Reading (process)
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Reverted edits by [[Special:Contributions/99.238.50.110|99.238.50.110]] to last version by Love Krittaya (using [[WP:HG|Huggle]])
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{{Otheruses4|the learning activity||Reading (disambiguation)}}
{{Reading}}
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<!-- [[Image:The Young Cicero Reading.jpg|right|225px|thumb|Young [[Cicero]] (15th c. fresco)]] -->
'''Reading''' is a multi-dimensional [[cognitive process]] of decoding symbols for the purpose of deriving meaning ([[reading comprehension]]) and/or constructing meaning.
It is a means of [[language acquisition]], of communication, and of sharing [[information]] and ideas. Readers may use a variety of reading strategies, such as: decoding (to translate symbols into sounds or visual representations of language), using [[morpheme]], [[semantics]], [[syntax]] and context cues (to identify the meaning of unknown words), or activating prior knowledge ([[schemata theory]]).
Other types of reading may not be text-based, such as music notation or pictograms. By analogy, in [[computer science]], "reading" refers to the acquisition of [[data]] from some sort of computer storage.
Although reading print text is now an important way for the general population to access information, this has not always been the case. With [[Literacy#Examples of highly literate cultures in the past|some exceptions]], only a small percentage of the population in many countries were considered [[literacy|literate]] before the [[industrial revolution|Industrial Revolution]].
== Reading skills ==
=== Skill development ===
{{main|Reading education}}
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<!-- [[Image:Learning to Read by Sigurður málari.jpg|thumb|right|200px|An [[Iceland]]ic woman teaches a child to read.]] -->
Other methods of teaching and learning to read have developed, and become somewhat controversial<ref>{{cite book |author=Dina Feitelson |title=Facts and fads in beginning reading: a cross-language perspective |publisher=Ablex Pub. Corp |location=Norwood, N.J |year=1988 |pages= |isbn=0-89391-507-6 |oclc= |doi=}}</ref>:
*'''[[Phonics]]''' involves teaching reading by associating characters or groups of characters with sounds. Sometimes argued to be in competition with ''whole language'' methods.
*'''[[Whole language]]''' methods involve acquiring words or phrases without attention to the characters or groups of characters that compose them. Sometimes argued to be in competition with [[phonics]] methods, and that the whole language approach tends to impair learning how to spell.
Learning to read in a second language, especially in adulthood, may be a different process than learning to read a native language in childhood.
There are cases of very young children learning to read without having been taught.<ref>Stainthorp, Rhona and Diana Hughes. Learning From Children Who Read at an Early Age, Routledge, 1999.</ref> Such was the case with [[Truman Capote]] who reportedly taught himself to read and write at the age of five. There are also accounts of people who taught themselves to read by comparing street signs or Biblical passages to speech. The novelist [[Nicholas Delbanco]] taught himself to read at age six by studying a book about boats during a transatlantic crossing.
=== Methods ===
[[Image: EyeFixationsReading.gif|frame|right|Reading is an intensive process in which the eye quickly moves to assimilate text. Very little is actually seen accurately. It is necessary to understand [[visual perception]] and [[Eye movement in language reading|eye movement]] in order to understand the reading process.<ref>Hans-Werner Hunziker, (2006) Im Auge des Lesers foveale und periphere Wahrnehmung: vom Buchstabieren zur Lesefreude ISBN 978-3-7266-0068-6</ref>.<!-- the following demonstration should either be explained or produced in-house in wikipedia --><!-- For a demonstration of eye fixations related to [[peripheral vision]] and [[foveal vision]]: http://www.learning-systems.ch/multimedia/vis_e01.htm -->]]
There are several types and methods of reading, with differing rates that can be attained for each, for different kinds of material and purposes:
*'''[[Subvocalization|Subvocalized]]''' reading combines sight reading with internal sounding of the words as if spoken. Advocates of speed reading claim it can be a bad habit that slows reading and comprehension. These claims are currently backed only by controversial, sometimes non-existent scientific research.
*'''[[Speed reading]]''' is a collection of methods for increasing reading speed without an unacceptable reduction in comprehension or retention. It is closely connected to [[speed learning]].
*'''[[Proofreading]]''' is a kind of reading for the purpose of detecting [[typographical]] errors. One can learn to do it rapidly, and professional proofreaders typically acquire the ability to do so at high rates, faster for some kinds of material than for others, while they may largely suspend comprehension while doing so, except when needed to select among several possible words that a suspected typographic error allows.
*'''Structure-Proposition-Evaluation (SPE)''' method, popularized by [[Mortimer Adler]] in ''[[How to Read a Book]]'', mainly for non-fiction treatise, in which one reads a writing in three passes: (1) for the structure of the work, which might be represented by an outline; (2) for the logical propositions made, organized into chains of inference; and (3) for evaluation of the merits of the arguments and conclusions. This method involves [[suspended judgment]] of the work or its arguments until they are fully understood.
*'''Survey-Question-Read-Recite-Review ([[SQ3R]])''' method, often taught in public schools, which involves reading toward being able to teach what is read, and would be appropriate for instructors preparing to teach material without having to refer to notes during the lecture.
*'''[[Multiple intelligences|Multiple Intelligences]]'''-based methods, which draw upon the reader's diverse ways of thinking and knowing to enrich his or her appreciation of the text. Reading is fundamentally a linguistic activity: one can basically comprehend a text without resorting to other intelligences, such as the visual (e.g., mentally "seeing" characters or events described), auditory (e.g., reading aloud or mentally "hearing" sounds described), or even the logical intelligence (e.g., considering "what if" scenarios or predicting how the text will unfold based on context clues). However, most readers already use several intelligences while reading, and making a habit of doing so in a more disciplined manner -- i.e., constantly, or after every paragraph -- can result in more vivid, memorable experience.
== Reading assessment ==
=== Reading rate ===
{{Further|[[Speed reading]], [[English language learning and teaching]], and [[Proofreading]]}}
[[Image: Reading speed by age.jpg| thumb | left | Average reading rate in ''words per minute'' (wpm) depending on age and measured with different tests in English, French and German.
The data from Taylor (English) and Landerl (German) are based on texts with increasing difficulty.
The other data were obtained when all age groups were reading the same text.
]]
Rates of reading include reading for memorization (under 100 [[words per minute]] (wpm)), reading for learning (100–200 wpm), reading for comprehension (200–400 wpm), and [[skimming (reading)|skimming]] (400–700 wpm). Reading for comprehension is the essence of most people’s daily reading. Skimming is sometimes useful for processing larger quantities of text superficially at a much lower level of comprehension (below 50%).
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<!-- [[Image:Voskresnoye chteniye v selskoy shkole.jpg|thumb|225px|A Sunday (public) reading in a village school. 1895 [[Nikolai Bogdanov-Belsky]]]] -->
Advice for the appropriate choice of reading rate includes reading flexibly, slowing down when the concepts are closer together or when the material is unfamiliar, and speeding up when the material is familiar and the material is not concept rich. [[Speed reading]] courses and books often encourage the reader to continually speed up; comprehension tests lead the reader to believe their comprehension is constantly improving. However, competence in reading involves the understanding that skimming is dangerous as a default [[Habit (psychology)|habit]].
The table to the left shows how reading rate varies with age <ref> Hans-Werner Hunziker, Im Auge des Lesers, foveale und periphere Wahrnehmung: vom Buchstabieren zur Lesefreude, page 117, Transmedia Zurich (2006) ISBN-13: 978-3-7266-0068-6</ref>
, probably regardless of time period (1965 to 2005) and language (English, French German). The values of Taylor are probably higher because he discarded students who failed the comprehension test.
The test of the french psychologist Pierre Lefavrais ("L'alouette", published in 1967) asked for reading out aloud with a penalty for errors and could therefore could not be much faster than 150 wpm.
=== Types of reading tests ===
* Sight word reading: reading words of increasing difficulty until they become unable to read or understand the words presented to them. Difficulty is manipulated by using words that have more letters or syllables, are less common and have more complicated spelling-sound relationships.
* Nonword reading: reading lists of pronounceable nonsense words out loud. The difficulty is increased by using longer words, and also by using words with more complex spelling or sound sequences.
* Reading comprehension: a passage is presented to the reader, which they must read either silently or out loud. Then a series of questions are presented that test the reader's comprehension of this passage.
* Reading fluency: the rate with which individuals can name words.
* Reading accuracy: the ability to correctly name a word on a page.
Some tests incorporate several of the above components at once. For instance, the [[Nelson-Denny Reading Test]] scores readers both on the speed with which they can read a passage, and also their ability to accurately answer questions about this passage.
== Effects ==
=== Intelligence ===
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<!-- [[Image:Young boy reading manga.jpg|thumb|left|A child reading [[manga]]]] -->
Studies have shown that American children who learn to read by the third grade are less likely to end up in prison, drop out of school, or take drugs. Adults who read literature on a regular basis are nearly three times as likely to attend a performing arts event, almost four times as likely to visit an art museum, more than two-and-a-half times as likely to do volunteer or charity work, and over one-and-a-half times as likely to participate in sporting activities.<ref>[http://charityguide.org/volunteer/fifteen/reading-books.htm Promote Reading: Share Books]. Charity Guide. Jamie Littlefield</ref> Literacy rates in the United States are also more highly correlated to weekly earnings than IQ. A graph showing this relationship is shown [http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Phonics/profitable.html here]. Reading books is generally regarded as being a relaxing past-time, while at the same time requiring the brain to process text so it can be stimulated. Because of this it is sometimes considered to cause at least a temporary increase in one's mental faculties.
===Lighting===
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<!-- [[Image:Jan van Eyck 059.jpg|thumb|225px|A detail from ''Madonna des Kanonikus Georg van der Paele'' by [[Jan van Eyck]].]] -->
Reading requires more [[lighting]] than many other activities. Therefore, the possibility of comfortable reading in [[café]]s, [[restaurant]]s, [[bus]]es, at [[bus stop]]s or in [[park]]s greatly varies depending on available lighting and time of day. Starting in the 1950s, many offices and classrooms were [[over-illumination|over-illuminated]]. Since about 1990, there has been a movement to create reading environments with appropriate lighting levels (approximately 600 to 800 [[lux]]).
== References ==
=== Notes ===
{{reflist}}
=== Bibliography ===
{{refbegin}}
* [[Briggs A]]., [[Burke P]]. (2002) MAS 214, Macquarie University, ''A Social History of the Media: From Gutenberg to the. Internet'', Cambridge: Polity Press.
* [http://www.nrrf.org/ National Right To Read Foundation]
*National Endowment for the Arts (June 2004). [http://www.nea.gov/pub/ReadingAtRisk.pdf "Reading at Risk: A Survey of Literary Reading in America"] (pdf)
*Littlefield, Jamie (2006). [http://www.charityguide.org/volunteer/fifteen/reading-books.htm "Promote Reading: Share Books"] Retrieved [[June 20]], [[2006]].
*Shaywitz, S. E. et al.: Evidence that dyslexia may represent the lower tail of a normal distribution of reading ability. ''The New England Journal of Medicine'' 326 (1992)145-150.
*Bainbridge, J. and Malicky, G. 2000. Constructing Meaning: Balancing Elementary Language Arts. Toronto: Harcourt.
*Ontario Ministry of Education, 2003. Guide to Effective Instruction in Reading. Toronto: Queen's Printer for Ontario.
*Gipe, J. 2002. Multiple Paths to Literacy. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
{{refend}}
== See also ==
*[[Alliteracy]]
*[[Asemic writing]]
*[[Dyslexia]]
*[[Eye movement in language reading]]
*[[Eye movement in music reading]]
*[[Fixation]]
*[[Great Books]]
*[[Haskins Laboratories]]
*[[International Reading Association]]
*[[Literacy]]
*[[Paperback]]
*[[Phonics]]
*[[Photoreading]]
*[[Postliterate society]]
*[[Radio Reading Service]] such as [[2RPH]] reads newspapers and magazines for the benefit of people who are unable to read for themselves.
*[[Readability test]]
*[[Reader development]]
*[[Reading skills acquisition]]
*[[skimming (reading)|Skimming]]
*[[Slow reading]]
*[[Society for the Scientific Study of Reading]] (SSSR)
*[[Speed reading]]
*[[Subvocalization]]
*[[Time Reading Program]], a book club sponsored by [[Time (magazine)|Time]] from 1961 - 1966
*[[Vision span]]
*[[Word Guessing]]
== External links ==
{{wiktionary}}
{{Commons}}
*[http://www.freereadingtest.com Free Reading Test]
*[http://www.ReadSmarterFaster.com The ReadSmart System - www.ReadSmarterFaster.com]
*[http://www.haskins.yale.edu Haskins Laboratories: the science of the spoken and written word]
*[http://www.v-weiss.de/lehrl-full.html Lehrl, S., & Fischer, B. (1990) Measuring of reading rate]
*[http://www.microsoft.com/typography/ctfonts/WordRecognition.aspx Paper on word recognition at Microsoft typography site]
*[http://www.quiz-tree.com/Sight-Words_main.html Sight Words Exercises]
*[http://magazineliteracy.org Magazine Publishers Family Literacy Project]
*[http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/sightwords.html A better way to learn sight words]
*[http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/readinggradeleve.html Free reading grade level tests and the MWIA, a test to determine dyslexia]
*[http://www.childrenofthecode.org/ Children of the Code: The History and Science of Learning to Read and Comprehend]
*[http://www.childrensbookradio.com/ Childrensbookradio: Popular Podcast and Directory of Children's Literature]
*[http://www.reading.org/ International Reading Association]
*[http://www.readingrockets.org/ Reading Rockets: Reading Comprehension and Language Arts Teaching Strategies]
*[http://www.k5stars.com/articles/Boost_Reading_Skills-1.php 5 Ways to Boost Your Child's Reading Skills]
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