The Nature of

Reading Abilities
Daz, Ivanna
Mura, Juan Pablo
Tolaba, Beln

 Reading: definition
Purposes for reading
Skills and strategies
Fluent reading comprehension processes

Reading is the ability to draw meaning

from the printed page and interpret this
information appropriately.
Grabe, W. and Stoller, F.

Purposes for reading

Decisions
Goal

made unconsciously
synthesise
general comprehension

Multiple sources

simple texts
complex texts

7 main purposes
1- Reading to search for simple information
Scan the text for specific
information

2- Reading to skim
3- Reading to learn from texts
academic and professional
contexts

Remember main ideas and details

Recognise and rebuild rhetorical frames
Link the text to the readers knowledge base
make inferences
background knowledge

4 - Reading to integrate information

variants of

5- Reading to write texts

6- Reading to critique texts

both require abilities to

compose, select and critique
information from a text

7- Reading for general comprehension

SKILLS
Linguistic processing
abilities (automatic),
e.g word recognition.

STRATEGIES
Abilities under
conscious control,
e.g predicting
content of texts.

FLUENT READING COMPREHENSION:

PROCESSES
rapid

evaluating

efficient

purposeful

interactive

comprehending

strategic

learning

flexible

linguistic

WORKING MEMORY:
short - term memory,
information activated or given mental stimulation,
active use of cognitive processes.