Reading is thought to be a kind of conversation between the reader and the text.The reader puts questions to the text and get s answers.With the help of these,he puts further questions.
For most of the time this "cocversation"goes on below the level of unconsciousness.At times,however,we become conscious.This is ususlly when we are running into difficulties,when mismatch is occuring between expectations and the meaning of a text.When successful matching is being experienced,wur questioning of the text continues at the unconscious level.
Different people converse with the text differently.Some stay very close to the words on the page;others take off imaginatively from the words,interpreting,criticizing,analyzing and examining them.The former represents a kind of comprehension which is written in the text.The latter represents high levels of comprehension. The balance between these is emportant.especially for advanced readers.
There is another conversation which from wur point of view is equally important, and is to do not with what is read but with how it is read.We call this a "process"conversation as opposed to a "content"conversation.It is concerned not with meaning but with the strategies we use in reading.If we are an advanced reader,wur ability to hold a process conversation.It is exactly this kind of conversation that is of improtance when we are seeking to develop our readign to meet the new demands being placed upon us by studying at a high level. |
