Reading is more than just sounding out words. It’s about transforming letters and sounds into meaning, ideas, and understanding. While strong decoding and phonics skills are essential, they’re only part of the equation. Without comprehension, reading is simply the sounding out of words.
The science of reading has rightly emphasized phonics and decoding, but language comprehension, sometimes called reading comprehension, must receive the same level of intentional, explicit instruction from the very beginning. This is why IMSE’s Structured Literacy approach integrates both from day one, ensuring that students build the skills to understand, connect, and think critically about what they read.
What Is Language Comprehension?
Language comprehension is the ability to understand and gain meaning from spoken or written language. It depends on interconnected skills, including:
- Oral language: Understanding and using spoken words and sentences
- Vocabulary: Knowing the meaning of words and how to use them in context
- Background knowledge: Applying prior knowledge to interpret new information
- Language structures: Understanding grammar, sentence complexity, and text organization
- Reasoning skills: Making inferences, drawing conclusions, and synthesizing ideas
When taught and reinforced together, these skills empower students to engage deeply with texts, connect ideas, and understand topics across subjects more clearly.
Why Comprehension Must Be Prioritized
In the early grades, decoding, which is the process of translating written letters into their corresponding spoken sounds, often dominates instructional time. Though students’ cognitive load is occupied with pulling the words off the page in the early grades, the ability to understand and learn from what’s written is the ultimate goal of reading.
Students need early instruction in speaking and listening skills to build strong oral language. This foundation supports language comprehension, vocabulary, and background knowledge, which are essential for understanding increasingly complex texts—especially the precise, academic language used in science, history, and math.
Allison Slone, Ed.D., a Curriculum Designer for IMSE, has dedicated her career to helping teachers close language comprehension gaps for their students, underscoring why comprehension must be prioritized from the very start of a student’s learning journey. Early in her career as a school-based speech-language pathologist, Slone noticed a pattern: many of her students often struggled with reading AND comprehending the texts they read, while others could read but could not explain what they had read. These students might be able to read and pronounce “photosynthesis,” but not tell you what it means or why it matters in science class.
Slone advocates integrating vocabulary, background knowledge, and structured academic discussion into reading instruction from day one. When students are taught to listen to, think about, and talk about big ideas, they can become more confident in expressing ideas, asking questions, and connecting concepts across subjects. Slone’s experience highlights why IMSE’s Structured Literacy training ensures educators nationwide have the resources to apply the same integrated approach.
“Decoding is essential, but it’s only the beginning,” says Slone. “We must give students the language, knowledge, and thinking skills to truly understand what they read.”
Preparing Students for a Lifetime of Learning
Comprehension isn’t just a reading skill. It’s the foundation for critical thinking, problem-solving, and lifelong learning. In a world where students must evaluate sources, fact-check, and synthesize ideas, these reading fluency skills are essential.
Educators need to be equipped with the tools and strategies to close comprehension gaps early. Decoding opens the door, but comprehension invites students into a world of knowledge, connection, and opportunity.
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