Comprehension Development
Reading the word and the world-
Freire & Macedo
R. Grant
Defining Comprehension
Think-pair-share:
How do you define comprehension?
 Think about it for a moment.
 Share your thoughts with a peer.
 Now, share your definition and your
neighbor’s with the class.
Critical Pedagogy, Literacy and
Understanding
Reading does not consist merely of
decoding the written word or language;
rather, it is preceded by and intertwined
with knowledge of the world.
Reading always involves critical perception,
interpretation, and rewriting of what is read.
(Freire & Macedo, 1987)
Defining Reading
Comprehension
Comprehension is a creative, multifaceted
process in which students engage with the
text (Tierney, 1990)
Comprehension is the process whereby the
reader constructs meaning by interacting
with the text (Anderson & Pearson, 1984)
Theories about Comprehension
Behaviorist
Cognitive
Scheme
Reader Response
Critical Literacy
Sociocultural
Culturally Responsive Pedagogy
Factors influencing
comprehension-the reader
The reader- the background knowledge that
readers bring to the reading process
influences how they understand the text as
well as the strategies they use while reading
Factors influencing
comprehension- text and purpose
The text being read- the author’s ideas, the
words used to express those ideas, and how
the ideas are organized and presented affect
comprehension
Readers vary the way they read according
to their purpose
Subprocesses of Comprehension
Microprocesses focus on fluency, the ability
to read quickly, smoothly, and with
expression
Integrative processes deal with the semantic
and syntactic connections and relationships
among sentences
Subprocesses of Comprehension
Macroprocesses relate to the big picture–
the entire text
 Components of macroprocesses
 Recognizing the structure of text
 Selecting the most important information to
remember
Subprocesses of Comprehension
Elaborative processes are used by students
to activate their background knowledge and
make connections with the text they are
reading or listening to
 3 types of connections
 Text-to-self
 Text-to-world
 Text-to-text
Subprocesses of Comprehension
Metacognitive processes is students’
conscious awareness of their thinking
 Elements of metacognitive processing
 Awareness
 Monitoring
 Fix-up strategies
Levels of Comprehension
Literal Focus on identifying
main ideas & details,
sequencing events, &
noticing cause-effect
relationships
Inferential Reading between the
lines to make inferences
or draw conclusions
Evaluative Go beyond the text &
think more deeply
Basic Goals of Reading
To enable the learner to gain understanding
of the world and of themselves
To develop appreciations and interests
To help the learner to find solutions to their
personal and group problems
To develop strategies to support
independent understanding and thinking
Teachers’ Role
To support comprehension teachers need to:
 Activate students’ prior knowledge
 Guide students’ reading of a text
 Foster active and engaged reading
 Reinforce concepts gleaned from the text
reading
 Encourage careful/critical thinking
 Pursue inquiry on different topics

Comprehension Development - Dr. Grant - GMU

  • 1.
    Comprehension Development Reading theword and the world- Freire & Macedo R. Grant
  • 2.
    Defining Comprehension Think-pair-share: How doyou define comprehension?  Think about it for a moment.  Share your thoughts with a peer.  Now, share your definition and your neighbor’s with the class.
  • 3.
    Critical Pedagogy, Literacyand Understanding Reading does not consist merely of decoding the written word or language; rather, it is preceded by and intertwined with knowledge of the world. Reading always involves critical perception, interpretation, and rewriting of what is read. (Freire & Macedo, 1987)
  • 4.
    Defining Reading Comprehension Comprehension isa creative, multifaceted process in which students engage with the text (Tierney, 1990) Comprehension is the process whereby the reader constructs meaning by interacting with the text (Anderson & Pearson, 1984)
  • 5.
    Theories about Comprehension Behaviorist Cognitive Scheme ReaderResponse Critical Literacy Sociocultural Culturally Responsive Pedagogy
  • 6.
    Factors influencing comprehension-the reader Thereader- the background knowledge that readers bring to the reading process influences how they understand the text as well as the strategies they use while reading
  • 7.
    Factors influencing comprehension- textand purpose The text being read- the author’s ideas, the words used to express those ideas, and how the ideas are organized and presented affect comprehension Readers vary the way they read according to their purpose
  • 8.
    Subprocesses of Comprehension Microprocessesfocus on fluency, the ability to read quickly, smoothly, and with expression Integrative processes deal with the semantic and syntactic connections and relationships among sentences
  • 9.
    Subprocesses of Comprehension Macroprocessesrelate to the big picture– the entire text  Components of macroprocesses  Recognizing the structure of text  Selecting the most important information to remember
  • 10.
    Subprocesses of Comprehension Elaborativeprocesses are used by students to activate their background knowledge and make connections with the text they are reading or listening to  3 types of connections  Text-to-self  Text-to-world  Text-to-text
  • 11.
    Subprocesses of Comprehension Metacognitiveprocesses is students’ conscious awareness of their thinking  Elements of metacognitive processing  Awareness  Monitoring  Fix-up strategies
  • 12.
    Levels of Comprehension LiteralFocus on identifying main ideas & details, sequencing events, & noticing cause-effect relationships Inferential Reading between the lines to make inferences or draw conclusions Evaluative Go beyond the text & think more deeply
  • 13.
    Basic Goals ofReading To enable the learner to gain understanding of the world and of themselves To develop appreciations and interests To help the learner to find solutions to their personal and group problems To develop strategies to support independent understanding and thinking
  • 14.
    Teachers’ Role To supportcomprehension teachers need to:  Activate students’ prior knowledge  Guide students’ reading of a text  Foster active and engaged reading  Reinforce concepts gleaned from the text reading  Encourage careful/critical thinking  Pursue inquiry on different topics