What are the Foundational Skills Needed for Comprehension?

 

What Are the Foundational Skills Needed for Comprehension?

            Reading is an extremely complex process which requires many different functions of the brain to interact simultaneously, and is very unique to each learner (Schwanenflugel & Knapp, 2016, ch. 1). As a teacher, it is imperative to remember this when supporting students in developing their reading skills. Each component of reading comprehension has a reciprocal relationship with the others. In order to fully explore the areas in which students need further support, it is necessary to first have a clear understanding of the foundation of specific skills students require for reading comprehension.  

Phonics 

In order for children to be able to understand what they are reading, they first need to
be able to read. Students need to understand the basic principles of language and writing by building an understanding of how letters and words work (Schwanenflugel & Knapp, 2016, ch. 3). They need to have a firm grasp of the alphabetic principal as well as phonemic awareness in order to begin matching graphemes to their sound representation (Mesmer,2019). This will in turn provide the foundation for learning phonics, which is essential in reading text. Readers must have a solid knowledge base of the phonics rules that comprise our written language. Without this, reading fluency is impossible.

 

Fluency

Fluency emerges when a student has surpassed the decoding stage of reading, and begins to read with automaticity and prosody (Paige et al., 2019). In a general sense, when students are able to effortlessly process text, they are freeing up the cognitive resources needed for comprehension (Schwanenflugel & Knapp, 2016,p.11). A student’s fluency is indicative of their word recognition skills as well as their mastery of phonics and the decoding process. The use of prosody while reading shows a student’s understanding of informational focus as well as their interpretation of emotion (Schwanenflugel & Knapp, 2016,p.114).

It is commonly known and supported by research that reading fluency has a strong correlation with comprehension (Schwanenflugel & Knapp, 2016,p.118). One correlation study in particular was conducted to pinpoint the skills that had the strongest influence on reading proficiency in third grade. Fluency was shown to be one of the two most strongly related skills (Paige et al., 2019).  It is important to keep in mind however, that fluency is a crucial piece needed for comprehension, but does not guarantee comprehension (Schwanenflugel & Knapp, 2016,p.110).

Vocabulary

Vocabulary is the center-point of all domains of comprehension. Yes, decoding and linguistic comprehension are necessary for reading, but they are futile without knowing the meaning of what is being read. From infancy, children are building their oral vocabulary knowledge beginning with everyday words and contextualized concrete terms, and expanding into decontextualized ideas. Children need to be able to stretch their understanding beyond what they are physically experiencing in order to become the critical thinkers they need to be for comprehension in all domains. Academic language is a key example of decontextualized vocabulary that students need to be able to understand and utilize in order to make connections between text and abstract ideas (Silverman & Hartranft, 2015, ch.1).

Numerous studies have shown the impact vocabulary knowledge has on a student’s reading proficiency (Eason et al., 2012). It seems rather obvious that the more words a child knows the more they understand, but a breadth of early vocabulary has far more implications. Familiarity with a word will help the early skills of decoding and word recognition.  It allows for easier fast mapping while reading, which leads to deeper and more complex connections and meanings to be built between different words and ideas. Furthermore, a breadth of vocabulary knowledge allows for a greater foundation of words from which to connect meaning with (Silverman & Hartranft, 2015).

 

Syntax & Grammar

A student’s understanding of sentence structure and the way words and ideas relate to one another is an imperative piece to comprehension. A student’s understanding of a word is limited by their understanding of its use in context and relation to other words (Silverman & Hartranft, 2015, p.13). Rarely do we read single words in isolation (Schwanenflugel & Knapp, 2016,p.100). Generally we read words as they are used in sentences, paragraphs, and larger works. To truly build meaning, students need to be able understand how words build upon each other to form a cohesive meaning. This explains why studies have shown grammatical knowledge to have one of the greatest impacts on reading and listening comprehension (Kim, 2016).

 

Working Memory

Working memory is a key cognitive component in many aspects of reading comprehension. The early learning of phonics and vocabulary rely greatly on a student’s working memory (Mesmer,2019). It is also a crucial aspect in a student’s development of their surface code and textbase during the construction phase of comprehension (Schwanenflugel & Knapp, 2016,p.180). Research has shown a direct relationship between one’s working memory and their higher-order thinking skills such as inferencing, reasoning, and critical thinking (Kim, 2016).

 

Higher Order Thinking Skills

Higher order thinking skills are a necessary component in a student’s ability to make connections and build meaning beyond the concrete representation of text. Written language is only a small portion of the overall intended idea of a text (Schwanenflugel & Knapp, 2016,p.196). Readers must be able to construct deeper meaning through inferencing and critical analysis. They must also be metacognitive and monitor their own comprehension while reading in order to ensure understanding (Eason et al., 2012).  Theory of mind is especially important in narrative comprehension because it requires  the reader to understand the character’s perspective, emotions, and beliefs (Kim, 2016).

Final Thoughts

Having a clear picture of the specific skills that contribute most significantly to comprehension is critical in being able to identify the areas of struggle as well as how to provide support in these areas.  Each foundational skill is crucial in supporting the end goal of reading to critically analyze, make connections, and construct meaning from text. This key understanding is important to keep in mind as the thinking shifts to how this applies to digital and web literacies.

References

 

Eason, S. H., Goldberg, L. F., Young, K. M., Geist, M. C., & Cutting, L. E. (2012). Reader-text interactions: How differential text and question types influence cognitive skills needed for reading comprehension. Journal of Educational Psychology, 104(3), 515–528.

Kim, Y.-S. G. (2016). Direct and mediated effects of language and cognitive skills on comprehension of oral narrative texts (Listening comprehension) for children. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 141, 101–120.

Mesmer, H.A., (2019). Letter lessons and first words: phonics foundations that work. Heinemann.

Paige, D. D., Smith, G. S., Rasinski, T. V., Rupley, W. H., Magpuri-Lavell, T., & Nichols, W. D. (2019). A path analytic model linking foundational skills to grade 3 state reading achievement. Journal of Educational Research, 112(1), 110–120.

Schwanenflugel, P.J., & Knapp, N.F. (2016). The psychology of reading: Theory and applications. The Guilford Press.

Silverman R. D., & Hartranft A.M. (2015). Developing vocabulary and oral language in young children. The Guilford Press.

Stahl K.A.D., & Garcia, G.E. (2015). Developing reading comprehension: Effective instruction for all students in PreK-2. The Guilford Press.