The dated belief that reading is a

The dated belief that reading is a passive decoding process of authors’ intended meaning
has been long replaced with a socio-cultural constructive perspective (Gaffney & Anderson, 2000)
which acknowledges individuals’ abilities to actively utilize past life experiences and cultural
knowledge in making meaning of a text (Goodman, 1981). Because of readers’ unique schematic
backgrounds and the moment of time the reading takes place, they connect to the text differently
(Rosenblatt, 1978). Each individual interpretation, consequently, needs to be respected and in
fact encouraged. To do so, socio-cultural constructivist reading researchers urge that language
teachers implement literacy activities using authentic texts to facilitate social interactions in the
class and create a safe space for critical discussions about issues relevant to students’ lives. The
hope is that students would be able to recognize and eventually act against text positioning
(Lewison, Leland, Flint, & Moler, 2002).