Why Johnny can't understand what he reads

[caption id="attachment_9794" align="alignleft" width="294"] Family time with books can build comprehension[/caption]

Leanne Jenkins/ Carol Forsloff---With the recent news about the United States and the United Kingdom, two powerful and developed nations, falling further and further behind in math and reading of adolescents, many people wonder about those basic skills and why children are failing.  Reading is a basic skill, but many children struggle with it; and many give up.  How are reading problems manifested, what do we know about them and what else do we need to do to improve reading skills.

During the early grades, about 15 to 20 percent of beginning readers have poor word pronunciation or word decoding skills.  In the later grades of older readers, of those older than 10 years, many youth can pronounce the words but have trouble with comprehension.  That’s about three percent of school age children.

Research has shown that the systematic teaching of phonics and the alphabetic principle can significantly improve reading skills and reduce the risk of reading disability.  On the other hand, less research has been done about the other skills necessary for comprehension.  Much of it has to do with how the brain processes information during comprehension tasks.

But this is what we know already.  Reading comprehension is built upon existing skills a child has with language.  Decoding skills is only one area of focus.  The rest of reading comprehension skills are based upon a number of factors.  Indeed reading is a complex task that includes the following:

1.       The ability to decode the words

2.      A working memory long enough for information to be processed

3.      Adequate vocabulary, grammar and syntactical skills to organize and interpret messages

4.      Higher order thinking skills that allow the learner to process what is read, go beyond it and make inferences.

It turns out that the ability to use speech and language in a fashion that allows an individual to think, reason, interpret and anticipate are important in developing reading comprehension skills.  So the activities for young children can help promote those skills, as teachers and parents alike learn to ask questions that require children to reason and ask questions and recognize the why, what, and how elements of these questions and how this relates to reading. 

In other words, teaching the child to speak well and to understand what is being said at various levels can go a long way in promoting reading comprehension.  So those old-fashioned dinner table discussions families used to have can be valuable lessons in what works.  For as technology and television has replaced interpersonal interaction and inferential thinking, reading skills languish.  Technology may boost the speed of communication and the choices, but without the interchange between individuals, that communication does not promote the kind of skills necessary for good reading comprehension.