| This study compares four theories of prose comprehension: two from text processing research, and two from reader response criticism. The theories of Walter Kintsch, Jean Mandler and Nancy Johnson, Wolfgang Iser, and Stanley Fish are compared with implications for the concept of readability and instruction. This comparison attempts to gain insight into the variables that contribute to the comprehensibility of a text. Three different variables are considered as contributing to text readability/comprehensibility. These variables include text structure, the reader's pre-existing knowledge of the world, and the reader's knowledge about text structure. These three factors provide the framework for comparing the theories of comprehension examined. Conclusions acknowledge that the commonalities between text processing research and reader response criticism have an impact upon the concept of readability and the instruction of reading. This impact, however, involves verifying several previously identified practices as helpful in enhancing reading comprehension, e.g., schema building activities, directed and shared reading experiences, and attention to the difficulties encountered when using varied types of texts. |
