Understanding Reading Comprehension

Reading comprehension is a vital part of literacy that all primary school teachers need to understand.

Drawing from educational and psychological research, this book offers a detailed analysis of how reading comprehension happens combined with practical teaching strategies for the classroom.

This heavily revised second edition explores the underlying linguistic and cognitive processes that support comprehension, from inference making to the role of metacognition. It builds on this procedural knowledge to examine text selection, classroom pedagogy and how to assess comprehension.

This is essential reading for primary English modules on initial teacher education courses, including university-based (PGCE, BA w/QTS, BEd) and school-based (SCITT, Teach First) routes into teaching, and also for current teachers wishing to further develop their knowledge.

Wayne Tennent is a Senior Lecturer in Education at Brunel University of London. His co-authored book Guiding Readers – Layers of Meaning was published in 2016 and won the United Kingdom Literacy Association (UKLA) academic book of the year award. He is a Brunel Global Citizen Award Winner, as nominated by the students, for his work in promoting a critical awareness of ‘race’ and gender in texts used for teaching.
He works with schools, both nationally and internationally, developing pedagogical practices to support teaching for reading comprehension. Previously, he taught for many years, mainly in London, but also in Greece, Brunei and New Zealand. He continues to work with children on a regular basis.