Center for Learning and Attention, states,
“Reading is the most complex of human functions”
(Shaywitz, 2003).
Why learning to read is
difficult…
Reading in any language poses a challenge,
but reading in English is particularly difficult.

According to Shaywitz (2003),

“Reading is the most complex
of human functions.”
Why learning to read is
difficult…
Why learning to read is
difficult…
The more we read, the vast spaces we feed.
The more we know, the greener grass we grow.
Because the books we flip through were written
By an author who was once a reader.

- ALJUN J. ALEGRIA
Thank you!
ALJUN J. ALEGRIA, Teacher II
Division Presenter