{{neologism, date=June 2019 A reading path is a term used by Gunther Kress in ''Literacy in the New Media Age'' (2003). According to Kress, a professor of English Education at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degre ...

, a reading path is the way that the

text Text may refer to: Written word * Text (literary theory), any object that can be read, including: **Religious text, a writing that a religious tradition considers to be sacred **Text, a verse or passage from scripture used in expository preachin ...

, or text plus other features, can determine or order the way that we read it. In a

linear Linearity is the property of a mathematical relationship ('' function'') that can be graphically represented as a straight line. Linearity is closely related to '' proportionality''. Examples in physics include rectilinear motion, the linear ...

, written text, the reader makes sense of the text according to the arrangement of the words, both grammatically and syntactically. In such a reading path, there is a sequential time to the text. In contrast, with

non-linear In mathematics and science, a nonlinear system is a system in which the change of the output is not proportional to the change of the input. Nonlinear problems are of interest to engineers, biologists, physicists, mathematicians, and many other ...

text, such as the text found when

reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

a computer screen, where text is often combined with visual elements, the reading path is non-linear and non-sequential. Kress suggests that reading paths that contain visual images are more open to

interpretation Interpretation may refer to: Culture * Aesthetic interpretation, an explanation of the meaning of a work of art * Allegorical interpretation, an approach that assumes a text should not be interpreted literally * Dramatic Interpretation, an event ...

and the reader's construction of meaning. This is part of the " semiotic work" that we do as a reader. Kress, G. (2003). Literacy in the new media age. New York: Routledge. page 57

Linear reading path

An example of a linear reading path might be a textbook, with pictures, or paragraphs where the reader is led to assume cause-and-effect sequences, for example. Speech is also a linear path because the path is more "set".Kress, G. (2003). Literacy in the new media age. New York: Routledge. page 4 according to Kress.

Non-linear reading path

An example of a non-linear reading path might be a text that has images alongside it. Kress argues that this different mode yields a different

affordance Affordance is what the environment offers the individual. American psychologist James J. Gibson coined the term in his 1966 book, ''The Senses Considered as Perceptual Systems'', and it occurs in many of his earlier essays. However, his best-kno ...

; the visual image allows for open interpretation. A concrete example on paper might be a diagram such as a

flow chart A flowchart is a type of diagram that represents a workflow or process. A flowchart can also be defined as a diagrammatic representation of an algorithm, a step-by-step approach to solving a task. The flowchart shows the steps as boxes of v ...

graphic organizers A graphic organizer, also known as a knowledge map, concept map, story map, cognitive organizer, advance organizer, or concept diagram is a pedagogical tool that uses visual symbols to express knowledge and concepts through relationships between the ...

. In such multi-modal texts, the reading path is much less linear and more open to the reader's interpretation. The idea that reading paths differ according to evolving, emerging, multi-modal texts, are part of the New literacy studies,

visual rhetoric Visual rhetoric is the art of effective communication through visual elements such as images, typography, and texts. Visual rhetoric encompasses the skill of visual literacy and the ability to analyze images for their form and meaning. Drawing on ...

, and the concept of multiliteracies.

References

* Kress, G. (2003). Literacy in the new media age. New York: Routledge.

External links

Reading Images, Multimodality, Representation, and New MediaMultiliteracies for online learningScanning the Front Pages
Human–computer interaction