Question: True or False? It is generally more important for a reader to develop their top-down reading than their bottom-up reading.
Answer: False.
Neil Anderson: “Beginning level readers should be exposed to a strong bottom-up component. This is perhaps the greatest weakness in the development of many reading syllabi. Little or no attention is given to the explicit instruction of bottom-up reading…With a strong foundation in bottom-up skills, beginning level readers will become more proficient readers more quickly”
Stephen Parker is an English teacher with a great article on the importance of bottom-up reading which you can access here.