Wednesday, 4 September 2013

THOUGHTS OF READING


Reading and writing systems can be viewed as a cognitive process of decoding and encoding symbols and sign in order to derive or construct meaning.

Reader and writer use a variety of strategies to assist with decoding or encoding, i.e. translating sign and symbol into sounds or visual representations of speech or language. Phonemes, morphemes, semantics, syntax, context, and numerous other terms of reference are part of the propitious design used to convey the meaning of the various signs and symbols used.

The reader integrates what s/he has read into her/his existing framework of knowledge of speech/music/pictorial based writing systems. What is outside the framework is newly acquired knowledge or experience and extends the readers appreciation of different language communities and the culture with which they are associated. That is assuming the reader wishes to extend her/his framework of knowledge and translate and incorporate the unknowns s/he may encounter.

Interpretation of the symbols and signs encountered in everyday life and the extraction of meaning from the encounter is what reading is about, and it is what we all do every waking moment whether or not one is able to read conventional text. The ability to read speech based text is important but it is only one aspect of reading. Too many are blind to other forms of text.  

Have a look and follow the links to parts 2 to 6. It may amuse and it does show how narrow some views can be.

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