What is Reading Comprehension?

Comprehension refers to the ability to understand written words. It is

different from the ability to recognize words. Because.. Recognizing words
on a page but not knowing what they mean does not fulfill the purpose or
goal of reading, which is comprehension.

Imagine, for example, that a teacher gives a child a story/passage to

read. The child can read the entire story/passage, but he or she knows
nothing when asked to explain what was read. Soo.. the child lacks
comprehension..

Comprehension or extracting meaning from what your read is very

important because it is the ultimate goal or reading. To understand what is
written.

Reading comprehension occurs when words on a page are not just mere words but
thoughts and ideas. Comprehension makes reading enjoyable, fun, and informative. It
is needed to succeed in school, work, and life in general.

Comprehension: The Goal of Reading

Comprehension, or extracting meaning from what you read, is the ultimate goal of reading.
Experienced readers take this for granted and may not appreciate the reading comprehension skills
required. The process of comprehension is both interactive and strategic. Rather than passively
reading text, readers must analyze it, internalize it and make it their own.

In order to read with comprehension, developing readers must be able to read with some
proficiency and then receive explicit instruction in reading comprehension strategies (Tierney,
1982).

The ability to understand/comprehend language through listening directly improves reading

comprehension as well by understanding written words.
Listening AND Reading
As a child grows, two important skills he/she develops and these are listening and
reading. Listening skills appear first, as a child learns to speak by imitating the
sounds of the people around him.
In general, in early life, listening comprehension, which is 'understanding the
meaning of spoken words', is distinct from reading comprehension, which is
'understanding the meaning of written words.
Learning to Listen
Listening comprehension must develop first in life. As a child, you hear people
around you speaking and learn to imitate the sounds. This is why where one grows
up during the years of language development is so important.
 For example, if you are in England, you will learn to imitate an English
accent as opposed to an American one. Each child must listen to sounds of a
language, not only to learn to reproduce those sounds and communicate. but
later on, when learning to read, to associate those sounds to different letters and words.
For most children, babbling begins between three and six months old.
Babbling in this context happens when the child begins to experiment with making
sounds, but none of which are actual words. This stage shows how a child's
listening skills are beginning to develop.
By 18 to 24 months of age, the child will usually be able to string two words
together. This is the stage where listening comprehension really begins because
the sounds will begin to be associated with meaning. This occurs
through phonology, which is 'the system of using combinations of sounds for
communication.' Children will begin to use phonemes, which are 'a unit of sound',
and combine them to make meaning.
 For example, a child will learn that saying 'Momma up' will mean he will be
picked up by his mother. By saying this, the child is constructing meaning.
using several phonemes. Next, we will see how letters will represent
phonemes, which is the beginning of reading.

Learning to Read

After this point, listening comprehension skyrockets and reading is just starting.
Children at this age usually have been exposed to the letters of the alphabet,
and the beginning of associating a sound with a letter will be seen.
During kindergarten, those phonemes begin to be associated with the
corresponding letters, which is known as decoding.
For example, the 'SPR' in 'spring' is one phoneme used in English. Children will
begin to associate that sound with those letters. Furthermore, children will learn
simple combinations of letters to make words. And this process, it shows how
listening comprehension is the foundation for reading comprehension. Kay if you
were taught how to read ofcourse maminaw jud na in the first place para makabalo
mubasa.
As reading skills develop, actual reading comprehension begins to occur during first and second
grade. Basically, this means the child can decrease the amount of time spent decoding a word
and comprehend what the written words communicate at a faster rate. At this point, listening
comprehension is still years ahead of reading comprehension, but this does not last.
As you move from learning to read into reading to learn, you are going to have to make sure that you
understand the meaning of the text. This lesson reviews how to ask questions before, during, and after
reading. Updated: 11/09/2020

Questioning is a reading strategy that is taught to students to help them engage

with the text. It helps the reader to clarify what he or she is reading and to
better understand the text. Asking good questions is a way for students to
monitor their own comprehension while reading.

WHA T Y OU N EED TO KN OW BEFOR E TEA C HIN G THE QU ES TI ON I N G

R E AD I N G S TR A TEGY :

Asking questions will provide students with a purpose for reading. As they
read, students will seek answers to their questions for deeper meaning of the
text. Students can ask questions for a variety of reasons:

 to clarify meaning (ex. What does that word mean? Why is that
happening? What I am learning? )
 to understand the characters and events better (ex. Why did the
character do that? Why did that happen? What would happen if…?)
 to understand the author’s intent (ex. Why did the author write this?)
 to make predictions (ex. I wonder if ____ will happen?)

Good readers actively ask questions before , during , and after reading. Before
reading, students might ask themselves what the story will be about, what they
might learn, or what they already know about the topic. During reading,
students pay attention to clues in the text that spark questions. Since each
student has different background knowledge, each reader will wonder different
things about the text.

While reading, the reader’s questions are constantly evolving. As questions are
answered, new questions will arise. Monitoring how these questions evolve will
increase comprehension.

It is also important for students to stop and ask questions when something they
read does not make sense. They may need to clarify a meaning of a word, or
seek to understand a confusing part of the story. These clarifying questions help
students to self-monitor their comprehension.
We must also help students to ask relevant and logical questions. The purpose
of asking questions is to enhance comprehension, therefore, any question that a
student asks should stem from the main ideas of the text and not just loosely
related to the topic.

After reading, students evaluate their questions. They ask themselves how their
questions were answered and what they have learned from the text. They also
may realize that not all of their questions were answered. In these cases,
students may be required to infer their own answers based on the text and their
background knowledge.

Readers ask different types of questions depending on the genre that they are
reading. When reading fiction, students tend to ask questions about the
characters and events. While reading nonfiction, students may ask themselves
questions about what they are learning, the meaning of new vocabulary words,
or what the author is trying to teach them.

Finally, when teaching the questioning strategy, it is important for students to

ask different types of questions that will improve their comprehension. This can
be referred to as asking “thin” vs “thick” questions. Thin questions are surface-
level questions that usually can be answered by looking right in the text. Thick
questions, on the other hand, require students to use their own background
knowledge to dive deeper. Answers to thick questions can be subject to
interpretation. They use evidence from the text, but also draw from the personal
experience of the reader. Asking both types of questions will give the reader a
well-rounded reading experience.

What is Reading Comprehension?

Comprehension refers to the ability to understand written words. It is

different from the ability to recognize words. Recognizing words on a page
but not knowing what they mean does not fulfill the purpose or goal of
reading, which is comprehension. Imagine, for example, that a teacher gives
a child a passage to read. The child can read the entire passage, but he or
she knows nothing when asked to explain what was read. Comprehension
adds meaning to what is read. Reading comprehension occurs when words
on a page are not just mere words but thoughts and ideas. Comprehension
makes reading enjoyable, fun, and informative. It is needed to succeed in
school, work, and life in general.