Comprehension skills and strategies are both vital for understanding text, but they differ significantly in their nature, application, and measurability. Here's a breakdown of the key distinctions:
Comprehension Strategies
Definition
Comprehension strategies are conscious actions that readers employ during the reading process. They are tools used in real-time to construct meaning from the text.
Characteristics
- Active: Strategies are purposeful and require active engagement.
- Real-Time: They are applied as you read, helping to understand the text at that moment.
- Implicit: Strategies are often internal, mental processes that are not always visible or easily articulated.
- Not Easily Measurable: Because they are internal processes, they are difficult to assess directly.
Examples of Comprehension Strategies
- Predicting: Thinking about what might happen next.
- Questioning: Asking yourself questions about the text as you read.
- Visualizing: Creating mental images of what you are reading.
- Monitoring: Checking your understanding and going back to reread if needed.
- Clarifying: Rephrasing or seeking definitions for confusing words or phrases.
- Summarizing: Briefly stating the main points in a paragraph or section.
Comprehension Skills
Definition
Comprehension skills are abilities that readers can use after reading to demonstrate their understanding of the text. These skills are usually assessed through questions or tasks.
Characteristics
- Passive: Skills are demonstrated through the answers provided.
- Post-Reading: They are applied after the reading is complete, typically to answer questions.
- Explicit: Skills are demonstrated by answering questions about the text.
- Measurable: They are assessable through various tests and tasks.
Examples of Comprehension Skills
- Identifying the main idea: Determining the central point of the text.
- Finding supporting details: Locating specific information that backs up the main idea.
- Making inferences: Drawing conclusions based on information that is not stated directly.
- Understanding vocabulary: Defining and using words within the text.
- Sequencing: Ordering the events that happened in a text.
- Comparing and contrasting: Finding similarities and differences within the text.
Summary Table
| Feature | Comprehension Strategies | Comprehension Skills |
|---|---|---|
| Timing | During Reading | After Reading |
| Purpose | Construct meaning in real-time | Demonstrate understanding |
| Nature | Active, conscious mental processes | Passive, abilities |
| Accessibility | Not easily visible or measurable | Easily assessed through questions |
Practical Insights and Solutions
- Teaching: Explicitly teach comprehension strategies to students, modeling how to use them effectively.
- Assessment: Focus on both skills and the strategies needed to develop them. Assess skills through comprehension questions and tasks and assess strategies by observing how students interact with texts during reading, or asking students to explain their thought process.
- Practice: Offer plenty of opportunities for guided and independent reading, allowing students to practice both skills and strategies.
- Reflection: Encourage students to reflect on the strategies that work best for them and how they can apply them to different types of texts.
In conclusion, while both are essential for reading comprehension, strategies are tools applied actively during reading to construct meaning, while skills are abilities used after reading to show understanding through responses. The reference states, “Strategies are consciously employed during reading to help construct meaning in real time; whereas Skills are abilities that can be used after reading to answer questions about the text. Strategies are not easily accessible or measurable; whereas Skills can be assessed.”
