The Comprehension Check That Gets in the Way of Comprehension

By Beniko Mason

After a story, many teachers want to know if students understood it correctly. You have given them input—now you want to check if they learned it.

The problem is what happens before the check.

The Shift from Listener to Test-Taker

When students know a comprehension check is coming, they begin preparing for it while the story is still being told. Their focus shifts from following the meaning of the story to getting ready to give correct responses.

For many students, this means having a translation ready. When they cannot recall the equivalent word in their native language, they become anxious.

When students know that they will not be asked questions after the story, a different condition is created—one in which acquisition can occur. The other condition, where they anticipate being tested, can interfere with that process.

They begin to listen not to understand, but to answer correctly.

A local comprehension check—“What does this word mean?”—sends the message that every word must be understood and translated accurately.

This is the opposite of how vocabulary is acquired. Words are acquired gradually, as learners understand messages across many stories over time. Demanding full mastery of each word as it appears contradicts this process.

When Students Ask on Their Own

Students generally know when they have not understood something. If the classroom atmosphere allows it—if they feel comfortable indicating confusion—they will ask. They do not need to be tested to reveal incomprehension.

What they need is a teacher who is attentive to their faces, their posture, their silence.

A look of confusion is a comprehension check. A sudden stillness in the room is a comprehension check.

A teacher who notices these signs and responds with a synonym, a simpler sentence, or a quick drawing is checking comprehension continuously—without interrupting the story or increasing anxiety.

What to Do Instead

If you want to know whether the story was understood, ask students to write a brief summary in their first language.

Not a test. Not graded for accuracy. Just: What did you understand?

This provides useful feedback for the teacher in preparing subsequent Story-Listening sessions.

The way a story is told—through ongoing adjustment to students’ understanding—does the work of comprehension checking, because students’ understanding is continuously visible and the teacher adjusts the input in response.

When a student follows the plot, laughs at the right moment, or leans forward during a tense scene, understanding has already occurred.

There is no need to ask them to prove it.

Reference: Krashen, S. & Mason, B. (2019). A Note on Comprehension Checking. Journal of English Language Teaching, 61(1), 23–24.