Dr E. Lugo Morales 2

* Reasons for Lack of Comprehension

Five reasons for lack of reading comprehension are listed below (the first four are from Twining, 1991).

• Failure to understand a word • Failure to understand a sentence • Failure to understand how

sentences relate to one another • Failure to understand how the

information fits together in a meaningful way (organization)

• Lack of interest or concentration

http://www.muskingum.edu/~cal/database/general/reading.html#BGMenu

Dr E. Lugo Morales 4

* Metacognitive Behaviors of Good and Poor Readers

GOOD OR MATURE READERS POOR OR IMMATURE READERS

BEFORE READING

Activate prior knowledge

Understand task and set purpose

Choose appropriate strategies

Start reading without preparation

Read without knowing why

Read without considering how to approach the material

AFTER READING

Reflect on what was read

Feel success is a result of effort

Summarize major ideas

Seek additional information from outside sources

Stop reading and thinking

Feel success is a result of luck

Students with good versus poor reading skills demonstrate distinct cognitive behaviors before, during, and after reading an assignment. The following chart from Cook (1989) summarizes these behaviors.

Dr E. Lugo Morales 5

* Metacognitive Behaviors of Good and Poor Readers

GOOD OR MATURE READERS POOR OR IMMATURE READERS

DURING READING

Focus attention

Anticipate and predict

Use fix-up strategies when lack of understanding occurs

Use contextual analysis to understand new terms

Use text structure to assist comprehension

Organize and integrate new information

Self-monitor comprehension by ...

o knowing comprehension is occurring

o knowing what is being understood

• Are easily distracted

Read to get done

Do not know what to do when lack of understanding occurs

Do not recognize important vocabulary

Do not see any organization

Add on, rather than integrate, new information

Do not realize they do not understand

Students with good versus poor reading skills demonstrate distinct cognitive behaviors before, during, and after reading an assignment. The following chart from Cook (1989) summarizes these behaviors.

Dr E. Lugo Morales 6

*Why is Schema important in Reading Comprehension?

Cook (1989: 69) states “The mind stimulated by key words or phrases in the text or by the context activates a knowledge schema.” This view clarifies that schemata are activated in one of two ways:

http://www.readingmatrix.com/articles/ajideh/article.pdf

1. New information from the outside world can be cognitively received and related to already known information stored in memory through retrieval or remembering. Inthis case, new concepts are assimilated into existing schemata which can be altered or expanded;

2. New information can be represented by new mental structures. In this case, in absence of already existing schemata, new knowledge builds up new schemata.

Dr E. Lugo Morales 7

*Tips To Help Improve Comprehension

*Essential Words*Focus on key words in the text. Emphasize verbs and nouns only.

*Review and Summarize* Identify the main idea of each paragraph. Develop your own

summary of the chapter and compare it to the summary presented in the book.

*Make Reading More Active*Stimulate the auditory sense by reading aloud or listening to tape

recordings of the text .*Take notes during or after reading difficult material .

*Make Reading Interactive*Work with another student. Read to each other, and take turns

summarizing sections or chapters of text.*Relate the material to personal experiences.

Dr E. Lugo Morales 8

* Tips To Help Improve Comprehension

• Review Questions–Evaluate understanding of the material by

answering the review questions at the end of the chapter and workbooks.

–Make up your own by converting the section headings into questions.

• Words and Definitions–Look up the definitions of all unfamiliar words.–Compile a written list of unfamiliar words and

definitions.– Record the words and definitions on audio tapes

and listen to them for review. pages –Place a colored paper clip on the glossary for quick

access.

Dr E. Lugo Morales 9

*LINCS STRATEGY LINCS is a task-

specific strategy student use to learn vocabulary.

The strategy is useful in improving reading comprehension in those cases when vocabulary words are used repeatedly in the readings.

LIST the parts you need to know. Identify a term you need to know. Analyze the definition of the vocabulary word. Identify the most important parts of the definition. List the key parts of the definition you need to remember on a study card.

IMAGINE a picture. Create a picture in your mind of the term's meaning. Describe the image using real words.

NOTE a reminding "sound-alike" word. Think of a familiar word that sounds like the new term or part of the new term.

CONNECT the terms in a story. Make up a short story about the meaning of the term that uses the sound-alike word. Create an image of the story in your mind.

SELF-test.