ABSTRACT
There are many different ways in which we ‘read’ in our own language. When, for example, we read a menu or a railway timetable we have a very specific focus – we are looking for precise information, ‘I'm not very keen on tuna or offal and I don't want to spend too much’ or ‘I need to be in Newcastle by 11.00 and don't want to change trains’ – we scan, reject, select, examine more closely. Reading a newspaper article by, for example, a politician will involve us in other ways; we will still be reading for information but we will almost certainly be involved in (at least subconsciously) reacting (‘I didn't know that’ ‘I must do something about this’ and inferring – ‘what is she really saying? what is her attitude? what is she trying to get me to think?’). There are many other instances of different types of reading we engage in: reading a recipe; reading a novel; reading a poster while travelling on the London Undergroud; even reading the back of a cereal packet while eating breakfast. In each case our reasons and the processes we engage in are varied and complex.
