Reading comprehension

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This article is about human reading comprehension. For machine reading comprehension,
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Part of a series on

Reading

LANGUAGE

 Language
 Writing
 Writing system
 Orthography
 Braille

TYPES OF READING

 Slow reading
 Speed reading
 Subvocalization

LEARNING TO READ

 Learning to read
 Comprehension
 Spelling
 Vocabulary
 Reading disability
 Dyslexia
  Reading for special needs

READING INSTRUCTION

 Alphabetic principle
 Phonics
 Whole language

LITERACY

 Literacy
 Functional illiteracy
 Family literacy
 English orthography

LISTS

 Languages by writing system

 Management of dyslexia

 v
 t
 e

Reading comprehension is the ability to read text, process it, and understand its
meaning.[1] Although this definition may seem simple; it is not necessarily simple to teach, learn or
practice (K12 Publishing, LLC, 2015.) An individual's ability to comprehend text is influenced by their
traits and skills, one of which is the ability to make inferences. If word recognition is difficult, students
use too much of their processing capacity to read individual words, which interferes with their ability
to comprehend what is read. There are a number of approaches to improve reading comprehension,
including improving one's vocabulary and reading strategies. According to a study by Madhumathi
Pasupathi and Arijit Ghosh, the students with higher level of reading proficiency frequently used
reading strategies to comprehend academic texts.[2]

Contents
[hide]

 1Definition
o 1.1Reading comprehension levels
o 1.2Brain region activation
 2History
 3Vocabulary
o 3.1Three tier vocabulary words
o 3.2Broad vocabulary approach
o 3.3Morphemic instruction
o 3.4Reading strategies
 3.4.1Reciprocal teaching
 3.4.2Instructional conversations
 3.4.3Text factors
  3.4.4Visualization
 3.4.5Partner reading
 3.4.6Multiple reading strategies
 3.4.7Comprehension Strategies
o 3.5Assessment
 3.5.1Running Records
 4Difficult or complex content
o 4.1Reading difficult texts
o 4.2Hyperlinks
 5Professional development
 6See also
 7References
 8Further reading
 9External links

Definition[edit]
Reading comprehension is as the level of understanding of a text/message. This understanding
comes from the interaction between the words that are written, and how they trigger knowledge
outside the text/message.[3][4] Comprehension is a "creative, multifaceted process" dependent upon
four language skills: phonology, syntax, semantics, andpragmatics.[5] Proficient reading depends on
the ability to recognize words quickly and effortlessly.[6] It is also determined by an individual's
cognitive development, which is "the construction of thought processes". Some people learn through
education or instruction and others through direct experiences.[7]
There are specific traits that determine how successfully an individual will comprehend text,
including prior knowledge about the subject, well-developed language, and the ability to make
inferences. Having the skill to monitor comprehension is a factor: "Why is this important?" and "Do I
need to read the entire text?" are examples. Lastly, is the ability to be self-correcting to solve
comprehension problems as they arise.[8]
Reading comprehension levels[edit]
Reading comprehension involves two levels of processing, shallow (low-level) processing and deep
(high-level) processing. Deep processing involves semantic processing, which happens when we
encode the meaning of a word and relate it to similar words. Shallow processing involves structural
and phonemic recognition, the processing of sentence and word structure and their associated
sounds. This theory was first identified by Fergus I. M. Craik and Robert S. Lockhart.[9]

1. "What is Reading Comprehension?". Reading Worksheets, Spelling, Grammar, Comprehension,

Lesson Plans. 2008-05-29. Retrieved 2016-05-13.
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(November 2001). "How Psychological Science Informs the Teaching of Reading". Psychological
Science in the Public Interest. 2 (2): 31–74. doi:10.1111/1529-1006.00004.
4. Jump up^ Tompkins, G.E. (2011). Literacy in the early grades: A successful start for prek-4
readers (3rd edition), Boston, Pearson. p 203.
5. Jump up^ Tompkins, G.E. (2011). Literacy in the early grades: A successful start for prek-4
readers (3rd edition), Boston, Pearson. p 37
6. Jump up^ Adams, Marilyn McCord (1994). Beginning to read: thinking and learning about print.
Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-51076-6. OCLC 62108874.
7. Jump up^ Tompkins, G.E. (2011). Literacy in the early grades: A successful start for prek-4
readers (3rd edition), Boston, Pearson. pp. 5, 7.
8. Jump up^ Tompkins, G.E. (2011). Literacy in the early grades: A successful start for prek-4
readers (3rd edition), Boston, Pearson. pp. 205, 208-209, 211-212.
9. ^ Jump up to:a b Cain, Kate; Oakhill, Jane (2009). "The Behavioral and Biological Foundations of
Reading Comprehension". Guilford Press: 143–175. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name
"Cain.2C_2006" defined multiple times with different content (see the help
page).
10. Jump up^ Speer, Nicole; Yarkoni, Tal; Zacks, Jeffrey (2008). "Neural substrates of narrative
comprehension and memory". NeuroImage. 41 (4): 1408–
1425.doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2008.03.062.
11. Jump up^ Robinson, Francis Pleasant (1978). Effective Study (6th ed.). New York: Harper &
Row. ISBN 978-0-06-045521-7.
12. Jump up^ Pearson, P. David. "The Roots of Reading Comprehension
Instruction" (PDF). http://www.postgradolinguistica.ucv.cl. Universityof California, Berkeley.
Retrieved 15 March 2013.External link in |work= (help)
13. ^ Jump up to:a b Pressley, Michael (2006). Reading instruction that works: the case for balanced
teaching. New York: Guilford Press. ISBN 1-59385-229-0. OCLC 61229782.
14. Jump up^ Nielsen, Diane. "Study shows greater focus on vocabulary can help make students
better readers". news.ku.edu. The University of Kansas. Retrieved 15 March 2013. if they don’t
understand the meaning of the words, then their ability to understand the overall meaning of a
story or other text will be compromised
15. Jump up^ Tompkins, G.E. (2011). Literacy in the early grades: A successful start for prek-4
readers (3rd edition), Boston, Pearson. pp. 171, 181, 183.
16. Jump up^ Biemiller & Boote, 2006
17. Jump up^ Linda Kucan; Beck, Isabel L.; McKeown, Margaret G. (2002). Bringing words to life:
robust vocabulary instruction. New York: Guilford Press. ISBN 1-57230-753-6. OCLC 48450880.
18. Jump up^ Matthew M. Thomas; Manzo, Anthony V.; Manzo, Ula Casale (2005). Content area
literacy: strategic teaching for strategic learning. New York: Wiley. pp. 163–4. ISBN 0-471-
15167-X.OCLC 58833339.
19. ^ Jump up to:a b c Dan Bell, The GRE Handbook - The How to on GRE, Complete Expert's Hints
and Tips Guide by the Leading Experts, Everything You Need to Know about GRE, p.68
20. Jump up^ Tompkins, G.E. (2011). Literacy in the early grades: A successful start for prek-4
readers (3rd edition), Boston, Pearson. p. 249.
21. ^ Jump up to:a b "Partner Reading". Reading Rockets. Retrieved 2016-05-13.
22. Jump up^ Sherry Berkeley (2007). "Reading comprehension strategy instruction and attribution
retraining for secondary students with disabilities". Dissertation Abstracts: Humanities and Social
Sciences. 68 (3-A): 949.
23. Jump up^ http://www.speedreadinfo.com/speed-reading-tip-study-7-reading-strategies-read-
proficiently/
24. Jump up^ Tompkins, G.E. (2011). Literacy in the early grades: A successful start for prek-4
readers (3rd edition), Boston, Pearson.
25. Jump up^ How To Take Running Records. Canada: Scholastic Canada Ltd. 2002. p. 1.
26. Jump up^ n/a, n/a (2002). How to take running records. Canada: Scholastic Canada Ltd. pp. 9–
11.
27. Jump up^ "How to take running records" (PDF). Scholastic. Scholastic Canada Ltd. 2002.
Retrieved 2016-05-13. |first1= missing |last1= in Authors list (help)
28. Jump up^ Jacques Derrida (1987) Heidegger, the Philosopher's Hell, interview by Didier
Eribon for Le Nouvel Observateur issue of November 6–12, republished in Points: Interviews
1974-1994(1995) pp.187-8
29. Jump up^ Nicholas G. Carr (2010). The shallows: what the Internet is doing to our brains. New
York: W.W. Norton. ISBN 0-393-07222-3. OCLC 449865498.
 30. ^ Jump up to:a b c DeStefano, Diana; LeFevre, Jo-Anne (2007). "Cognitive load in hypertext
reading: A review". Computers in Human Behavior. 23 (3): 1616–
1641. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2005.08.012.ISSN 0747-5632.
31. Jump up^ Zhu, Erping. Hypermedia Interface Design: The Effects of Number of Links and
Granularity of Nodes. Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia, v8 n3 p331-58 1999
32. Jump up^ Antonenko; Niederhauser (2010). "The Influence of Leads on Cognitive Load and
Learning in a Hypertext Environment". Computers in Human Behavior. 26 (2): 140–
150.doi:10.1016/j.chb.2009.10.014.
33. Jump up^ Madrid, Oostendorp and Melguizo: Computers in Human Behavior 25 (2009) 66–75

Further reading[edit]
 Heim S, Friederici AD (November 2003). "Phonological processing in language production: time
course of brain activity". NeuroReport. 14 (16): 2031–
3.doi:10.1097/01.wnr.0000091133.75061.2d. PMID 14600492.
 Vigneau M, Beaucousin V, Hervé PY, et al. (May 2006). "Meta-analyzing left hemisphere
language areas: phonology, semantics, and sentence processing". NeuroImage. 30(4): 1414–
32. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2005.11.002. PMID 16413796.

What exactly IS reading comprehension?

Simply put, reading comprehension is the act of understanding what you are reading.
While the definition can be simply stated the act is not simple to teach, learn or practice.
Reading comprehension is an intentional, active, interactive process that occurs before,
during and after a person reads a particular piece of writing.

Reading comprehension is one of the pillars of the act of reading. When a person reads
a text he engages in a complex array of cognitive processes. He is simultaneously using
his awareness and understanding of phonemes (individual sound “pieces” in language),
phonics (connection between letters and sounds and the relationship between sounds,
letters and words) and ability to comprehend or construct meaning from the text. This
last component of the act of reading is reading comprehension. It cannot occur
independent of the other two elements of the process. At the same time, it is the most
difficult and most important of the three.

There are two elements that make up the process of reading

comprehension: vocabulary knowledge andtext comprehension. In order to
understand a text the reader must be able to comprehend the vocabulary used in the
piece of writing. If the individual words don’t make the sense then the overall story will
not either. Children can draw on their prior knowledge of vocabulary, but they also need
to continually be taught new words. The best vocabulary instruction occurs at the point
of need. Parents and teachers should pre-teach new words that a child will encounter in
a text or aid her in understanding unfamiliar words as she comes upon them in the
writing. In addition to being able to understand each distinct word in a text, the child also
has to be able to put them together to develop an overall conception of what it is trying
to say. This is text comprehension. Text comprehension is much more complex and
varied that vocabulary knowledge. Readers use many different text comprehension
strategies to develop reading comprehension. These include monitoring for
understanding, answering and generating questions, summarizing and being aware of
and using a text’s structure to aid comprehension.

How does reading comprehension develop?

As you can see, reading comprehension is incredibly complex and multifaceted.

Because of this, readers do not develop the ability to comprehend texts quickly, easily
or independently. Reading comprehension strategies must be taught over an extended
period of time by parents and teachers who have knowledge and experience using
them. It might seem that once a child learns to read in the elementary grades he is able
to tackle any future text that comes his way. This is not true. Reading comprehension
strategies must be refined, practiced and reinforced continually throughout life. Even in
the middle grades and high school, parents and teachers need to continue to help their
children develop reading comprehension strategies. As their reading materials become
more diverse and challenging, children need to learn new tools for comprehending
these texts. Content area materials such as textbooks and newspaper, magazine and
journal articles pose different reading comprehension challenges for young people and
thus require different comprehension strategies. The development of reading
comprehension is a lifelong process that changes based on the depth and breadth of
texts the person is reading.

Why is reading comprehension so important?

Without comprehension, reading is nothing more than tracking symbols on a page with
your eyes and sounding them out. Imagine being handed a story written in Egyptian
hieroglyphics with no understanding of their meaning. You may appreciate the words
aesthetically and even be able to draw some small bits of meaning from the page, but
you are not truly reading the story. The words on the page have no meaning. They are
simply symbols. People read for many reasons but understanding is always a part of
their purpose. Reading comprehension is important because without it reading doesn’t
provide the reader with any information.

Beyond this, reading comprehension is essential to life. Much has been written about
the importance of functional literacy. In order to survive and thrive in today’s world
individuals must be able to comprehend basic texts such as bills, housing agreements
(leases, purchase contracts), directions on packaging and transportation documents
(bus and train schedules, maps, travel directions). Reading comprehension is a critical
component of functional literacy. Think of the potentially dire effects of not being able to
comprehend dosage directions on a bottle of medicine or warnings on a container of
dangerous chemicals. With the ability to comprehend what they read, people are able
not only to live safely and productively, but also to continue to develop socially,
emotionally and intellectually

Comprehension is the ultimate goal of reading.41 The RAND Reading Study Group defined
comprehension in a way that has informed the thinking of many educators in this field. This definition was
written about child learners, but it applies equally well to adult literacy learners.

We define reading comprehension as the process of simultaneously extracting and constructing meaning
through interaction and involvement with written language. We use the
words extracting and constructing to emphasize both the importance and the insufficiency of the text as a
determinant of reading comprehension.

Comprehension entails three elements:

The reader who is doing the comprehending

The text that is to be comprehended

The activity in which comprehension is a part.

… These three dimensions define a phenomenon that occurs within a largersociocultural context … that
shapes and is shaped by the reader and that interacts with each of the three elements.
Snow, 2002, page 11

Knowledge for comprehension

In order to comprehend written texts, the reader needs to have some basic knowledge, strategies and
awareness. These include:

 the ability to decode print accurately and fluently

 knowledge about language, including vocabulary and syntax, and strategies for applying that
knowledge
 knowledge and experiences of the world, including life experiences, content knowledge,
background knowledge and knowledge about texts
 an awareness of their own processes and strategies as they approach reading. Relevant
processes and strategies include motivation and engagement, comprehension strategies,
monitoring strategies and “fix-up” strategies.

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Schema theory and comprehension

An important source of understanding about the nature of the knowledge that informs comprehension is
schema theory.42 Schema theory is concerned with how knowledge is represented and organised in long-
term memory (as sets of information, or schemas) and then brought to mind as new information comes in.
The theory suggests that individuals relate all new information to what they already know or have
experienced. In the context of reading, schema theory emphasises the critical role of the reader’s prior
knowledge in comprehension.

Researchers have identified different kinds of schema that are particularly significant for
reading.43Content schemas concern knowledge about the world, ranging from the very personal and
everyday to broad and specialised knowledge. Textual schemas concern knowledge that readers (and
writers) have about the forms and organisation of written texts, from word-level information to complex
information about structure and register.

Schemas are activated when a reader sees and starts to read a text. The textual schema will enable the
reader to recall and interpret the text in the light of what they already know about texts, for example,
about text types or genres, vocabulary, different kinds of sentences, tone and register. These schemas
may also enable the reader to make predictions about the kind of text this will be by referring to their
stored knowledge of text types. Content schemas will be activated as the reader engages with the words
and any pictures in the text, from the title onwards. For example, as a reader starts an article about rugby,
they will bring to mind everything they already know about rugby. If the reader knows very little about
rugby, the article may be difficult to comprehend. The more relevant prior knowledge the reader has, the
more they will comprehend when they read a text that connects with their existing content schema.

Readers from diverse cultural and language backgrounds will have diverse schemas, but for all learners,
the more knowledge that is stored, the more that can be interpreted, understood and added to the
store.44The implication for ESOL learning is that accessing the learner’s textual schema and building new
language knowledge is the key to increasing expertise in English. Likewise, accessing the learner’s
content knowledge and helping them to relate it to new contexts will help them to comprehend texts in
English.

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Comprehension strategies

Comprehension strategies are specific, learned procedures that foster active, competent, self-regulated
and intentional reading.

Trabassco and Bouchard, 2002, page 177

A large amount of research45 has shown that good readers use a range of comprehension strategies.
Good readers also monitor their comprehension46 and apply fix-up strategies when they experience a
breakdown in comprehension.47 There is sound evidence that readers can be taught to use
comprehension strategies and to monitor their use.48There is some experimental evidence that indicates
that this is also true for adult literacy learners, even though many adults may be relatively unaware of
their own comprehension strategies.49 The learning progression for comprehension reflects what we know
from research and describes points along the continuum from beginner to expert reader. It includes
suggestions for ways in which tutors may assist the development of adult learners’ awareness of how to
engage actively in the process of comprehending written texts.

Researchers may describe comprehension strategies in different ways and their lists of strategies may
vary somewhat, but there is general agreement about the kinds of strategies that readers employ as they
use their knowledge to comprehend texts. Strategies are not discrete behaviours; they are used in a great
many different ways by different readers who are able to combine and integrate them as they encounter
new problems or ideas in texts.

The reading progressions in this book are based on the following set of reading comprehension
strategies. Vocabulary knowledge and the reading context are of central importance to all of them.

 Activating prior knowledge or making connections. Readers bring to mind the knowledge
(schemas) they already have about the world, words and texts, and they apply that prior
knowledge to help them understand the new knowledge in a text.50
 Forming and testing hypotheses or making predictions. Readers form expectations about texts
before and during reading. Their expectations lead them to make predictions, which good readers
will check as they read, to confirm or revise them against the new information they are gaining
from the text. Hypotheses may be based on any aspect of the text, such as the text structure, the
subject matter, the size and shape of book, or the context or task within which the reading is
required.51
 Identifying the main ideas. Readers determine what the most important or central ideas in texts
are. To do this, they draw on their prior knowledge and experience of the ways in which texts are
structured (for example, knowing that newspaper articles often state the main idea in the first
sentence), they infer meaning and determine relative importance. Readers may also hypothesise
and synthesise different aspects of the text in order to identify the main ideas. 52
 Making use of text structure knowledge. The way in which text is structured plays an important
role in comprehension. Readers use what they already know or are learning about text structure
to help navigate and comprehend new texts.53
 Summarising. Readers make rapid summaries (rather like making mental notes) of what they are
reading as they work through a text, checking for connections and clarification and using their
knowledge of topics, vocabulary and text structure to find and connect important points.54
 Drawing inferences or reading between the lines. Readers make educated guesses to fill in gaps
as they read, inferring the information that the writer has not made explicit. To do this, readers
draw on their background knowledge as well as the words on the page, making and testing
hypotheses about what the writer probably intended.55
 Creating mental images or visualising. Readers construct mental images as they read in order to
represent the information or ideas in ways that help them connect with their own background
 knowledge. Readers also use mental images to help them see patterns, for example, in ideas or
text structure, which will lead them to a deeper understanding of the text. 56
 Asking questions of the text and seeking for answers. Most readers are constantly posing and
answering questions while they read, as a strategy for understanding the text they are engaged
with. Questions may relate to the meanings of words or sentences; to the structure of the text as
a whole; to the plot or character development (in a story); or to any other aspect of the text and its
context. Through asking questions, readers are able to form and test hypotheses, make
inferences, summarise and co-ordinate the use of other comprehension strategies.57

Selecting and combining comprehension strategies

Readers draw on a vast range of information and use it strategically through an interplay of these
comprehension strategies. For example, a key source of information for adults is their knowledge of text
structure. Readers approaching a text will have some prior knowledge of text structure (the ways in which
texts are organised at sentence, paragraph and whole-text level in order to convey information or ideas in
particular ways). They will have gained this knowledge from their experiences of seeing, reading and
listening to written texts. As they approach the new text, they will use this text structure knowledge to help
them identify and understand the structures used in the text. This in turn will help them to form
hypotheses about the content and how it might be organised. The text structure will also assist them as
they use the strategies of identifying the main ideas and summarising the content of the text.

Metacognitive thinking and reading comprehension

Most readers use comprehension strategies without consciously thinking about their own complex
processing and accessing of knowledge, but expert readers have the ability to bring the strategies to
mind. They also have an awareness of what to do and how to do it (that is, they think metacognitively) as
they read.58

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41 Hock and Mellard, 2005.

42 Anderson, 2004.

43 Singhal, 1998.

44 Singhal, 1998.

45 Duke and Pearson, 2002; Dymock, 2005; Dymock and Nicholson, 1999; National Reading
Panel, 2000; Pressley, 2000 and 2002; Snow, 2002; Sweet and Snow, 2003.

46 Paris and Meyers, 1981.

47 Brown, 2002; Pearson and Fielding, 1991; Pressley, 2000.

48 Rosenshine and Meister, 1994; Rosenshine, Meister and Chapman, 1996; Brown et al., 1996.

49 Gambrell and Heathington, 1981.

50 Anderson, 2004; Anderson and Pearson, 1984; Stanovich, 1986.

51 Pearson and Duke, 2002; Pressley, 2002.

52 Afflerbach and Johnston, 1986; Hock and Mellard, 2005.

53 Kintsch and van Dijk, 1978; Meyer, 1975; Meyer, Brandt and Bluth, 1980.

54 Pressley, 2002.

55 Pressley and Afflerbach, 1995.

56 Gambrell and Bales, 1986; Sadoski, 1985.

57 Pressley, 2002.

58 Pressley, 2000; Snow, 2002.

The Purpose of Reading.

The purpose of reading is to connect the ideas on the page to what you already know. If you don't
know

anything about a subject, then pouring words of text into your mind is like pouring water into your
hand.

You don't retain much. For example, try reading these numbers:

7516324 This is hard to read and remember.

751-6324 This is easier because of chunking.

123-4567 This is easy to read because of prior knowledge and structure.

Similarly, if you like sports, then reading the sports page is easy. You have a framework in your
mind

for reading, understanding and storing information.

Improving Comprehension.

Reading comprehension requires motivation, mental frameworks for holding ideas, concentration
and

good study techniques. Here are some suggestions.

Develop a broad background.

Broaden your background knowledge by reading newspapers, magazines and books. Become
interested
in world events.

Know the structure of paragraphs.

Good writers construct paragraphs that have a beginning, middle and end. Often, the first
sentence will

give an overview that helps provide a framework for adding details. Also, look for transitional
words,

phrases or paragraphs that change the topic.

Identify the type of reasoning.

Does the author use cause and effect reasoning, hypothesis, model building, induction or
deduction,

systems thinking?

Anticipate and predict.

Really smart readers try to anticipate the author and predict future ideas and questions. If you're
right,

this reinforces your understanding. If you're wrong, you make adjustments quicker.

Look for the method of organization.

Is the material organized chronologically, serially, logically, functionally, spatially or hierarchical?

See

section 10 for more examples on organization.

Create motivation and interest.

Preview material, ask questions, discuss ideas with classmates. The stronger your interest, the
greater

your comprehension.

Pay attention to supporting cues.

Study pictures, graphs and headings. Read the first and last paragraph in a chapter, or the first
sentence

in each section.
 Reading Comprehension Defined in Detail -- See What Several
Experts Say
written by: Kellie Hayden • edited by: Wendy Finn • updated: 8/10/2015

Do you know the basics of reading comprehension? If so, your appetite is probably whetted for more. If you want to
help your students improve their reading abilities, start by reading what several experts in the field have to say.

 Defining Reading Comprehension

What is reading comprehension? Experts have a variety of answers for this question. The basic answer is that
students understand what they read, and they can make meaning from the words on the page.

To find a more in-depth answer to this question, there are many experts who have answers. The following is a
compilation of a few.

 Expert Opinions
The National Reading Panel (NRP) on its website National Reading Panel reported comprehension is key to
improving reading skills. There are three main themes to reading comprehension skills:
 The role of vocabulary development and instruction play an important role in helping students to understand the
complex cognitive process of reading.
 The reader must be actively involved with the text by intentionally thinking about what he or she is reading.
 Teacher preparation of comprehension strategies to improve understanding is connected to reading

achievement.
Keith Lenz, Ph.D., University of Kansas, writes in the article "An Introduction to Reading Comprehension" at
the Special Connections website that "the process of comprehending involves decoding the writer's words and then
using background knowledge to construct an approximate understanding of the writer's message." How the student
interprets the words to make meaning of the words can be different for different students. Knowledge of the topic,
language structures, text structures, genres, cognitive and metacognitive strategies, reasoning abilities, and
motivation can all affect comprehension.
Steve Peha reports in the article "Comprehending Comprehension" at the Teaching That Makes Sense website that
comprehending is a process of reading rather than a product of reading. He likes to use the strategy called Say-
Think-Feel-Mean to illustrate what successful students do when they read difficult text. Even when strong readers not
know every word, they can still make some meaning of the passage if they are actively involved and trying to
comprehend it.

 Beyond Sounding out Words

Sheldon H. Horowitz, Ed.D. writes in his article "Reading Comprehension: Reading for Meaning" at
the National Center for Learning Disabilities website that to become a good reader, children need to understand
phonemic awareness and phonic skills when they begin to learn to read. Weaknesses in phonemic awareness can
lead to trouble reading later. Students can improve by learning how to identify phonemes.
However, knowing phonemes and phonics is not enough to understand or make meaning from a text. Students need
to be able to do the following:

 Fluently read with accuracy, speed and expression

 Understand the words and build their vocabulary
  Relate the reading to their own lives
 Read aloud and receive feedback from good readers
 Comprehend what they read by monitoring what they are understand and do not understand while they are
reading

 Reading Strategies
Handing a book to a student is not enough to help improve his or her reading ability, especially for struggling readers.
To improve reading comprehension, teachers need to try a variety of strategies to improve a student’s vocabulary
level and his or her understanding.

To build vocabulary, teachers can try the following strategies:

 Use programs on the computer or software designed to improve comprehension

 Read aloud story books to students to help with difficult vocabulary. They first need to listen to the story and then
read it themselves
 For low readers, use easier vocabulary in place of more difficult words
 Create lists of difficult words from the text that students learn before reading the text
 Discuss challenging words in small groups before, during and after the reading
To build comprehension and fluency, teachers can try the following strategies:

 Direct students to complete pre-reading strategies to preview and predict what will happen in the passage
 Ask students to predict, question and summarize sections as students read
 Teach students plot structure so that students can follow a story better
 Allow students to listen to the book on tape while they read
 Ask students to monitor their comprehension through mental notes, reading journals, book markers with areas to
write important events, etc.
 Pair students or place them in small groups so that they can read together and practice reading
strategies together
 Require students to use reading graphic organizers to take notes or to organize information they learned while
reading
 Discuss reading selection with students through question and answer sessions
 Require students to summarize reading passage in writing
 Tell students to write questions about things they did not understand after they finish a reading assignment
Building reading comprehension takes a great deal of planning and effort by the teacher. Activities need to happen
before, during and after a student is assigned to read a passage, short story or novel. However, reading is so
important in all the other subject areas that it is well worth the effort.

References
 Comprehending Comprehension, from Teaching That Makes Sense-TTMS.org.
 Literacy Journals, from the website of the University of Connecticut.
 National Reading Panel - Frequently Asked Questions
 Classroom Strategies from Reading Rockets.org

Reading Comprehension is
It’s clear that reading comprehension is a complex cognitive process that depends upon a number of
ingredients all working together in a synchronous, even automatic way. Vocabulary clearly plays a critical
role in understanding what has been read. The reader must also be intentional and thoughtful while
reading, monitoring the words and their meaning as reading progresses. And the reader must apply
reading comprehension strategies as ways to be sure that what is being read matches their expectations
and builds on their growing body of knowledge that is being stored for immediate or future reference.

Comprehension Processes of Proficient Readers

Comprehension Process Description

1. Making Connections to Prior

Knowledge

Reading comprehension results when readers can match what they

already know (their schema) with new information and ideas in a text.

Proficient readers activate prior knowledge before, during and after

reading, and they constantly evaluate how a text enhances or alters their

previous understandings.

2. Generating Questions Comprehension is, to a significant degree, a process of

inquiry. Proficient

readers pose question to themselves as they read. Asking questions is

the art of carrying on an inner conversation with an author, as well as an

internal dialogue within one’s self.

3. Creating Mental Images Comprehension involves breathing life experiences into the
abstract

language of written texts. Proficient readers use visual, auditory and

other sensory connections to create mental images of an author’s

message.

4. Making Inferences Much of what is to be understood in a text must be inferred.

Authors rely

on readers to contribute to a text’s meaning by linking their background

knowledge to information in the text. In addition to acknowledging

explicitly stated messages, proficient readers “read between the lines” to

discern implicit meaning, make predictions and read with a critical eye.

5. Determining Importance Our memories quickly overload unless we can pare down a
text to its

essential ideas. Texts contain key ideas and concepts amidst much

background detail. Proficient readers strive to differentiate key ideas,

themes and information from details so that they are not overwhelmed by

facts.

6. Synthesizing Proficient readers glean the essence or a text (determine importance)

and organize these ideas into coherent summaries of meaning. Effective

comprehension leads to new learning and the development of new

schema (background knowledge). Proficient readers make evaluations,

construct generalizations, and draw conclusions from a text.

7. Monitoring Reading and Applying

Fix-Up Strategies

Proficient readers “watch” themselves as they read and expect to make

adjustments in their strategies to ensure that they are able to achieve a

satisfactory understanding of a text.

Source: Buehl, D. (2007). A professional development framework for embedding

comprehension

instruction into content classrooms. In J. Lewis & G. Moorman (Eds.), Adolescent

literacy instruction:

Policies and promising practices (p. 200). Newark, DE: International Reading
Association.
Watching Movie

My sister and I went to see a film last night. It was an American movie called The Lost Flight. It showed
how people can quickly change when they have to look after themselves in the jungle. It was an
interesting film about a plane which crashed on a small empty island in the Pacific Ocean.
Although the passengers were safe, nobody knew where the plane had crashed. So the passengers had
to learn how to hunt for food in the jungle and how to catch fish from the sea to eat. After a few weeks,
the passengers were eating raw fish and meat.
After they had been on the island for two months, three of the men made a boat and sailed away to find
help. But their boat sank and they were drowned.
The film ended without saying whether the passengers were rescued or not. But my sister and I enjoyed
the film.

2. Travelling Around The World

Deri saved his money and spent two months traveling around the world. He wrote his journey in his diary.
I spent a week in New York and then flew to London and enjoyed several weeks in Europe.
When I had seen the sights in Europe, I took a train to Istanbul and visited many places in Asia.
First, I flew from his home in Mexico City to New York City. After through Asia, I went to south America
and finally back home to Indonesia.
Deri felt tired but he was very excited and wanted to travel again.

3. Going to School
My mother got me ready for school then I had to wait for her to brush my hair and place every strand
in just the perfect position.
I had to show her my shoes that I had cleaned the night before and my school bag had to be neatly put
on my shoulder before I could
get near the door. Only after my mother was totally satisfied, would I be allowed to rush out of the
frontdoor.
I would leave home at 8 am on the dot and make my way down the lane. After a walk of about 700 metres
I would be able to see the tall steeple of the
school.
The playground would be full in the summer and the noise would make me want to rush into the yard and
get into a good game of football before the bell
went.

4. My Great Day of Proposing Girl

I woke up at about five o’clock yesterday. It wasn’t a regular day, because I was about to propose a girl.
After praying and taking a bath, I had my early breakfast. At about nine o’clock I was in my office but my
soul wasn’t there. I was thinking about the lines that I had to say to her.
At one o’clock, I had my lunch but I wasn’t enjoying it either. So, I practiced the lines to almost all girls I
met at my lunch. Yes, I was a little bit crazy. Finally, it was three o’clock. I remembered all my lines. I
wrapped my works and got ready to pick her up and of course proposed her.
I met her at four o’clock, took a little walk and went to a movie. At seven, we had a romantic dinner. I
thought it was the perfect time to ask her to be my wife. Then I said the lines that I practiced the whole
afternoon.
She smiled. I reached my pocket to get a ring and put it around her finger. Then she said “Yes.” After
driven her home I went back to my house.

5. My Bad Day on Sunday

I had a terrible day yesterday.
First, I woke up an hour late because my alarm clock didn’t go off. Then, I was in such a hurry that I
burned my hand when I was making breakfast. After breakfast, I got dressed so quickly that I forgot to
wear socks.
Next, I ran out of the house trying to get the 9:30 bus, but of course I missed it. I wanted to take a taxi, but
I didn’t have enough money.
Finally, I walked the three miles to my school only to discover that it was Sunday!
I hope I never have a day as the one I had yesterday.

6. Meeting a Star

On Saturday morning at 9:30, I was walking down Sunda Street, looking for a record store.
A man stopped me and asked me the way to the Hyatt Hotel. I wasn’t sure exactly where it was, but I
walked with him to the end of Sunda Street. He was very friendly, and his face looked so familiar.
Then I remembered where the Hyatt was and told him how to get there. He thanked me and tried to give
me something. I thought it was money. I said ‘no’ at first, but he really wanted me to have it, so I took it.
I found the record store and listened to a few records. D’ Masive had a new record that was number two
in the top twenty. I decided to buy it. I looked
in my bag for my wallet and found a piece of paper the man gave me. It was a photo.
I was so surprised! He was a singer in D’ Masive!

7. Going Camping
Last weekend, my friends and I went camping.
We reached the camping ground after we walked for about one and a half hour from the parking lot. We
built the camp next to a small river.
It was getting darker and colder, so we built a fire camp. The next day, we spent our time observing
plantation and insects while the girls were preparing meals. In the afternoon we went to the river and
caught some fish for supper.
At night, we held a fire camp night. We sang, danced, read poetry, played magic tricks, and even some of
us performed a standing comedy.
On Monday, we packed our bags and got ready to go home.

8. Holiday in Bali

We had a wonderful holiday in Bali.

It was a really great place. The people were friendly, the food was great, and the weather was a lot better
than at home.
Most days were pretty. I swam two or three times a day, but my brother Fachri just spent all his time lying
on the beach with his eyes closed.
Last Saturday I got on the bus and went to the north of the island, It was much quieter there than here–
very beautiful, but no tourists. The next day we went across to
the east coast to see some of the old villages.
I learned Balinese–I couldn’t say much, but it was fun to try. Fachri actually spoke it quite well, but he was
afraid to open his mouth, so I was the one who talked to people.

Itulah contoh recount text pendek. Semoga bisa membantu bagi yang sedang belajar bahasa Inggris di
sekolah sekolah SMA.
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Source: Achmad, D. 2008. Developing english competencies 1. Jakarta : Pusat Perbukuan, Departemen
Pendidikan Nasional