本文以古德曼（Kenneth S. Goodman）的閱讀理論探討中英文閱讀的異同。依據古德曼的閱讀理論，不同的文字系統使用不同種類的書寫符號，然而閱讀不同文字的讀者同樣的會運用各自文字系統裡重要的書寫符號來理解意義。在閱讀理解的心理運作層次，中英文的讀者都會運用三個層次的語言線索以及心理語言閱讀策略來建構意義。 閱讀是社會文化的行為，中英文的閱讀同樣受其各自獨特的社會與文化情境所影響，這一部分的討論強調閱讀教學的啟示與建議。希冀本文能幫助語言教師更了解中英文閱讀的歷程與閱讀的本質，以期能設計並實施更有助學生學習閱讀的教學。

The paper explores the similarities and dissimilarities in reading Chinese and English based on Kenneth S. Goodman’s reading theories. It begins with a brief overview of the core concepts in Goodman’s reading theories, which is followed by a discussion of how different disciplines joined the research on reading and reading instruction in the past half century, and how such multi-disciplinary research broadened and deepened our understanding about reading. Against the background of this historical account of education and reading research, the significance of Goodman’s reading theories are highlighted. Goodman believes that although different scripts use different written symbols, readers of all writing systems use graphophonic information to make sense. It is also argued in this paper that Goodman’s macro theories of reading can accommodate the body of research claiming that word recognition processes in different orthographies are dissimilar. Readers of Chinese and English utilize the same three levels of linguistic cues and psycholinguistic comprehension strategies to construct meaning. Finally, the article stresses that reading is a socio-cultural behavior, and the reading of Chinese and English is influenced by its own unique socio-cultural contexts. In this section, teaching implications and suggestions are provided for reading teachers. It is hoped that language teachers will better understand the processes and nature of reading Chinese and English from this paper and become more competent at designing reading programs that enhance student’s learning of reading.