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By Doug Buehl
The scoring sequence featured a touch-kick, the ball stolen from the Warwick line-out, and a subsequent encroachment in the scramble to retake the ball. The Newcastle team responded to make it 12-3, with a well executed driving maul giving Nicko the space to slice through the Warwick backs and score, with Raul converting. Soon after the referee dispatched the Warwick flanker with a yellow card when he dived into a ruck from the side. Nicko followed up with a drop-goal for Newcastle, after the opposition team had hashed a defensive line-out.
How well would you rate your understanding of the above passage? Are you clear on what the passage is describing? Were you able to confidently visualize what the author was recounting to you? Could you accurately retell the passage in your own words?
Most readers would have a difficult time demonstrating a deep understanding of the opening segment. Even individuals who might rank as highly proficient readers may have to concede that much of the passage was hazy and not easy to figure out. Why is the above passage so difficult for most of us?
Without question, the author is expecting that a great deal of what readers need to know to make sense of this passage will be provided by the readers themselves. And most of us lack this requisite knowledge. However, a few readers could have breezed through the opening with an immediate comprehension of the author's message. These are individuals who were able to bring experiences with and insight about the game of rugby to their reading.
Proficient readers, of course, would be able to deconstruct their thinking about this passage, even though they struggled with attaining a satisfactory understanding. Most of us could say that we realized that we were reading an account of a sports competition, between two teams, one of which was able to score on its opponent. We could have answered some details about the facts of the passage: What player scored the two goals described in this passage? Which team was ahead? What critical event set up the second score? And so on. But unless we understand rugby, its rules and terminology, we are likely still pretty much in the dark about what exactly is transpiring in this passage.
Previous columns have emphasized the central role of relevant background knowledge in comprehension of written texts. Much of our task as readers involves evaluating the extent that our knowledge base is a good match for what an author expects us to know. The more prior knowledge we have about what an author is telling us, the deeper and more reliable is our understanding of that text.
The Strategy
Many of our students do not necessarily realize that knowledge exists at two levels in written texts. One layer is the overt display of knowledge that is readily apparent: the author directly tells readers things they need to know to understand. But authors do not tell readers everything. In effect, authors establish a relationship with their readers - authors anticipate what they think their readers will already know, and therefore do not need to be told. This creates a second layer of knowledge: hidden knowledge. Hidden knowledge is "below the surface" of a text, unstated but necessary for comprehension, and readers must assume the responsibility for filling in the rest of the message if the text is to make sense. Strategies that help students recognize hidden knowledge can be powerful tools for improving reading comprehension.
Step 1: The first step is to make hidden knowledge transparent. Ask students to analyze a short passage, perhaps only a paragraph or two in length, by considering the following question: "What does this author expect readers to already know?"
For example, consider the following science short text:
Does Pluto really have the qualifications to be considered a planet? Astronomers have long argued that its tiny size, less than one-fifth the diameter of Earth, and its strangely tilted orbit that propels it outside of Neptune every couple of hundred years, means that Pluto does not sufficiently behave like a true planet. The controversy became more pronounced in the summer of 2005 when astronomers discovered a new object larger than Pluto, also orbiting in the Kuiper Belt region. Some astronomers maintain that either Pluto be demoted from its standing among the "nine" planets of the solar system, or this new object, named Xena, which has a tiny moon, be added as our tenth planet .
Pair students with partners to generate a list of the hidden knowledge that this author expects readers to bring to an understanding of this passage. As students examine what they need to know, but are not told by the author, they will discover a wealth of hidden knowledge. The author expects readers will have some understanding of the solar system and what planets are. The author expects readers to be aware of properties of planets, such as orbits and moons. The author expects readers to recognize that astronomers study the solar system, and that these scientists are constantly discovering new information about other bodies in outer space. The concept of diameter, and the region of the Kuiper Belt, are specific references the author assumes readers will grasp. Finally, there is a sense that the author expects readers to understand how science works, that scientists often disagree in their interpretations and conclusions, and that varying explanations are an ongoing dynamic in science. Students will discover that the author expected a lot from his readers.
Step 2: Ask students to continue their awareness of hidden knowledge by assigning them to write a paragraph on a topic about which they are personally very knowledgeable: a television program, a video game, a hobby, a location, a sport, an uncommon animal, and so forth. The audience for their paragraph is a person who shares their interests and experiences.
Then ask them to generate two lists of knowledge: stated knowledge: what the author must directly tell the reader for the passage to make sense, and hidden knowledge: what authors think readers will already know. Their paragraph should make sense to a fellow "insider," but will probably be challenging for an "outsider" who lacks background.
Obviously, this step also underscores the importance for students of considering the readers' background for texts they write. If the text will be read by many people who lack "insider" status, then the author will need to provide more stated knowledge and rely less on hidden knowledge.
Step 3: As students continue to explore the concept of hidden knowledge, work on developing awareness of the three general categories of prior knowledge: topic knowledge, domain knowledge, and structure knowledge.
Topic knowledge is the reader's background in and experiences with a particular idea or concept. A reader who knows a lot about rugby, who has watched or played the sport, and who understands how the game is played brings topic knowledge to our opening passage.
Domain Knowledge is the reader's understanding of the language and thinking typical of a subject area or discipline. A reader who understands sports in general and how competitive sports work brings a wealth of insight to a sporting event, even if it is a novel experience like rugby. Likewise, the specific terminology of an subject - touch-kick, encroachment, driving maul, line-out, ruck - represents domain knowledge of rugby.
Knowledge of Text Structure is the reader's ability to perceive relationships that interconnect information and ideas. A reader who understands that the rugby passage is describing a sequence of events that fit into a cause/effect structure is thus able to mentally organize what details are most important to the results of this event.
Advantages
The concept of hidden knowledge provides students with a mechanism for analyzing their comprehension and for determining what aspects of their personal knowledge need be accessed to construct a meaningful reading of any text.
Doug Buehl, teacher, Madison East High School
Wisconsin State Reading Association.
Posted February 7, 2006