Learning how to read and comprehension of what you read are two different skills you need to develop to prepare for college level courses. Reading involves the ability to sound out words and learn their correct spellings, proper usage, and sentence structures. Reading comprehension is the ability to understand the written text and define the meanings of the words, while gaining insight as to the author’s writing style and instructional methods.
By improving reading comprehension skills you are setting yourself up for academic success as many college courses contain a high emphasis on utilizing text books to gain further knowledge for the specified class.
Tips for Improving Reading Comprehension
- Pre-Read the Text – Take the time to read chapter titles, subtitles, the introductory paragraph at the beginning of the chapter, the first sentence of subsequent paragraphs, and the last paragraph of the chapter. By pre-reading the text in this manner, it will give you a better idea of the concepts to be learned.
- Review Important Concepts – Most student texts have key learning objectives for each chapter, as well as questions at the end of each section. Take the time to read these after completing your initial pre-reading.
- Read the Text and Take Notes – As you read through the entire section, take notes and write down any words you do not understand. After reading, review your notes and look up the meanings to the unknown words.
- Post-Reading – Read over each learning objective and question in the chapter, and verify you are able to answer these. If you are unable to fully comprehend specific areas, this will help you to realize what sections still require further review.
Most importantly, remember it takes time to fully develop reading comprehension skills, and requires continued patience and practice. For assistance in developing reading comprehension there are English programs for international students available from Computer System Institute. Call 1-847-967-5030 now to learn more about our ESL programs.
