Reading Comprehension

**What is reading comprehension?**

-   Reading comprehension is the construction of meaning through the
    application of intentional, problem solving processes while
    interacting with written text. The National Reading Panel (2000)
    explains that "the content of meaning is influenced by the text and
    by the reader's prior knowledge and experience that are brought to
    bear on it" and that "reading is purposeful and active."

# 

# Why should comprehension be taught?

-   Comprehension is the ultimate goal of reading.

-   Adults who qualify for Adult Basic Education classes are often
    unable to integrate and synthesize information from longer or more
    complex texts (Kruidenier, 2002).

-   Adults with learning disabilities tend to have lower functional
    literacy comprehension achievement (Kruidenier, 2002).

-   Although there are limited studies on the reading comprehension of
    adults, the results of these studies suggest that explicit
    instruction in reading comprehension strategies does result in
    improved comprehension. This research is supported by the findings
    of the National Reading Panel (2000), which found that children's
    reading comprehension can be improved by instruction in using
    specific cognitive strategies or in reasoning strategically when
    encountering barriers to understanding.

Evidence-Based Instructional Practices: ADULTS (Kruidenier, 2002)

-   [Assess learners]{.underline} to determine reading comprehension
    ability and to measure progress in the acquisition of reading
    comprehension strategies. Also consider secondary issues that may
    impact reading comprehension, such as cultural and language
    differences in ESL students; learning disabilities; alphabetics and
    vocabulary knowledge; and fluency in word reading.

-   Provide [explicit instruction]{.underline} in reading comprehension
    strategies.

-   Provide instruction in comprehension along with [instruction in
    other components]{.underline} of reading (word analysis, fluency,
    and vocabulary).

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-   Research suggests**:**

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-   Teachers may need to ***use more than one measure*** of reading
    comprehension to obtain useful information for diagnosis and program
    evaluation; ***knowledge of comprehension strategies should be
    assessed and taught.***

-   ***Workplace or family literacy programs*** may increase learners'
    reading comprehension more readily than general literacy programs.

-   Teachers should include ***adult-oriented material**.*

-   Teachers should ***attend to enabling factors***, such as how a
    classroom in organized or how comfortable adults are in the setting.

-   Teachers should deal briefly but directly with issues of
    ***motivation***, especially ***adults' perceptions*** of their
    reading ability and the importance of reading (self-efficacy).

### 

### Evidence-Based Instructional Practices: CHILDREN (NRP, 2000)

-   Provide [explicit instruction and practice]{.underline} in the
    following:

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-   **comprehension monitoring:** readers learn to be aware of when they
    do not understand the text and how to use fix-up strategies.

-   **graphic and semantic organizers:** readers make graphic
    representations, including story maps, of the material to assist
    comprehension.

-   **question answering:** readers answer questions posed by the
    teacher and receive immediate feedbac.k

-   **question generating**: readers learn to ask themselves questions
    about various aspects of the text.

-   **story structure**: readers learn to ask and answer who, what,
    where, when, and why questions about the plot and/or to map out the
    time line, characters, and events in stories.

-   **summarizing**: readers learn to identify and write the most
    important ideas that integrate separate ideas or meanings into a
    coherent whole.

-   **multiple strategy instruction:** students learn to use a
    combination of strategies appropriate for the reading task.

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-   [Provide tasks that demand active involvement]{.underline}.

-   [Scaffold new learning]{.underline}, gradually withdrawing the
    amount of assistance offered to the learner.

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-   Direct explanation

-   Modeling

-   Guided practice

-   Application

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-   [Engage learners in cooperative learning]{.underline}, in which
    readers instruct or interact with each other to learn text
    comprehension strategies.

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-   [Encourage students to use comprehension strategies flexibly and in
    combination.]{.underline}

#### Sources

Kruidenier, John (2002). *Research-Based Principles for Adult Basic
Education Reading Instruction.* Washington, DC: National Institute for
Literacy, Partnership for Reading.

National Reading Panel (2000). *Teaching Children to Read: an
Evidence-Based Assessment of the Scientific Research Literature on
Reading and its Implications for Reading Instruction (Report of the
Subgroups).* Washington, D.C.: National Institute for Child Health and
Human Development.

Alphabetics: Phonemic Awareness & Phonics

**What is *phonemic awareness* (PA)?**

-   *Phonemic awareness* is the ability to distinguish and manipulate
    the individual *sounds*---phonemes\--in spoken language. Although
    the English alphabet contains only 26 letters, the letters can be
    used to form 41 phonemes.

-   Phonemic awareness is a subcategory of [phonological]{.underline}
    [awareness]{.underline}, which refers to the ability to identify and
    manipulate the *larger* parts of spoken language, such as words,
    syllables, and rhymes.

# What is *phonics*?

-   *Phonics* refers to the relationship between the *letters* of
    written language and the *sounds* of spoken language. It is
    different from phonemic awareness because it involves the letters
    themselves and how these relate to the sounds of the language.

# 

# Why should PA and phonics be taught?

-   Adult non-readers have virtually no phonemic awareness, and adult
    beginning readers have difficulty applying letter-sound knowledge to
    figure out new words while reading (Kruidenier, 2002).

-   Research has shown PA and knowledge of letters to be the two best
    indicators of how well children will read by the end of 1^st^ grade
    (NRP, 2000).

-   Research has found that instruction in phonics leads to improved
    word-reading and, to a lesser degree, improved reading comprehension
    for adults, for at-risk kindergartners and first-graders at all SES
    levels, and for disabled readers in Grades 2-6 (Kruidenier, 2002;
    NRP, 2000). The NRP (2000) found that the effect of phonics
    instruction on text comprehension for the older readers was
    significantly less than that for younger readers, indicating that
    other factors (fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension strategies)
    may need to be assessed and taught as well.

-   Research has found that abilities in PA and phonics in adults and
    children do improve with instruction (Kruidenier, 2002; NRP, 2000).

Evidence-Based Instructional Practices: ADULTS (Kruidenier, 2002)

-   Assess beginning readers' phonemic awareness, phonics abilities, and
    sight word knowledge. Since adult beginning readers are generally
    better at recognizing familiar sight words than children who are
    learning to read, avoid using sight words adults may know for
    phonics assessments.

-   Provide adult beginning readers with a significant amount of
    alphabetics instruction, in conjunction with other aspects of
    reading.

-   Continue to assess PA in beginning readers, even if their overall
    reading scores are going up. Research suggests that adults with a
    learning disability in reading may not develop phonemic awareness as
    they learn to read; thus, attending to PA development may help
    teachers identify those students who need more in-depth work with PA
    or who need instruction that bypasses PA.

### 

### Evidence-Based Instructional Practices: CHILDREN (NRP, 2000)

-   [Explicitly and systematically teach]{.underline} children to
    manipulate phonemes [with letters]{.underline}.

-   Focus instruction on [1-2 types of phoneme
    manipulation]{.underline}, instead of on multiple types.
    [Segmentin]{.underline}g and [blending]{.underline} seem to be the
    most important manipulations to teach.

-   Teach phonemic awareness in [small groups]{.underline}. (Research
    shows no difference in the effectiveness of phonics instruction
    provided to individuals, small groups, or whole classes.)

-   [Monitor PA learning]{.underline} carefully. Students who do not
    respond to PA instruction may have a reading disability.

-   Use some form of [systematic phonics instruction]{.underline}. Teach
    a carefully selected and useful set of letter-sound relationships,
    organized into a logical instructional sequence. (It does not seem
    to matter whether or not the approach asks readers to turn letters
    into sounds, use analogies, or notice spelling patterns.)

-   Encourage readers to [apply their phonics knowledge while reading
    connected text and writing]{.underline}.

-   [Provide instruction in the other essential elements]{.underline}
    (phonemic awareness, fluency, vocabulary, text comprehension).

-   Begin phonics instruction in kindergarten or 1^st^ grade and
    [continue for about 2 years]{.underline}.

-   [Consider motivational issues]{.underline}.

#### Sources

Kruidenier, John (2002). *Research-Based Principles for Adult Basic
Education Reading Instruction.* Washington, DC: National Institute for
Literacy, Partnership for Reading.

National Reading Panel (2000). *Teaching Children to Read: an
Evidence-Based Assessment of the Scientific Research Literature on
Reading and its Implications for Reading Instruction (Report of the
Subgroups).* Washington, D.C.: National Institute for Child Health and
Human Development.

Vocabulary

**What is *vocabulary*?**

-   *Vocabulary* is the set of words for which we know the meanings.

-   *Receptive vocabulary* is the vocabulary we can understand when it
    is presented to us orally or in text. *Productive vocabulary* is the
    vocabulary we use in writing or speaking. Sometimes this is referred
    to as *writing vocabulary* or *speaking vocabulary.*

-   *Oral* or *listening vocabulary* refers to words that are used or
    recognized in speaking or listening. *Reading vocabulary* refers to
    words that are used or recognized in print. Sight vocabulary is a
    subset of reading vocabulary and refers to words that do not need to
    be decoded.

# Why should vocabulary be taught?

-   Reading vocabulary is crucial to the comprehension processes of a
    skilled reader. In the early stages of reading, oral vocabulary
    plays an important role. As a reader begins to read, words
    encountered in texts are mapped onto the oral vocabulary the learner
    brings to the task. Benefits in understanding text by applying
    letter-sound correspondences to printed material come about only if
    the target word is in the learner's oral vocabulary. Otherwise,
    strategies will need to be employed to make sense of new words. In
    general, the greater the oral and reading vocabularies of the
    reader, the more likely it is that the reader will be able to read
    text with understanding.

**Evidence-Based Instructional Practices: ADULTS (Kruidenier, 2002)**

-   Initial research suggests that teaching vocabulary in a specific
    setting, such as a family literacy or workplace setting, may be more
    effective than teaching vocabulary in a more general setting. NRP
    findings in support of the use of repetitive exposures in rich
    contexts support using family literacy or workplace contexts for
    vocabulary instruction.

-   Do not assume that adult students, because they are older and more
    experienced, have well-developed vocabularies. Adult readers'
    vocabulary growth may be dependent upon reading ability. Although
    their life experience may give them an advantage on vocabulary
    knowledge at lower reading levels, this advantage may disappear at
    higher reading levels.

### 

### Evidence-Based Instructional Practices: CHILDREN (NRP, 2000)

-   Provide opportunities for learners to learn new words in [rich
    contexts]{.underline} .

-   Words that are taught should be [appropriate for learners' age and
    ability level]{.underline}.

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-   Teach vocabulary [directly in ways that actively engage
    learners]{.underline}. Introducing words before reading texts has
    been found to be effective.

-   Expose learners to words through [read-alouds, discussion, and
    independent reading]{.underline} (in material they can read
    fluently).

-   Provide opportunities for [repetition]{.underline} and [multiple
    exposures to new words]{.underline}.

-   [Explore computers]{.underline} as a way to teach vocabulary.

-   Use a [variety of instructional methods]{.underline} for teaching
    vocabulary.

#### Sources

Kruidenier, John (2002). *Research-Based Principles for Adult Basic
Education Reading Instruction.* Washington, DC: National Institute for
Literacy, Partnership for Reading.

National Reading Panel (2000). *Teaching Children to Read: an
Evidence-Based Assessment of the Scientific Research Literature on
Reading and its Implications for Reading Instruction (Report of the
Subgroups).* Washington, D.C.: National Institute for Child Health and
Human Development.

Fluency

**What is fluency?**

Fluency is the ability to read rapidly and accurately, with appropriate
rhythm, intonation, and expression. Fluency includes the ability to
decode rapidly, grouping words into meaningful units for interpretation.
Fluency includes pronunciation, determination of emphasis, and
appropriate pauses to make sense of text. Fluency is a means readers use
to comprehend.

# Why should fluency be taught?

-   Readers face two major cognitive demands: decoding (recognizing
    words) and comprehending. Since cognitive resources to meet these
    demands are limited, resources expended on word recognition reduce
    the resources available for comprehension. Skilled readers recognize
    words with automaticity, freeing resources to group words into
    meaningful units (phrasing), attend to punctuation, and ultimately
    gain meaning from text. Poor readers use time and resources to
    decode; their choppy and inaccurate reading impedes comprehension.

# Fluency is an issue for adult beginning readers, intermediate, and perhaps advanced readers. There are large differences between adults with good and poor reading fluency, and adult beginning readers' fluency is similar to the fluency of children who are beginning readers. (Kruidenier, 2002)

-   Fluency may be taught to ABE students, and fluency practice may lead
    to increases in reading achievement. (Kruidenier, 2002)

### Evidence-Based Practices for Instruction: ADULTS (Kruidinier, 2002)

-   Assess fluency to determine whether fluency instruction is needed.
    For lower-level readers, one way to determine fluency is by
    measuring accuracy of decoding and rate of oral reading.

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-   Use approaches that include repeated reading of passages of text,
    words from texts, and other text units. Some examples of repeated
    reading approaches include:

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-   Listening to taped versions of passages

-   Simultaneously reading passages aloud while using typed transcripts

-   Giving students passages that are one grade level above their grade
    equivalent scores on a test of reading comprehension ability

-   Re-reading a passage while listening until students feel able to
    read it aloud on their own to the instructor

-   Reading two passages with 90% accuracy (mispronouncing no more than
    10%) of words in a passage) before moving on the next grade level.

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-   Use systematic phonics instruction to improve fluency.

**Evidence-Based Practices for Instruction: CHILDREN** **(NRP, 2000)**

-   Provide opportunities for readers to read passages orally multiple
    times with guidance and feedback from teachers, peers, or parents.
    The following practices seem to offer effective repeated reading
    experiences:

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-   Paired reading

-   Shared reading

-   Collaborative oral reading

-   Echo reading

-   Tape-assisted or computer-assisted oral reading

#### Sources

Kruidenier, John (2002). *Research-Based Principles for Adult Basic
Education Reading Instruction.* Washington, DC: National Institute for
Literacy, Partnership for Reading.

National Reading Panel (2000). *Teaching Children to Read: an
Evidence-Based Assessment of the Scientific Research Literature on
Reading and its Implications for Reading Instruction (Report of the
Subgroups).* Washington, D.C.: National Institute for Child Health and
Human Development.