Why don't students understand what they read?Is it a problem with vocabulay?

Answer 1

It is not a vocabulary problem... it is a processing problem. Many children can read words, but not process the meaning of the words. This is called comprehension, and it is separate from reading ability. They may understand the words, as individual words (vocabulary), but they may not understand the words when they are grouped together in sentences. Reading and comprehension are two separate skills.

Answer 2

It can be several things. It may be a processing issue (the way the brain thinks about what is read), it could be an issue with interacting with the material or vocabulary can be an issue.

If the problem is processing, there are places that a parent take their child to overcome this problem (such as Sylvan educational services.

Most who comprehend what they read were either taught active reading or active reading is something that they did on their own. Active reading is interacting with the text. An example of active reading is SQ3R (Scan, Question, Read, Recite and Review). I reteach this skill (I teach 9th grade English) at the beginning of the school year in order to help my struggling readers.

Finally, a limited vocabulary could be an issue. The only way to overcome a limited vocabulary is to work on learning more vocabulary. This can be done by focusing on context clues (hints within the text that give the reader some idea of what the word may mean). If context clues are not helping then the reader simply needs to have a dictionary handy and look up the words that are foreign to them. It is time consuming at first, but as the reader's vocabulary grows, the need to look up words will be less and less.

Answer 3

I think the problem lies in how we are taught to read. Our emphasis is on the meaning of the words and how they make a sentence. Vocabulary is a stumbling block for some, but I think the lesser recognized problem of higher comprehension is the real culprit. Most students can read. They know what the words mean. They simply cannot infer a meaning the author was going for. They cannot take it as a whole. They are taught to read til you hit a period. Then read the next one till you hit a period again. Pause at commas, but not for long. They don't take the time to actually think about what it is they are reading. They 'see', more than 'read'. I think this is why they can't retain or understand what they read.

Answer 4

Maybe they don't understand the meaning of some words. A big problem I found was that children - and even adults- may find it to too embarrassing to ask what a word means and, moreover; they feel even more embarrass to ask in front of people they know. Anyone who is teaching should make it all part of the lesson to explain the meaning of words further or whatever it is that might need clarifying. Friends also, during conversations with friends, should try to indiscreetly explain something that they have said or read out, it is a polite thing to do and a nice etiquette to have to help friends.

Answer 5

Vocabulary could be a huge problem in their reading.

Some students may decode the words alright but are not picturing the story or sequence in their head. Think about it. When you read, you see it. If someone says "dog" you automatically picture a "dog". The dog you visualize may be a dalmatian. I may visualize a pit bull. Any which way, we both understand the meaning of "dog" because we have paired it with a picture in our minds. This goes with anything thing we read. The passage could be explaining how AIDS progress. You will picture the process in your head before you are able to understand and retain the information.

Answer 6

It's all about comprehension. Rereading is generally helpful for students to pick up on meanings that they didn't the first time. How old are the students you're referring to? Remember that if they're young, getting through the story is half the battle. Comprehending it is a whole other ballgame.

Answer 7

It isn't a simple answer. Reading is a very complicated processw and many of the late 20th century teaching ideas wanted school to be fun and little things like reading and math fell by the wayside. I hope the US gets back on track, because many countries copy what the US does.

Answer 8

i agree with ananke402. as i was growing up, i had a hard time with comprehension. i was able to read words fine, but had a hard time connecting the words for understanding. to prove this point, i used to pass all of my spelling tests which included definitions with 100%. hence, it wasn't a vocabulary problem in my case.

rereading passages 2 or 3 times and doing it slowly to gain understanding, helped me the most.

Answer 9

well, if the students arent familiar with some of the words in the text, it might be useful to define them. reading aloud is the best way to understand. this can be easily done in a classroom. once the students can master the material by reading aloud, then they can read on their own.

Answer 10

Lack of knowledge of reading skills or application of reading skills daily. Try using comic books or strips, to decode meanings. Students need knowledge of inference of context, word structure, and main idea to decode meanings. The reading should be high interest, or you could lose them.
It's probably because the selections in most reading texts are so boring, it makes them lose interest. I don't blame them.