ERIC Number: EJ1061912
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015-May
Pages: 11
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0022-0663
EISSN: N/A
The Relations between Lower and Higher Level Comprehension Skills and Their Role in Prediction of Early Reading Comprehension
Silva, Macarena; Cain, Kate
Journal of Educational Psychology, v107 n2 p321-331 May 2015
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.
Descriptors: Young Children, Receptive Language, Vocabulary, Grammar, Verbal Communication, Inferences, Reading Comprehension, Story Reading, Prediction, Nonverbal Ability, Short Term Memory, Predictor Variables, Longitudinal Studies, Influences, Elementary School Students, Kindergarten, Grade 1, Foreign Countries, Cognitive Ability, Picture Books, Language Skills
American Psychological Association. Journals Department, 750 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002. Tel: 800-374-2721; Tel: 202-336-5510; Fax: 202-336-5502; e-mail: order@apa.org; Web site: http://www.apa.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education; Kindergarten; Primary Education; Early Childhood Education; Grade 1
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: United Kingdom
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: British Ability Scales; Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A