LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Some Gaps in the Current Studies of Reading in Second/Foreign Language Learning

Seyed Hossein Fazeli, M.A.

Abstract

The ability to read written material is very important in the civilized world. In a society characterized by globalization and technological change, where knowledge is becoming increasingly important, reading ability is a key skill for active participation. The intent of the current study is to set out the nature of reading alongside express importance of reading and reading comprehension. The importance of the present study is to explore the current studies of reading in order to find out some common main gaps in such studies. Such gaps are related to reading, reading comprehension and reading strategies, vocabulary and fluency.

Keywords: reading, reading comprehension, reading strategies

Introduction

To most people reading seems a simple process, but there are many sub-component processes which are involved in reading that leads it to be as a very complex skill. As Rayner and Juhasz (2006) assume all of such components involved in reading are important to investigate in order to understand how the process work and how the skill develops.

Both teachers and researchers have attempted to identify the mental process of reading and the activities that readers use in order to construct meaning from a text. What is "reading"? , who is a "reader"? And what is the action of "read"?

On Reading

It seems only logical that a text about teaching and learning of reading would begin with definitions of what reading is, who reader is, and what the action "read" is. "Reading", a complex activity, can be defined in a number of ways based upon the particular aspect of the reading skill examined. "Reading" is defined as "the action or skill of reading" (Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 2008, p.1196). It is defined also as "the skill or activity of getting information from books" (Cambridge International Dictionary of English, 1995, pp. 1178-1179). It can also be defined as "the ability to comprehend the thought and feelings of others through the medium of written text" (The Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics, 1994). Gibson and Levin (1975) assume that reading is extracting information from text. Urquhart and Weir (1998) define "reading" as the process of receiving and interpreting information encoded in form via the medium of print. Goodman (1988) discusses it as receptive language process which is a psycholinguistic process in that it starts with a linguistic surface representation encoded by a writer and ends with meaning a reader constructs. Jenkinson proposes "reading" as an act of responding to printed symbols (as cited in Chapman and Czerniewska, 1978). Grellet (1981) suggests that understanding a written text means extracting the required information from it as efficiently. Another definition of "reading" is the construction of meaning from print (Torgensen, Wagner &Rashotte, 1999).

Who is a Reader?

"Reader" is defined as "a person who reads" (Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 2008, p.1196), as "someone who reads for pleasures, esp. a person who reads a lot" (Cambridge International Dictionary of English, 1995, pp. 178-1179), or similarly "a person able to read" (The New Lexicon Webster's Encyclopedic Dictionary of the English Language, 1995, p. 837).

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Research Scholar in Linguistics
Department of Studies in Linguistics, KIKS
University of Mysore
Mysore-570006, Karnataka
India