ABSTRACT
This chapter shows that the idea of what reading is, or how it can be defined, is a very important question. The idea or conception of reading has a direct influence on the construction of methods for teaching reading. These methods are nothing other than the logical consequences of some theoretical standpoints — invisible or visible, unformulated or formulated. Consequently, the definition of reading changes from situation to situation depending on the construction of the test or measurement. But the observable parts of the reading behaviour must be identified and made measurable. Decoding and thought-processing leads to reading comprehension. Reading speed is always a function of precomprehension. During the reading process we may have to reconstruct the ”picture” which, for instance, often happens when reading detective stories.
