Published: Alternative Dispute Resolution Options for Commercial Disputes

I published " Alternative Dispute Resolution Options for Commercial Disputes" on Wordpress

Published: A Look at Construction Contracts

I published " A Look at Construction Contracts" on Wordpress

A Look at Reading Comprehension

 Reading comprehension is one of eight reading skills. The others are decoding, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, sentence construction and cohesion, reasoning and background knowledge, and working memory and attention. Reading comprehension is the ability to read a text, process its information, and understand its intended meaning.

Comprehending a piece of text is not just about remembering the exact words and phrases. It is about forming meaning and making sense of the text by creating mental models of what the words and phrases describe. It is likened to playing a film in one’s mind.

Comprehension is important if reading is to have a purpose. It determines how engaged the reader will be with the text, if they will learn, and whether they will enjoy the experience.

Effective comprehension involves five areas. They are making meaning of the text, drawing connections, fluency, vocabulary, and summarizing.

To begin, understanding a text’s meaning involves deciphering what the text is telling the reader. The reader determines the text’s key message by identifying actions, ideas, lessons, and themes that are more important than the rest. In some cases, the reader must infer meaning and understand the text using their background knowledge. This helps them interpret meaning, make predictions, and draw conclusions.

A reader can enhance their comprehension by reading actively, asking questions, taking notes, and looking up the meaning of unfamiliar words. Additionally, background information, titles, and subtitles can assist in comprehending meaning.

Drawing connections involves establishing relationships between two or more elements to enhance one’s understanding of different concepts. A common way to draw connections is by relating the text to one’s experiences and happenings in the real world. A reader can draw on their experience and see whether it helps them make sense of the text.

Fluency is a measure of how quickly a reader can consume text and whether they have made any errors. One becomes fluent when they achieve a certain reading rate. This is often possible if the individual improves their attention and concentration when reading. A reader’s pace increases the more they read.

Some strategies a reader can use to increase their reading rate include reading without placing time limits and skimming. Skimming requires the reader to only identify the main ideas. They don’t necessarily need to read every word, since they only want to get the principal ideas. Another strategy is reading out loud or listening while others read aloud.

Developing one’s vocabulary is also vital. When a word’s meaning is not clear, the reader should look it up in the dictionary. A good reader should also list, define, and practice using new words.

It’s also helpful to use contextual analysis to make sense of new terms. Contextual analysis assists readers in anticipating and confirming the definitions of unfamiliar words or familiar words used in unconventional or unfamiliar ways. To accomplish this, readers examine the surrounding words, sentences, and paragraphs within a given text to identify contextual cues.

The best way to build vocabulary is exposure to new terms. A reader should challenge herself and be intentional in learning new words. They should also practice using these new terms. With time, they will find they are using the terms naturally when the need arises.

Summarizing allows one to retell a story in an article, book, essay, or other piece of text in a few sentences without referring to the original text. It involves identifying major and minor points in a text and establishing which ones are more important than the others.

Additionally, synthesizing is an important summarizing skill. It involves forming meaning by pulling a text’s different parts together. For example, one can develop a story’s central theme by examining the characters, conflicts, figurative language, and symbols.

Published: Key Remedies for Breach of Contract Disputes

I published " Key Remedies for Breach of Contract Disputes" on Wordpress