Reading comprehension instruction: where is it and how can we improve it?

Reviewing the research on reading comprehension, Pearson and Gallagher (1983) divided the relevant research into four categories: existential descriptions, existential proofs, pedagogical experiments and programme evaluations. Existential descriptions are studies that describe what is going on in schools and classrooms, and what the goals and qualities of curricula or other materials are. Existential proofs attempt to prove the existence of relationships between variables. Pedagogical experiments are designed to increase the ability of pupils to comprehend and learn from a text. And programme evaluations are studies in which a curriculum, or a part of it, is assessed on the basis of certain criteria.