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The Simple View of Reading in Italian beginner readers: Converging evidence and open debates on the role of the main components
Abstract
The Simple View of Reading (SVR) model was investigated in Italian beginner readers to address the following research questions: (a) does listening comprehension play a stronger role in reading comprehension than reading accuracy and fluency in the initial stages of literacy?; (b) what is the role of vocabulary within the SVR framework? First graders (N = 149; mean age = 6;3) were assessed at the beginning (T1; no formal instruction) and end (T2; after 6 months) of the school year. Vocabulary breadth and depth, and non-verbal reasoning were assessed at T1. Reading and listening comprehension, accuracy and fluency for non-words and words were assessed at T2. Structural equation models showed that (a) listening comprehension had a stronger relation with reading comprehension than reading accuracy and fluency at T2; (b) vocabulary breadth and depth at T1 accounted for reading comprehension through listening comprehension at T2. Findings supported the relevance of listening comprehension and vocabulary, and of interventions on these skills, for reading comprehension in beginner readers of a highly transparent orthography.
... The skills that changed the most between second and third grade, in terms of effect sizes, are accuracy (word reading), reading speed, and prosody (pauses). In the case of the first two, the magnitude of the change most likely benefits from the automation of decoding postulated and verified in the literature (Florit, 2022;. Similarly, the results regarding prosody are in line with previous approaches suggesting that greater mastery of the reader's lexical path is reflected in efficient speech production during oral reading, which facilitates progress towards prosodic reading Calet et al., 2015). ...
... Las habilidades que mayormente cambiaron entre segundo y tercer grado son, considerando los tamaños de efecto, la exactitud (lectura de palabras), la velocidad lectora y la prosodia (pausas). Muy probablemente, en el caso de las dos primeras, la magnitud del cambio se beneficie de la automatización de la decodificación postulada y comprobada por la literatura (Florit, 2022;. De manera similar, los resultados relativos a la prosodia van en línea con planteamientos previos que sugieren que un mayor dominio de la vía léxica del lector se refleja en una producción de habla eficiente durante la lectura oral, lo que facilita el progreso hacia una lectura prosódica Calet et al., 2015). ...
... Florit, E., Roch, M., Dicataldo, R., & Levorato, M. C. (2022). The Simple View of Reading in Italian beginner readers: Converging evidence and open debates on the role of the main components. ...
El presente estudio se propuso examinar la comprensión lectora en relación con las habilidades lingüísticas y lectoras habitualmente observadas en la literatura: prosodia, vocabulario, gramática, comprensión oral, exactitud y velocidad lectora. En particular, se buscó 1) determinar de qué manera influyen las habilidades lingüísticas y lectoras seleccionadas en la comprensión textual; 2) establecer si esta influencia varía al comparar estudiantes de 2º y 3er grado y 3) observar si el impacto de las habilidades seleccionadas difiere en función del tipo de texto (narrativo o expositivo). La muestra final estuvo compuesta por 297 niños de 2o y 3er grado (136 y 161 respectivamente) pertenecientes a dos colegios particulares de Santiago de Chile. Los resultados mostraron que la influencia de las habilidades medidas en la comprensión lectora varía en función del nivel escolar (efecto menor en 2º grado) y del tipo de texto (efecto menor para textos narrativos). De manera general, vocabulario y comprensión oral fueron las dos habilidades con más influencia sobre la comprensión lectora. No se observó ningún efecto relevante de la exactitud lectora ni de la velocidad sobre la comprensión. Se concluye que, una vez alcanzado cierto dominio lector básico, las habilidades que más más influyen en la lectura comprensiva son las habilidades lingüísticas y que, en el tercer grado, estas muestran una consolidación posiblemente relacionada con una maduración cognitiva.
... Once decoding becomes automatized and fast enough, the effect of listening comprehension on reading comprehension should become stronger than that of decoding, as decoding no longer causes cognitive load or burdens the memory required for reading comprehension (e.g., Perfetti, 1985). Therefore, in transparent orthographies (e.g., Lithuanian), listening comprehension can be a more powerful predictor of reading comprehension than decoding quite early on (Florit & Cain, 2011;Florit et al., 2022;Torppa et al., 2016). However, particularly in the beginning stages of reading development, it is possible that decoding still has a large effect on reading comprehension. ...
... In the present study, we examine the roles of vocabulary, phonological awareness, letter knowledge, and rapid automatized naming (RAN) as predictors of the SVR components, word reading fluency, listening comprehension, and reading comprehension. First, among a number of predictors identified to predict listening comprehension, vocabulary has been shown to be among the strongest (Cain et al., 2004;Florit et al., 2022;G. P. Ouellette, 2006;Manolitsis et al., 2011;Sénéchal, 2006). ...
... Previous research suggests that early literacy skills (e.g., letter knowledge and phonological awareness) before Grade 1 can influence reading comprehension indirectly through later decoding (Catts et al., 2005(Catts et al., , 2006Kendeou et al., 2009;Storch & Whitehurst, 2002;Torppa et al., 2016). While these indirect paths through decoding are frequently found, only a handful of studies have investigated how early language skills (e.g., vocabulary) indirectly predict reading comprehension through, for example, listening comprehension (Florit et al., 2022;LARRC & Chiu & LARRC, 2018;Lepola et al., 2016). As the second alternative, we tested the indirect and direct effects models (Kim, 2020a). ...
... In Zamperlin and Carretti (2010) study reading fluency was no longer statistically significant in secondary school. Finally, a recent investigation by Florit et al. (2020) on Italian children reported partially inconsistent results. The study was conducted on first-grade children assessed in two different observational moments: at the beginning of the school year (no formal instruction) and after 6 months of schooling. ...
... With regard to reading decoding, our results fit with those reported by Florit and collaborators that reading speed/fluency measures significantly contributed to reading comprehension at least in first graders (Florit et al., 2020) and third graders (Florit et al., 2008); they are at variance with those of other studies which failed to detect any predictive role of reading fluency (Tobia and Bonifacci, 2015). ...
... First, the studies included different measures of word recognition, reading comprehension and listening comprehension. As to the different reading measures, Tobia and Bonifacci (2015) and Florit et al. (2020) created two separate latent variables, i.e., one for reading accuracy and the other for reading fluency, based on different accuracy and fluency measures (non-word and word accuracy vs fluency in Florit et al.'s study; text reading accuracy vs fluency in Tobia and Bonifacci's study) while Roch and Levorato (2009) included only measures of reading accuracy for non-words and reading speed for words. In the present study, we considered reading speed and accuracy in reading a meaningful text (rather than pseudoword decoding), a more functional and ecologically valid task. ...
In the present study, we explored the unique contribution of reading accuracy, reading fluency and linguistic comprehension within the frame of Simple View of Reading (SVR). The experimental sample included 118 3rd to 5th grade children learning Italian, a language with a highly regular orthography. We adopted a flexible method of analysis, i.e., the Network Analysis (NA), particularly suited for exploring relations among different domains and where the direct relations between a set of intercorrelated variables is the main interest. Results indicated an independent and unique contribution of syntactic comprehension skills as well as reading fluency and reading accuracy in the comprehension of a written text. The decoding measures were not directly associated with non-verbal reasoning and the latter was not directly associated with reading comprehension but was strongly related to oral syntactic comprehension. Overall, the pattern of findings is broadly consistent with the predictions of SVR and underscores how, in an orthographically regular language, reading fluency and reading accuracy as well as oral comprehension skills directly influence reading comprehension. Data are discussed in a cross-linguistic perspective. Implications for education and rehabilitation are also presented.
... Extending these theories to early literacy, it could be that specific educational technology interventions or the pedagogy and features embedded in them could be more or less effective depending on the early literacy knowledge and skills under consideration. Though many models have been proposed and evaluated, a long-standing, empirically based model of reading is the Simple View (e.g., Florit et al., 2022;Gough & Tunmer, 1986), which proposes that the two primary components of reading comprehension are decoding and language comprehension. Although other factors are also important (e.g., executive functioning and motivation or engagement), there is consensus among researchers that decoding and language comprehension are both critical for reading comprehension across languages (Duke & Cartwright, 2021;Florit & Cain, 2011;Kim, 2020). ...
... Roughly a third (k = 39) of the studies in the corpus included outcome assessments that were administered in a language other than English (e.g., Hebrew, German, Spanish, Turkish). Given that the Simple View of Reading, which we used to theoretically ground this study, has been validated across languages (e.g., Florit et al., 2022;Kim & Park, 2019;Peng et al., 2021;Sparks, 2021), we determined that there was no need to separate out these studies in analyses. ...
Educational technology is ubiquitous, and educational technology interventions often target literacy. However, there is insufficient information about the effects of these interventions on literacy outcomes in elementary school. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of quasi-experimental and experimental studies published between 2010 and 2023 that evaluated the effects of educational technology interventions on the literacy outcomes of K–5 students. The meta-analysis across 119 studies from 105 manuscripts revealed positive effects for decoding (0.33), language comprehension (0.30), reading comprehension (0.23), and writing proficiency (0.81). However, when isolating effects for standardized measures, effects for decoding (0.23), language comprehension (0.12), reading comprehension (0.14), and writing proficiency (0.34) were reduced. Moderator analyses suggested that effects can depend on outcome, intervention, and participant characteristics. In the discussion, we describe and contextualize findings and call for more research to further unpack moderator effects. We also discuss possible implications for practice and policy.
... Indeed, components involved in listening narrative comprehension develop during the preschool years and become more efficient later in childhood. Moreover, their role in text comprehension is not the same, with some components (e.g., vocabulary) directly influencing individual differences in comprehension and others (e.g., syntactic knowledge) having an indirect effect Florit et al., 2011Florit et al., , 2022. ...
... In addition, our cross-sectional results show that receptive vocabulary has moderate correlations with the comprehension of explicit information. Other cross-sectional and longitudinal studies showed that vocabulary size represents the core ability and one of the best predictors of explicit information comprehension Dicataldo & Roch, 2021;Florit et al., 2022). The comprehension of explicit information requires constructive and integrative processes to a lesser extent than the processing of implicit information provided in the text (Florit et al., 2011), and this might explain why EFs and ToM did not correlate with comprehension of explicit information. ...
Listening narrative comprehension is a complex process that requires the processing of explicit (i.e., information presented in the text) and implicit information (i.e., information inferable from the text) and involves several linguistic and cognitive skills. However, the specific role of these skills in children’s comprehension remains unclear. This study investigated the contribution of maternal education, receptive vocabulary, executive functions (working memory, inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility), and Theory of Mind to the comprehension of explicit and implicit information during a listening comprehension task among 100 Italian native speakers attending first grade (Mage = 6.5 years, SD = 3.7). Hierarchical linear regression analyses indicated that maternal education and children’s verbal skills were positively associated with comprehension of explicit information, whereas cognitive flexibility and Theory of Mind provided an independent contribution to the comprehension of implicit information over and above maternal education and verbal skills. Prereaders not only process different types of information during a listening comprehension task and engage in integrative processes to go beyond the information presented in the text but also rely on different linguistic and cognitive skills in the comprehension of both explicit and implicit information.
... For RQ2, we expected word reading accuracy and fluency to be positive predictors of text comprehension in both media (e.g., Florit et al., 2022;Fesel et al., 2018;Kim, 2017). Based on available evidence (Kerr & Symons, 2006), we expected that word reading skills would not interact with reading medium for the inferential processes that underlie deeper text comprehension, since scrolling was not required for digital text reading. ...
... Our findings also partially confirm the RQ2 hypothesis, as the children's word reading skills proved to be a significant predictor of digital-based reading comprehension. This result is not unexpected but it contributes to the existing knowledge base (e.g., Florit et al., 2022;Fesel et al., 2018;Kim, 2017) by showing that word reading skills account for individual differences in beginner readers' comprehension of different types of information in a text, not only on paper but also on screen. ...
Background
Text comprehension research in relation to the reading medium showed that digital‐based reading represents a disadvantage compared with paper‐based reading. Most paper versus screen research; however, was conducted with university students.
Objectives
This study investigated the contribution of reading medium to text comprehension and medium preference in beginner readers who use technology for school learning. The moderating role of text genre, word reading and medium preference on the reading medium effect on text comprehension was also analysed.
Methods
First graders (N = 115; mean age = 6;8 years) read narrative and informational linear texts on paper and computer screen and answered main idea, literal and inferential comprehension questions. Medium preference questions and a word reading task were administered.
Results and Conclusions
Logistic mixed models showed that the main idea and literal comprehension of narrative and informational linear texts were greater on screen and for higher word reading skills. Inferential comprehension was lower on screen at lower levels of word reading skills but became similar for the two media as word reading increased. Children had no clear medium preference and medium effect on text comprehension was independent of children's medium preference. The main results show that beginner readers who use technology for learning and are fast and accurate in word reading display no comprehension disadvantage in digital reading.
Takeaways
Our results add to existing knowledge by clarifying how reading medium effects on beginner readers' text comprehension interact with factors such as fundamental reading skills and experience with technology.
... Sin embargo, estos estudios también señalan que, la relativa contribución de los dos componentes principales implicados en la comprensión lectora, se encontrarían afectados por un factor adicional, esto es, si la habilidad de decodificación de palabras es medida en términos de precisión o de velocidad en la lectura (Florit, Roch, Dicataldo, & Levorato, 2020). ...
... Estudios realizados en lenguas más transparentes que el inglés han señalado que la medida de reconocimiento de palabras podría tener un impacto menor en lectores iniciales, dada la transparencia del sistema ortográfico (Caravolas et al., 2019). Sin embargo, estudios realizados en italiano, una lengua casi tan transparente como el español (Dehaene, 2015), llamaron la atención sobre un factor adicional que podría estar incidiendo en la contribución de la medida de lectura de palabras en la comprensión de textos: la forma en que se mide la lectura de palabras (atendiendo a la velocidad en la lectura o a la precisión) (Florit et al., 2020;Florit & Cain, 2011). En estos estudios se observó que la medida de comprensión oral realizaba una contribución mayor sobre la comprensión lectora cuando se tomaba en cuenta la medida de precisión en la lectura de palabras. ...
El presente trabajo se propuso analizar la contribución de la comprensión de lenguaje oral y la velocidad y la precisión en la lectura de palabras en la comprensión lectora en lectores iniciales del español que crecen en contextos de pobreza urbana. Para ello, se evaluó a 31 niños de 3er grado que crecían en barrios socialmente vulnerables de la provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina, mediante pruebas de comprensión lectora, precisión y velocidad lectora, vocabulario y procesamiento morfosintáctico. Los resultados de la muestra total indican que la medida de comprensión lectora se asoció a las medidas de vocabulario, procesamiento de lenguaje oral, y velocidad y precisión en la lectura. En contraposición a resultados obtenidos en otras lenguas de ortografía transparente, el análisis de una regresión indicó que la comprensión lectora estuvo mayormente explicada por la medida de precisión y no de velocidad en la lectura de palabras. A fin de enriquecer el análisis de los datos, a partir de los resultados en la prueba de comprensión de textos se conformaron dos grupos de niños con diferente nivel de comprensión lectora: un grupo de niños con un nivel de comprensión lectora cercano a la media obtenida (21 sujetos) y un grupo de niños cuyo desempeño se ubicó en un desvío por debajo de la media en la medida de comprensión (10 sujetos). Los resultados de una prueba de comparación de medias mostraron que entre grupos de niños con diferente nivel de comprensión lectora las habilidades que se diferenciaron fueron las relacionadas al procesamiento morfosintáctico.
... Word reading fluency is known to be a significant predictor of reading comprehension (e.g., Florit et al., 2022;Katzir et al., 2006;Kim et al., 2010;Silinskas et al., 2024). Tasks of word reading fluency are also widely used in consistent orthographies like Finnish or Greek to assess children's reading ability and screen for dyslexia because in these orthographies reading accuracy reaches ceiling by the end of Grade 1 (e.g., Seymour et al., 2003). ...
Researchers tend to use oral- and silent-reading fluency measures interchangeably and to generalize research findings across reading modes, especially from oral to silent reading. In this study, we sought to examine if oral and silent word-reading fluency rely on the same cognitive-linguistic skills. Three hundred and forty-five Greek children (80 from Grade 2, 85 from Grade 4, 91 from Grade 6, and 89 from Grade 10) were assessed on measures of general cognitive ability, speed of processing, phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming, orthographic knowledge, articulation rate, and word-reading fluency (oral and silent). Results of hierarchical regression analyses revealed that phonological awareness was a unique predictor of both reading outcomes in Grade 2 and orthographic knowledge was a unique predictor of both reading outcomes in Grades 4, 6, and 10. However, rapid automatized naming predicted only oral word-reading fluency. These findings suggest that silent and oral word-reading fluency do not necessarily rely on the same cognitive-linguistic skills at the same grade level and we need to exercise some caution when we generalize the findings across reading modes.
... These mixed findings across studiesFlorit et al. (2022) explain by inclusion of different reading accuracy and fluency measures (e.g. latent vs. observed). ...
This dissertation explores early (grade 1) reading acquisition of Ukrainian-Polish bilingual children from the psycholinguistic perspective. It focuses on identifying predictors of individual differences in emerging reading skills. Here, the bilingual learners are compared against their monolingual (Polish-speaking and Ukrainian- speaking) peers, to identify potential differences between the mono- and bilingual patterns of learning.
The role of children's receptive vocabulary knowledge in word and nonword reading (decoding) in an orthographically transparent language is debated. Moreover, we have little understanding of how the role of vocabulary might differ between monolingual children and bilingual children from immigrant families (or language minority bilingual children (LMBC)) at different stages of reading development. This study examined the relation of receptive vocabulary to word and nonword reading accuracy and speed in 140 monolingual and bilingual students attending Grades 1, 3, or 5 in Italy. Both receptive vocabulary and reading performance were assessed using standardized tests in Italian. Regression models showed that for monolingual Italian children receptive vocabulary was related to word reading accuracy and speed in Grade 1 and word reading accuracy in Grade 5. In the LMBC group, receptive vocabulary was related to word and nonword reading accuracy and speed in Grade 1, to word reading accuracy in Grade 3, and to word reading speed in Grade 5. These findings suggest that vocabulary knowledge supports reading even in the earlier stages of reading development in a language with transparent orthography and underscore the importance of strengthening and assessing LMBC's receptive vocabulary for the adequate development of their reading skills.
Shifting demographics in K-12 schools have increased Spanish-speaking Multi-Language Learners’ (MLLs’) enrollment across the United States. While literacy variations between MLLs and proficient English speakers have been studied predominantly with upper elementary students, there remains a need for more exploration among early elementary Spanish-speaking MLLs in English-dominant settings. Leveraging universal screening data from a Southern U.S. state, students were categorized into literacy profiles based on the simple view of reading (SVR) using end-of-kindergarten listening comprehension and start-of-first-grade decoding measures. We aimed to explore possible differences in the distribution of MLLs and English-proficient students across these literacy profiles. Additionally, we analyzed performance levels in phonemic awareness, letter knowledge, and vocabulary. Our exploration aimed to discern potential differences in these skills between MLLs and proficient English-speaking students and determine if literacy profile membership mediated any observed differences. Analyses showed distinct distributions of MMLs and proficient English speakers across SVR-derived literacy profiles. Also, proficient speakers demonstrated higher proficiency in early literacy skills than MLLs, except in letter knowledge, a main effect that did not interact with literacy profile membership. Our findings underscore the importance of enriching MLLs’ language experiences and prioritizing vocabulary-building activities. Furthermore, they catalyze discussions on accommodating diverse MLL profiles, ensuring equitable educational access, and addressing the comprehensive language learning needs of MLLs in both oral and written language.
This study investigated the interplay of oral reading fluency, vocabulary, and reading comprehension as predictors of the reading profile of junior high school learners in Compra National High School. Using a descriptive-correlational method, 45 respondents were selected through systematic random sampling. Data were collected using the standardized Phil-IRI instrument, and analysis involved mean, percentage, and Pearson correlation coefficient calculations. Results indicate that respondents demonstrated instructional levels across oral reading fluency, vocabulary, and reading comprehension domains. Moreover, an average correlation emerged between oral reading fluency and vocabulary skills, as well as reading comprehension skills. Importantly, both vocabulary skills and reading comprehension skills significantly influenced the learners’ reading profiles. These findings underscore the need for a holistic approach to reading skill enhancement. Effective strategies include integrated teaching methods encompassing oral reading fluency exercises, vocabulary expansion initiatives, comprehension strategy coaching, personalized support, and collaborative professional development opportunities. By integrating these elements into instruction, educators can establish an inclusive learning atmosphere tailored to the diverse needs of students, fostering comprehensive improvements in reading proficiency.
Keywords: oral reading fluency, vocabulary, reading comprehension
Estudos recentes têm apontado a fluência de leitura como um importante preditor da compreensão de leitura. Contudo, poucos estudos investigaram a associação entre estas variáveis no português-brasileiro. No presente estudo, abordamos essa lacuna da literatura. Alunos do 2º ao 4º ano completaram um teste de fluência de leitura e um teste de compreensão de leitura. Os resultados demonstraram que há progresso nas habilidades de fluência e compreensão de leitura entre o 2º e o 4º ano, com progresso mais acentuado entre o 2º e o 3º ano. Além disso, os resultados mostraram que a associação entre fluência e compreensão de leitura foi significativa e positiva em todos os anos escolares, com magnitude acima de r = 0,6. Em conclusão, alunos com melhor fluência de leitura também apresentaram melhor compreensão de leitura, o que foi consistente nos diferentes anos escolares. Esses resultados corroboram resultados observados anteriormente em outros estudos nacionais e internacionais. É importante notar que os resultados do presente estudo contribuem com a prática ao sugerir que a promoção da fluência de leitura na sala de aula pode levar ao desenvolvimento de melhor compreensão de leitura.
We examined the developmental relationships between oral language skills (vocabulary, morphological awareness), word reading, and reading comprehension in the hybrid orthography of Japanese, where two contrastive scripts (syllabic Hiragana, morphographic Kanji) are used simultaneously. Participants were 191 Japanese-speaking children followed from Grade 2 to Grade 4. Results from a latent variable model showed that Kanji character recognition, but not Hiragana word reading fluency, predicted reading comprehension after controlling for the effects of nonverbal IQ, phonological awareness, and oral language skills. Moreover, oral language skills predicted reading comprehension both directly and indirectly through Kanji character recognition. These findings support the premises of the Simple View of Reading model in the hybrid orthography of Japanese and suggest that the characteristics of script children learn can moderate the associations between the model’s components.
Inference making is fundamental to the construction of a coherent mental model of a text. We examined how vocabulary and verbal working memory relate to inference development concurrently and longitudinally in 4- to 9-year-olds. Four hundred and twenty prekindergartners completed oral assessments of inference making, vocabulary breadth, vocabulary depth, and verbal working memory each year until Grade 3. Concurrently, hierarchical regressions revealed that a greater proportion of total variance in inference making was explained by vocabulary and verbal working memory for younger than older children. Vocabulary breadth was a stronger predictor of inference than verbal working memory, but the opposite pattern was found for vocabulary depth and verbal working memory. The longitudinal relations between inference making, vocabulary, and verbal working memory were investigated in two separate cross-lagged models: one with vocabulary breadth and a second with vocabulary depth. Both vocabulary breadth and depth explained subsequent inference making and verbal working memory throughout the early grades. Inference making also predicted subsequent vocabulary depth. The results highlight the critical role of vocabulary knowledge in the development of inference ability both within and across time, the importance of vocabulary in supporting the development of verbal working memory, and the changing dynamics between language and memory in early development.
The simple view of reading (SVR) proposes that performance in reading comprehension is the result of decoding and linguistic comprehension, and that each component is necessary but not sufficient for reading comprehension. In this study, the joint and unique predictive influences of decoding and linguistic comprehension for reading comprehension were examined with a group of 757 children in Grades 3 through 5. Children completed multiple measures of each construct, and latent variables were used in all analyses. Overall, the results of our study indicate that (a) the two constructs included in the SVR account for almost all of the variance in reading comprehension, (b) there are developmental trends in the relative importance of the two components, and (c) the two components share substantial predictive variance, which may complicate efforts to substantially improve children’s reading comprehension because the overlap may reflect stable individual differences in general cognitive or linguistic abilities.
Many studies have shown that learning to read in a second language (L2) is similar, in many ways, to learning to read in a first language (L1). Nevertheless, reading development also relies upon oral language proficiency and is greatly influenced by orthographic consistency. This longitudinal study aimed to analyze the role of linguistic predictors (phonological awareness, letter knowledge, pseudoword repetition, morphosyntactic comprehension, lexical knowledge and rapid naming) in reading outcomes (fluency, accuracy and comprehension) in a group of bilingual children (n = 30) reading Italian as an L2, compared to a group of monolingual children (n = 56). We ran a multi-group structural equation model. Our findings showed that rapid automatized naming was a significant predictor of reading speed in both groups. However, the study revealed different patterns of predictors for reading accuracy, predictors for monolinguals being LK, phonological awareness and lexical knowledge, while pseudoword repetition was a predictor for bilinguals. Morphosyntactic comprehension was the most significant predictor of comprehension skills in bilingual children. Implications for clinical and educational settings are discussed.
Empirical research has provided evidence for the simple view of reading across a variety of orthographies, but the role of oral reading fluency in the model is unclear. Moreover, the relative weight of listening comprehension, oral reading fluency and word recognition in reading comprehension seems to vary across orthographies and schooling years. This study aims to examine the direct effects of these three variables on reading comprehension and to test for the existence of indirect effects of word recognition and listening comprehension on reading comprehension via oral reading fluency in European Portuguese, an orthography of intermediate depth. A sample of 264 students was assessed at the end of grades 2 and 4.
Structural equation modeling analyses indicated that listening comprehension, word recognition and oral reading fluency predicted reading comprehension in both grade 2 and grade 4. Moreover, the three variables measured in grade 2 predicted later reading comprehension in grade 4. Listening comprehension was always the strongest predictor. Oral reading fluency mediated the relationship between word recognition and reading
comprehension, but it was not a mediator variable in the relationship between listening comprehension and reading comprehension. These findings indicate that, similarly to what has been found for other orthographies, the simple view of reading is a valid framework to account for reading comprehension variability in European Portuguese and that interventions to increase reading comprehension levels should focus on word recognition, fluency, and, especially, listening comprehension.
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11145-015-9556-1
Comprehension is the ultimate goal of reading, but it is a very complex task consisting of multiple component skills. A number of studies have tested the Simple View of Reading (SVR; Gough & Tunmer, 1986) in opaque languages, but few investigations of the SVR components have been conducted on transparent languages. In the present study, we tested the SVR model in a sample of 1,895 Italian children attending primary school, from first to fifth grade. An assessment battery was used, which included five different tasks: word and non-word reading, passage reading, reading comprehension, and oral comprehension. Hybrid models combining confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with path analysis were run separately for each grade. Results indicated that oral comprehension was always the best predictor of reading comprehension, whereas reading accuracy played a significant but minor role. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
This study of 4- to 6-year-olds had 2 aims: first, to determine how lower level comprehension skills (receptive vocabulary and grammar) and verbal memory support early higher level comprehension skills (inference and literal story comprehension), and second, to establish the predictive power of these skills on subsequent reading comprehension. Eighty-two children completed assessments of nonverbal ability, receptive vocabulary and grammar, verbal short-term memory, and inferential and literal comprehension of a picture book narrative. Vocabulary was a unique predictor of concurrent narrative comprehension. Longitudinally, inference skills, literal comprehension, and grammar made independent contributions to reading comprehension 1 year later. The influence of vocabulary on reading comprehension was mediated through both inference and literal comprehension. The results show that inference skills are critical to the construction of text representations in the earliest stages of reading comprehension development.
We reintroduce a wide-angle view of reading comprehension, the Reading Systems Framework, which places word knowledge in the center of the picture, taking into account the progress made in comprehension research and theory. Within this framework, word-to-text integration processes can serve as a model for the study of local comprehension processes, that is, those that make sense out of short stretches of text. These processes require linkage between the word identification system and the comprehension system, with the lexicon in the linking role. Studies of these processes examine the influence of one sentence on the reading of a single word in a second sentence, which enables the integration of the word meaning into the reader's mental model of the text. Skilled comprehenders, more than less skilled, show immediate use of word meanings in the integration process. Other evidence is also consistent with the assumption that word meaning processes are causal components in comprehension skill.
The simple view of reading posits that reading comprehension can be decomposed into a print-specific component (concerning decoding and sight word reading) and a language comprehension component (concerning verbal and metalinguistic skills not related to print). One might properly consider lexical skills, indexed by vocabulary measures, part of the language component; however, vocabulary measures end up taking up substantial amounts of print-dependent reading comprehension variance, presumably because of the interrelations among semantic, orthographic, and phonological specification of lexical entries. In the present study we examined the role of vocabulary in the prediction of reading comprehension by testing alternative formulations within the context of the simple view. We used cross-sectional and (1-year) longitudinal data from 436 children in Grades 3–6 attending regular classrooms. We quantified the proportion of variance accounting for reading comprehension that could be attributed to vocabulary measures. We then tested a latent variable model positing a mediating position for vocabulary against a model with lexically based covariation among the simple view components. We discuss the results in an attempt to bring together the simple view with the lexical quality hypothesis for reading comprehension.
Two studies explored the relation between listening comprehension of text and listening comprehension of sentences in preschoolers aged 4 to 5 years, 11 months. The first study analyzed this relationship taking into account the role of lower level components, namely, word knowledge and verbal working memory, as possible mediators. These components specifically accounted for listening text comprehension, whereas sentence comprehension did not. Given that sentences forming a text are not processed in isolation but in context, the second study explored the role of the ability to use linguistic context, a higher level component, in listening comprehension of text and sentences. Listening sentence comprehension was facilitated by the use of context, which accounted for individual differences in listening text comprehension. Overall, results showed that listening text comprehension is related to lower level as well as higher level components, whereas listening sentence comprehension does not play a specific role.
The literature suggests that a complex relationship exists between the three main skills involved in reading comprehension (decoding, listening comprehension and vocabulary) and that this relationship depends on at least three other factors orthographic transparency, children's grade level and socioeconomic status (SES). This study investigated the relative contribution of the predictors of reading comprehension in a longitudinal design (from beginning to end of the first grade) in 394 French children from low SES families.
Reading comprehension was measured at the end of the first grade using two tasks one with short utterances and one with a medium length narrative text. Accuracy in listening comprehension and vocabulary, and fluency of decoding skills, were measured at the beginning and end of the first grade. Accuracy in decoding skills was measured only at the beginning. Regression analyses showed that listening comprehension and decoding skills (accuracy and fluency) always significantly predicted reading comprehension. The contribution of decoding was greater when reading comprehension was assessed via the task using short utterances. Between the two assessments, the contribution of vocabulary, and of decoding skills especially, increased, while that of listening comprehension remained unchanged.
These results challenge the 'simple view of reading'. They also have educational implications, since they show that it is possible to assess decoding and reading comprehension very early on in an orthography (i.e., French), which is less deep than the English one even in low SES children. These assessments, associated with those of listening comprehension and vocabulary, may allow early identification of children at risk for reading difficulty, and to set up early remedial training, which is the most effective, for them.
A longitudinal study analyzed (a) which lower- and higher-level semantic components uniquely predicted listening text comprehension and (b) the nature of the relation (i.e., direct and indirect) between the predictors and listening text comprehension in preschoolers. One-hundred and fifty-two children participated in the present study (68 females; mean age = 4;10 years/months and 5;5 years/months at Time 1 and Time 2, respectively). Participants were administered measures to evaluate listening text comprehension (Time 1 and Time 2) and (a) expressive and receptive word knowledge (lower-level semantic components), and (b) inferential skills and the ability to use context (higher-level semantic components) (Time 1). Verbal short-term and working memory were also included as control variables. Data were analyzed using path analysis models. Results showed that both types of semantic components (a) accounted for unique variance in listening text comprehension at Time 2, with lower-level semantic components explaining a larger proportion of variance than higher-level semantic components; (b) were related to later listening text comprehension through direct and indirect relations. Memory resources did not significantly contribute to listening text comprehension. The results are discussed in light of their theoretical relevance and educational/practical implications.
The lexical quality hypothesis (LQH) claims that variation in the quality of word representations has consequences for reading skill, including comprehension. High lexical quality includes well-specified and partly redundant representations of form (orthography and phonology) and flexible representations of meaning, allowing for rapid and reliable meaning retrieval. Low-quality representations lead to specific word-related problems in comprehension. Six lines of research on adult readers demonstrate some of the implications of the LQH. First, large-scale correlational results show the general interdependence of comprehension and lexical skill while identifying disassociations that allow focus on comprehension-specific skill. Second, word-level semantic processing studies show comprehension skill differences in the time course of form-meaning confusions. Studies of rare vocabulary learning using event-related potentials (ERPs) show that, third, skilled comprehenders learn new words more effectively and show stronger ERP indicators for memory of the word learning event and, fourth, suggest skill differences in the stability of orthographic representations. Fifth, ERP markers show comprehension skill differences in meaning processing of ordinary words. Finally, in text reading, ERP results demonstrate momentary difficulties for low-skill comprehenders in integrating a word with the prior text. The studies provide evidence that word-level knowledge has consequences for word meaning processes in comprehension.
This study investigates the role of linguistic and visuospatial attentional processes in predicting reading fluency in typical Italian readers attending primary school. Tasks were administered to 651 children with reading fluency z scores > -1.5 standard deviation to evaluate their phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming (RAN), verbal short-term memory, vocabulary, visual search skills, verbal-visual recall, and visual-spatial attention. Hybrid models combining confirmatory factor analysis and path analysis were used to evaluate the data obtained from younger (first and second grade) and older (third-fifth grade) children, respectively. The results showed that phonological awareness and RAN played a significant role among younger children, while also vocabulary, verbal short-term memory, and visuospatial attention were significant factors among older children.
http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/pCkImR7ACX24M4RPVie8/full
We present a meta-analysis to test the validity of the Simple View of Reading Gough & Tunmer (Remedial and Special Education,
7:6–10, 1986) for beginner readers of English and other, more transparent, orthographies. Our meta-analytic approach established that
the relative influence of decoding and linguistic comprehension on reading comprehension is different for readers of different
types of orthography during the course of early reading development. Furthermore, we identified key differences in the relations
among different measures of decoding and reading comprehension between readers of English and other more transparent orthographies.
We discuss the implications for reading instruction and the diagnosis of reading difficulties, as well as our theoretical
understanding of how component skills influence reading comprehension level.
For structural equation models, a huge variety of fit indices has been developed. These indices, however, can point to conflicting conclusions about the extent to which a model actually matches the observed data. The present article provides some guide-lines that should help applied researchers to evaluate the adequacy of a given struc-tural equation model. First, as goodness-of-fit measures depend on the method used for parameter estimation, maximum likelihood (ML) and weighted least squares (WLS) methods are introduced in the context of structural equation modeling. Then, the most common goodness-of-fit indices are discussed and some recommendations for practitioners given. Finally, we generated an artificial data set according to a "true" model and analyzed two misspecified and two correctly specified models as examples of poor model fit, adequate fit, and good fit. In structural equation modeling (SEM), a model is said to fit the observed data to the extent that the model-implied covariance matrix is equivalent to the empirical co-variance matrix. Once a model has been specified and the empirical covariance matrix is given, a method has to be selected for parameter estimation. Different estimation meth-ods have different distributional assumptions and have different discrepancy functions to be minimized. When the estimation procedure has converged to a reasonable
According to multicomponent models (Oakhill & Cain, 2007a45.
Oakhill , J. V. and Cain , K. 2007a . “ Introduction to comprehension development. ” . In Children's comprehension problems in oral and written language: A cognitive perspective Edited by: Cain , K. and Oakhill , J. V. 41 – 73 . New York : Guilford. . View all references), text comprehension is a complex process that requires the processing of explicit (i.e., information presented in the text) and implicit information (i.e., information inferable from the text or from previous knowledge), and involves various components. This study investigated (a) preschoolers' understanding of explicit and implicit information in oral texts and (b) the role of verbal and inferential skills in the processing of explicit and implicit information. Two hundred twenty-one 4- to 6-year-olds were evaluated as to their listening text comprehension and the following components: receptive vocabulary, verbal intelligence, and inferential skills. Working memory was a control variable. Results showed that (a) explicit information was easier to process than implicit information; and (b) all the components considered, except receptive vocabulary, accounted for comprehension of both types of information, and their role was stable in the age range considered.
The authors examined the development of oral language and decoding skills from preschool to early elementary school and their relation to beginning reading comprehension using a cross-sequential design. Four- and 6-year-old children were tested on oral language and decoding skills and were retested 2 years later. In all age groups, oral language and decoding skills formed distinct clusters. The 2 clusters were related to each other in preschool, but this relation became weaker in kindergarten and 2nd grade. Structural equation modeling showed that both sets of skills in 2nd grade independently predicted a child’s reading comprehension. These findings confirm and extend the view that the 2 clusters of skills develop early in a child’s life and contribute to reading comprehension activities in early elementary school, with each cluster making a considerable, unique contribution. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
A simple view of reading was outlined that consisted of two components, decoding and linguistic comprehension, both held to be necessary for skilled reading. Three predictions drawn from the simple view were assessed in a longitudinal sample of English-Spanish bilingual children in first through fourth grade. The results supported each prediction: (a) The linear combination of decoding and listening comprehension made substantial contributions toward explaining variation in reading comprehension, but the estimates were significantly improved by inclusion of the product of the two components; (b) the correlations between decoding and listening comprehension tended to become negative as samples were successively restricted to less skilled readers; and (c) the pattern of linear relationships between listening and reading comprehension for increasing levels of decoding skill revealed constant intercept values of zero and positive slope values increasing in magnitude. These results support the view that skill in reading can be simply characterized as the product of skill in decoding and linguistic comprehension. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of the simple view for the practice of reading instruction, the definition of reading disability, and the notion of literacy.
Developing the ability to read is a complex process involving a variety of skills, including both basic language skills and
language comprehension skills. Although a balanced reading program would include the development of basic language and comprehension
skills, comprehension has often been overlooked in early reading instruction. In this article, we examine recent research
findings on how comprehension skills develop in young children and discuss the implications of those findings for comprehension
assessment and interventions.
We examined the contribution of working memory capacity to the development of children’s reading comprehension. We present
data from three waves of a longitudinal study when the children were 7years (Grade 1), 8years (Grade 2) and 9years (Grade
3). Two questions were raised: The first question concerned the developmental changes of the relative contribution of working
memory in predicting reading comprehension compared to vocabulary and decoding skills. The second question explored to what
extent reading comprehension could be predicted by working memory capacity measured at a prior time. At the end of each grade,
reading comprehension, nonword reading, vocabulary knowledge and working memory capacity were assessed. To test the first
question, the predictive power of working memory capacity was compared to vocabulary and decoding skills by performing concurrent
multiple-regression analyses in each grade. The results showed that working memory capacity emerged as a direct predictor
of reading comprehension in Grade 3. To address the second question, we performed multiple-regression analyses predicting
reading comprehension from working memory, nonword reading, and vocabulary measured at a prior time. In these analyses, the
autoregressive effect was taken into account to separately assess the unique contribution of each predictor to the development
of later reading comprehension. The results showed that Grade 1 vocabulary and Grade 2 working memory had additional effects
on Grade 3 reading comprehension after the autoregressive effect of reading comprehension had been accounted for. These findings
support the idea that, as word recognition becomes automated throughout the early grade levels, working memory becomes an
important determinant of reading comprehension. There is also evidence that working memory capacity directly influences the
development of reading comprehension skills. The direction of the causal flow is discussed.
Whether the simple view of reading (SVR) as incorporated in the componential model of reading (CMR) is applicable to other orthographies than English was explored in this study. Spanish, with transparent orthography and Chinese, with opaque orthography were selected because of their diverse characteristics. The first part reports a study of students from grades 2 and 3, whose home language and medium of instruction was Spanish, and were administered tests of decoding, listening, and reading comprehension. A comparison group of 49 children from Grade 2, 54 children from Grade 3, and 55 children from Grade 4, whose home language and instruction was English, were also administered tests of decoding, listening, and reading comprehension. Multiple regression analysis showed that approximately 60% of the variance in reading comprehension of Spanish participants and 50% of the variance in reading comprehension of English participants were explained by decoding and listening comprehension. Furthermore, the performance of third grade Spanish participants resembled that of fourth grade English-speaking participants. In the second study, 102 Chinese students from Grade 2 and 106 students from Grade 4 were administered tasks of Chinese character recognition, reading fluency, listening, and reading comprehension. Multiple regression analyses showed character recognition and listening comprehension accounted for 25% and 42% of the variance in Chinese reading comprehension at Grades 2 and 4 respectively. These results indicate that the simple view of reading is applicable to writing systems other than that of English.
Practical problems that are frequently encountered in applications of covariance structure analysis are discussed and solutions are suggested. Conceptual, statistical, and practical requirements for structural modeling are reviewed to indicate how basic assumptions might be violated. Problems associated with estimation, results, and model fit are also mentioned. Various issues in each area are raised, and possible solutions are provided to encourage more appropriate and successful applications of structural modeling
Several previous studies have suggested that basic decoding skills may develop less effectively in English than in some other European orthographies. The origins of this effect in the early (foundation) phase of reading acquisition are investigated through assessments of letter knowledge, familiar word reading, and simple nonword reading in English and 12 other orthographies. The results confirm that children from a majority of European countries become accurate and fluent in foundation level reading before the end of the first school year. There are some exceptions, notably in French, Portuguese, Danish, and, particularly, in English. The effects appear not to be attributable to differences in age of starting or letter knowledge. It is argued that fundamental linguistic differences in syllabic complexity and orthographic depth are responsible. Syllabic complexity selectively affects decoding, whereas orthographic depth affects both word reading and nonword reading. The rate of development in English is more than twice as slow as in the shallow orthographies. It is hypothesized that the deeper orthographies induce the implementation of a dual (logographic + alphabetic) foundation which takes more than twice as long to establish as the single foundation required for the learning of a shallow orthography.
In this article, we provide some comments on the simple view of reading (SVR), now some 30 years after its initial proposal and empirical work (Gough & Tunmer, 1986; Hoover & Gough, 1990). We begin with an overview of what the SVR is as a conceptual model, as well as what it is not. We follow this with comments, in turn, on three papers presented in this special issue that assessed the adequacy of the SVR. We close with thoughts on the main points across the three papers reviewed. Throughout, we not only comment on the research about the simple view but also on its educational implications.
Few hypotheses in the field of literacy have proven as robust as the Simple View of Reading (SVR). Two studies included in this special issue use large participant samples and sophisticated quantitative analyses to confirm the basic claim of the SVR, that decoding and listening comprehension together predict reading comprehension. One also demonstrates a developmental shift from decoding to language as the primary predictor after about Grade 3. A third paper challenges the adequacy of the SVR for older readers, offering evidence that the nature of the text being read also must be taken into account in predicting comprehension outcomes. All three studies, though, use rather simple comprehension outcomes. I argue that reader skills in academic language, in perspective taking, and in argumentation are additional important predictors of comprehension when readers are confronted with 21st century literacy tasks, which require analysis, synthesis, and critique, not just literal inferences and summaries.
We assessed the simple view of reading as a framework for Grade 3 reading comprehension in two ways. We first confirmed that a structural equation model in which word recognition, listening comprehension, and reading comprehension were assessed by multiple measures to inform each latent construct provided an adequate fit to this model in Grade 3. We next examined how well prekindergarten (pre-K) oral language (vocabulary, grammar, discourse) and code-related (letter and print knowledge, phonological processing) skills predicted Grade 3 reading comprehension, through the two core components of the simple view: word recognition and listening comprehension. Strong relations were evident between pre-K skills and the complementary Grade 3 constructs of listening comprehension and word recognition. Notably, the pre-K latent constructs of oral language and code-related skills were strongly related to each other, with a much weaker (nonsignificant) relation between the complementary Grade 3 constructs of listening comprehension and word recognition.
This investigation examined unique and common effects of decoding and language factors that explain variance in reading comprehension in grades 1–10. Participants were 2938 students in 18 schools in two large districts in Florida. The dimensionality of decoding measures (i.e., phonological awareness and decoding fluency) and language measures (i.e., listening comprehension, vocabulary, and syntax) was examined with confirmatory factor analysis and related to a reading comprehension factor comprised of national and state tests. The resulting R2 was compared to the sum of the R2 of decoding-only and language-only models to obtain the unique and common variances explained by language and decoding. Across grades 1–10, most of the variance was explained by either the common variance between the decoding and language factors or the unique effect of the language factor. Results are discussed in the context of an expanded interpretation of the simple view of reading and educational implications are provided.
According to the simple view of reading (SVR), reading comprehension relies on "decoding" (pseudoword, word reading) and "oral comprehension" skills. Testing 556 French pupils, we aimed at unpacking these two components and tracking their longitudinal development in first grade. We have found that: (1) lower level language skills (vocabulary, syntax) and discourse skills (oral text comprehension) emerged as two dimensions of "oral comprehension"; (2) lower level language skills longitudinally predicted reading comprehension outcomes, above code-related skills; (3) decoding precursors (letter knowledge, naming speed and phonemic awareness) predicted reading comprehension directly, and indirectly, through decoding skills (pseudoword, word reading, text reading fluency); (4) Oral comprehension skills did not favour the development of decoding. Our results support the independency of the SVR components. However, we suggest that a more fine-grained conceptualisation of oral comprehension skills would help to better understand the individual and pedagogical factors influencing the early development of reading comprehension.
This study aimed to examine, from a cross‐sectional perspective, the extent to which the simple view of reading (SVR) model can be adapted to the Arabic language. This was carried out by verifying, in both beginning and more skilled readers, whether the unique orthographical and morphological characteristics of Arabic contribute to reading comprehension beyond decoding and listening comprehension abilities. Reading comprehension was evaluated in a large sample of first to sixth‐grade Arabic‐speaking children. The participants' decoding and listening comprehension abilities were investigated together with their orthographic and morphological knowledge. Path analysis indicated that reading comprehension was moderately explained by the SVR (56–38%). Orthographic and morphological knowledge explained an additional 10–22% of the variance beyond that explained by the basic SVR components. These findings demonstrate that certain linguistic aspects of Arabic impact reading processes differently when compared with other languages. The psycholinguistic implications of these findings are discussed in the light of previous findings in the literature.
What is already known about this topic? The ‘simple view of reading’ model explains reading comprehension as the product of decoding and listening comprehension.
This model explains between 70% and 83% of the variance in reading comprehension in English, in which the contribution of decoding and listening comprehension varies as a function of the level of the readers.
Orthographic transparency and other unique characteristics of the languages studied might influence reading comprehension in these languages
What does this paper add? Arabic is a diglossic language that is characterised by relatively unique orthographic and morphological features for which the validity of the simple view of reading (SVR) has not been tested.
The basic components of the SVR (decoding and listening comprehension) have explained between 56% and 38% of the variance in reading comprehension in children from the first to the sixth grade.
Decoding, as one of the basic components of the SVR, failed to contribute to reading comprehension when orthography and morphology were considered.
Implications for practice and/or policy This large‐scale cross‐sectional study is the first of its type to assess reading comprehension in Arabic.
The study justifies the necessity to assess the suitability of the SVR in languages with very specific linguistic characteristics such as Arabic.
The results emphasise the necessity of considering the complex orthography and the rich morphology of Arabic for improving teaching, assessment and intervention.
This study examined Italian 7- to 9-year-olds’ understanding of the connective but when used to relate two events in sentences embedded in short stories. Performance was largely accounted for by the cognitive complexity of the sentence that included the connective and the salience of its meaning (confirmed in a second study with adults). Additional influences on children’s performance were the category of the story in which the critical sentence was embedded and the child’s text comprehension abilities. Further, by 9 years of age, performance resembled that of adults. These findings make an advance in explaining the role of information presented in a text at different levels and an individual’s linguistic abilities in children’s understanding of the connective but in stories and its development.
This study examined the dynamic relationships among the components of the Simple View of Reading (SVR) in a transparent orthography (Finnish) and the predictive value of cognitive skills (phonological awareness, letter knowledge, rapid naming, and vocabulary) on the SVR components. Altogether, 1,815 Finnish children were followed from kindergarten to Grade 3. Their cognitive skills were assessed in kindergarten, listening comprehension and reading fluency in Grades 1 and 2, and reading comprehension in Grades 1-3. Reading fluency and listening comprehension accounted for 37% of the variance in reading comprehension in Grade 2 and 28% in Grade 3. The direct effect of reading fluency on reading comprehension disappeared after Grade 1, whereas the effect of listening comprehension remained significant across time. Cognitive skills predicted reading comprehension mainly indirectly via listening comprehension and reading fluency in Grade 1. These findings support the validity of the SVR model in the context of a transparent orthography, but they also show that the direct effect of reading fluency on reading comprehension wanes after the early school years.
The present five-year longitudinal study from preschool to grade 3 examined the developmental associations among oral language comprehension, task orientation, reading precursors, and reading fluency, as well as their role in predicting grade 3 reading comprehension. Ninety Finnish-speaking students participated in the study. The students' oral language comprehension (vocabulary knowledge, listening comprehension, and inference making) and task orientation were assessed in preschool, kindergarten, and grade 3. Reading precursors (letter knowledge and phonological awareness) were assessed at the first two timepoints and reading fluency at the third timepoint. Structural equation modeling showed that oral language comprehension, reading fluency, and task orientation each contributed uniquely to concurrent reading comprehension, and together they accounted for 76% of variance in reading comprehension. A reciprocal relationship was found between oral language comprehension and task orientation from preschool through kindergarten to grade 3, a finding that extends our knowledge of the longitudinal determinants of reading comprehension.
Based on its coincidence with a significant period in language development for children, preschool provides a favorable setting to foster vocabulary growth. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of two instructional conditions and an incidental exposure condition for teaching targeted vocabulary words to preschool students through storybook readings. In a withinsubjects design, 25 preschool students were taught nine vocabulary words from a storybook that was read three times in one week. We compared students’ word learning on words taught in three conditions that varied in terms of the intensity of instruction. Our findings indicated that participants showed greater word learning on words in the most intense condition (extended instruction) than words in the less intense conditions. However, there were no significant differences between word learning in the two lower-intensity conditions. Additionally, initial receptive vocabulary was related to scores on measures of target word knowledge.
The simple view of reading describes reading comprehension as the product of decoding and listening comprehension and the relative contribution of each to reading comprehension across development. We present a cross-sectional analysis of first, second, and third graders (N = 123–125 in each grade) to assess the adequacy of the basic model. Participants completed multiple measures to inform latent constructs of word reading accuracy, word reading fluency, listening comprehension, reading comprehension, and vocabulary. In line with previous research, structural equation models confirmed that the influence of decoding skill decreased with increasing grade and that the influence of listening comprehension increased. However, several additional findings indicate that reading development is not that simple and support an elaboration of the basic model: A strong influence of listening comprehension on reading comprehension was apparent by grade 2, decoding skill was best measured by word and nonword reading accuracy in the early grades and word reading fluency in grade 3, and vocabulary skills indirectly affected reading comprehension through both decoding skill and listening comprehension. This new elaborated model, which provides a more comprehensive view of critical influences on reading in the early grades, has diagnostic and instructional ramifications for improving reading pedagogy. 阅读的简单观念描述阅读理解为单词解码和聆听理解这两个成分的相乘组合,而每个成分对阅读理解的相对贡献跨越发展阶段。为评估这基本模型的适当性,本文作者提供一个对小学一、二和三年级学生(各级人数为123-125名)的横向研究分析报告。研究参与者完成了多项测验,以厘定单词朗读准确性、单词朗读流畅度、聆听理解、阅读理解和词汇等五个潜在构念的变数。结果与先前研究相一致,结构方程式模型证实字词解码的影响力随年级晋升而减少,聆听理解的影响力则随之而增加。但本研究的另外几个结果亦显示,阅读发展并不是这样简单,因而支持一个较详细阐述的基本模型:就二年级学生而言,聆听理解对阅读理解的强烈影响是明显的;就低年级学生而言,有意义和无意义单词阅读准确性是测定单词解码的最佳方法;就三年级学生而言,单词朗读流畅度却是测定单词解码的最佳方法;词汇是通过单词解码和聆听理解而间接影响阅读理解。这个新的而经详细阐述的基本模型,对研究低年级阅读能力的关键影响提供一个较全面的观点,并在改进阅读教学方面具有诊断方法和教学方法的影响力。 La perspectiva simple de la lectura describe la comprensión lectora como producto del desciframiento y la comprensión auditiva y la contribución relativa de cada uno a la comprensión lectora a través de su evolución. Primero presentamos un análisis representativo de primer, segundo y tercer grados (N = 123-125 en cada grupo) para evaluar lo apropiado del modelo básico. Los participantes completaron múltiples medidas para informar constructos latentes de la precisión lectora de las palabras, la fluidez de la lectura de la palabra, la comprensión oral, la comprensión lectora, y el vocabulario. Al igual que en investigaciones previas, los modelos de ecuaciones estructurales confirmaron que la influencia de la habilidad de descifrar se reducía a medida que subían de grado y que la influencia de la comprensión oral incrementaba. Sin embargo, varios resultados adicionales indican que el desarrollo de la lectura no es tan simple y apoyan una elaboración del modelo básico: Una influencia grande por parte de la comprensión oral en la comprensión lectora era aparente ya en el segundo grado, la habilidad de descifrar se podía medir mejor por medio de la precisión lectora de palabras y hápax en los grados menores y la fluidez lectora en el tercer grado, y la habilidad de aprender vocabulario afectaba indirectamente la comprensión lectora tanto por medio de la habilidad de descifrar como de la comprensión oral. Este nuevo modelo elaborado, el cual provee una perspectiva más amplia de influencias importantes en la lectura en los primeros grados, tiene ramificaciones diagnósticas y didácticas para el mejoramiento de la pedagogía de la lectura. إن النظرة البسيطة للقراءة تصف استيعاب القراة منتجاً لحل الرموز واستيعاب الاستماع والمساهمة النسبية لكليهما في استيعاب القراءة عبر التنمية. ونقدم ها هنا تحليلاً مقطعياً للطلاب في الصف الأول والثاني والثالث (عددهم = 123-125 في كل صف) كي نقيم صلاحية النموذج الأساسي. لقد أخذ المشتركون عدة امتحانات للإفادة بتراكيب باطنة في دقة قراءة الكلام وطلاقة قراءة الكلام واستيعاب الاستماع واستيعاب القراءة والمفردات. وتماشياً مع أبحاث سابقة، أكدت نماذج معادلة هيكلية أن تأثير مهارة حل الرمول تناقص مع التقدم في الصفوف وأن تأثير استيعاب الاستماع ازداد. بيد أن بضع نتائج إضافية تشير إلى أن تنمية القراءة ليست سهلة إلى هذه الدرجة وتدعو لتوسيع النموذج الأساسي: اتضح تأثير قوي لاستيعاب الاستماع على استيعاب القراءة عند الصف الثاني، ويتم أفضل تقييم لحل الرموز في دقة قراءة الكلام الحقيقي والكلام الوهمي في الصفوف المبكرة وطلاقة قراءة الكلام في الصف الثالث، ومهارات المفردات أثرت على استيعاب القراءة تأثيراً غير مباشر في مهارة حل الرموز واستيعاب الاستماع. وهذا النموذج الموسع الذي يوفر نظرة أكثر شمولاً لتأثيرات نقدية على القراءة في الصفوف المبكرة له نتائج تشخيصية وتعليمية من أجل تحسين تعليم القراءة. Пpocтoe пpeдcтaвлeниe o чтeнии oпиcывaeт пoнимaниe пpoчитaннoгo кaк пpoдyкт yмeния дeкoдиpoвaть и вocпpинимaть тeкcт нa cлyx. Cчитaeтcя, чтo имeннo coвoкyпнocть этиx yмeний и cocтaвляeт ocнoвy для пoнимaния пpoчитaннoгo. Для oцeнки aдeквaтнocти тaкoгo пoдxoдa в cтaтьe пpeдcтaвлeны peзyльтaты пepeкpecтнoгo aнaлизa чтeния cpeди yчaщиxcя пepвыx, втopыx и тpeтьиx клaccoв (N = 123-125 в кaждoй вoзpacтнoй гpyппe). Учacтники тecтиpoвaния выпoлнили мнoгoчиcлeнныe зaдaния нa тoчнocть и бeглocть чтeния cлoв, вocпpиятиe нa cлyx, пoнимaниe пpoчитaннoгo и oцeнкy cлoвapнoгo зaпaca. Пoдтвepдилиcь вывoды paнee пpoвeдeнныx иccлeдoвaний: влияниe нaвыкoв дeкoдиpoвaния нa пoнимaниe пpoчитaннoгo c вoзpacтoм yмeньшaeтcя, a влияниe нaвыкoв вocпpиятия нa cлyx pacтeт. Oднaкo дoпoлнитeльныe peзyльтaты, пoлyчeнныe в xoдe иccлeдoвaния, пoдcкaзывaют, чтo нe вce тaк oднoзнaчнo и пoнимaниe пpoчитaннoгo тpeбyeт дaльнeйшeгo изyчeния, пocкoлькy cильнoe влияниe пoнимaния нa cлyx выявляeтcя кo втopoмy клaccy, нaвык дeкoдиpoвaния лyчшe вceгo зaмepяeтcя тoчнocтью чтeния cлoв и нe-cлoв y пepвoклaccникoв, бeглocть чтeния cлoв – в тpeтьeм клacce, a cлoвapный зaпac кocвeннo влияeт нa пoнимaниe пpoчитaннoгo чepeз дeкoдиpoвaниe и пoнимaниe нa cлyx. Этa нeдaвнo paзpaбoтaннaя мoдeль oбecпeчивaeт бoлee вcecтopoннee пpeдcтaвлeниe o фaктopax, кoтopыe влияют нa чтeниe млaдшиx шкoльникoв, и имeeт диaгнocтичecкoe и мeтoдичecкoe знaчeниe для coвepшeнcтвoвaния oбyчeния чтeнию. La conception simple de la lecture comme produit du décodage et de la compréhension orale, avec une contribution variable de chacune d'elles selon le moment du développement. Nous présentons ici une analyse transversale d’élèves de première, seconde, et troisième année de scolarité (N = 123-125 à chaque niveau) afin d’évaluer la pertinence de ce modèle de base. Les participants ont répondu à plusieurs évaluations afin de savoir ce que sont les constructs sous-jacents de la lecture exacte de mots, de la lecture courante de mots, de la compréhension orale, de la compréhension en lecture, et du vocabulaire. Dans le prolongement des recherche antérieures, les modèles d’équation structurale confirment que l'influence da la compétence à decoder diminue quand le niveau scolaire augmente et que l'influence de la compréhension en lecture augmente. Cependant plusieurs résultats supplémentaires indiquent que le développement de la lecture n'est pas si simple et plaident en faveur d'une révision du modèle de base: en 2e année, on observe un important effet de la compréhension orale sur la comprehension de la lecture; on évalue mieux la compétence à décoder par l'exactitude dans la lecture de mots et de non-mots dans les premières classes et par la lecture courante en 3e année, et les compétences en vocabulaire jouent indirectement un rôle dans la compréhension de la lecture par le biais à la fois de la compétence en décodage et de la comprehension orale. Le nouveau modèle élaboré, qui fournit une conception plus intelligente de ce qui influe sur la lecture pendant les premières années, a des ramifications pour l’évaluation et l'enseignement en vue de développer la pédagogie de la lecture.
This study examined the interrelationships between linguistic comprehension skills (expressive vocabulary, word definition, oral narrative skills, and syntactic skills), decoding (word recognition and reading fluency) and reading comprehension (sentence comprehension and passage comprehension) among 369 Cantonese-speaking Chinese children in a 3-year longitudinal study from Grade 1 to Grade 3. Multiple regression analysis and structural equation modeling results suggested that the component skills of Chinese reading comprehension can be categorized into two major components: linguistic comprehension and decoding. The former is made up of oral narrative skills and syntactic skills, while the latter is made up of word recognition and reading fluency. The additive (i.e., linear) model with linguistic comprehension and decoding as predictors of reading comprehension provided an adequate account of the data in most analyses. The product of linguistic comprehension (syntactic skills) and decoding (word recognition/reading fluency) accounted for a significant amount of variance in passage comprehension at Grade 1 in addition to the linear contribution of linguistic comprehension and decoding.
We investigated component language and cognitive skills of oral language comprehension of narrative texts (i.e., listening comprehension). Using the construction-integration model of text comprehension as an overarching theoretical framework, we examined direct and mediated relations of foundational cognitive skills (working memory and attention), foundational language skills (vocabulary and grammatical knowledge), and higher-order cognitive skills (inference, theory of mind, and comprehension monitoring) to listening comprehension. A total of 201 first grade children in South Korea participated in the study. Structural equation modeling results showed that listening comprehension is directly predicted by working memory, grammatical knowledge, inference, and theory of mind and is indirectly predicted by attention, vocabulary, and comprehension monitoring. The total effects were .46 for working memory, .07 for attention, .30 for vocabulary, .49 for grammatical knowledge, .31 for inference, .52 for theory of mind, and .18 for comprehension monitoring. These results suggest that multiple language and cognitive skills make contributions to listening comprehension, and their contributions are both direct and indirect.
Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
The lavaan package is developed to provide useRs, researchers and teachers a free, open-source, but commercial-quality package for latent variable analysis. The long-term goal of lavaan is to implement all the state-of-the-art capabilities that are currently available in commercial packages, including support for various data types, discrete latent variables (aka mixture models) and multilevel datasets. Currently, the lavaan package provides support for confirmatory factor analysis, structural equation modeling, and latent growth curve models. In this document, we illustrate the use of lavaan by providing several examples. If you are new to lavaan, this is the first document to read.
The twofold purpose of this meta-analysis was to determine the relative importance of decoding skills to reading comprehension in reading development and to identify which reader characteristics and reading assessment characteristics contribute to differences in the decoding and reading comprehension correlation. A meta-analysis of 110 studies found a sizeable average corrected correlation ((r) over bar (c)= .74). Two reader characteristics (age and listening comprehension level) were significant moderators of the relationship. Several assessment characteristics were significant moderators, particularly for young readers: the way that decoding was measured and, with respect to the reading comprehension assessment, text genre; whether or not help was provided with decoding; and whether or not the texts were read aloud. Age and measure of decoding were the strongest moderators. We discuss the implications of these findings for assessment and the diagnosis of reading difficulties.
To clarify the role of decoding in reading and reading disability, a simple model of reading is proposed, which holds that reading equals the product of decoding and comprehension. It follows that there must be three types of reading disability, resulting from an inability to decode, an inability to comprehend, or both. It is argued that the first is dyslexia, the second hyperlexia, and the third common, or garden variety, reading disability.
The main aim of the present study was to empirically test the emergence of the Simple View of Reading (SVR) in a transparent orthography, and specifically in Greek. To do so, we examined whether the constituent components of the SVR could be identified in young, Greek-speaking children even before the beginning of formal reading instruction. Our investigation focused on Kindergarten children and examined the dissociation of decoding-related and language comprehension skills using Exploratory Factor Analysis. All children were administered a battery of decoding-related and comprehension measures. The analysis demonstrated that comprehension and decoding-related measures loaded as distinct factors in young Greek-speaking children and that the two factors were weakly correlated. The present findings provide important support for the validity of the SVR framework as a model of reading skills acquisition in a language with a transparent orthography, such as Greek.
In this two-year longitudinal study, we sought to examine the developmental relationships among early narrative listening comprehension and language skills (i.e., vocabulary knowledge, sentence memory, and phonological awareness) and the roles of these factors in predicting narrative listening comprehension at the age of 6 years. We also sought to examine the role of inference-making skills as longitudinal and concurrent predictors of other language skills and listening comprehension from the age of 4 to 6 years. One hundred thirty Finnish-speaking children participated in the study. A theoretical model of the developmental relationships among the variables was proposed and the associations were analyzed by means of path analysis. Results showed that inference skills, assessed through picture-book viewing, made a significant and unique contribution to variation in later narrative listening comprehension. Inference skills also played an indirect role in narrative listening comprehension by making a significant contribution to vocabulary knowledge even after controlling for earlier vocabulary knowledge and sentence memory. Although vocabulary knowledge and sentence memory were related to concurrent narrative listening comprehension, they did not predict later listening comprehension over and above the autoregressor. The results are discussed in terms of the predictive validity and diagnostic sensitivity of inference skills assessments in listening comprehension. Implications for research and theory are also discussed.
given that real data often fail to satisfy the underlying scaling and normality assumptions, there has been growing interest in determining the robustness of structural equation modeling techniques to violations of scaling the normality assumptions and in developing alternative remedial strategies when these assumptions are seriously violated / these topics are the focus of the present chapter
overview of normal theory estimation / effects and detection of nonnormality / remedies for multivariate nonnormality (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Specific effects of word decoding, vocabulary and listening comprehension abilities on the development of reading comprehension were longitudinally examined for a representative sample of 2143 Dutch children throughout the elementary school period. An attempt was made to test two theoretical frameworks for the prediction of the development of reading comprehension: the lexical quality hypothesis in which word decoding and vocabulary are assumed to be critical determinants of reading comprehension and the simple reading view in which reading comprehension is assumed to be the product of word decoding and listening comprehension. The results showed significant progress across grades on all of the predictor and criterion measures. The stability of the measures was also high across time, which shows the individual differences between students to remain across grades. Word decoding exerted a substantial effect on early reading comprehension and a small effect on later sixth grade reading comprehension. The data provide empirical support for the lexical quality hypothesis as they show knowledge of word forms and word meanings (i.e. vocabulary) to predict the development of reading comprehension. Support for the simple reading view was also found in that word decoding and listening comprehension significantly predicted reading comprehension as well. A combined structural model with word decoding, vocabulary and listening comprehension as predictors of reading comprehension showed a substantial impact of the three predictors on reading comprehension at first grade. In subsequent grades, vocabulary is still predicting reading comprehension directly whereas listening comprehension shows a reciprocal relationship with vocabulary. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Reading and written spelling skills for words and non-words of varying length and orthographic complexity were investigated in normal Italian first and second graders. The regularity and transparency of the mapping between letters and phonemes make Italian orthography an unlikely candidate for discrepancies between reading and spelling to emerge. This notwithstanding, the results showed that reading accuracy is significantly better than spelling. The difference is particularly striking in first graders, but it is still evident in 2nd graders, though most strongly on non-words. The data show that reading and written spelling are non parallel processes and that the developmental asynchrony reflects a partial structural independence of the two systems.
The present study sought to clarify the relations amongst serial decoding, irregular word recognition, listening comprehension,
facets of oral vocabulary and reading comprehension in two cohorts of children differing in reading level. In the process,
the components of the simple view of reading were evaluated. Students in grades 1 (n=67) and 6 (n=56) were assessed on measures of phonological awareness, decoding, irregular word recognition, listening comprehension,
oral vocabulary, and reading comprehension. Even when all other measures were controlled, vocabulary was found to explain
reading comprehension in grade 6 but not grade 1. Vocabulary also predicted decoding in grade 6 and irregular word recognition
in both grades. These results are interpreted as supporting a not-so-simple view of the constructs underlying reading comprehension
that acknowledges complex connections between print skills and oral language.
The authors examined the implications of test differences for defining and diagnosing comprehension deficits using reading comprehension tests. They had 995 children complete the Gray Oral Reading Test-3, the Qualitative Reading Inventory-3, the Woodcock-Johnson Passage Comprehension-3, and the Peabody Individual Achievement Test and compared which children were identified by each test as being in the lowest 10%. Although a child who performs so poorly might be expected to do poorly on all tests, the authors found that the average overlap between tests in diagnosing comprehension difficulties was only 43%. Consistency in diagnosis was greater for younger children, when comprehension deficits are the result of weaker decoding skills, than for older children. Inconsistencies between tests were just as evident when identifying the top performers. The different children identified as having a comprehension deficit by each test were compared on four profile variables-word decoding skill, IQ, ADHD symptoms, and working memory skill-to understand the nature of the different deficits assessed by each test. Theoretical and practical implications of these test differences in defining and diagnosing comprehension deficits are discussed.
This article presents the findings of the final phase of a 5-year longitudinal study with 168 middle- and upper middle-class children in which the complex relations among early home literacy experiences, subsequent receptive language and emergent literacy skills, and reading achievement were examined. Results showed that children's exposure to books was related to the development of vocabulary and listening comprehension skills, and that these language skills were directly related to children's reading in grade 3. In contrast, parent involvement in teaching children about reading and writing words was related to the development of early literacy skills. Early literacy skills directly predicted word reading at the end of grade 1 and indirectly predicted reading in grade 3. Word reading at the end of grade 1 predicted reading comprehension in grade 3. Thus, the various pathways that lead to fluent reading have their roots in different aspects of children's early experiences.