Reading Comprehension Is Integral To Academic Success

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Comprehension is integral to academic success. It involves more than reading words. According to Cain and Oakhill (2006), the lack of proficiency in reading comprehension influences the learning process. The National Reading Panel (2000a) (NRP) describes reading comprehension thus:
Comprehension is a complex process . . . often viewed as the essence of reading. ‘Reading comprehension is . . . intentional thinking during which meaning is constructed through interactions between text and reader. . . . The content of meaning is influenced by the text and by the reader’s prior knowledge and experience that are brought to bear on it. (pp. 4–5).
Similarly, Jennings, Caldwell, and Lerner (2010) posit that reading comprehension is vital to any reading …show more content…

Huitt, Monetti and Hummel (2009) support this notion and refuted that direct instructions are aligned with Skinner’s behavioral theory which establishes that constant reinforcement will result in replication of a behavior. There are two aspects to reading instruction strategies; teaching of a strategy by educators and use of strategy by students. Teachers must, therefore, teach students how to use metacognition and other comprehension strategies through the use of direct and explicit instruction that facilitates opportunities for demonstration, practice, and immediate feedback (Klinger, Urbach, Golos, Brownell, & Menon, …show more content…

The researcher stated that in 400 BC, Plato, a famous ancient Greek philosopher, coined the concept of “thinking about your own thinking.” Later, in 1690, John H. Locke, explored the concept of metacognition with children. The use of the term “metacognition” became popular in the 1970’s by the American psychologist, John H. Flavell (Chekwa et al., 2014). Chekwa et al. (2014) notes that Flavell investigated whether children were cognizant of understanding those components that govern retention and understanding. Findings provided substantial evidence indicating children possess the ability to reflect on their own cognitive processes. Following this research, Flavell defined metacognition as information and cognition about the cognitive