Reading Comprehension Skills

Rand Sherzad Kamal

Department of Translation/College of
Languages
University of Duhok
 Reading Comprehension Skills
 Reading: is a complex task which involves both
decoding and comprehending the text .
 Reading Comprehension: refers to the ability to
understand information presented in written form
.
 Comprehension is enhanced when readers relate
and connect what they are reading to their own
experiences and knowledge.
 Theories of Reading
Comprehension
 There are three types of theories of reading
comprehension . They are mental
representations , content literacy , and
cognitive processes .
1. Mental Representations: when a reader is
reading a text , he can create a mental
representation of the text that explains how the
reader understands the text.
2. Content Literacy: is the ability to read ,
understand , and learn from texts from a
particular matter.
3. Cognitive Processes: when a reader is reading a
text without having any difficulties in
comprehending what he read , the process is
related to perception than problem solving.
 Types of Reading
 Skimming: a method of rapidly moving eyes
over the text .
 Scanning: a method to locate a specific fact or
piece of information in a text .
 Extensive Reading: reading in detail with
specific learning aims and tasks.
 Intensive Reading: reading for enjoyment and to
develop general reading skills.
 Tow Types of Reading
Comprehension
Concrete Abstract
- Knowing vocabulary - Drawing inference
- Main idea - Making analysis
- Fact or opinion - Text evaluation
- Sequencing - Drawing conclusions
- Following directions - Studying cause and
- Reading for details effect
 Effective Strategies for Reading
Comprehension
 Activating and Using Background Knowledge
 Generating and Asking Questions
 Making Inferences
 Predicting
 Summarizing
 Visualizing
 Comprehension Monitoring
 Reasons for Lack of Reading
Comprehension
 Failure to understand a word
 Failure to understand a sentence
 Failure to understand how sentences relate to one
another
 Failure to understand how the information fits
together in a meaningful way (organization)
 Lack of interest or connection
 Failure to retain information for a long time
 Reading Comprehension and
Sight Translation
 Interpretation can be categorized into three
components: comprehension , reformulation , and
TL production .
 Theories of interpretation have noted the importance
of comprehension process in the interpretation task.
 Despite the fact that theorists agree about the
components of interpreting , there exist two
different views on the way these operations occur,
namely , the vertical perspective and the horizontal
perspective .