This paper explores and discusses the concept of reading comprehension from two major perspectives. One perspective is based on the theory that reading comprehension constitutes a pattern of skills. The other perspective is based on a psycholinguistic view of reading: reading as a language process. Strategies for gaining comprehension during reading are discussed as being similar to those already used by the learner in listening: sampling, predicting, testing, and correcting. Three major cueing systems for achieving comprehension are discussed: graphophonic, which is basically concerned with using cues within words; syntactic, which includes the use of inflectional endings, grammatical relationships, and punctuation markers; and semantic, which involves the information the reader has to bring to the printed page. An example of a child using the semantic and syntactic systems effectively is also presented. (WR)