A New Outlook to Text Processing in Reading Narrative Texts within the Framework of Mental Processes

Abstract

The text is viewed as a final product which exists in the mind as the result of careful mental activity and it is not merely a linguistic unit, but a unit of human action, interaction, communication and cognition. Beaugrande and Dressler (1986) state that a text meets seven standards of textuality, some of which are coherence, intentionality and informativity, therefore, those standards are of importance in the interpretation of texts, and hence in the teaching of reading as they activate students’ minds and schemata. It is now believed that, if the students use their mental processes in reading texts, reading will be a much more effective skill. A variety of factors that are based on mental processes influence comprehension. Some of these factors are linguistic knowledge, conceptual knowledge and organized schemata.