Variables related to reading comprehension of expository texts in the first years of primary school.

DE MIER, M. VANESA

Workshop; SILE- ISEL Workshop Internacional sobre Literacidad en la escuela.; 2016

Research in the field of reading have widely consider the relationship between decoding and comprehension within the Simple View of Reading Model. In fact, results show that when beginning readers fail to develop automatic processing at word level, they also have a lower performance in reading comprehension. Previous studies on comprehension of expository texts have shown the incidence of, among other variables, prior knowledge activation to make inferences (Elbro & Buch-Iversen, 2013), text features (Kendeou & van den Broek, 2007), and vocabulary (Nagy & Scott, 2000; Strasser & del Río, 2014), especially since the third grade when the texts contain unfamiliar words (Allington, 2002, Ouellette & Beers, 2010). The goal of this study was to investigate reading comprehension in Spanish. Specifically, the aims of the present work were to provide an analysis of reading comprehension in expository texts made by children and to predict specific reading comprehension performance (good and poor) from decoding, vocabulary, fluency, and memory skills. Participants were 327 children from the 2nd through the 4th grades whom researchers assessed using a variety of tests of reading and related skills. They were divided in two groups: poor and good comprehension skills. The regression analysis showed that fluency affected reading comprehension of the expository text in the group of poor comprehenders while memory and deep vocabulary knowledge explained the performance of the good comprehension group. We discuss the results of regression analyses in the framework of understanding the role that decoding and fluency play in reading comprehension. We also consider the impact in teaching reading programs.