Module 2: Reading Reflection

To respond to this honestly, I will give an explanation in agreement and disagreement. Keep in mind that a theory is a general principal and explains observed facts.

Agreement

In the time of Columbus the “theory” of the earth being flat was the prevailing convention. His voyage and subsequent intrepid explorers disproved this theory.  The theory of reading may not be as easy to debunk because a young less proficient reader would not be able to read and understand the passage, therefore, it does seem an exact process.

Disagreement

You can use contextual clues to understand a passage.  You could read a passage on particle physics and it would appear incomprehensible, but if you were able to pick out enough contextual clues you could get the general idea.  The same is true of the “Flat Earth” theory.  People never sailed past a certain point, maps were flat.  It took an around the world voyage by Magellan, beginning and ending at the same point, to finally disprove the “Flat Earth” theory completely.  Weaver gives many examples in the text relating to context, including the use of personal, situational, and sociolinguistic context as an inclusive process to determine meaning. She also points out, using a variety of studies to support her statement, that “…good readers read for meaning, not to identify words…” (Weaver, 2002, p. 52).  Young readers are not only able to rely on context clues but also on syntantic, semantic, graphic language cues while learning to construct meaning, as evident in the miscue analyses of Billy and Jay in Chapter 4.  She goes on to state that constructing meaning occurs beyond symbols, surface accuracy with all words, and the recollection of every word in a passage.  Thus, her examples and insight support her argument that, “…it is inappropriate and unproductive to conceptualize reading as involving accurate identification of all words” (Weaver, 2002, p. 80).

So, while a theory is developed to explain observed facts, consider that in the time of Columbus, people relied on their contextual clues and folklore to support the idea of the Earth being flat.  That theory was later disproved by one person.  Similarly, Weaver and others have gathered ample evidence to support the idea that reading is not an exact process, therefore disproving what the consuming public, legislatures, courts, and too many educators may believe.