Reading Comprehension

Here are six essential skills needed for reading comprehension, with practical tips to improve each one.

Decoding

Decoding is the ability to translate printed words into sounds and recognise word forms. It depends on phonemic awareness and mapping sounds to letters. Strong decoding frees cognitive resources for comprehension.

Fluency

Fluency is reading smoothly, accurately and at an appropriate speed. Fluent readers recognise common words automatically, which lets them focus on meaning rather than on sounding out every word.

Vocabulary

Understanding most words in a passage is essential. A broad vocabulary—built from reading, conversation and explicit study—directly improves comprehension.

Sentence Construction and Cohesion

Sentence-level skills and knowledge of discourse markers (however, therefore, meanwhile) help readers connect ideas. Background knowledge also lets readers infer meaning when details are implicit.

Example: Knowing about the Great Depression helps a reader understand a story set in the 1930s.

Reasoning and Conclusion

Good comprehension requires reasoning—drawing inferences, identifying the author's purpose and making logical conclusions based on textual evidence.

Working Memory and Attention

Attention helps readers take in information; working memory allows them to hold ideas while integrating new information. Both are required to follow complex arguments and long passages.