Reading Comprehension

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the research on reading comprehension, including the cognitive processes employed during comprehension of text, the cognitive deficits associated with poor comprehension, and the research-based characteristics of interventions for improving reading comprehension skills. Comprehension is the essence of reading and the active process of constructing meaning from text (Durkin, 1993). Reading comprehension is a complex interaction among automatic and strategic cognitive processes that enables the reader to create a mental representation of the text (van den Broek & Espin, 2012). Comprehension depends not only on characteristics of the reader, such as prior knowledge and working memory, but also on language processes, such as basic reading skills, decoding, vocabulary, sensitivity to text structure, inferencing, and motivation. Comprehension also requires effective use of strategic processes, such as metacognition and comprehension monitoring. As readers mature in their comprehension skills, they are able to progress efficiently from the stage of learning to read to the ultimate goal of the United States achieved an average literacy proficiency score of 270 on a scale of 0 to 500—3 points below the international average score of 273! These results indicate a need to examine current practices in reading comprehension instruction. Because comprehension is so complex and requires multiple cognitive skills and stored memory, several barriers to improving comprehension must be overcome. First, we must be able to identify weaknesses in specific cognitive skills. Further, we must also have procedures for enhancing those specific skills rather than general interventions that target a limited number of skills without regard for identified strengths or weaknesses. Finally, we have to recognize that several components of comprehension—such as prior experience and vocabulary—are acquired over time, making them difficult targets for training and intervention. Therefore, the next section highlights research that identifies the cognitive skills and processes required for the development of reading comprehension ability, followed by research supporting effective interventions for reading comprehension development. Fluency. Fluency is a prerequisite skill to comprehension. It is the automatic recognition of words that frees up the cognitive capacity required for comprehending the meaning of the words (Pressley, 2002). Considered a bridge between decoding and comprehension (Pikulski & Chard, 2005), reading fluency took center stage after the results from the National Reading Panel (2000) were published. Although early studies recognized decoding as the skill that predicted differences in comprehension skills between children (Stanovich, 1986), a landmark …