Meaning Skills
Focusing on understanding written language. Meaning skills are listed below:

Word Meaning (vocabulary)
Does the learner have a bank of words and their meanings?

Background Knowledge
Does the learner have a bank of prior knowledge that he or she can connect with printed text in order to understand it?

Comprehension (silent reading)
Is the learner familiar with the structure of written language and does he or she have the ability to think about text in different ways in order to understand the author's message?