ABSTRACT
Reading and writing clearly make differing demands on language users, the two constructs can be considered as two sides of the same coin, as both deal with written communication, albeit from different perspectives. This chapter discusses models of the reading and the writing process as well as the relationships between them. R. B. Ruddell and N. J. Unrau's reading model consists of the two major components of prior knowledge and beliefs and knowledge use and control. The various kinds of knowledge comprise personal, linguistic and world knowledge of the declarative, procedural and conditional type. The chapter discusses the driving force of reading is the quest for meaning and meaning construction is done from a different perspective in the writing process. Across the many thousands of languages of the world, three major types of writing system can be distinguished, which are the logographic, syllabic and alphabetic system.
