Wednesday, September 13, 2017

Reading Comprehension is a Big Problem in the United States

I get pretty amazed at people sometimes. They can do some awesome things! They can do some pretty silly things too. That gets me amazed at them going both ways on the amazement scale.

One thing that amazes me is when people read and interpret what they read. One person can read something and get one meaning, while someone else can read the exact same words and get an entirely different meaning. I wager that even now there are people who are getting totally different meanings from what I am writing right this very minute. That is even while I sit here and think what I am writing is pretty easy to understand.

The writer produces a piece while thinking a thought. The writer knows what they are attempting to convey with the written word. The writer has a responsibility to write their thoughts in a way that can be understood. The reader also has a responsibility when reading to try to comprehend what is being conveyed by the writer.

All too often though I see people take things out of context, put things in that are not even there or fail to understand the writer's meaning. I am beginning to believe that a lot of people need to develop their reading comprehension skills. It is very important to understand the meaning of a text if one wants to have a conversation about the merits of the text, or idea being conveyed. Otherwise we may as well go outside and howl at the moon. At least everyone can understand that.

Reading comprehension is the ability to read text, process it, and understand its meaning. The definition of comprehension refers to your ability to understand something, or your actual understanding of something. An example of comprehension is how well you understand a difficult math problem.

I think one of the things that get in the way of comprehension is the internal voice. You know the little voice in your head. The conversation you have with yourself almost constantly. You probably having the conversation in your head as you read this. How can anyone understand anything if they are being distracted by the little voice.

You should try an experiment. Pick up a book and start reading it. At the same time, have a person stand behind you and read aloud the news paper. I think anyone would have a real hard time remembering or comprehending anything about what they are reading unless they are a master at shutting everything out. That is what it is like when you read and that little voice is going over the script.

I chose the word script because that is what the vast majority of the people have. They have a script of things going through their mind that seldom changes. Most people think the same thoughts every day. Most people have built up a script of thoughts they use to understand the world. When someone utters a sentence, or when someone reads a sentence, the listener or reader is attempting to match up what is being conveyed with the script in their head. When it doesn't match up with the script, the comprehension starts to suffer. The little voice starts running through the script.

I've done it myself, and battle it all the time. I can be reading something and thinking about something else at the same time. I have to backtrack and reread sometimes because of it. That little voice in my head will be going on about something, and sometimes something unrelated, while my eyes are scanning the words of text. Focus is key. I have to focus and not allow myself to become distracted by the little voice. The script.

Take an article I wrote the other day. I tried to explain why a person is wrong about something. The title said so. I think the title is the place that some people allowed the little voice to take over. That beginning was where the script started being played out in the reader's head. They read "They are Wrong" while the little voice played out the script of "They are Right". I think from that point on the script was running. Instead of reading and attempting to comprehend or understand the writer's meaning, they instead while reading were going through the script in their head telling them why everything they read was wrong.

The problem come in with the person standing behind you reading the newspaper aloud while you try to read a book. Your eyes are scanning the words, but your mind is not focused on them. Your mind focuses on only a few hot button words. Then your little voice with the script fills in the blanks created by distraction with misunderstanding. When people have a lack of information, they fill in the blanks with their imagination. When people are only getting pieces of an article because they are being distracted by the voice going through the script, they have a lack of information.

That's why I believe people can read the exact same words, but walk away with two completely different meanings. In the Christian Bible there is a passage that might be of use here.

Jeremiah 15:16 "When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy ..."

That is what we need to do every time we read. Not necessarily the "joy" part, but the "I ate them" part. That means paying attention to what we are reading. Shutting down the script and quiet the little voice. Focus on what you're reading so you can understand the author's meaning. Then after you have finished reading the thought, you can do your critique from a position of understanding.

Reading is truly fundamental, but without comprehension it is an exercise in futility. Without comprehension we may as well howl at the moon.

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