Answer to Question #235918 in English for Xitshembiso

Question

Briefly discuss the difference between reading and reading for comprehension and then explain how a lack of reading comprehension contributes to the reading failure in south African primary schools. (4 marks)

Answer 1

Reading is the activity of trying to get meaning from written symbols. It is a perceptive skill via which human beings receive information. A person can read a piece of information for others to listen to. Reading can be done with less concentration. The reader must not read between the lines for understanding.

On the other part, reading for comprehension is a kind of reading whereby the reader purposes to understand what is read. Comprehension readers try to decode what they read. They also try to connect what they read and what they already know. In incomprehension reading, readers think deeply about what they read.

The reason why lack of comprehension reading contributes to the reading failure in South African primary schools is that students don’t understand what they read. The lack of understanding makes them unable to catch up with the upgraded step-by-step English growth curriculum hence the failure.