Literacy (Reading) Theories & Models

Literacy (reading)

Instructional Models & Theories

Phonics Instructional Theory

Simple View of Reading & Reading Rope

Componential Model

ACTIVE VIEW OF READING

DUAL-ROUTE THEORY

Construction Integration Model

Basic premise is that students should first be taught the grapheme-phoneme or letter-sound correspondences, followed by the encoding of phonemes to form words. This theory involves the close association of components that form a language triangle, i.e., visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. Visual=written symbol name & identification. Auditory=sound of the written symbol. Kinesthetic=feeling of vocal cords as the sound of the written symbol is produced.

Phonics Instructional Theory

Developed by Gillingham & Stillman in 1956. Theory is viewed as a language triangle.

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SVR: Product of 2 cognitive skills, i.e., decoding (word recognition) and language comprehension (oral language skills) = reading comprehension. The SVR predicts four different types of readers: dyslexia, average or advanced, mixed-type or “garden variety poor reader” and hyperlexia. Scarborough’s Reading Rope builds on the SVR theory by expanding on the subskills involved in each of the 2 cognitive skills areas, i.e., decoding & language comprehension.

Simple View of Reading & Reading Rope

Simple View of Reading (SVR) developed by Gough & Tunmer, 1986. Reading Rope, developed by Scarborough, 2001

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The CMR's components include: Decoding, linguistic comprehension, phonological awareness, and vocabulary. Main premise: Go beyond the cognitive aspect and consider school and home factors when planning instruction. Cognitive includes decoding & language comprehension. Psychological includes motivation & interest, learned helplessness, teacher expectations, & gender differences. Ecological includes home/classroom environments, parent engagement, & dialect differences.

Componential Model

Developed by Aaron & Joshi in 2000. Expands the Simple View of Reading. The CMR is based on three domains: cognitive, psychological, and ecological.

Basic premise is that not all reading problems fall under the decoding or language comprehension aspect. Duke & Cartwright argue that some areas such as vocabulary, morphology (meaningful word parts), and fluency influence both sides of the SVR equation and cannot be adequately explained by the simple view of reading. Serves as a bridge between the 2 sides of SVR, adding self-regulation skills readers use to monitor their reading.

ACTIVE VIEW OF READING

Developed by Duke & Cartwright, 2021

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The theory posits that are two main processes involved in reading: the direct route (for familiar words) and the indirect route (for unfamiliar words). It suggests there are two pathways in the brain for word reading, i.e., phonological route & orthographic route. The phonological route involves applying letter-sound relationships to sound out unfamiliar words, leading to access of sound and meaning. The orthographic route identifies a familiar word by its spelling patterns, leading to the access of meaning.

Dual-Route Theory

Developed by Coltheart, Frith, Seymour, & Share in 1983

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Kintsch's work focused on how readers construct mental representations of text, integrating new information with their existing knowledge. The model emphasizes the interaction between textual information and the reader's background knowledge, leading to comprehension. Basic premise is that readers assemble meaning from texts by building a mental blueprint of the text. Reading comprehension MUST include these factors: activating prior knowledge, generating inferences, resolving inconsistencies, and integrating information across sentences and paragraphs.

CONSTRUCTION INTEGRATION MODEL

Developed by Walter Kinstch in 1988 and fleshed out more fully in the 1990s.

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Language Triangle

Steps of language teaching

Anna Gillingham, working with Bessie Stillman, developed the concept of the language triangle (auditory, visual, and kinesthetic). They organized the steps of language teaching, going from the simplest sounds in isolation, to syllables, words, phrases, and sentences. Theory centers on phonetic associations. Each phonogram (representation of sound) is presented through each association, i.e., visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. Each associaiton is linked & presented simultaneously. This is the process of translating seen symbols into sounds, which is the basis of oral reading.

• Gillingham's & Stillman's theory is now most often referred to as the Orton-Gillingham approach
• One-on-one teacher-student instructional model
• Was originally intended for use with individuals who have difficulty with reading and writing associated with dyslexia

Active View of Reading

Highlights

• A key feature of the model is that it explicitly lists contributors to reading—and, thus, potential causes of reading difficulty—within, across, and beyond the broad categories of word recognition and language comprehension.
• Not all profiles of reading difficulty are explained by low word recognition and/or language comprehension
• There are many distinct profiles of reading difficulty within contributors to word recognition and/or language comprehension

Key Characteristics

Construction of Meaning: Readers construct meaning by making inferences, predicting outcomes, and connecting ideas within the text and with their own experiences.Monitoring Comprehension: Effective readers continually assess their understanding of the text, identifying when they do not comprehend and employing strategies to resolve confusion. Use of Strategies: Readers utilize a variety of strategies, such as summarizing, questioning, and visualizing, to enhance comprehension and retention of information. Text Interaction: The relationship between the reader and the text is reciprocal; the text influences the reader's understanding, while the reader's interpretation can shape the meaning of the text. Contextual Influence: Factors such as cultural background, social context, and purpose for reading play a significant role in shaping how a reader interacts with a text. Active Participation: Reading is seen as an active process where the reader participates in dialogue with the text, questioning and evaluating the content.

• Views reading as an interactive & dynamic process
• Encourages active engagement with the text, bringing prior knowledge, experiences, & emotions into the reading process
• Believes reading is not just a passive activity but a complex cognitive process involving active participation and critical thinking

Reading Rope

Expands on SVR by. . .

Looking at the two cognitive subskills:

• Language comprehension subskills: Background knowledge, vocabulary knowledge, language structures, verbal reasoning, & literacy knowledge
• Word recognition subskills: Phonological awareness, decoding & spelling, sight recognition. Mastery of these subskills leads to skilled reading, i.e., fluent execution and coordination of word recognition and text comprehension.

Decoding vs. Encoding

What is the difference between decoding and encoding?

Rreading & Writing Perspective

• Decoding is the process of translating a written word into speech
• Encoding is the process of breaking a spoken word down into its individual sounds to write it down.
• Encoding is a writing process
• Decoding is a reading process

Various Processes

Decoding: Ability to translate written words into sounds Vocabulary Knowledge: Understanding the meaning of words Sentence Processing: Understanding of grammatical structures & how they affect meaning within sentences. Text Structure Awareness: Recognizing different genres and structures of texts; helps in predicting content and organizing information. Comprehension Monitoring: Ability to self-assess understanding while reading Background Knowledge: Prior knowledge's impact on comprehension Fluency: Ability to read smoothly and quickly, which supports comprehension and retention of information. Metacognition: Awareness of one's own reading processes and strategies, including planning, monitoring, and evaluating understanding. These components interact dynamically, and proficiency in reading generally requires a balance among them.

Key Components

Text Base: This refers to the literal representation of the information in the text, including facts, events, and ideas explicitly stated. Situation Model: This is a mental representation that readers create based on their understanding of the text, integrating their background knowledge and the information from the text. It captures the meaning and context of the narrative or information being read. Construction Phase: Readers actively build connections between the text and their existing knowledge. They construct a coherent mental model by integrating new information with what they already know. Integration Phase: This phase involves combining the constructed elements into a unified understanding. Readers evaluate and reorganize their mental representations to achieve coherence.

• Inferences: Inferences help to fill in gaps in the text and enhance understanding; they are based on the integration of new information with prior knowledge.
• Monitoring Comprehension: Readers continuously assess their understanding as they read, adjusting their mental models and strategies as needed to improve comprehension.

Direct vs. Indirect Pathways

• Direct: Used for recognizing familiar words or words that a reader has encountered frequently.

• Readers access the visual representation of a word directly from memory. This involves whole-word recognition, enabling quick and efficient reading.

• Example: Common words like "cat" or "house" are typically processed through the direct route since they are well-known and frequently used.
• Indirect: This route is used for decoding unfamiliar words or non-words.

• Readers rely on phonological processing, converting letters into sounds and then blend those sounds to form a word.
• Involves grapheme-phoneme mapping, allowing readers to sound out words based on their spelling.
• Example: A reader encountering a new word like "epiphany" would use the indirect route to decode it phonetically before understanding its meaning.

Propositions

• Reading comprehension happens in 2 stages
• 1st stage: Readers generate ideas about the text during reading, i.e., mental map that relies heavily on prior knowledge & expectations about the text.
• 2nd stage: The reader must choose the best interpretation that makes sense based on the available evidence and context. To do this, the reader must monitor their reading and use fix-it strategies when meaning breakdowns occur.
• CIM views reading comprehension as a process rather than a set of specific teachable sub-skills.