Reading Comprehension

Reading comprehension refers to the capacity to identify and understand meanings communicated by the text. Once children can understand the different letters that create words, they can then use their knowledge to identify words, and then comprehend a message that a compilation of words will make.

This can sometimes prove to be a difficult task, with Gaskins (2003) suggesting five �road blocks’ that can hinder comprehension. The first is children not taking charge of their own learning. They should be encouraged to take charge of their own learning and realise that reading comprehension involves more than just understanding the words. The second is a common problem in almost every task – losing interest. Children need to be able to concentrate on their reading to be able to comprehend the whole story. Some children can be discouraged easily during a task, and this creates the third road block. They need to be persistent in their task and not lose motivation while trying to comprehend difficult texts. In order to properly comprehend the text that is being read, children need to have time to think about what they have just read. Being impulsive and making rash assumptions is a road block in understanding the text properly. The final road block that can hinder reading comprehension is a child’s self esteem, which can be negatively affected by negative feedback. If a child is given positive feedback for just having a go, even if the answer is wrong, then they are more likely to keep trying.

Blooms Taxonomy is a great way to analyse a child’s comprehension of the text that is being read. Six stages are used to categorise understandings, and the stages are sequential.

• Knowledge

• Comprehension

• Application

• Analysis

• Synthesis

• Evaluation

Another way of reviewing a child’s understanding of the text is to ask literal, interpretive and inferential questions. Colloquially, interpretive and inferential questions are refered to as reading �between the lines’ and �beyond the lines.’

There are many scholars that suggest different strategies to promote effective reading comprehension. They are as follows:

Pressley Keene &