Learning to read and learning to comprehend

This paper reviews recent experimental findings that inform our understanding of the development of reading comprehension. Studies investigating children who have specific difficulties with reading comprehension provide considerable information concerning the process involved in successful reading comprehension. This literature highlights aspects of reading comprehension skill that cannot be readily accommodated by the 'searchlights' model—the theoretical model framework adopted by the National Literacy Strategy. We conclude that comprehension depends on a very complex set of processes, many of which are shared with language comprehension more generally. Finally, implications for the teaching of reading comprehension are discussed.