ABSTRACT
As discussed in Chapter 1, approaches to teaching reading in general and L2 reading in particular have seesawed between parts-centered and meaning-based extremes. The contributions of psycholinguistic “top-down,” Whole Language,
and interactionist orientations toward reading in recent decades have been considerable and important, as they have emphasized an understanding of the reader-their background knowledge, experiences, personalities, and motivations and how they interact with a particular text-and an appreciation for reading whole texts for meaning and even enjoyment.
