Text Comprehension: Seven Techniques to Teach Students

Comprehension techniques are deliberate plans sequence of steps that successful readers use to decipher the text.

Students who are taught comprehension strategies become purposeful, involved readers who are in control of their own reading comprehension.

These seven techniques have been shown to improve text comprehension in studies.

1. Keeping an eye on understanding

Students who are good at tracking their understanding are aware of when they do and do not understand what they are reading.

They have methods in place to "fix" issues in their comprehension as they occur. 

2. Metacognition is the ability to think of one's own thoughts

"Think about thinking" is a concept of metacognition. Good readers think about and monitor their reading using metacognitive techniques.

They could explain their reading intent and preview the text before beginning to read. 

3. Semantic and graphic organizers

Graphic organizers use diagrams or text to explain concepts and interactions between concepts.

Maps, webs, graphs, tables, frames, and clusters are all terms used to describe graphic organizers.

4. Responding to inquiries 

a. Questioning is useful because it allows you to:

b. Give students a reason to learn.

c. Concentrate students' attention on the material they are about to master.

d. Encourage students to think critically as they learn.

e. Encourage students to keep track of their understanding.

f. Assist students in reviewing material and making connections between what they've learned and what they already know.

The Question-Answer Relationship (QAR) approach helps students to improve their question-answering skills. 

Creating inquiries

Students become conscious of whether they can answer the questions and whether they understand what they are reading by creating questions. Students learn to pose questions to themselves that enable them to combine knowledge from various text fragments.

Understanding the structure of a narrative

Students learn to recognize the different types of material in story structure lessons (characters, setting, events, problem, and resolution). Students also learn to identify story structure by using story charts. 

Concluding

Students must decide what is relevant about what they are reading and put it into their own terms while summarising. Students benefit from summarising instruction in the following ways:

1. Identify or come up with key ideas.

2. Join the key or core concepts together.

3. Remove all non-essential data.

4. Keep in mind what they learn.

Instruction on effective comprehension strategies is clear

Direct explanation

The instructor discusses why the technique aids understanding and when it should be used on students.

Modeling

The instructor "thinks aloud" when reading the text that the students are using to model or explain how to use the technique.

Guided practice

As students learn how to use the technique and when to use it, the teacher directs and supports them.

Application

The instructor assists students in practicing the technique before they are able to do so on their own.

Conclusion

Text comprehension is evaluated both in real-time as it occurs and by looking at indices of the mental representation of the text that emerges from comprehension.