Hurdles in reading comprehension among students

LEARNING to read is one of the most important skills acquired during a lifetime. With the ability to speak effectively and to write in a variety of forms and for a variety of purposes, reading competency can provide economic opportunity, social status, personal pleasure, and self-respect.

Reading consists of t wo major components: recognizing and analyzing words, often referred to as decoding; and understanding words and ideas, often called comprehension. Thus, reading is a combination of being able to recognize or analyze words almost instantly and to understand what these words mean when they are strung together in a sentence, paragraph, or a longer passage.

To address the hurdles in the reading competency of my students, I usually use the Spontaneous Reading Approach ( SRA), which characterizes sequentially organized according to levels of cognitive development. On the other hand, the spontaneous reading approach is highly dependent on the premise that learning is closely related to interest and cognitive needs of the students.

Specifically, I utilize the Individual Reading (IR) which believes on the following major tenets; (a) students are encouraged to select reading materials that interest them; (b) they read at their own pace; (c) there is no set amount of reading required; students determine how much reading to do; (d) grouping is not static; rather, it is fluid; ( e) evaluation of reading ability is through prepared tests using materials chosen by the students ( f) oral reading is used to diagnose reading difficulties ( g) “real” texts are used e. g. newspapers, children’s books, school memos; and ( h) activities are varied e. g. personal journal, small-group discussion, show and tell, and story lead. As I have observed, student’s anxiety level is reduced when engaged into reading because they are given the freedom and time. The materials they read solely depend on their preferences. Moreover, individual reading is not a system of instruction in which each student works independently neither unsupervised recreational reading; but individual reading involves flexible grouping.

Reading teachers have to realize the reading hurdles students must clear to unfold meaning from the reading materials. Teachers have to creatively and enduringly assist students to clear the reading hurdles and eventually attain reading competency in the English language. (