Reading Comprehension

Reading comprehension is defined 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. .^[1]

Proficient reading depends on the ability to recognize words quickly and effortlessly.^[2] 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.

Many educators in the USA believe that students need to learn to analyze text (comprehend it) even before they can read it on their own, and comprehension instruction generally begins in pre-Kindergarten or Kindergarten. But other US educators consider this reading approach to be completely backward for very young children, arguing that the children must learn how to decode the words in a story through phonics before they can analyze the story itself.

During the last century comprehension lessons usually consisted of students answering teachers' questions, writing responses to questions on their own, or both.^[3] The whole group version of this practice also often included "Round-robin reading", wherein teachers called on individual students to read a portion of the text (and sometimes following a set order). In the last quarter of the 20th century, evidence accumulated that the read-test methods assessed comprehension more than they taught it. The associated practice of "round robin" reading has also been questioned and eliminated by many educators.

Instead of using the prior read-test method, research studies have concluded that there are much more effective ways to teach comprehension. Much work has been done in the area of teaching novice readers a bank of "reading strategies," or tools to interpret and analyze text.^[4] There is not a definitive set of strategies, but common ones include summarizing what you have read, monitoring your reading to make sure it is still making sense, and analyzing the structure of the text (e.g., the use of headings in science text). Some programs teach students how to self monitor whether they are understanding and provide students with tools for fixing comprehension problems.

Instruction in comprehension strategy use often involves the gradual release of responsibility, wherein teachers initially explain and model strategies. Over time, they give students more and more responsibility for using the strategies until they can use them independently. This technique is generally associated with the idea of self-regulation and reflects social cognitive theory, originally conceptualized by Albert Bandura.

We can define that testing reading comprehension is a test for knowing how much students’ understanding ability in reading.

a.       What to test

As ESL/EFL teachers, we are aware that the primary objective of reading is comprehension--being able to find meaning in what is read. Thus, we give our students reading assessments in order to test their reading abilities. When we are preparing these assessments, we may go through some of the following:

·         We ensure that we select an appropriate text.

·         We make sure that the language used in the text is suitably pitched to our students' proficiency.

·         We carefully scrutinise the text to ensure that the information in each paragraph is tested.

However, some teachers may not be aware that the comprehension questions they formulate only test students' ability to understand and recall ideas and information directly stated in the given text. It is indeed unfortunate if comprehension assessments do not go beyond this level of comprehension. The purpose of this article is to provide ESL/EFL teachers with some guidelines when preparing reading assessments.

Teachers need to be aware that there are actually three main levels or strands of comprehension--literal, interpretive and critical comprehension.

·         The first level, literal comprehension, is the most obvious. Comprehension at this level involves surface meanings. At this level, teachers can ask students to find information and ideas that are explicitly stated in the text. In addition, it is also appropriate to test vocabulary. According to Karlin(1971), "being able to read for literal meanings ie stated ideas is influenced by one's mastery of word meanings in context'.

·         The second level or strand is interpretive or referential comprehension. At this level, students go beyond what is said and read for deeper meanings. They must be able to read critically and analyse carefully what they have read. Students need to be able to see relationships among ideas, for exmple how ideas go together and also see the implied meanings of these ideas. It is also obvious that before our students can do this, they have to first understand the ideas that are stated (literal comprehension). Interpretive or referential comprehension includes thinking processes such as drawing conclusions, making generalizations and predicting outcomes. At this level, teachers can ask more challenging questions such as asking students to do the following:

·         Re-arrange the ideas or topics discussed in the text.

·         Explain the author's purpose of writing the text.

·         Summarize the main idea when this is not explicitly stated in the text.

·         Select conclusions which can be deduced from the text t!hey have read.

         Finally, the third level of comprehension is critical reading whereby ideas and information are evaluated. Critical evaluation occurs only after our students have understood the ideas and information that the writer has presented. At this level, students can be tested on the following skills:

·         The ability to differentiate between facts and opinions.

·         The ability to recognize persuasive statements .

·         The ability to judge the accuracy of the information given in the text.