Literature Review

Introduction to Reading
Oxford (1990) states that reading can be a complicated ability to develop in
language students and this may cause anxiety and fear to the students, even more
to those students have difficulties when reading in their native language, a fact that
may be addressed with the employment of language learning strategies

Since the sixties many researchers and scholars have attempted to give a
complete and integrative definition and description of the reading process (Goodman
(1976 and 1988) and Smith (1976 and 1978) among others). Lin (2011) states that
in the context of language learning, reading, as a receptive skill, has been widely
assessed by several authors (p.6). Therefore it is indispensable to refer to the variety
of definitions and statements around the concept of reading.

Regarding the relation of language acquisition (here we make no distinctions
between acquiring a first, second or foreign language) and reading has bee also
approached by many scholars () and it is considered as a tool for
learning a language. Ling (2011) claims that some authors see reading as the
foundation for the improvement of other skills, such as speaking and writing (Ling,
2011, p.6).

Earlier definitions of Reading

The first scholars who attempted to present a definition of reading were Frank
Smith (1962) and Kenneth Goodman (1967). Under a psycholinguistic paradigm,
both scholar work almost alternatively in their hypothesis of reading, which will be
addressed below.
In 1961, Frank Smith stated suggested that the brain--our prior knowledge of
the world-- contributes more information to reading than the visual symbols on the
printed page. In 1962, Smith argued that reading was a process in which the main
and primary goal of the readers when reading was to obtain meaning from the printed
texts and minimized the importance of teaching the methodical relationship between
letters and sounds. In another study, Smith (1976) showed his concern about the
reading process and classified the theoretical approaches to reading into the
outside-in and inside-out approaches.
Inside-out theories
Inside-out theories consider reading as a as a process that begins with the
print on the page and ends with some representation or interpretations inside the
brain (p. 5). According to Smith (1962), these theories based on the fact that reading
was a process that begins with the readers intention, considering reading as an
active and centrally motivated and directed process. Under this approach, when
readers are uncertain of something when reading, they tend to make predictions by
selecting some meaningful likely alternatives and searching and analyzing just the
necessary information in the print in order to fulfil this uncertainty. These theories
place a lot of importance to the readers prior knowledge, because it is the means
they have to make their expectations and reduce them to get to a final conclusions
of the meaning of the prints. Additionally, under this approach, the readers employ
their background knowledge to identify the words and their meaning in a print. The
selective process the readers carry out when approaching a text is also highly
considered under these perspectives, because regarding their purpose to read,
readers look for the information they need and avoid what they consider irrelevant
of redundant.
Outside-in theories
Outside-in theories consider reading as a highly discriminatory process that
begins in the brain and ends with selective attention to only part of the printed text
(p.5). These theories directed their assumptions based on the fact that reading was
an activity in which every word in a text was processed (p.5), decisions were made
through a hierarchical steps and comprehension resulted firstly from the
discrimination of letters and secondly from the synthesis of them into words.
Therefore Smith (1962) argues that outside-in theories did not take into account the
readers intention when reading (purpose), the readers selection of the information
when reading (readers selection of what they want and need to know), the readers
predictions (readers prior inferences before reading) and the readers
comprehension (readers awareness of the syntactic and semantic ambiguity of the
words and constructions of our language).
In 1965, Kenneth Goodman conducted a study about the influence of the
context in the reading process. He referred to the role of context when reading and
placed a high relevance on it by referring that when children do not know a word in
a text, the context cues help them to figure out its meaning. Consequently the context
cues had the same or even a high importance than the knowledge of spelling and
sound relationships when reading. Then in 1967, Goodman defined reading as a
psycholinguistic guessing game (p.2) that involves interaction between language
and thought and enhanced his definition as followed:
Reading is a selective process. It involves partial use of available
minimal language cues selected from perceptual input on the basis
of the readers expectation. As this partial information is processed,
tentative decisions are made to be confirmed, rejected, or refined as
reading progresses (p.2)
Goodman (1967) also stated that an effective reading results from the
selection of the fewest elements, instead of from the precise perception or
identification of all of them. Moreover, he referred to this process as to a skill and
pointed out that the ability to infer something from a text previously to the reading is
of a significance importance.

Current Definitions
Goodman and Ur
In 1988, Goodman in a further study about reading (cited in Ling, 2011, p.7)
establishes that reading is both a receptive language process and a psychological
process, adding that, in a first stage the reader decodes the linguistic surface of
information and then he constructs his own interpretations of it. Alternatively, Penny
Ur (1996) highlights the difference between reading and decoding, indicating that
when students say they can read the words without understanding what they mean,
they are decoding instead of reading. For instance, she states that decoding is
translating the written symbols into their corresponding sounds. Penny Ur (1996)
describes the characteristics of a good reader, establishing that a good reader looks
for meanings in a text and understands its general meaning. In addition, she states
that human beings have an innate tendency to try to make everything we read
meaningful to us (p.134) and that when we find a word irrelevant or meaningless
we tend to correct it by interpreting it and making the link between the overall
message of the text.
Conclusion
In accordance with the statements of Goodman (1988) and Ur (1996), it may
be concluded that an effective reading results from the selection of the elements the
reader needs to give meaning to the target text. Consequently we do not need to
take into consideration all the elements of a text, instead in order to understand a
reading we need select the elements we need to give meaning to the texts. In order
to approach the meaning of a text, the reader does not necessary require to take
into consideration all the words contained in it, but to select the useful words that
will lead the reader to process the information and to make anticipated decisions and
guesses about the text, which will be confirmed rejected or refined as the reading
progresses.

Nuttal y Krashen
Nuttal (1996) points out that reading is a way of improving language in the
foreign language classroom and claims that it is a highly effective means of
extending our command of language (p.30). This is based on the theory that reading
is a tool for improving and enhancing the learners language skills in the target
language. Furthermore, Nuttal also mentions that in the L1 context, reading is a
means of conveying a message, while in the context of language learning, the
message is often the means of conveying the language. Nuttal (1996) also highlights
the difference between text-based lessons and reading lessons, by mentioning that
in text-based lessons the texts used are primarily focused on pronunciation,
vocabulary and structure, leaving behind other features such as comprehension and
analysis. On the other hand, in reading lessons the texts used have objectives such
as to inform and entertain the readers. The author continues by stating that
nevertheless, language learners may have different purposes when reading, they
should read with the purpose of getting the meaning of the reading, while the
teachers objective is to make students to use the language in order to convey the
messages from texts. In conclusion, Nuttal claims that the main aim of reading
lessons is to communicate the meaning of the texts, in which any new language
item learnt is an incidental benefit (p.30).
On the other side, in the context of Second Language (ESL) Acquisition,
Krashen (2004) developed the Comprehension Hypothesis that states that the
acquisition of language results from the understanding of oral messages from people
and written messages from texts. In his work, the author also argues that the ability
of reading, writing, spelling and handling complex syntax emerge from reading, as
well as our knowledge of vocabulary. Krashen (2004) in his Comprehension
Hypothesis argues that we acquire language when we understand messages,
when we understand what people tell us and when we understand what we read.
(s.p).

Conclusions
Thus, our first conclusion is that reading can be consider as a strategy for
language learning because it promotes and enhance peoples literacy skills. It is also
important to mention that the acquisition of language results from first, the
understanding of messages (as pointed out by Krashen) no matter if spoken or
written, so reading contributes to this process. Therefore, we believe that reading as
a receptive skill has a paramount importance in the learning process of English as a
Second Language. So, in our study we consider reading is a powerful tool to teach
ESL.

In accordance with the statements of the authors mentioned above, reading
may be consider as a strategy for learning a language, which can have a great
importance in the acquisition of English as a foreign language.






Definition of Reading Comprehension


In 1983, Johnson (cited in Ling, 2011, p.8), states that reading
comprehension is a complex activity which involves conscious and unconscious use
of various strategies (e.g. problem-solving strategies) to construct a model of the
meaning which the text is assumed to have intended and that in the process of
reading comprehension, readers infer the intention of the writer, employing their
own prior knowledge (Ling, 2011, p.7), as well as, several cognitive and
metacognitive procedures and hints that are confined between the lines of the text.

In 2002, Snow states that reading comprehension is a process of
simultaneously extracting and constructing meaning through interaction and
involvement with written language. In addition the author mentions that
comprehension is entailed by three elements: the reader who is doing the
comprehending, the text that is to be comprehended and the activity in which
comprehension is a part. The author adds that in view of the reader, we must
consider all the capacities, abilities, knowledge and experiences that a person
brings to the act of reading (p.11), while regarding the text we must include any
printed text or electronic text (p.11) and when assessing the activity we must
consider the purpose, the processes and consequences associated with the act of
reading (p.11).