What Are The Levels of Comprehension?

Comprehension is the process of understanding what is being read or heard. It involves

decoding the text or audio and making sense of it. Comprehension can be difficult but
can be improved on with practice.

Generally speaking, there are three primary levels of comprehension, and they
include:

1. Literal level comprehension

2. Inference level comprehension
3. Evaluative level comprehension
When we talk about comprehension, it goes beyond reading; it also includes listening to
an audio, video, or being present in an event and comprehending the situation in that
particular event. However, in this article, we will focus more on reading comprehension.

Comprehension is an essential skill that students and working professionals need to

understand events or reading materials, etc. When a student or professional
comprehends a text or a situation accurately, they can understand, identify the main
points and provide answers to questions from a textbook or events.

Levels of comprehension vary from person-to-person depending on their level of

education, experience, and the complexity of the subject.

Comprehending any subject requires an in-depth study of a topic or event.

Today’s post will discuss the three primary levels of comprehension, including some
other sublevels not highlighted above.

Let’s begin!

Level One: Literal Comprehension

Literal comprehension means understanding a text, including facts, ideas,
vocabulary, events, and stated information.

It involves getting specific answers to questions or information gathering for questions

that start with “what, where, when, who,” etc.

For example:

 Who took Sandra’s pen?

 What did Sandra do when she realized that her pen was missing?
 Where did Ariel go to live at the end of the story?
Literal comprehension requires direct and explicit answers to questions extracted from a
text.
 Literal comprehension is an essential ability because it serves as a building block to the
more advanced levels of comprehension. 

The literal level of comprehension requires some abilities that are necessary for
comprehending any text or statement in general, and they include:

 The ability to understand what a sentence is saying without analyzing it.

 The ability to understand the literal meaning of words.
  The ability to understand the literal meaning of sentences.
To develop the above-highlighted abilities and extract answers from any document
seamlessly, as a student or working professional, you have to develop literal
comprehension skills such as keywording, skim reading, and scanning. These skills will
enable you to locate and use information more quickly.

At the literal level, you can recall the information explicitly stated in the material.

The ability to quickly skim and scan a large volume of materials and extract or recall
essential information from the document is a vital productivity skill that literal
comprehension offers.

Level Two: Inference Comprehension

Inferential comprehension is the ability to make valid inferences from the facts
and information received or found in a text. At this level, you must read between
the lines to understand the texts in the reading material. It involves
understanding the facts even if not explicitly stated in the reading material.

It explores answers to questions that begin with “Why and How” because such
questions have to get their implied meaning answered or comprehended. 

There are several different types of inferences, categorized as generalizations,

comparisons, conclusions, assumptions, predictions, inferences of cause and effect,
etc.

For example:

 Why did Mike want to be awarded the most productive worker of the year?
 How did Mike react when he saw that the recognition of the most productive worker of the year
was awarded to Thomas?
The answer to the first question highlighted above requires inferences based on
assumptions on why Mike wants to be the most productive worker of the year. 

Now such inferences or conclusions may be based on facts or opinions.

The second question requires comparing how Mike acted when he thought he would be
the year’s most productive worker and how he reacted when he lost the recognition to
Thomas.
 Level Three: Evaluative Comprehension
Evaluative comprehension requires a deeper understanding of the topic or event.
It involves analyzing and weighing an event or an author’s intent, opinion,
language, and style of presentation. 

It also includes evaluating the appropriateness of the author’s devices in achieving his
aim and then making inferences based on the fact or idea implied in the event or
reading material.

For example:

 How did Mike feel about losing the recognition award to Thomas?
 If you were Mike, how would you have reacted?
Evaluative comprehension can be applied to one’s performance at work or school,
including others, in case you hold a supervisory role.

It involves making extrapolations or conclusions on material or events. The evaluation

can be positive, negative, or neutral. 

Evaluative comprehension also involves understanding the implications of the

evaluation. For example, Thomas was evaluated as the most productive worker of the
year, so he might understand that the assessment is positive and take pride in it. 

However, if Thomas had been evaluated as unproductive, he might have realized that
the review was negative and felt embarrassed.

Level Four: Reorganization Comprehension

Reorganization comprehension is based on a literal understanding of reading
material or event and then using information gained from various parts of the
material or event and rearranging them into new patterns that integrate them into
your idea for further understanding.

Reorganization comprehension requires some creativity and curiosity. It also requires

an ability to analyze, digest, evaluate and come up with a unique view of a situation or
event.

For example:

 What could have been the consequence if Mike had been recognized as the year’s worker
instead of Thomas?

Level Five: Appreciative Comprehension

Comprehension goes beyond merely decoding the text or audio and making
sense of it. It also involves giving reactions and thoughts about material or
events based on a deeper understanding of the situation or text.
 The appreciative level of comprehension fits here as it requires reading beyond the lines
and involves recognizing the author’s philosophy and purpose of reading material. 

The philosophies are not stated explicitly but are implied in the text and involve having
an emotional response and reflections on the material.

To get to the appreciative level of comprehension means that a reader fully understands
the literal meaning of the reading material, has carefully evaluated the situation and can
use the ideas gathered and apply them to real-life events or similar conditions.

For example:

 How would you feel if you were in Mike’s shoes and had lost the recognition award to a
colleague at your workplace?
 Do you think awarding the recognition to Thomas instead of Mike was appropriate?

You can see that from the questions asked; the answers will require an appreciative
level of comprehension as the answers are not found in the text or event but from the
reader or observer.

Conclusion
As you can see from the levels of comprehension discussed above, comprehending a
text or events, as the case may be, is a crucial skill a student or any working-class
person should have. Also important is the ability to comprehend information fast.

Comprehension can be challenging, especially for people with learning disabilities. So

they find it tasking to build up skills that take them beyond reading the text to reading
between and beyond the text, which is a more advanced level of comprehension.

As mentioned earlier, comprehension is an essential skill that both students and

professionals should have if they want to be productive. 

Four Levels of Questioning in Reading Comprehension

Did you know there were four levels of reading comprehension questions for your children to
use and learn with? Learn about the four levels of questioning in reading comprehension and
more about understanding reading comprehension questions with this handy guide.

Blank's Levels of Questioning

Psychologist Dr. Marion Blank developed a framework for the order in which children
learn different kinds of questions.
 Blank, along with many other psychologists and linguists, believes that language
development is dependent on cognitive development. It's not as simple as learning the
words and the grammar needed to form questions, then being able to ask and answer
anything. We need to improve our reasoning skills and our social skills to understand
and use more complex kinds of questions.

Blank's Levels of Questioning are:

 Level 1: Matching perception - basic questions about the things around you.

 Level 2: Selective analysis of perception - questions going into more detail.

 Level 3: Reordering perception - questions that need outside knowledge.

 Level 4: Reasoning about perception - complex questions involving problem-solving and

justifying.

The four levels of questioning in reading comprehension

So, what does all this have to do with reading comprehension? Even though Blank's
levels were originally about language development, they're extremely useful for teaching
comprehension skills.

These levels map very well onto the kinds of analysis we expect children to do when
they're understanding a text. They can be useful for both teachers and children to have
in mind.

For teachers, it's important to acknowledge that children need to be comfortable at each
of these levels before they can move onto the next level. If you notice that a student is
struggling with comprehension, take a look at which kinds of questions they're finding it
hard to answer. That will help you determine where to focus your teaching to help them
overcome their blocker.

For children, they can interrogate a piece of writing with these kinds of questions,
moving through the levels in order. This can help them organise their thoughts and
unlock more meanings in a text.

Blank attached ages to each of these levels, but it's important to remember that these
won't be the same when it comes to reading comprehension. Using these questions
generally and applying them to a text are two very different challenges. It's also
common for children to reach these levels at varying ages. The order, rather than the
speed, of these levels is the key part.

Now, let's take a closer look at each of the four levels of questioning in reading
comprehension.
 Level 1: Matching perception
For these questions, the answer is right in front of you or around you. It's a simple case
of matching up the query with the things you perceive. For example, asking children to
point to a chair or to name some items.

These kinds of questions involve concrete thinking. That's where we think very literally
about things and deal with facts, definitions or physical objects. Children are quick to
pick up this kind of thinking because they need it to meet their basic needs like food and
comfort.

In reading comprehension, it's all about understanding and recalling the facts of the text
and the things it tells you outright, such as who the characters are and what happens to
them.

The questions at this level will be things like:

 What are the characters' names?

 What objects does this text talk about?

 Where is the story taking place?

 Which character said this?

 What did they do next?

These are the kinds of questions you can begin by asking, to ensure your class has
managed to understand the words in front of them. If they don't know the answers or
can't remember, they might be able to find out by reading through the text again. If
they're still struggling, you can take a look at which words and sentences are causing
confusion.

Without knowing what the text is saying on this level, children can't think about it more
deeply to answer other kinds of more complicated questions.

Level 2: Selective analysis of perception

These questions go into a little more detail, including things like functions,
characteristics, descriptions, categories and comparisons. For example, at this level, a
child would be able to point to a specific type of chair and describe what some items are
used for.

Even though the answers are still pretty much in front of you, you need to think a little
more about them.
 In reading comprehension, children need to be able to use the basic information they've
taken from a text to answer related questions. They'll start to describe and summarise
what they've read, and put together different facts. It isn't as direct as repeating what's
written, but it's still only about using the things they've been told.

Questions at this stage will be ones like these:

 What's happening in this part of the text?

 How are these two characters different?

 Who are the animals in this story, and who are the people?

 Are the pictures a good match for the words?

 How would you summarise the ending?

This level is crucial for children to actually make sense of what they've read. They'll go
from simply recognising the words and their meanings to building a clearer picture of
what information is in the text.

Once they can answer these kinds of questions confidently, they'll be able to start
reading between the lines and discovering more hidden meanings in a text. That takes
us to level 3.

Level 3: Reordering perception

Answers to questions at this level aren't so obvious. They require more abstract
thinking, connecting outside knowledge and experience to the situation. These
questions involve predicting, understanding negatives, giving and following a series of
instructions, putting yourself in someone else's shoes and defining words.

For example, a child could answer which chair their sibling would choose to sit in, or tell
you how to make something with the items in front of you. They'll also be able to
respond to negative questions, meaning questions that use the words no and not, such
as which chair is not at the table.

In reading comprehension, this means that children bring themselves to the text, rather
than just commenting on what is there. They're still guided by what they're reading, and
use the clues within it to find an answer, but they also need to apply their own
experience and knowledge from other scenarios.

This is the level where children can start making inferences and exploring the subtext of
the writing. This level unlocks a whole new world of information. Understanding the
things that a text is communicating to you without telling you directly is an incredibly
valuable and necessary skill. It's the level of implied meaning, figurative language and
interpretations.
 It's also at this level that children answer prediction questions. They'll combine the
things they've learned from the text already and from parallels in their own lives or other
texts to guess what might come next.

In a similar way, they'll connect more deeply with the characters. Children will
understand the characters' emotions and actions through empathy and relating them to
themselves or other people they know.

Here are some example questions:

 What does this metaphor mean?

 How does this character feel?

 Where do you think they will go now?

 What have we learned about this character's personality from this section?

 What is the author suggesting?

Once your class is confident with the first two levels, these kinds of questions will be
where you focus most of your time. By now, children can read and understand texts, but
they need to explore them further and connect meaning to language techniques.

Level 4: Reasoning about perception

The most difficult kinds of questions for children to learn to use and answer are those
that need them to justify, explain, problem-solve and hypothesise. Can a child tell you
what would happen if they accidentally broke a chair, why that would happen and what
they would do about it?

The skills needed for these questions are very complex. It's pretty clear that this is more
advanced than identifying things. You need to think creatively, apply various pieces of
knowledge, understand consequences and weigh up different possibilities.

As children wish to interact more with others and participate in more parts of life, their
motivation changes from using questions only to meet their basic needs. Now they want
to use them to build relationships, teach others, get their opinions across and learn
about things. You're bound to be familiar with the moment a child discovers the word
why and asks it repeatedly.

Regarding comprehension, these questions are the most removed from what's actually
in the text, relying even more on the child's understanding of the world and their ability
to make their own judgements. But, their answers should still be pinned to something
they have read, or they won't be right for the situation.

Questions at level 4 will be like these:

 Why did the character do that?

 What caused that to happen?

 How could they get out of this situation?

 Why do you feel that way about the character?

 What would happen if this was the case?

These questions are also important to explore when preparing for comprehension tests,
and they help develop those complex reasoning skills needed in other subjects like
Science.

But it's not all about assessments and doing well at school, you can have a lot of fun
discussing books and other kinds of texts at this level. Why not set up a book club with
your students to explore what they're reading in an enjoyable, social, relaxed
environment?