ELT365 · Day 156 — Interactive processing — when both work together

Idea — Skilled readers and listeners use top-down and bottom-up processing simultaneously, switching as needed. Teaching both builds real comprehension rather than reliance on one strategy.

Example — A learner hears ‘syringe’ (bottom-up) and immediately activates a hospital schema (top-down). The two feeds each other.

Try — In your next lesson: where are learners using top-down strategies? Where are they stuck on words (bottom-up)?

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