What is the meaning of Reading?

What is the real meaning of Reading? Is it mere the pronouncing the written text or something else? If we analyses the process of reading, then we will find that it not only includes pronunciation but also many other processes. To understand it, we can think how a child of 3-5 years learns reading. Firstly, the child learns to identify the letter with appropriate sound associated with it and also relate it with his environment to understand its meaning. If the child associates the letter and its pronunciation with its surroundings only then it becomes a part of his memory. In this way, we can say reading process includes four processes: Identification of written text or symbol, Pronunciation (recall associated sound with it), Comprehension (driving meaning from it) and Retention. First two processes Identification and Pronunciation can be grouped and named as DECODING. If a student just pronounces the written content without understanding it, it cannot be considered as real reading or quality reading.

Now the question arises what is the relationship between these processes. It is obvious from the given pictorial representation that if a student is a good decoder then he/she can drive better or correct meaning from the written text or symbol and can relate the written text with the appropriate context. Also he/she can better understand the writer’s feeling and writing style. Similarly if a student has comprehend the meaning of text and has find the relationship with the context then it increases the possibility that he/she can memorise it for long term and can also use it whenever required.