What is Reading Comprehension?

What is Reading Comprehension? Definition of Reading Comprehension. There are some experts’ statements about reading comprehension. Jeniffer Serravallo stated that comprehension is at the heart of what it means to really read by thinking and understanding and getting at the meaning behind a text. Comprehension instruction begins before children can even conventionally read. As children are read to during read-aloud, they are asked to think about characters, make predictions about what will come next, question and wonder what’s happening, and consider what lesson they can learn from the book.[1] 

Definition of Reading Comprehension. Furthermore, Bonnie B. Armbruster also defined that comprehension is the reason for reading. If readers can read the words but do not understand what they are reading, they are not really reading.[2] 

Definition of Reading Comprehension. In addition, John Kruidenier elaborated that comprehension is an active process and the reader must interact and be engaged with the text for it to work well. It is also a strategic process which can be taught. As comprehension takes place, words are decoded and associated with their meaning in the reader’s memory and phrases and sentences are processed rapidly or fluently enough to that the meanings derived from one world, phrase, or sentence are not lost before the next is processed. Yet, Reading comprehension can be described as understanding a text that is read, or the process of constructing meaning from a text.[3] 

Definition of Reading Comprehension. In one website, reading comprehension is explained as the ability to understand what has been read. Comprehending involves strategies that students learn to use when reading independently. Teachers focus on several key comprehension skills. These are inferring, predicting, comparing and contrasting, sequencing and summarizing. Students usually learn how to use these strategies in a small group guided by the teacher who demonstrates their use. Students then practice comprehension techniques with a partner by discussing what they read, making connections with prior knowledge and identifying the main ideas in the story.[4]

Definition of Reading Comprehension. Afterwards, in written passage at one magazine was stated that reading comprehension comes after listening comprehension. If a child has never heard a word, he is unlikely to ever say the word, thus making it even harder to read or write it.[5]

Definition of Reading Comprehension. According reading theory, comprehension is dependent on several cognitive processes, including decoding, word recognition, and knowledge.[6]

Definition of Reading Comprehension. Reading comprehension is very important because it may be tested by a passage which is to be translated into good English, or by question based on the content of a passage. In this case the passage is not translated, the questions being asked in the foreign language and the student answering in English.[7]

Definition of Reading Comprehension. As detail definition, Peter Westwood stated that reading comprehension is often conceptualised as functioning at different levels of sophistication and referred to, for example, as literal, inferential and critical. The most basic level (literal) is where the reader is able to understand the factual information presented in a passage of text – for example, he or she can tell you the name of the main character and what he does for a living, because that information is stated explicitly in the text. The next level is referred to as the inferential level.

At this level the reader is able to go beyond the words on the page and infer other details for example, to realise that the main character is angry from what he says and what he does. Being able to operate at the inferential level means that the reader is using information effectively to deduce cause and effect, and to anticipate what may come next. At a more demanding level (critical reading), the reader is able to appraise what he or she is reading for example, detecting good writing style from the author, recognising when some statements in the text are biased or incorrect, appreciating the writer’s viewpoint, comparing and contrasting information with other facts they have read elsewhere, and reflecting upon the importance or otherwise of the opinions presented. Weak readers who are still struggling with word recognition have enormous difficulty progressing beyond a literal level of comprehension because most of their cognitive effort is taken up in unlocking the print.[8]

[1] Jennifer Serravallo, Teaching Reading in Small Group, (USA, Heinemann, 2010), p. 43
[2] Bonnie B. Armbruster, Put Reading First: the Research BuildingBlocks for Teaching, (Third Edition, USA, National Institute for Literacy),2000, p. 41
[3] JohnKruidenier, Research-Based Principles for Adult Basic Education ReadingInstruction, (USA, The National Institute for Literacy, 2002), p. 77
[4] Karen Hollowell, Kinds of Reading, accessed from http://www.ehow.com/list_6604712_kinds-reading-skills.html, on September 15th, 2011
[5] Jon C. Halter, “A Love of Reading”, Scouting Magazine, (Okt 2003 Vol. 91, No. 5), p. 36
[6] John H. Gibbons, Power On! NewTools for Teaching and Learning, (USA, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1988),p. 61
[7] Tara Chand Sharma, Modern Methods of Universtity and College Teaching, (First Edition, New Delhi, Sarup & Sons, 2001), p. 247
[8] Peter Westwood, What Teachers Need to Know about Reading and writing Difficulties, (FirstEdition, Australia, Acer Press, 2008), p. 32