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READING COMPREHENSION

Blogasiaph April 28, 2019 0

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Let’s prepare to learn

Reading comprehension is not a simple concept. We need to comprehend, but possibly miss out on so
efficient and satisfactory reading due to lack of awareness about the process of reading comprehension.
Since researches on reading comprehension is a continuing effort by reading specialist, there is no last
word on the subject matter. But let’s try to get the latest information and research results we can find.

What exactly is reading comprehension?

Simply put, reading comprehension is the act of understanding what you are reading. While the
definition can be simply stated the act is not simple to teach, learn or practice. Reading comprehension
is an intentional, active, interactive process that occurs before, during and after a person reads a
particular piece of writing.

Reading comprehension is one of the pillars of the act of reading. When a person reads a text he
engages in a complex array of cognitive processes. He is simultaneously using his awareness and
understanding of phonemes (individual sound “pieces” in language), phonics (connection between
letters and sounds and the relationship between sounds, letters and words) and ability to comprehend
or construct meaning from the text. This last component of the act of reading is reading comprehension.
It cannot occur independent of the other two elements of the process. At the same time, it is the most
difficult and most important of the three.

There are two elements that make up the process of reading comprehension: vocabulary knowledge and
text comprehension. In order to understand a text the reader must be able to comprehend the
vocabulary used in the piece of writing. If the individual words don’t make the sense then the overall
story will not either. Children can draw on their prior knowledge of vocabulary, but they also need to
continually be taught new words. The best vocabulary instruction occurs at the point of need. Parents
and teachers should pre-teach new words that a child will encounter in a text or aid her in
understanding unfamiliar words as she comes upon them in the writing. In addition to being able to
understand each distinct word in a text, the child also has to be able to put them together to develop an
overall conception of what it is trying to say. This is text comprehension. Text comprehension is much
more complex and varied that vocabulary knowledge. Readers use many different text comprehension
strategies to develop reading comprehension. These include monitoring for understanding, answering
and generating questions, summarizing and being aware of and using a text’s structure to aid
comprehension.

How does reading comprehension develop?

As you can see, reading comprehension is incredibly complex and multifaceted. Because of this, readers
do not develop the ability to comprehend texts quickly, easily or independently. Reading comprehension
strategies must be taught over an extended period of time by parents and teachers who have
knowledge and experience using them. It might seem that once a child learns to read in the elementary
grades he is able to tackle any future text that comes his way. This is not true. Reading comprehension
strategies must be refined, practiced and reinforced continually throughout life. Even in the middle
grades and high school, parents and teachers need to continue to help their children develop reading
comprehension strategies. As their reading materials become more diverse and challenging, children
need to learn new tools for comprehending these texts. Content area materials such as textbooks and
newspaper, magazine and journal articles pose different reading comprehension challenges for young
people and thus require different comprehension strategies. The development of reading
comprehension is a lifelong process that changes based on the depth and breadth of texts the person is
reading.

Why is reading comprehension so important?

Without comprehension, reading is nothing more than tracking symbols on a page with your eyes and
sounding them out. Imagine being handed a story written in Egyptian hieroglyphics with no
understanding of their meaning. You may appreciate the words aesthetically and even be able to draw
some small bits of meaning from the page, but you are not truly reading the story. The words on the
page have no meaning. They are simply symbols. People read for many reasons but understanding is
always a part of their purpose. Reading comprehension is important because without it reading doesn’t
provide the reader with any information.

Beyond this, reading comprehension is essential to life. Much has been written about the importance of
functional literacy. In order to survive and thrive in today’s world individuals must be able to
comprehend basic texts such as bills, housing agreements (leases, purchase contracts), directions on
packaging and transportation documents (bus and train schedules, maps, travel directions). Reading
comprehension is a critical component of functional literacy. Think of the potentially dire effects of not
being able to comprehend dosage directions on a bottle of medicine or warnings on a container of
dangerous chemicals. With the ability to comprehend what they read, people are able not only to live
safely and productively, but also to continue to develop socially, emotionally and intellectually.

Reading then and now

In the past, reading is simply known as getting meaning form the printed page by way of a passive
and receptive phase written communication. Stress was given to literal reading or reading the lines to
get the message drift on the what, who, where, why and how of information. In this traditional idea of
reading, it is enough for the reader to perceive letters and words. Using semantic cues (word meanings),
syntactic clues (word order), phonetic/gramophonic cues (sound-and-word relationships), picture, cues
and structural cues. The use of study guides are helpful in careful reading and increased retention.

Today, there is much advancement on concepts about reading comprehension. Take note:

The schema theory states that as we read, we are influenced by the knowledge previously stored in our
memory.

The schema (store of past experiences) influence us in interpreting new textual information.

The first level of comprehension is at the literal level. This refers to recognition of what is simply, directly
and explicitly the textual message. Reading at this level is called Literal Reading is reading the lines of
the textual message.

The second level of comprehension is the inferential level which goes beyond the direct and explicit
statement and adds on by enriching the meaning of the textual message. Reading at this level referred
to Interpretative Reading or reading between the lines combining information with inferred meanings.

The third level in reading comprehension is the critical level wherein the reader raises question and
evaluates the printed text for its veracity, style, patter, etc. Reading at this level is referred to as Critical
Reading, or reading beyond the lines.

Another level of comprehension is the creative level in which the reader sees new ideas/insights from
the textual material. Reading at this level of comprehension is known as Creative Reading.
Comprehension Strategies

Research studies on reading and comprehension have shown that highly proficient readers utilize a
number of different strategies to comprehend various types of texts, strategies that can also be used by
less proficient readers in order to improve their comprehension.

Making Inferences: In everyday terms we refer to this as “reading between the lines”. It involves
connecting various parts of texts that aren’t directly linked in order to form a sensible conclusion. A form
of assumption, the reader speculates what connections lie within the texts.

Planning and Monitoring: This strategy centers around the reader’s mental awareness and their ability
to control their comprehension by way of awareness. By previewing text (via outlines, table of contents,
etc.) one can establish a goal for reading-“what do I need to get out of this”? Readers use context clues
and other evaluation strategies to clarify texts and ideas, and thus monitoring their level of
understanding.

Asking Questions: To solidify one’s understanding of passages of texts readers inquire and develop their
own opinion of the author’s writing, character motivations, relationships, etc. This strategy involves
allowing oneself to be completely objective in order to find various meanings within the text.

Determining Importance: Pinpointing the important ideas and messages within the text. Readers are
taught to identify direct and indirect ideas and to summarize the relevance of each.

Visualizing: With this sensory-driven strategy readers form mental and visual images of the contents of
text. Being able to connect visually allows for a better understanding with the text through emotional
responses.

Synthesizing: This method involves marrying multiple ideas from various texts in order to draw
conclusions and make comparisons across different texts; with the reader’s goal being to understand
how they all fit together.

Making Connections: A cognitive approach also referred to as “reading beyond the lines”, it involves
finding a personal connection to reading, such as personal experience, previously read texts, etc. to help
establish a deeper understanding of the context of the text.
The case of metacognition

The reading teacher does well to develop in students the meta-cognitive ability which provides
natural ease in reflecting, summarizing, questioning, classifying and predicting as one reads.

In meta-cognition, reading comprehension has the following characteristics:

A self-awareness while reading

A dynamic and interactive process of constructing meaning

An interaction between the reader and the text/context

The incidence of a constructive/creative process which happens not only during reading, but after the
reading activity

While reading, the reader makes judgments (confirming, testing, sampling, hyphothesizing)

The reader takes corrective action when comprehension fails.

On reading for information, SQ3R (survey, Question, Read, Recite and Review) is now adopted as an
effective reading formula

ACTIVITY

In groups, discuss and prepare graphs for presentation differentiating:

a) Traditional views and the modern views on reading comprehension

b) Reading comprehension and meta-cognition in reading

c) Comprehension at the literal, inferential, critical and creative levels