I do not agree
with Marilyn Adams in her statement regarding how readers look at the
individual letters when reading. Good readers read based on context, schemas,
semantics, syntax, and graphic cues. They use all of these factors together to
gain meaning from the text. Relying on reading by looking at the individual
letters not only is an incorrect idea, but it would require a significant
amount of time. According to the reading, reading “means that various features
within words—not necessarily letters—are picked up by the eyes before the words or chunks of
letters are perceived and before words (must less the individual letters) are
identified by the brain” (Weaver, 2002, p. 109). Often times, readers are
predicting what word comes next or looking ahead when reading. When I am
reading, I notice how I may read ahead or reread a word if it does not make
sense. I never am focusing on the individual letters. In the end, Marilyn Adams
statement does not represent the true idea of how readers read.
References:
Weaver, C. (2002). Reading
Process & Practice (3rd ed.). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Kimberly,
ReplyDeleteI also disagree with Marilyn Adams statement on how readers read individual letters. You also make a great point that proficient readers do not look at each individual letter when reading because that would take a significant amount of time and they would not be able to comprehend the text as well. Great post!