STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF TOP DOWN APPROACH

TEACHING READING SKILLS AND VOCABULARY TUTORIAL WEEK 2

MYRA AINEE FAEZ SCHA

Lets Refresh Back What is Top Down Approach in Reading??

Top-down processing of language happens when someone uses background information (schema) to predict the meaning of language they are going to listen to or read.

STRENGTHS
Learners prior knowledge is activated,
Enhances learners language learning, and enable them to understand (reading comprehension). Prior knowledge plays a major role in learners comprehension. Carrell (1988) argued that a lack of content schemata activation would lead to insurmountable (overwhelming) processing difficulties with second language readers.

STRENGTHS
It is a whole language teaching approach.
Readers focus on the context, and manage to construct meanings in the text (Treiman, 2001). In the simplest terms, whole language is a method of teaching children to read by recognizing words as whole pieces of language.

Student interest is stimulated Natural blending of skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing)

WEAKNESSES
Lack of knowledge
For many texts, the reader has little knowledge of the topic and cannot generate predictions. The lack of knowledge leads to inability to understand the text about in the first reading. The decoding process of the text also become much slower .

WEAKNESSES
Time consuming
Even if a skilled reader can generate predictions, this would take much longer than it would to recognize the words. E.g. This can be seen when a reader reads about medical reports that contain many medical term that unusual to average reader. The time consumes for understanding or finding the meaning of the words that new to the reader. This model is good for the skilful, fluent reader for whom perception and decoding have become automatic, not for the less proficient, developing reader.