ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors attempt to use the metaphor of driving to provide a complex but accessible model for reading, with particular attention to the roles that textual and contextual factors play. They explain the decoding, syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic demands of the text also affect reading, and interact with reader knowledge and skill. The authors also explain text content more broadly is critically important, largely in interaction with the reader's background and knowledge base. They discuss if a reader is paying a great deal of attention to their word reading on a regular basis, that's also a sign of trouble, as it leaves less cognitive attention for many of the other aspects of reading. The authors drive for a purpose, typically to reach a particular destination but sometimes for the experience of driving itself. A drive cannot begin without the act of ignition. Similarly, reading does not begin without the motivation to engage in the process.
