ELT365 · Day 153 — Top-Down Processing

Idea — Top-down processing means using prior knowledge, context, and prediction to understand a text. The reader or listener moves from the general to the specific.

Example — Seeing the word ‘Menu’ on a card triggers expectations about food, prices, and choice — before reading a single word.

Try — Show learners an image before a text. Ask: ‘What do you think this is about?’ List three predictions, then read to check.

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