Chapter 12: Building Main Idea Comprehension: Syntax and Strategies. Identifying main ideas from a text is the fundamental comprehension process that drives how we understand a text and use that information for whatever goals we have set as readers. Identifying main ideas from a text is the fundamental comprehension process that drives how we understand a text and use that information for whatever goals we have set as readers. Critical to main idea comprehension is word-to-text integration processing. This operates automatically through syntactic processing for skilled readers. Comprehension processes are supported through the functional information provided by syntactic resources. However, when texts are difficult or learners need additional support, strategies provide the bridging mechanism in learning to comprehend texts. Strategies that have shown to be effective in research studies are reviewed. The chapter concludes with implications for instruction.