Comprehension





Comprehension is to understand. Comprehension in regards to reading means taking meaning and understanding from what has been read, either through the text, illustrations or design of the text. The purpose of reading is to unite ideas on the page in front of you to what you already know.

Comprehension ‘happens to readers as they read’ (Pearson & Johnson, 1978).

It becomes an automatic action, which is acquired as reading skills develop, shown through an adult who may quickly skim the paper to find which part they want to read thoroughly. Through comprehending what was just read, or saw we measure, evaluate and assess the text or illustration, taking away meaning. Factors influencing comprehension include: NEW & OLD KNOWLEDGE  Vocabulary knowledge is essential as a component of comprehension. A reader’s accumulated store of knowledge helps them to complete the task. A young child’s task is much more complicated, as they are trying to extract meaning by working out which symbols represent which words. A child who has little difficulty reading and pronouncing words will have more time to put towards understanding the meaning of the words in from of them.  ‘Sometimes all their effort goes into decoding, and the meaning or comprehension may be lost’ (Hill (2006) p.191).
 *  Linguistic competence: what the reader knows about the language
 *  Interest: how much the reader cares about the topics in the text
 *  Motivation: how much the reader cares about the task or their attitude towards school
 * Reading ability: how fluent they are as a reader

A child who has only limited reading ability may feel satisfied at just being able to pronounce the word in the text correctly. This can mean they lose the meaning and comprehension is lost. Comprehension is a great way to help construct meaning by ‘building bridges between new and old information.’ (Johnson & Pearson, 1978).

Once the child moves past pronunciation (old information), and begins to have a large store of words and their structure in their knowledge, they are more willing to attempt to construct the meaning (new knowledge). Good reading means building frameworks or bridges for connecting words in the text to thoughts. Here is a great comprehension activity for beginning literacy learners. (Johnson & Pearson (1978) p. 181)

ILLUSTRATIONS AND COMPREHENSION Some people are visual learners, and for children, this can mean picture books provide help if not more understanding about the content than the text. Illustrations provide a visual picture, where the child can actually ‘see’ what is happening in the story through changes in actions the characters are making, or through the setting etc. Although as children develop they do need a thorough understanding of reading and its parts, picture books can provide the first elements of building comprehension skills for them throughout their schooling years. Picture below : http://www.bergintoys.com/heros/2004-Oct/details/Shogun%20Pop-up%20Book%20.jpg

RECOUNT  <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif">Asking the child to retell the story is a great way to assess comprehension. It means the child must focus on the most significant parts of the story, to be able to recall it back with the correct structure and meaning. Asking the children the Who What Where When of the story helps them to take the main parts away and re-construct it for their task.