Comprehension Monitoring: What It Is and What We Know about It

Abstract

COMPREHENSION MONITORING is defined as a metacognitive process which is affected by person, strategy, and task variables. It is viewed as an executive function, essential for competent reading, which directs the reader's cognitive processes as he/she strives to make sense of incoming textual information. While reading comprehension is of primary concern, studies of oral communication adequacy have been prominent in metacognitive research and are touched upon in this review. Considered more fully are studies of problem detection, i.e., of detecting inconsistencies in oral and written discourse with both listening and reading tasks. Self-report studies of problem detection and strategy use involving protocol analysis, interview data, and other self-report tasks are reviewed. Investigations which deal primarily with monitoring (fix-up) strategies are examined, even though studies dealing with recall (study) strategies are not included. Conclusions about research findings are drawn, suggestions are made regarding methodology, and instructional implications are suggested.