Reader-centered reading instructional theory emphasizes the process by which readers use their own experiences and knowledge to construct meaning from text. According to this theory, background knowledge, critical thinking skills, and metacognitive skills play an important role in reading comprehension and retention. Readers can read effectively by predicting, inferring, and critically evaluating the content of a text and integrating it into their body of knowledge.
Prior to the emergence of reader-centered reading instruction, reading instructional theories viewed readers as passive beings who discovered meaning in text. These traditional reading instructional theories viewed readers as simply decoding the meaning of a text, and their understanding of the text was solely dependent on the text itself. In this view, the meaning of a text is fixed, and the reader’s role is to passively receive that meaning.
However, reader-centered reading education theory defines reading as an act in which readers use their own experiences and knowledge to interact with texts and construct meaning. The experience and knowledge that readers use to construct meaning is called “background knowledge,” which is divided into two main types. Content background knowledge is the experience and knowledge that readers already have about the topic or subject matter of a text, and form background knowledge is the experience and knowledge about the organization and presentation of a text, such as its structure and discourse conventions. This background knowledge plays an important role in a reader’s reading experience and helps them to understand and interpret texts more deeply.
According to reader-centered reading instructional theory, readers who are effective at constructing meaning from text use their background knowledge to predict the content and structure of a text before reading. By creating an ideal information structure in their minds, they can easily take in new information as they read and selectively take in only the information that meets their reading goals. While reading, you use your background knowledge to help you understand the text and make inferences about information not directly stated in the text. Readers may revise their background knowledge based on new information gained during the process, or they may store the new information in their memory and use it as background knowledge for future reading. After reading a text, readers use their background knowledge to reorganize the information in a way that makes sense, and this reorganization is remembered for a long time. In this way, readers go beyond simply reading a text and experience the process of integrating and expanding the content of a text into their knowledge base.
Theorists of reader-centered reading instruction have explored ways to make effective use of background knowledge, one of which is to organize your associations with a text. The idea is to think of all the knowledge and experiences that are relevant to the topic or theme of the text, and then organize them into a hierarchy of related concepts. By organizing your reader’s cognition in advance, you’ll have a better chance of understanding what you’re writing, and you’ll be able to structure your content more accurately. This helps readers to understand and remember the text in a more organized way.
At the beginning of their research, theorists of reader-centered reading instruction believed that different readers constructed different meanings from the same text because of the different amounts of background knowledge they had. They studied how to build more background knowledge to improve readers’ reading skills. However, in real-life reading situations, they found that background knowledge sometimes interfered with accurate reading. When background knowledge is excessive or applied inappropriately, readers run the risk of distorting or misinterpreting the content of a text. Therefore, theorists of reader-centered reading instruction have conducted research on other factors that affect reading ability besides the amount of background knowledge.
They concluded that a reader’s critical thinking and metacognitive skills play an important role. Readers must have the ability to evaluate the authenticity and reliability of texts, monitor their own comprehension process, and adjust their strategies when necessary, rather than simply accepting what is written. These skills are essential for readers to comprehend texts more actively and effectively.
