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The Role of the Teacher & Student in the Process of Comprehension Writer- Makeda McKenzie July 22, 2018.

The reader is the single most important component of the comprehension process. It is perceived that the reader construct meaning by interacting with the text, by utilizing prior knowledge and previous experiences as well as information in the text and the stance the readers take in relation to the text. Each reader is unique and as such, each reader will possess different personal experience, belief and schema and hence, readers understanding of a specific text will differ. Vast and extensive knowledge greatly assist readers in the process of comprehension as readers are more like to utilize their schema to make connections with the content of the text and ultimately understand the essence of the text. Concomitantly, readers vary in skills, knowledge, cognitive development/ ability, culture, and purpose they bring to a specific text. Thus, if a reader lacks basic language skills such as decoding words, higher level thinking skills and comprehending, then, understanding the intended purpose of a text will be challenging.

Teachers of comprehension play an integral role in guiding and assisting students in the process of understanding texts. The teacher has a responsibility to first accept that all reader is unique, then seek to identify these differences (strengths and weaknesses) in students and finally tailor the teaching experiences to compliment or combat the diversities in students. Furthermore, the teacher is tasked with fostering and developing specific language skills that are crucial to the comprehension process, such as, teaching decoding skills and assisting students in building fluency. It is also paramount for the teachers to build and activate prior knowledge by using past experiences and background information pertinent to specific texts to create new meaning. The use of visual and graphic organizers also help students to not only acknowledge new concepts but to also understand how previously known concepts are related and connected to new ones. It is also important for teachers to teach vocabulary words. Words should that are unfamiliar to readers should be highlighted, pronounced and defined before attempting to understand a text. Individual reader issues are inevitable and uncontrollable by the teacher. However, the teacher is able to extrinsically motivate readers in the process of comprehension by making available, interesting texts, allowing students to select texts they are interested in and assisting students to set authentic purposes for reading. The teacher should also seek to engage students in personal responses to text. In light of this, the students should be encouraged to read for entertainment and enjoyment as well as for information.

The intended purpose of the author is quite important in the understanding of a text. As such, text structure should not be overlooked in the process of comprehension. It is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure that readers understand that the text structure plays an integral part in the comprehension of reading materials. Authors write for different reasons, such as to persuade, to inform or to entertain. Specific and unique elements of text structure should be taught to readers, so that they may be able to identify and differentiate between different text structures.

The process of comprehension takes place between a reader and the text within a socio-cultural context. Teachers should aim to use multiple comprehension strategy approaches, scaffolding and making reading and writing connections visible to students.

Consequently, word meaning, ability to understand the meaning of words from discourse context, the reader, the text and schema are some of the fundamental aspects of efficient reading comprehension. The reader has a responsibility to create an authentic purpose for reading and understanding a text, the reader should also aim to use information from the text as well as prior knowledge and experiences to make meaningful connections. The teacher should attempt to utilize strategies and approaches to assist diverse readers and readers issues. Additionally, the teacher should also select topics that may be of interest to readers as well as to scaffold readers through the process of comprehension.