Chapter 12: Comprehension: Concepts And Factors Affecting Reading Comprehension

Question 1

Describe how word analysis, fluency, vocabulary, academic language, and background knowledge affect comprehension.

Answer 1

Fluent readers with advanced word analysis skills swiftly and accurately identify words, which frees their minds to deal with the meaning of text.

1. Word Analysis and Fluency - to worried with reading the words, comprehension is lost
2. Vocabulary - if don’t know meaning, won’t comprehend
3. Academic Language
4. Background Knowledge - key predictor of students’ comprehension of a selection

Question 2

Define and identify skills that are part of literal comprehension

Answer 2

RICA uses a three-level taxonomy to classify reading comprehension skills: literal, inferential, and evaluative. Literal comprehension questions have clearly verifiable answers in the text; the answers are “in the book”

Identify explicitly stated main ideas
Identify details and sequences of events
Identify clearly stated cause and effect relationships
Identifying the components of story grammar: plot events, characters, setting, conflict (if stated), resolution (if stated)q

Question 3

Define and identify skills that are part of inferential comprehension

Answer 3

Inferential comprehension questions require the reader to interpret the text. The answers are not in the book; they are “in your head”

Inferring main ideas
Making comparisons
Cause-and effect not stated
Drawing conclusions
Making generalizations
Predictions using text evidence
Inferring themes that are not stated

Question 4

Define and identify skills that are part of evaluative comprehension

Answer 4

Evaluative comprehension questions require the reader to evaluate the text. The answers are not in the book; they are “in your head”

Recognizing instances of bias
Recognizing unsupported assumptions, propaganda and faulty reasoning of texts
Distinguishing fact vs opinion
Judging a text’s context, characters, use of language- did the character do the right thing?
Analyzing themes - does the author’s theme make sense?

Question 5

Explain the role of sentence structure and text structures in facilitating comprehension

Answer 5

There are common patterns, called text structures, for the formats of elementary social studies and science textbook chapters.

1. Cause and Effect
2. Problem and Solution
3. Compare/Contrast
4. Sequence
5. Description

Question 6

State the role of oral language, listening comprehension, text-based discussion, writing activities, and independent reading in facilitating comprehension.

Answer 6

Almost all children will be able to understand texts that are read to them that they could not understand if they read them on their own. During and after reading aloud a challenging text to students, each ears can work on the more challenging comprehension tasks - inferential and evaluative comprehension.

1. Oral Language
   Oral language activities will enhance a child’s vocabulary, which in turn will aid comprehension.
2. Listening Comprehension
   Allows students to focus on inferential and evaluative comprehension of texts that they would not be able to read individually
3. Text-based discussion
   Instructional Conversations - teacher poses questions and becomes less part of the conversation as students become more familiar with this format
   Questioning the Author - stop and ask questions about the author
4. Writing Activities
   Write a summary of what you just read. Challenges students to identify and isolate important parts.
5. Independent Reading
   The more they read, the better they get

Question 7

12.1 Define literal, inferential, and evaluative comprehension

Answer 7

Literal - surface meaning of text, clearly verifiable answers in the text
Inferential - not in the text - reader speculate based on the surface meaning of the text
Evaluative - measure the ability of the reader to make judgements about what he or she has read. Not in the text

Question 8

12.1 Define Textual Structures, provide examples

Answer 8

Textual Structures: standard formats of expository texts authors use to write.

Teachers use to develop GO and study guides. 
Common in Science and Social Studies:
1. Cause and effect
2. Problem and solution
3. Comparison and contrast
4. Sequence
5. Description