Reading comprehension is the ability to read process and understand its meaning. The ability of an individual to comprehend text is influenced by their skills and traits one of which is their ability to make inferences. If the recognition of words is difficult, students make use of most of their processing capacity to read the individual words which interfere with their ability to comprehend what they read. There are several approaches to improve reading comprehension which include improving one’s vocabulary and reading strategies.
Here are a few helpful Reading Comprehension Strategies for students appearing in Board Exams and also for various entrance exams
Reading the text includes good grasp, fluency and vocabulary in the English language.
Processing of text involves the prior knowledge of the topic and underlining important points and your ability to correlate with what you are reading. Finding out where the passage is coherent with your knowledge and making a note of the points where the passage conflicts with your knowledge.
Understanding the meaning involves decoding the passage, thinking about the message of the new text and what you need. It also includes the visualizing of the message conveyed and the ability to summarize the passage.
The reader should have an active mind while reading. He should know why he is reading the test and should have an idea of the text before reading the text. The reader should be able to correlate the ideas in the text with what he already knows.
There are four different types of questions
Right there: The questions are found right in the text and ask students to find the right answer located in one place as a word or a sentence in the passage.
Think and Search: These are the questions based on the facts directly visible in the text. The answers are available in more than one place in the text. The students need to “think and search” the entire passage to find out the relevant answer.
Author and you: These questions require the students to use their prior knowledge with what they have learned from reading the text. Student’s should understand the text and relate it to their prior knowledge before answering the question.
On your Own: Students answer these questions based on their prior knowledge and experience. These questions are difficult to answer by only reading and finding the answer in the text.