A note on the title first, because it matters for how you read this page.
The Expert Committee's proposed paper has three sections, one of which is Language and Comprehension (p. 31 of its Report). "Functional literacy" is not the section's name. It is the Report's phrase for what the section would test.
The Report uses it three times. It says the reform would move the paper from "stylistic and expressive fluency to functional literacy" (p. 30). It says anchoring language to comprehension "would foreground functional literacy rather than stylistic or expressive fluency", and lists what the questions would test: reading passages as a whole, interpreting sentences in light of the surrounding text, identifying what is implied rather than stated, discerning tone, and judging which claims strengthen or weaken an argument (p. 37). And its summary of recommendations proposes redefining English as "Language and Comprehension" to assess functional literacy, "rather than merely testing grammar or vocabulary" (p. 73).
And nothing has been adopted. The Consortium froze the pattern for CLAT 2027 and referred the recommendations onward. The CLAT 2028 page separates the proposals from the decisions.
What is in the Report, and what this page is actually about, is the structural change — and it is a large one.
The change that matters
Ten to fifteen questions a section, across three sections, in two hours (p. 32).
Compare the current paper: 120 questions in 120 minutes across five sections, with English roughly a fifth of it — call it twenty-four questions.
So the proposed language section would have perhaps half as many questions with roughly twice as much time each. That is not a smaller version of the current section. It is a different kind of reading.
Longer passages. Fewer questions in more time means the passages can be much longer.
Harder questions. With four minutes rather than one, a question can require three inferential steps rather than one.
Fewer marks per question available from scanning. On the current paper a proportion of English questions can be answered by locating a sentence. On a paper of fifteen questions, the setters will not waste one on retrieval.
Each question worth much more. With fifteen questions in a section, one mistake costs what four cost now.
What that changes about how you read
Depth over speed. The current section rewards fast, accurate scanning. A longer passage with fewer questions rewards actually understanding the argument — where it turns, what it concedes, what it rests on.
Holding structure in your head. A 1,200-word argumentative passage cannot be re-read four times in the available window. You need to finish it with a sense of its shape.
Tolerating difficulty. Longer passages go further into their subject. The skill is staying with a paragraph you did not immediately follow rather than skipping it.
Inference as the default. Assume nothing will be findable by matching words between the question and the passage.
Every one of those is built by reading real prose at length, and none of it is built by practice passages — which are short by construction, because they are written for the current format.
A reading list, by type
Titles date quickly and taste varies, so this is by category. The instruction that matters more than any of it: read whole things, not extracts.
Long-form journalism. The extended essays in serious magazines and newspapers — five thousand words on one subject, argued. Closest in shape to what a long comprehension passage is.
Popular science and history written for adults. Not textbooks. Books by scientists and historians writing for a general reader, which is exactly the register comprehension passages borrow.
Essays. Collections of essays by a single author. They argue, they concede, they turn — the moves a passage question is built on.
Biography and reportage. Narrative non-fiction. Builds stamina, which is the underrated half of this.
Serious opinion writing. Editorial and opinion pages, daily. Short, argued, and it doubles as current affairs — which, while the GK question is unsettled, is a useful economy.
Some fiction. Literary fiction builds the ability to read for implication rather than statement, which is what inference questions test.
What to avoid: compilations of practice passages as your main reading, and anything that summarises a book rather than being one.
How much, and how
Forty-five minutes a day, every day. More than that is fine; less than daily is not, because this is a slow compounding skill.
Read at a comfortable pace. Speed comes from volume, not from trying to go faster.
Do not stop at every unfamiliar word. Finish the paragraph, then look up two or three that mattered. Stopping constantly trains exactly the habit that slows you down.
Once a week, summarise something in three sentences. What was the argument, what was it against, what did it rest on. This is the closest thing to a comprehension question you can set yourself, and it is free.
Time yourself on a thousand words once a month. Not more often — the change is slow and daily measurement is discouraging. Watching 180 become 240 over three months is what keeps the habit going.
Whether this is worth doing now
Yes, and this is the unusual case where the answer does not depend on the pattern.
For CLAT 2027: the paper setters were asked to take the Report's suggestions on question format and quality on board where feasible. That points towards deeper inference in this cycle's questions, not a different structure. Reading is the response.
For CLAT 2028: the overlap between the two possible papers is mostly comprehension and reasoning, and under the proposal it is more of the paper, not less. The Class 11 plan is built around this.
Either way, reading is the highest-return activity available to a CLAT candidate and the slowest to pay off, which is the combination that argues for starting now rather than later.
Where to go next
The English section guide covers the section as it currently stands. Improving reading speed covers the mechanics. The CLAT 2028 page has the proposals with page references.
For a current measurement — specifically, how much of your paper is currently spent reading rather than thinking — the free Diagnostic Test gives you a section-wise and timing breakdown at the end.