We examined knowledge-based inference in 6-, 8- and 10-year-olds. Participants listened to texts where the number of clues for an inference was manipulated and then judged whether single-word probes ...(target inference, competing inference, literal word from the text and an unrelated concept) were related to the story. Accuracy and response times were analyzed with mixed-effects models. Inference accuracy was higher with three clues, and older children responded to the inference more accurately and quickly than younger children. The inference and literal probes were compared: 10-year-olds responded more accurately and quickly to the inference; however, 6-year-olds were more accurate for the literal. We propose that by 10-years of age, children are able to activate knowledge-based inferences while listening to text. All age groups had some inhibition difficulty, with less accurate and slower responses for the competing inference than the unrelated concept. Inference instruction should be sensitive to developmental differences in inferential processing.
The authors examined teachers’ (N = 19) use of different question types during small-group comprehension instruction for 6–11-year-olds (N = 115). The authors tagged the corpus of 40 hours of guided ...reading sessions to enable computer-based searches for syntactic forms of questions. Teachers frequently asked high-challenge wh- word questions (e.g., “How does that fit in with what you just read?”), and this was more pronounced in schools located in regions of low socioeconomic status, a finding associated with recency of completion of teacher training. Students’ responses were more linguistically complex when teacher questions comprised a high frequency of highchallenge questions, particularly wh- word adverb questions (predominantly why and how). These findings applied across the wide age and ability range of the sample, indicating that high-challenge questions are effective in smallgroup comprehension instruction for students in different age groups and at various levels of reading ability. The authors conclude that teachers benefit from being informed about the effect of various syntactic forms of questions, particularly the nuances of wh- word questions. The findings also highlight the advantages of using corpus search methods to examine the influence of teacher question-asking strategies during classroom interactions.
Children with attention‐deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) experience pragmatic language deficits, but it is not known whether these difficulties are primarily associated with high levels of ...inattention, hyperactivity, or both. We investigated pragmatic aspects of communication and language comprehension in relation to poor attention and/or high hyperactivity in a nondiagnosed population of 7‐ to 11‐year olds. Classroom teachers rated their pupils' attention and hyperactivity/impulsivity on the ADD‐H Comprehensive Teacher Rating scale (ACTeRS). Three groups were formed: children with poor attention and low hyperactivity (poor attention group), children with good attention and high hyperactivity (high hyperactivity group), and children with both poor attention and high hyperactivity (poor attention/high hyperactivity group). Their performance was compared with that of same‐age controls in two studies: Study 1 (N = 94) investigated the comprehension of figurative language in and out of context and Study 2 (N = 100) investigated the pragmatic aspects of communication using the Children's Communication Checklist – Second Edition.
Two groups, the poor attention and the poor attention/high hyperactivity groups, were impaired in both their comprehension of figurative language and their communication skills. The high hyperactivity group was impaired in their comprehension of figurative language but they did not exhibit communication impairments. The findings extend work with clinical populations of children with ADHD: even in a nondiagnosed sample of children, poor attention and elevated levels of hyperactivity are associated with pragmatic language weaknesses.
In a touch-screen paradigm, we recorded 3- to 7-year-olds' (N = 108) accuracy and response times (RTs) to assess their comprehension of 2-clause sentences containing before and after. Children were ...influenced by order: performance was most accurate when the presentation order of the 2 clauses matched the chronological order of events: "She drank the juice, before she walked in the park" (chronological order) versus "Before she walked in the park, she drank the juice" (reverse order). Differences in RTs for correct responses varied by sentence type: accurate responses were made more speedily for sentences that afforded an incremental processing of meaning. An independent measure of memory predicted this pattern of performance. We discuss these findings in relation to children's knowledge of connective meaning and the processing requirements of sentences containing temporal connectives.
Reading motivation is multidimensional and a critical contributor to students' reading comprehension skill. Its multidimensionality is problematic, as there is currently no consensus on the ...dimensions underlying reading motivation, which are being tested through a variety of instruments that lack statistical validation. Our goal was to discuss the structure, reliability, and validity of a reading motivation scale in relation to prior theoretical proposals. The scale considered four affirming and four undermining reading motivations and was tested with 172 students from 2nd to 6th grade. Its structure was assessed using CFA and EFA. A four-factor structure had the best fit for the data: (1) Reading value and intrinsic motivation; (2) reading devalue and avoidance; (3) perceived self-efficacy; and (4) perceived difficulty. The results supported some prior theoretical distinctions, but question the appropriateness of widely used scales and suggest the need for more research on the multidimensionality of reading motivation.
Although Childhood Epilepsy with Centro-Temporal Spikes (CECTS) is considered a ‘benign’ form of epilepsy, word reading, listening comprehension, and reading comprehension difficulties have been ...reported. We examined two core skills for text comprehension, coherence monitoring and inference generation, in children with CECTS and compared performance with typically developing controls. Children with CECTS (n = 23; 9 females; mean age 9 y 0 m) and the comparison group (n = 38; 14 females; mean age 9 y 1 m) completed two tasks. For coherence monitoring they heard 24 narrative texts, 16 containing two inconsistent sentences, and responded to a yes/no question to assess identification of the inconsistency after each text; for inference making they heard 16 texts designed to elicit a target inference by integrating information in two sentences and responded to a yes/no question to assess generation of the inference. In both tasks there was a near condition, in which critical sentences were adjacent, and a far condition in which these sentences were separated by filler sentences. Accuracy to the question and the processing time for critical sentences in the text were measured. We used listening comprehension tasks to control for variation in word reading ability. Mixed effects analyses for each task revealed that children with CECTS show comparable levels of accuracy to age-matched peers in these tasks tapping two core text integration skills: detection of inconsistencies and generation of inferences. However, they take longer to process texts indicating a likely source of their listening and reading comprehension difficulties.
•Children with CECTS completed aural tasks to assess two core text integration skills.•Children with CECTS showed comparable levels of accuracy to age-matched peers.•Children with CECTS took longer to process the texts than age-matched peers.
...the young child's reading comprehension will be limited by his or her word-reading ability. ...children with poor reading comprehension often have a history of weak oral language.
Focus on Reading Comprehension Cain, Kate
Perspectives on language and literacy,
04/2016, Letnik:
42, Številka:
2
Journal Article
The complexity of the construct of reading comprehension, which draws on a wide range of knowledge bases and language skills at the word, sentence, and passage level, is discussed. ...there are age ...differences in the degree of activation in regions associated with controlled processing and executive function when reading.
Background
Morphological awareness plays a crucial role in supporting higher‐level text processing. We examined its contribution to reading comprehension in children of different ages and ability ...levels in order to determine when and for whom morphological awareness is of particular importance.
Methods
Three groups of children (aged 6–8 years, N = 128; 9–11 years, N = 126; and 12–13 years N = 147) completed judgement and production tasks to measure awareness of compounding, inflections and derivations. Nonverbal reasoning, vocabulary, phonological awareness, word reading and reading comprehension were also assessed.
Results
Principal component analysis yielded a single primary factor of morphological awareness for each age group. Separate hierarchical multiple regressions revealed that this morphological awareness factor accounted for significant unique variance in reading comprehension for groups of 6–8 and 12–13 years, beyond age, nonverbal reasoning, vocabulary, phonological awareness and word reading. Vocabulary also uniquely predicted reading comprehension in all three age groups. Quantile regression analyses at three points in the reading comprehension distribution (0.1, 0.5 and 0.9) indicated that morphological awareness and vocabulary predicted reading comprehension to a similar extent across the ability range.
Conclusions
Our results clarify the fundamental role of morphological awareness in reading comprehension across all levels of readers. In addition, vocabulary and morphological awareness each make critical contributions to comprehension ability in developing readers across the ability range.
•We compared responses to questions about a narrative with narrative productions.•Exposure to questions before production resulted in more coherent narratives.•Narrative production prior to questions ...did not result in better question answers.•Questions acted as a scaffold to support more sophisticated narrative skills.•Questions may focused children's attention on key story elements.
This study examined whether or not question answering aided the construction of coherent narratives in pre-readers. Sixty Chilean preschoolers completed two tasks using a wordless picture-book: 30 children answered questions about the story and then produced a narrative using the book; 30 children completed the tasks in reverse order. Elements of coherence were assessed in both tasks, namely problem, resolution, and mental-states. The findings indicate that questions can scaffold the production of more coherent narratives. Narratives elicited after questions were judged to be more coherent than those produced before the question–answering task. In contrast, there were no differences between scores for the question answers in the different order conditions. The results are discussed regarding the interactional role of questions and the facilitative effect they have on focusing attention to the narrative task.
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