Continues discussion of Ronald Carter's Rauding Theory. (AA)

Using reading models interchangeably with reading theories blurs the distinction between models as representations and theories as explanations. This report presents several models of reading comprehension and compares the functional purposes and research implications of selecting one model over another. The report draws the following conclusions:…

In the bottom-up model of the reading process, the reader's first task is to decode the symbols into sound representations. By contrast, the top-down model assumes that the reader begins by guessing about the meaning of some unit of print. Each model suggests different instructional practices. (Author/SJL)

This study examined the ability of junior high school students to use advance information when making semantic category decisions. The subjects, eight good readers and eight poor readers, identified paired words as "same" or "different" in category, with some words more highly associated with the category than others--in the "fruit" category, for…