Reading Comprehension & Strategies

Purposes of Reading Academic Texts

to get information
to understand ideas or theories
to understand the author’s viewpoint
to critique texts
to support your own views for general comprehension

Reading Comprehension

It is the construction of the meaning of written communication through the reciprocal,

holistic interchange of ideas between the reader and the message.
The presumption here is that meaning resides in the intentional problem-solving,
thinking processes of the reader.
The content of the meaning is influenced by that person’s prior knowledge and
experience. (Harris & Hodges, 1995, p. 39)

Prior/Background Knowledge

It is the knowledge or information that the reader already has before they meet new
information.
A learner’s understanding of a text can be improved by acting on their prior/background
knowledge before dealing with the text.

Importance of prior or background knowledge in achieving reading

According to Daniel Willingham…

Whether or not readers understand a text depends far more on how much background
knowledge and vocabulary they have relating to the topic than on how much they’ve
practiced comprehension skills.
That’s because writers leave out a lot of information that they assume readers will
know. If they put all the information in, their writing would be tedious. But if readers can’t
supply the missing information, they will have a hard time making sense of the text.

Prior/Background Knowledge can include:

Vocabulary Knowledge
Knowledge of the topic
Real-life experiences
Socio-cultural background
Reading Comprehension has two components:

1. Vocabulary Knowledge
The reader must have the option to comprehend the vocabulary utilized by the author.

2. Text Appreciation and Comprehension

The reader assembles the vocabulary and diverse comprehension methodologies to
build up an understanding of the content.

Reading Comprehension Strategies

Skimming
It is a cycle of rapid perusing or speed reading for general significance.
The goal of skimming is to get a bird’s-eye view of the material
When you skim a page, you take the main ideas from the reading material without
reading all the words.

Reasons why we skim:

previewing
reviewing
determining the main idea
finding the source material for a research paper

SKIMMING TECHNIQUES:
read the headings of charts and tables
read the entire introductory paragraph and then the first and last sentence of each
paragraph
stop and quickly read the sentences containing keywords indicated in boldface or
italics.
read chapter summaries when provided.

Scanning
Scanning is reading a text quickly in order to find specific information.
The goal of scanning is to locate particular facts.
Scanning can be useful in locating certain information in a long text or material such
as a journal, a phone book, or a dictionary.

SCANNING TECHNIQUES:
Know what you’re looking for.
Look for only one keyword at a time.
Let your eyes float rapidly down the page until you find the word or phrase your need.
When your eye catches one of the keywords, read the surrounding material carefully.

Detailed reading and note-taking

 Once you have selected useful information, you can begin to read in detail.

Note-taking techniques:
underlining and highlighting to pick out what seems to you the most central or
important words and phrases
keywords to record the main headings as you read. Use one or two keywords for each
main point.
questions to encourage you to take an active approach to your reading. Record your
questions as you read.
summaries to check you have understood what you have read. Pause after a section of
text and put what you have read in your own words.

MAKING INFERENCES
It is the ability to understand implicit messages conveyed by a writer based on the
reader’s schema or background knowledge.

DRAWING CONCLUSIONS
It is a reading ability that allows the reader to investigate while reading the text.
It is the point at which the reader is allowed to use visual hints to make sense of
something not legitimately expressed.
When one draws a conclusion, one develops the skill of putting together various
pieces of information to come up with an acceptable conclusion.

TO SUMMARIZE
Reading comprehension is…
Prior/Background knowledge is…
We skim the text when…
We scan the text when…
Note-taking techniques include…