Linguistic Perspective Definition Linguistic theories focus on the structure and use of language. These theories emphasize the role that knowledge of semantic and syntactic structures of language plays in the comprehension of text.
Description and Explanation of Linguistic Theories and Models
Psycholinguistic Theory suggests that reading is primarily a language process, and that readers rely on language cueing systems to help them read (Tracey & Morrow, 2012, p. 68). An understanding of syntactic, semantic and graphophonic text structures provides information to the reader as he reads the text, helping him predict what the text will say next. This ability to create and test hypotheses rapidly …show more content…
121). Similar to Psycholinguistics Theory, Sociolinguistics suggests that an understanding of the syntactic and semantic structures of language help children predict text to read fluently. Sociolinguistics, however, place an emphasis on oral language. Theorists believe that an understanding of oral language provides “an intuitive understanding of the structure of language” (Tracey & Morrow, 2012, p. 110) and a vocabulary base, which provides a framework for constructing meaning from text. This theory can be classified as a linguistic theory of literacy because it emphasizes the role that oral language plays in …show more content…
Strong readers use meaning, visual and structural cues to rapidly predict words in text, and also use these cues to self-correct errors. Often, struggling readers do not efficiently use these cues, and often do not self-correct errors. They struggle to recognize when words look right, sound right, or make sense within the context of the language. Analysis of student miscues provides teachers with insight into the source of difficulty, and provides clear steps for remediation. Students struggling to use visual cues might require remedial phonics lessons, and explicit modeling of the use of decoding strategies. A student who is inefficiently using meaning cues will need explicit instruction in using prior knowledge, context clues and pictures, and vocabulary to make predictions about the next words in the text. Students who are not utilizing structure cues require lessons on sentence grammatical structure, and practice with how language should