What are comprehension skills?

Reading requires understanding, or comprehending, the meaning of print. Readers must develop certain skills that will help them comprehend what they read and use this as an aid to reading.

Comprehensibility in writing is related to comprehension in reading.

Comprehension skills are the ability to use context and prior knowledge to aid reading and to make sense of what one reads and hears

Comprehension is based on:

• knowledge that reading makes sense
• readers' prior knowledge
• information presented in the text, and
• the use of context to assist recognition of words and meaning.

Here are some examples of reading comprehension skills:

• Understanding that print conveys meaning

• Using context as an aid to reading

  Examples:

  Being able to fill in the correct words in expressions such as the following: “Open the d...” “Tell me a st...”

• Using prior knowledge as an aid to reading

  This might come from a picture or other prior knowledge.

• Using predictability as an aid to reading

  This is helped by rhyme, alliteration and other associated pairs of words.

  Examples:

  Being able to predict the correct word in phrases like the following: “men and w...“ “fork and sp...“ “mother and f...”

• Concept module: comprehension skills
• In overview module: Glossary (Literacy): C
• In modular book: Glossary of literacy terms
• In document collection: Reference materials
• In bookshelf: Literacy

This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library, Version 4.0, published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 1999. [Ordering information.]

Page content last modified: 2 July 1998

© 1999 SIL International