This article is about human reading comprehension. For machine reading comprehension, see natural-language understanding. For the article on reading, see Reading.
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Reading comprehension is the ability to process written text, understand its meaning, and to integrate with what the reader already knows.[1][2][3][4] Reading comprehension relies on two abilities that are connected to each other: word reading and language comprehension.[5] Comprehension specifically is a "creative, multifaceted process" that is dependent upon four language skills: phonology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics.[6]
Some of the fundamental skills required in efficient reading comprehension are the ability to:[7][8][9]
know the meaning of words,
understand the meaning of a word from a discourse context,
follow the organization of a passage and to identify antecedents and references in it,
draw inferences from a passage about its contents,
identify the main thought of a passage,
ask questions about the text,
answer questions asked in a passage,
visualize the text,
recall prior knowledge connected to text,
recognize confusion or attention problems,
recognize the literary devices or propositional structures used in a passage and determine its tone,
understand the situational mood (agents, objects, temporal and spatial reference points, casual and intentional inflections, etc.) conveyed for assertions, questioning, commanding, refraining, etc., and
determine the writer's purpose, intent, and point of view, and draw inferences about the writer (discourse-semantics).
Comprehension skills that can be applied as well as taught to all reading situations include:[10]
Summarizing
Sequencing
Inferencing
Comparing and contrasting
Drawing conclusions
Self-questioning
Problem-solving
Relating background knowledge
Distinguishing between fact and opinion
Finding the main idea, important facts, and supporting details.
There are many reading strategies to use in improving reading comprehension and inferences, these include improving one's vocabulary, critical text analysis (intertextuality, actual events vs. narration of events, etc.), and practising deep reading.[11]
The ability to comprehend text is influenced by the readers' skills and their ability to process information. If word recognition is difficult, students tend to use too much of their processing capacity to read individual words which interferes with their ability to comprehend what is read.
^"What is Reading Comprehension?". Reading Worksheets, Spelling, Grammar, Comprehension, Lesson Plans. 2008-05-29. Archived from the original on 2016-05-09. Retrieved 2016-05-13.
^William Grabe (2009). Reading in a Second Language: Moving from Theory to Practice. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-72974-1. Archived from the original on 2018-05-04. Koda, 2005:4
^Keith Rayner; Barbara Foorman; Charles Perfetti; David Pesetsky & Mark Seidenberg (November 2001). "How Psychological Science Informs the Teaching of Reading". Psychological Science in the Public Interest. 2 (2): 31–74. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.14.4083. doi:10.1111/1529-1006.00004. PMID 26151366. S2CID 134422.
^Tompkins 2011, p. 203.
^"What is reading comprehension and why is it important?". www.oxfordowl.co.uk. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
^Tompkins 2011, p. 37.
^Davis, Frederick B. (September 1944). "Fundamental factors of comprehension in reading". Psychometrika. 9 (3): 185–197. doi:10.1007/BF02288722. S2CID 67849226.
^Committee on Learning Sciences: Foundations and Applications to Adolescent and Adult Literacy; Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education; National Research Council (2012). Improving Adult Literacy Instruction: Options for Practice and Research. National Academies Press. p. 41. ISBN 978-0-309-21960-0. Archived from the original on 2018-05-04.
^Daniels and Zemelman, Harvey "Smokey" and Steven (2014). Subject Matter: Exceeding Standards Through Powerful Content-Area Reading (2nd ed.). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. ISBN 978-0-325-05083-6.
^"Reading Comprehension Skills for English Language Learners". Colorín Colorado. 2007-03-12. Retrieved 2023-04-29.
^Maryanne Wolf (2016). Tales of Literacy for the 21st Century: The Literary Agenda. OUP Oxford. ISBN 978-0-19-103613-2.
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