2.3 Reading
2.3.2 Reading Comprehension in a Foreign Language
Some researchers, such as Eskey (1988) for example, claim that foreign language readers need to deal with more 'bottom-up' features than do first language readers. Bottom-up processing involves attention to the specific graphophonic and syntactic features of texts such as semantic and grammar rules. Eskey's (1988) view, which is based on the fact that the foreign language reader will have weaker linguistic competence than the first language reader and will therefore have less ability to draw on the range of cues, which are available to readers in a first language, was taken into consideration in the construction of the research intervention. Broughton
et al
(1978) agree that reading is complex and involves a series of skills including correlation of words with their meaning. As they note, 'the most familiar of all elements of language arewords
and it must be quite clear that part of what is involved in understanding a text is understanding the meaning of individual words in that text' (1978, p 94). Efficient readers are able to understand the patterns of relationships between words - the semantic patterns of lexical items, and the grammatical relationships which connect the lexical items.Hoover and Tunmer (1993) distinguish between reading ability and reading performance. The 'bottom-up' conception of reading states that reading is a linear process where word recognition precedes linguistic comprehension. However, Hoover and Tunmer (1993) note that though word recognition should not be influenced by processing taking place at any higher level, 'there is evidence that word recognition can be dramatically influenced by linguistic context and this clearly falsifies any strictly bottom-up model of reading performance' (1993, p 3). This
23
concept influenced the Ministry of Education in Israel, in 1988, to impose the
whole language
approach to teaching English in Israel (Ministry of Education 1988). This approach is top-down in nature and replaced the bottom-up approach which was practised in Israel's centralistic educational system up until then (Ministry of Education 1988).Gough's (1972) model, also a bottom-up model, contrasts with Goodman's (1967) model. Gough (1972) depicts the good reader as a fluent decoder who makes no use of context at all, but rather makes use of internalised letter-sound correspondence rules. Gough (1972) argues that in learning to read, the child's task is to learn to decode, that is, to convert graphic characters into phonemes, so that the printed form can be mapped to its spoken form.
The reader converts characters into systematic phonemes; the child must learn to do so. The reader knows the rules that relate one set of abstract entities to another; the child does not. The reader is a decoder; the child must become one (Gough 1972, p 310).
The strength of the Gough (1972) model is that it shows exactly how the good reader can process print without using context. By doing so, the model shows the importance of letter-sound correspondence. Effective letter-sound correspondence is a consequence of effective phonological awareness, as pointed by Ehri (1992) and will be discussed later on in this chapter. Gough (1972) points out that guessing is probably a result of decoding failure. In his view, the use of context could be a cause for concern.
Stanovich (1980) suggested the 'interactive model', which held that regular word recognition made simultaneous use of information from top- down as well as bottom-up processes, such that when bottom-up processes failed, the reader would use top-down processes instead. In
24
the regular situation, however, Stanovich (1980) holds that the reading process is bottom-up and the use of top-down processes takes place only in order to compensate for a breakdown in decoding. He states:
The compensatory assumption states that a deficit in any knowledge source results in a heavier reliance on other knowledge sources, regardless of their level in the processing hierarchy. Thus, according to the interactive- compensatory model, the poor reader who has deficient word analysis skills might possibly show a greater reliance on contextual factors. In fact, several studies have shown this to be the case (1980, p 63).
Stanovich's (1980) model helps to explain why poor readers often seem to make use of context clues in reading. It suggests that contextually appropriate errors occur when children are unable to use their decoding skills, and have to make use of context. In other words, like the Gough (1972) model, this model suggests that the crucial problem facing poor readers is an inability to decode rather than the inability to use context. It would therefore seem that both Gough (1972) and Stanovich (1980) agree that the hallmark of the good reader is the ability to decode.
Ulijn (1980) disputes Goodman's (1967) assumption that reading is a psycholinguistic guessing game, and claims that in foreign language (L2), reading may be less of a guessing game than in L1. 'It seems likely that when an L2 reader tries to predict what is coming in the text, he forgets the past cues, when he tries to concentrates on post cues, prediction is impaired' (1967, p 28). Still he suggests that there are certain similarities between L1 and L2 reading.
Eskey (1988) claims that even though the 'top-down' revolution has resulted in major improvements in both our understanding of what fluent and less fluent readers do, still top-down models have a number of limitations:
25
They tend to emphasize such higher-level skills as the prediction of meaning by means of context clues or certain kinds of background knowledge at the expense of such lower-level skills as the rapid and accurate identification of lexical and grammatical forms (1988, p 93).
What Eskey (1988) means is that while the top-down model is accurate for the skilful, fluent reader, for whom perception and decoding have become automatic, for the less proficient, developing reader - like most foreign language readers - this model does not provide a true picture of the problems such readers must surmount. Eskey (1988) favours the interactive model suggested by Stanovich (1980). The interactive model does not presuppose the primacy of top-down processing skills - the gradual replacing of painful word-by-word decoding with educated guessing based on minimal visual cues - but rather posits a constant interaction between bottom-up and top-down processing in reading. According to this view, fluent readers are both good decoders and good interpreters of texts, their decoding skills becoming more automatic but no less important as their reading skill develops. Eskey (1988) does not object to prediction based on knowledge, but he believes that simple language decoding also has a major role to play in the process of reading. 'Good reading is a more language-structured affair than the guessing- game metaphor seems to imply' (1988, p 94). Eskey (1988) believes that the rapid and accurate decoding of language is important to any kind of reading and especially important to foreign language reading. Frequent use of top-down strategies at the word level suggests a simple failure to decode properly. Good readers are 'more reliant on context for fluency and poor readers more reliant on context for accuracy' (Stanovich 1980, p 51). According to Eskey,
To properly achieve both, developing readers must therefore work at perfecting both their bottom-up recognition skills and their top-down interpretation
26
strategie. Good reading - that is, fluent and accurate reading - can result only from a constant interaction between these processes (1988, p 95).
Eskey (1988) is in favour of constant interaction between the two processes of reading (top-down and bottom-up) as he believes that 'we must not lose sight of the fact that language is a major problem in foreign language reading, and that even educated guessing at meaning is no substitute for accurate decoding' (1988, p 97). This research is supported by Eskey's (1988) claim that for foreign language reading, the major virtue of the interactive model is that it directs our attention to both the top-down and bottom-up skills which fluent and accurate reading demands. Local (bottom-up) processing will allow global (top-down) reading with true comprehension. This underpins the use of a combined approach (top-down and bottom-up) for enhancing phonological awareness and improving reading skills in English-FL, rather than each approach by itself, as it is used in my research.
The next section discusses the reading process in the human brain which ties reading comprehension in the first language and in the foreign language with the acquisition of basic reading skills.