Comprehension is the understanding and interpretation of what is read. Comprehend means to understand and comprehension is the act of understanding. Reading comprehension is the ability or power to process text, understand its meaning, its theme and the writer’s point of view integrating with what the reader already knows.
Basic skills required in efficient reading include:
Ability to understand the meaning of a word from the context of the text.
Ability to follow the order of passage
Ability to identify past history of a person or persons or references in the text
Ability to draw inferences (conclusions) from a passage about its contents
Ability to identify the main thought of a passage
Ability to identify literary devices or complex structures used in a passage and determine its tone to understand the situational mood conveyed for assertion, command, question, refraining, or negation.
Ability to determine the writer’s purpose, intention, and point of view.
Comprehension Strategies
Activating and using background knowledge
Generating or asking questions
Inferences (conclusions)
Summarizing
Predicting (foretelling)
Visualizing (picturing mentally)
Monitoring
Improving vocabulary, critical text analysis, and practicing deep reading are helpful to improve reading comprehension.
Proficient reading depends on the ability to recognize words without effort. It is determined by an individual’s perceptive development.
Supportive Vocabulary for Comprehension and Reading
A drawn battle: A battle in which neither party gains victory
Aristocracy: Government by the nobles
Autocracy: Government by one person
Atheist: One who does not believe in God.
Autobiography: The life story of a man written by himself.
Anarchy: The absence or failure of the government in a country
Adolescent: Between boyhood and youth
Oxonian: Graduate of the University of Oxford
Abdication: Giving up(office or dignity)
Anachronism: Errors in chronology
Amputated: Handicapped
Ambidextrous: The person who can use both hands with equal facility.
Alimony: Allowance paid by the husband to his wife on legal separation.
Aquarium: A tank in which fish are kept
Agrarian: Pertaining to agriculture
Ajar: A door that is partly open
Antiquarian: Connected with the study of antiquities
Abortive: Unsuccessful effort
Agoraphobia: Morbid fear of open places
Amateur: One who follows a pursuit without a professional purpose.
Ambiguous: Doubtful and uncertain
Amnesia: Loss of memory due to brain injury
Amnesty: Act of the sovereign power of granting a general pardon for a past offense
Amphibious: The animal of both land and water
Auditorium: A room used for lectures
Autonomous: Self-governing in administration
Aviary: A place of keeping birds confined
Antecedent: Previous principles, conduct, history
Alimental: Supplying food
Bankrupt: One who fails in business.
Bachelor: An unmarried person
Bigamy: Having two wives
Bureaucracy: A system of government by officials
Bibliophile: A lover of books
Brunette: A woman of brown hair and skin
Biennial: After every two years
Bilingual: ln two languages
Biography: the life history of a person written by someone else
Biped: Having two legs
Blasphemy: Profane speaking
Bulletin: Short official statement
Biparous: Bearing two at a birth
cosmopolitan: Free from national prejudice
Convalescent: A person who is gradually recovering health
Cannibal: An eater of flesh of his own species
Capitalist: One who derives income from invested capital.
Carnivorous: Flesh-eating
Catalog: A list of books
Circumlocution: Roundabout and evasive speech
Claustrophobia: Morbid dread of closed places
Culpable: Criminal; deserving of blame
Coquette: A vain and flirtatious woman
Contemporary: Belonging to the same period
Conservative: Moderately estimated; Understated
Contagious: That which spreads through physical contact.
Covenant: Mutual agreement
Fastidious: One who is difficult to please.
Furlough: Leave of absence
Fatuous: Feeble in mind
Gesticulate: Use movements of hands and arms to express ideas or feelings
Genocide: Extermination of race
Granary: A room where grain is stored.
Galaxy: Collection of stars
Gluttony: Overeating
Graminivorous: Grass eating
Gynaecoracy: Government by women or a woman
Gymnasium: A place where athletic exercises.
Gregarious: Fond of company
Hirelings: One who serves for hire
Hermaphrodite: Having the characters of both sexes
Hemisphere: Half sphere of the earth
Herbivorous: Eating or living on herliacious
Horoscope: An observation of the heavens birth
Diction: Selection of words
Dictionary: A book dealing with the words of language
Diagnosis: Identification of an illness
Docile: Easily controlled or managed
Equivocal: Having two or more significations; ambiguous
Epicure: A person of refined and fastidious taste especially in the luxuries of the table
Extempore: A speech delivered on the spur of the moment
Export: Articles sent out from one country to another
Equilibrium: Balance
Emergency: An unexpected occurrence or situation demanding immediate action
Eyre: Mobile court
Entourage: Attendants
Feminist: A man interested in the welfare of women
Fatalist: One who believes fate blindly
Connoisseur: One who has the knowledge, and expert critic of art and music
Census: Numbering population with various statistics
Cremation: Burning of a dead body
Crematory: Furnace for burning dead bodies
Crematorium: Place of burning dead bodies
Democracy: A form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people collectively
Diplomacy: The art of negotiation, especially of treaties between states; Political skill
Domant: In a state of inaction
Digression: Turning aside from the main theme
Defunct: Having finished the course of life
Demagogue: A political orator who appeals to the passions and prejudices of the people
Domicile: A place of residence
Dotage: Excessive fondness
Deism: Belief without accepting revelation
Mammals: The whole class of animals that suckle their young ones.
Nudist: One who likes wearing no clothes.
Nepotism: favor to relatives
Neologism: A new word, phrase, or doctrine
Nostalgia: Homesickness as disease
Neophyte: A new convert
Nursery: A place for nursing
Nom-de-guerr:Pen name
Nomenclature: A system of naming scientific terminology
Octogenarian: Eighty years old person
Omnipresent: One who is present everywhere
Oligarchy: Government by the few
Octagon: A figure with eight sides
Optimist: One sees bright sides of things
Omnipotent: One who is all-powerful
Obsolete: No longer in use
Omniscient look tomorrow or
Jurisdiction: legal authority
Junction: Place of meeting
Knick knacks: light decorating articles
Kindergarten:kids house
Mortuary: A place for keeping dead bodies
Motin: Morning prayer in a church
Monogamy: Having one wife
Misogynist: One who is a hater of women
Misanthrope: A hater of mankind
Matrimony: A State of being married
Mobocracy: Rule of mob
Misology: Hatred of logic and reason
Matricide: the murder of one’s own mother
Matinee: Morning shows of films
Manuscript: A book or document written by hand
Moratorium: security for debt
Makeshift: Something used until something better can be obtained
Homosexual: One having a sexual attraction for persons of one’s own sex
Invisible: that cannot be seen
Illegible: that cannot be read
Illiterate: Uneducated
Infectious: Having the quality of infecting
Infanticide: the murderer of an infant
Intermediary: Acting between others; meditator
Insolvent:bankrupt
Interim:temporary
Impotent: wanting in sexual power
imbroglio: a confused mass
Illegitimate: illegal; bastard
Imminent: near at hand
Incognito: In disguise
Incongruous: not in harmony; out of place
Impasse: deadlock
Juvenilia: immature works produced in the author’s youth
Omnivorous: feeding on everything
Output: total production
Quadruped: a four-footed animal
Remuneration: pay for services rendered
Regicide: the killing of the king or queen
Renaissance: revival of arts and letters; a new birth or revival
Recension: a critical revision of the text
Revulsion: a sudden change or reversal
Pessimist: One who looks too much on the dark side of things
Philogynist: lover of womankind
Polyandry: having more than one husband at a time
Polygamy: having more than one wife at a time
Posthumous: occurring after one’s death
Proletariate: wage-earning class
Pseudonym: a fictitious name assumed by an author
purgatory: a place of temporary suffering
Sinecure: office of profit without any duties
Soliloquy: self-talking
Somnambulist: One who walks in sleep
Somniloquist: One who talks in sleep
Teetotaller: complete abstainer from wine and other intoxicants
Theocracy: Government by priests
Theomania: Insane belief that one is God
Utopia: An imaginary and ideal state which is perfect
Uxorious: Excessively fond of one’s wife
Vegetarian: One who feeds on vegetables only
Verbatim: word for word
Versatile: capable of dealing with many subjects
Pseudonym: a fictitious name assumed by an author
Purgatory: a place of temporary suffering
Sinecure: office of profit without any duties
Soliloquy: self-talking; monologue
Samnabulist: One who walks in sleep.
Somniloquist: One who talks in sleep
Teetotaller: complete abstainer from wine and other intoxicants
Theocracy: Government by priests
Theomania: Insane belief that one is God.
Omnivorous: feeding on everything
Output: total production
Quadruped: a four-footed animal
Remuneration: pay for services rendered
Regicide: the killing of a king or queen
Renaissance: revival of arts and letters; rebirth
Recension: a critical revision of the text
Revulsion: a sudden change
Pessimist: One who looks too much on the dark side of things
Philogynist: lover of womankind
polyandry: having more than one husband at a time
Polygamy: having more than one wife at a time
Proletariat: wage-earning class
Reading The Text
TAPE:
When we read the text, there is a number of questions we need to ask. These are:
Type of text……T
Aim of text…….A
Purpose of text……..P
Effect of text…….E
T for type, A for aim, P for purpose, E for Effect….(TAPE)
Text Type
The term text type is used to describe different kinds of non-fiction text.
These are:
Recount(retelling experience or event)
Information
Explanation
Persuasion(having incentive)
Argument(In which a writer attempts to convince readers to understand and support their point of view with logic and reason.)
Genre
The term genre is used for the classification of different types of fiction, such as science fiction and romance. Each genre has its own set of traditions in terms of plot, character, setting, and language.
Four main categories depending on the purposes of the writer.
to imagine, explore, entertain
to inform, explain, describe
to persuade, argue, advise
to analyze, review, comment
These categories are useful when the reader reads the text the first time.
They help the reader focus on the writer’s intentions.
Effect
The effect may be emotional making the reader angry or rational making the reader better informed.
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