Chapter 11 - The Counterparts of Written Expression: Comprehension, Vocabulary Memory, Word Retrieval, and Dysnomia

Summary

Introduction

From upper elementary school through middle and secondary school, deficits in comprehension and vocabulary impede students’ progress more than in lower elementary school. Students with deficits in these areas cannot keep up with the volume of information. Comprehension and vocabulary are basic building blocks for understanding the English language. Teachers have little time to improve these skills and the content to be taught. Verbal expression and memory deficits exacerbate the problems. It is difficult to speak and/or write about these abilities independently because they are intricately intertwined. One cannot speak of meaningful writing without acknowledging that vocabulary and memory for facts and incidentals are pertinent to thought processes involved with writing.

Comprehension and vocabulary go together in a combined fashion for these students. Research emphasizes the powerful, lasting effects of vocabulary knowledge on reading comprehension (Cunningham & Stanovich 1997). Reading fluency will not get a student anywhere if word meaning is unknown. Comprehension depends on an accurate understanding of word meanings and the ability to infer meaning from unknown words (Roberts et al. 2008).

Other abilities are involved with written expression such as spelling, punctuation, and grammar, that impact writing and are treated in other chapters. The Language Experience Approach (LEA) is foundational to the student's instruction, assessment, and growth in these areas. It is a culminating activity for assessment and an instructional activity as these abilities are developed.

Comprehension

Some students may have slight, central auditory processing problems and were unsuccessful in a phonic-based program. Comorbid sensory integration problems or other deficit may hinder success in learning to read. Students who are not experiencing failure in other classes, may not be noticed or chosen for evaluation. Other reasons that students may not succeed in reading are emotional distress, moving often, or other events.

Multiple exposure/multiple context strategy

Little research is available on low-level readers for comprehension development. Most literature addresses strengthening comprehension for grade-level readers who are not strong in comprehension. Two older studies investigated the multiple exposure/ multiple context (ME/MC) strategy (McCormick 1994).