A Socio Cultural View
A popular definition of reading comprehension is to construct "meaning" from text, however it must be considered where meaning is located – within the text, within the reader or both (Winch, G., Ross-Johnston, R., March, P., Ljungdahl, L. & Holliday, M., 2011, p.97).
Behaviourist theories argue that meaning resides within the text and it is up to the reader to discover it; cognitive theories state that a reader brings to the text a variety of knowledge, skills and understanding and hence, there are "as many meanings as there are readers" (Winch et al., 2011, p.97). Luke, Dooley & Woods (2011) take a socio cultural view and argue that comprehension is a "cognitive and social and intellectual phenomenon" as it is a purposeful process that reflects a social purpose and intellectual significance (p.150). The influences of social and cultural factors of both the reader and writer should be considered. Therefore a more balanced approach with a sociocultural view is beneficial for guiding the development of reading comprehension (Winch et al., 2011). |
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