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Reading Comprehension
Reading comprehension is the ability to understand, interpret, and analyze texts. It involves extracting meaning from written words and integrating it with prior knowledge, making connections, and drawing inferences.
Importance for Literacy Development:
Comprehension is the ultimate goal of reading. It enables children to gain information, learn new concepts, and enjoy reading. Strong comprehension skills are critical for academic success across all subjects.
Children with comprehension difficulties may struggle to understand and remember what they read, affecting their academic performance and motivation to read. They may have trouble answering questions about the text or summarizing the main points.
Direct and Indirect Effect Model of Reading (DIER)
The DIER model explains that reading comprehension is influenced both directly and indirectly by several factors. Directly, fluency and decoding skills impact the ability to understand text. Indirectly, factors such as vocabulary knowledge, background knowledge, and engagement with reading contribute to comprehension. By improving both direct skills (like decoding and fluency) and indirect factors (like vocabulary and reading engagement), the Orton-Gillingham approach aligns with the DIER model to enhance overall reading comprehension.
Orton-Gillingham Approach
The Orton-Gillingham approach enhances comprehension through explicit teaching of comprehension strategies, such as predicting, questioning, summarizing, and visualizing. Research by Duke and Pearson (2002) highlights the effectiveness of teaching comprehension strategies. Their study demonstrates that explicit instruction in comprehension strategies significantly improves students’ ability to understand and analyze texts.
Research Reference
Duke, N.K., & Pearson, P.D. (2002). “Effective practices for developing reading comprehension.” Journal of Education, 189(1/2), 107-122.
Kim, Y.-S.G. (2017). “Direct and Indirect Effects of Literacy Skills on Reading Comprehension: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach.” Journal of Educational Psychology, 109(3), 304-320.
