Literacy Journal - "Fake Reading"

Tovani is concerned about the comprehension abilities of adolescent readers. Why does Tovani talk about "fake reading"? How does this relate to the expectations and purposes for reading that he goes on to discuss? What do these have to do with comprehension?

In I Read It, But I Don't Get It, Cris Tovani uses the term "fake reading" to describe reading that consists of little more than going through the motions of pronouncing words, out loud or in one's head, with no meaningful comprehension of the text. No doubt every one of us has engaged in fake reading at one time or another. I caught myself doing it just the other night. I was trying to get through an assigned reading, that, in truth, I was actually pretty motivated to read. Whether I was tired, distracted, or simply unfocused, I found that I had read the first half chapter with no comprehension. Since I had the choice, I decided to tackle the reading another time.

Because I do a pretty good job of self-monitoring my comprehension, I'm aware when I am fake reading. Too many kids and teens (and probably adults) accept fake reading as the real thing. They figure that they have read the words, turned the pages, completed the chapters, and therefore have done what is required. They may not expect to get much out of reading.

Tovani argues that teachers can help adolescent fake readers to become real readers. She teaches her students that the first step is to have a purpose in reading. That purpose will guide everything about how the student approaches the text. Too often students approach all types of reading with the same mindset and strategies. To be efficient and to build comprehension, purpose needs to guide the approach.

Purpose alone is not sufficient. Tovani offers suggestions for various strategies designed to improve comprehension. These include the usual suspects: visualizing, rereading, marking text, making inferences, bringing in background knowledge, and so on. However, unless students learn to listen to their inner voice, the one that monitors comprehension, they are unlikely to be aware of their need to apply these strategies. One of Tovani's students, Leigha, learns to distinguish between helpful and unhelpful internal voices. Helpful internal voices have conversations with the text; they make connections between the reader's life and the text. Unhelpful voices simply recite text, or they distract from a focus on the text.

Successful readers learn to listen for both kinds of voices. Distracting voices and reciting voices signal a need to refocus on the text. Conversing and interacting voices are evidence that the reader is actively comprehending and not simply fake reading. If the conversing and interacting voices have faded away, then this is a signal to the reader that he or she needs to employ some "fix up" strategies to repair comprehension.

Last week I met with a small group of sixth graders to have a conversation about self-monitoring comprehension. I was fairly impressed with their level of self-awareness. They were able to give examples of times when they knew they were reading without comprehending, and to suggest several strategies that they used to improve their comprehension. We talked about the necessity of thinking while reading, and that thinking is critical to most successful pursuits, including playing football!