What challenges do you think EL's struggle with when it comes to reading comprehension? by Yssence Andino

2025-07-01 18:12:28 UTC

Going back to last week's presentation on vocabulary reminds me that if an ELL has limited vocabulary then it may be difficult for them to understand what they are reading. If there is any figurative language in the reading then an ELL may struggle to understand the phrase or sentence. For example, it's raining cats and dogs, someone needs to understand that those animals aren't coming out of the sky, but rather there is a heavy rain occurring. Another struggle could refer back to a lack of background knowledge on the subject matter!

Comprehension Struggles: Kirstin Hendershot

2025-07-01 18:52:25 UTC

I think that greatest challenge is the lack of background knowledge. Many ELs are in environments where the native language is solely spoke at home. It is more difficult to develop a rich vocabulary when you are not immersed in vocabulary at school and at home. When students do not have the background knowledge and vocabulary it can be more difficult to make a connection to the text. When students struggle to find connection to the text it can make the reading harder to comprehend.

I think ELs may struggle with comprehension due to an overall unfamiliarity with the vocabulary. I think that by providing children with background knowledge/applications they can remember and are familiar with, these skills can be better developed.

lifeisgoodmlb1 — 2025-07-01 19:34:42 UTC

bethagreen1 — 2025-07-01 20:49:28 UTC

Something that I think would be challenging for ELL students is that we spend time teaching rules for decoding, syllables, spelling, etc., but then there are so many words in English that don't follow these rules. One example that sticks out from doing our presentation on vocabulary was "ough" - tough, though, through - all have the same letters, but all make different sounds!

I also think building background knowledge is important for ELL students. They come from different cultures, and might not understand the implied message in texts in school. Taking the time to relate it to something they're familiar with can aid in their comprehension.

danigarb06 — 2025-07-01 21:17:20 UTC

I believe there are a lot of components that make ELL students struggle with comprehension. Vocabulary and meaning of words are a big part of it. As well as understanding the components and types of a text, and trying to understand what the author is telling through the text.

Eileen Cohen

eileenschmitt1 — 2025-07-01 21:39:14 UTC

I think one of the greatest challenges is not understanding the vocabulary they are reading. They may be able to sound out the word, but do they know what it means?

2025-07-01 21:45:08 UTC

ELs struggle with reading comprehension due to limited English vocabulary, complex sentence structures, and a lack of relevant background knowledge or cultural context. Figurative language and academic English can also pose significant hurdles, as can the overall cognitive load of processing new information in a non-native language.

Sarah Fister

sfister — 2025-07-01 23:22:25 UTC

One thing that I have noticed is if there is a lack of understanding with vocabulary, they will also struggle with comprehension. It is why many times I will give a vocabulary sheet to my EL students for words that I think they may get stuck on. I also make it known (for all my students, not just the EL's) that if there are any words they get stuck on, or do not know the meaning of to ask. Chances are if they don't understand, someone else may not either.

2025-07-02 09:19:54 UTC

I think one of the greatest challenges could be students focusing more on reading the words correctly to the point of not truly understanding what they're reading. I also think vocabulary and multiple-meaning words can be challenging.

Scotty Segarra

scottysegarra — 2025-07-02 15:21:10 UTC

ELs often struggle with reading comprehension due to limited vocabulary, unfamiliar grammar structures, and gaps in background knowledge. These challenges can make it difficult for them to understand key ideas, follow complex sentences, or make inferences. Additionally, ELs may lack confidence, fluency, and consistent exposure to English outside of school, which further impacts their ability to practice and grow as readers. Without targeted support, such as vocabulary instruction, visual aids, and culturally responsive materials, ELs can face significant barriers in fully accessing and understanding texts.

mkrgrose — 2025-07-03 01:27:58 UTC

I have not personally worked with any ELs but something that I think ELs struggle with when it comes to reading comprehension would be the actual meaning of the text, mostly due to a lack of vocabulary. ELs might also struggle with comprehension due to not reading words accurately and automatically overall impacting their comprehension. This is due to the fact that they are working so hard to decode words that they are not actually thinking about what they are reading.

Alexa Jacobs

jacobs3alexa — 2025-07-04 19:29:21 UTC

I believe that English Learners often struggle with reading comprehension due to limited vocabulary, unfamiliar cultural references, and difficulty with idiomatic expressions or figurative language. Even if they can decode the words, understanding deeper meaning, inference, or author’s intent can be tough without a strong grasp of the language and context. They might also feel overwhelmed if too much new vocabulary is introduced at once or if the text isn’t scaffolded properly.

Carl Slepetz

cslepetz — 2025-07-05 09:24:56 UTC

I have not worked with an EL as of yet. However, from this class and viewing all of these presentations, I am discovering that the barriers ELs face of comprehension, writing, vocab etc… are all very similar with similar solutions. Problems – transfer from native language and non-similar sounds in English, lack of background knowledge and lack of practice and feedback with similar solutions. Solutions - practice at school and home, use of prior knowledge and building connections, use visuals for these connections, etc…. Each student is an individual with their own individual way of learning. However, it appears that the issues they all face are similar but require individual strategies solve, but these solutions can all be pulled from a basic pool of strategies, just match the student to the one that works best for them.

2025-07-08 13:54:53 UTC

I think that ELs struggle with background knowledge and vocabulary when it comes to comprehension. I think that some times ELs have a different amount of background knowledge compared to otger students. With vocabulary, the EL students are still learning the language and may not understand what the word means completely.

Comprehension

2025-07-09 02:51:46 UTC

First off, it's that vocabulary gap we mentioned in last week’s module. Like we said, if you've got a bunch of words but no real understanding of their meanings then what's the point? It's the same in reading and comprehension. If they don't know enough of the words in a text, even if they can sound them out, they're just not going to get it. Like I mentioned before, communication will be hindered and so will comprehension—this includes reading comprehension as well.

Then there's the whole background knowledge debacle. Sometimes, a text just assumes you know certain stuff about culture or the topic, and if an ELL hasn't been exposed to that, it's like trying to build a puzzle with missing pieces.

English is already hard to learn so don't even get me started on figurative language and idioms!

It all boils down to that core idea: if the fundamental understanding of language isn't solid, then really getting what you read becomes an uphill battle.

2025-07-10 22:34:33 UTC

There are several challenges that EL's may face with comprehension. thinking back to the Vocabulary presentation, they can struggle if they have a limited vocabulary. Not knowing or understanding words or phrases can be pretty frustrating so if the EL does not have an understanding of what each word means they will not be able to interpret what they are reading. There's also fluency struggles that go hand in hand with comprehension. If the EL struggles to fluently read the passage whether they ready very slowly or mispronounce words that will take up too much mental space and leave hardly any room for them to focus on comprehension.