Literacy and Numeracy News

THE SCIENCE OF READING & LANGUAGE COMPREHENSION

BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE

The ability to read proficiently is fundamental to a student’s success at school and in later life. The science of reading provides the strongest evidence about how young children learn to read. Proficient reading is the interplay of three main components: word recognition, cognitive-regulation processes, and language comprehension. These components work together to foster reading comprehension. 

Background knowledge is the information and experiences an individual collects over time. It's everything we know about the world — history, culture, science, personal experiences, and more. When we discuss background knowledge in terms of the Science of Reading, it is also important that we discuss something called schema. Schema is the mental framework a reader uses to organise their background knowledge in a way that is accessible to understand new information and texts. When readers encounter text, their schema is activated, providing context, relevance, and connections that give meaning to the words on the page. The development of background knowledge is not limited to childhood but continues to grow and evolve over a lifetime — each experience adding to a reader’s ability to navigate text, draw upon their existing knowledge to deepen comprehension, visualise scenarios, and make inferences.

To support our students to develop their background knowledge. Imagine a student is reading a nonfiction article detailing the challenges climbers face while attempting to summit Mount Everest. The text discusses altitude sickness, extreme weather conditions and technical climbing strategies. Before we start reading with them, investigate the topics of extreme weather conditions, by watching videos, looking at pictures, and talking to people that may have experienced similar conditions, this will help build an awareness and understanding of the topics that will be encountered in text. This will support our students to comprehend the text. 

Children largely benefit from regular time to engage in discussions about complex texts and topics, as they deepen their knowledge and comprehension. Talking about texts can help readers make connections between new and existing knowledge, and discussing open-ended questions before, during, and after reading can help readers think through and remember the themes of a text. When topics arise in daily life through the news or everyday events, your child would benefit from building their awareness of topics outside of their current knowledge.