English reading comprehension is a combination of observation and understanding. You need to be able to see the meaning of what is being said. To accomplish this, you need to have a good understanding of how the English language works. In order to do well in reading English, you need to pay attention to the way words are used. Reading comprehension therefore refers to how far you understand of what you have read. Even if you read an English text every day, it does not assist your comprehension too much unless you know what exactly the words on the next page are intended to mean.
So you might be wondering how you can improve English reading comprehension beyond just reading more texts. First, you need to note down the dictionary definition of each word you encounter in the text. Then, make a note of the English meanings of these words. You should then compare and contrast these notes with the dictionary definitions that you have made.
One effective technique that I used as a teacher ended up giving me a list of words every time I gave a lecture. This was done by using selective note taking. For example, at one point during the lecture, I asked students to write down the dictionary definition of each word they had heard us use. After we finished listening to the lecture, I would go over my student’s lists with them and explain why the meaning of the word was important or not. This enabled me to highlight certain words that were quite important to me. As a result, I made a note of these words in my notebook.
Another technique I used was to ask my students to read short extracts from selected poems or short stories. I would then highlight the main ideas in these extracts. In many ways, this helped me to encourage my readers to read more. In the process, I also gained valuable feedback from my students. Many of them expressed surprise at my highlighting the main ideas in a poem or story. Others just noticed that their comprehension of the content had improved.
A few weeks later, I put together two sets of dictionary lists. For myself, I chose three students who read the same texts regularly. I then selected two sets of dictionary lists for these three students. In one set, I labeled the most important words. In the other set, I labeled the less important words.
After class, I asked the three students to read the same texts from the dictionary and then asked them to write down their opinions. The responses to this test were surprisingly varied. Some students wrote down the word without trying to understand its meaning. Others correctly searched the word in the dictionary and understood its meaning.
In a few more classes, I conducted a similar test. I asked my students to read the same story out loud. I told them not to translate it into their dictionary; rather, they should try to understand its different meanings. Surprisingly, only one of the three students mentioned the same word. This one student clearly remembered the meaning of the word, even though he failed the selection test. It’s interesting that people with selective use of vocabulary tend to remember only the known meanings while forgetting the unknown ones.
So there you have it. You can start your own experiment on how to use language readers in your own language learning experiments. Just remember to provide sufficient cues for your language readers to understand the text. Happy reading!