Activation of Prior Knowledge to Promote Meaning Construction in Reading

MARIA SHU HONG BEE ABDULLAH*

Abstract:

Teac/zing reading is not an easy task. due to the compler nature of the readingprocess. T/te quest for uays to itnproue tlte acltieuements of a// students to h.ig/ter comprehension leuels is eternal. Studenls of a// ages need to get th,e message l/tal reading is a construction of meaning. T/tis study erplores th.e actiuation ofprior /enouledge by using the KWLS (Know, Wa n t - to - /e no u, Lea r ned, S t i / / - u) a n t - t o - /e n o u) gr id as a gro up ofp r i ma ry students construct meaning a/zi/e reading in an ESL classroom. In terms of reading and compre/zending tert, t/ze prior /tnozuledge that students bring to the tert is crucially important.

Keywords: Construct Meaning, prior knowledge, KWLS grid