Chapter - 04 (Topic - 3) Techniques to Develop Reading Comprehension

Techniques to Develop Reading Comprehension

·         Cooperative Learning

·         Question generation

·         Understanding or Highlighting Important Content

·         Note Taking

·         Recalling and Retelling

·         Giving title to the Paragraphs

·      Cooperative Learning: While using this strategy the readers work in groups. This is helpful as it promotes understanding, increase students confidence and reduce tension.

                 ·         Each group summarizes and shares the content read 

                 ·         The shared summarizes are compared

                ·       If any differences are observed during the process of sharing, the text is revisited and                     the differences are resolved.

·      Question Generation: Before starting to read, a reader should have a list of questions whose answers the reader tries to seek. The question may be of WH or yes / no type. This gives a clear direction to the reader. After reading, the reader should ensure that all their questions have been answered.

·      Undertaking or Highlighting Important Content: While reading, a reader should use pencil or pen. If it is a personal copy, a reader can have his/her own strategy to mark important points or information. He / she may underline a portion, draw asterisks, arrows, question mark or put certain content into brackets. One may also use highlighter but very carefully and not highlighting everything.

·      Note Taking: A student should prepare the visual map while reading. This will help him/her to decide if the content is understood or not. If the reader finds it difficult to take notes then it can be understood that he / she has difficulty in comprehending the text. After making notes, the reader should revisit them and verify that they make complete sense.

·      Recalling and Retelling: Having completed the reading, the reader should try to recall everything he/she has read and retell the same thing to someone who is interested in the similar content. The process of retelling expects a reader to recall everything he /she read and organize them in an appropriate manner. Thus the habit of recalling and retelling something appropriately and effectively develops reading comprehension.

·      Giving Title to the Paragraphs: The reader should try to give a title to each paragraph while reading. The title will reveal his / her understanding of the text and would him/her while referring to the same text at a later stage or while skimming the text at the time of exam to have a bird’s eye view of the difficulty in the text.

There are several tips to improve comprehension skills which are as under:

•   Read a variety of materials.
•  Do not limit yourself to textbooks.
•  Read a fairly long portion of the material.
• Try to read entire section or chapter.
• Mark out unknown or unfamiliar words as you read and find out the meaning later
• After reading, recall as much information as possible.
• Jot down point if you like it.
• Improve attention and concentration while reading.
• Promote critical thinking and evaluation of reading material.
• Do not skip the unknown information or words

Thus above tips would help the person to comprehend the message very effectively.