Most reading tests assess comprehension by asking students to recall facts about a story or passage. One or two questions might be considered "inferential." That is, the reader infers the answer the to question even though it is not explicitly stated in the text. Occasionally, an assessment might ask the student to pick out the main idea(s) or retell the story. But is this all there is to comprehension? Is this what it means to truly understand literature or non-fiction texts? Most educational experts agree that reading comprehension is something more.
What the Experts Say About Reading Comprehension
Educational research suggests that proficient and highly skilled readers engage in very specific strategies when reading at a level of comprehension that goes beyond literal recall. Experts like Susan Zimmermann, Ellin Oliver Keene, Stephanie Harvey, Anne Goudvis, and Debbie Miller – all educators with many years of experience teaching in the classroom, and who now instruct other teachers – have studied the research and described those strategies in their books [listed below]. These strategies include (but are not limited to):
- Using relevant prior knowledge, sometimes called “schema,” to make sense of the new information being read;
- Asking meaningful questions about the content and author’s purpose before, during, and after reading;
- Visualizing, or evoking mental images, based on the author’s words;
- Inferring, or interpreting, the meanings of words, ideas, and concepts that are not explicitly stated in the text;
- Predicting outcomes, motives, or likely next steps; and
- Determining importance, or what the relevant key ideas, concepts, and themes are that the writer is trying to convey.
These core strategies, literacy experts agree, contribute to the ultimate goal in reading comprehension: synthesis.
What Synthesis Means in Regard to Reading Comprehension
To synthesize means to take the relevant key ideas or concepts from a text, create necessary mental images, combine those with prior knowledge (schema), in order to infer meanings that may or may not be explicitly stated by the author, and thus think about the new information in ways the reader had not engaged in before.
Synthesis, according to Miller, is “the ripple in the pond.” It’s all the things that go on in the mind of the reader to transform the elements of processing text into a greater understanding. In the case of fiction, this new understanding may take the form of a new kind of empathy for the characters or the situation, or an awakening to a new world of thought not encountered before.
With non-fiction, synthesis often means going beyond simply making sense of the words to understanding the author’s meaning, absorbing or challenging relevant concepts, and sparking in the reader new ideas or new paths of inquiry.
When readers synthesize what they have read, they are generally capable of articulating and sharing with others their newfound knowledge or ideas either verbally, through writing, or by some other means, such as producing a work of art or drama. Adults and children of all ages can achieve some level of synthesis.
Synthesis is the ultimate goal of reading. True comprehension may not be testable through standardized means; however, proficient readers regularly employ a variety of comprehension strategies to varying degrees, some of which may be observable. When they truly understand, readers come away with something new that they can then make use of or communicate to others.
For specific suggestions for helping ESL students with reading comprehension see Scaffolding ESL Students' Reading Comprehension.
Resources:
Zimmermann, Susan and Keene, Ellin Oliver. Mosaic of Thought: The Power of Comprehension Strategy Instruction. Portsmouth, NH:Heinemann, 1997/2007.
Harvey, Stephanie and Goudvis, Anne. Strategies That Work: Teaching Comprehension for Understanding and Engagement. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers, 2002/2007.
Miller, Debbie. Reading With Meaning: Teaching Comprehension in the Primary Grades. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers, 2003.
Keene, Ellin Oliver.To Understand: New Horizons in Reading Comprehension. Portsmouth, NH:Heineman, 2008.
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