Effects of Comprehension Skill on Inference Generation during Reading

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate differences between readers with different levels of comprehension skill when engaging in a causal questioning activity during reading, and the varied effects on inference generation. Fourth-grade readers (n = 74) with different levels of comprehension skill read narrative texts aloud and were asked causal questions at specific points during reading. Responses to questions were examined for the types of inferences the readers made during reading. There was no main effect of comprehension skill in terms of readers' text-based inferences made in response to the causal questions. However, readers differed in their use of knowledge-based inferences in response to the causal questions, and in particular knowledge-based inferences that connected to related text information. Results are discussed in terms of individual differences that can influence attempts at maintaining coherence during reading.

Assessing school‐aged children's inference‐making: the effect of story test format in listening comprehension

“…However, given the overlaps between listening and reading comprehension tasks, research from the latter modality provides useful background information for this study. Carlson et al (2014) found no overall difference in the number of inferences generated by 9-10 year olds with different levels of comprehension skill when asked causal questions during reading. This contrasts with findings from studies that use the traditional approach, assessing comprehension after reading is completed (Oakhill, 1984, e.g.…”

“…Thus, better comprehension ability for passages presented in a segmented format gives an indication about whether any difficulties arise from a tendency to process text in a piecemeal fashion rather than integrating information into the mental model as the text unfolds to ensure high standards of coherence. It may be the case that individuals currently identified as having comprehension difficulties are capable of making sufficient inferences to maintain coherence as they process text , but that existing measures are not sufficiently sensitive to capture this because comprehension questions are traditionally asked at the end of the task (Carlson et al, 2014). Therefore the segmented format should allow comparisons between inferences that are generated during the story and those that are identified after the material has been presented.…”

“…Those studies find that struggling readers generate fewer inferences than good readers. Carlson et al (2014) suggest that children who struggle with reading comprehension are capable of generating inferences and that being asked questions during reading may have decreased the task demands involved in the integration of information within the text sufficiently to allow them to generate appropriate inferences. It should be noted that struggling readers in their study still showed some impairment compared to good readers: they generated fewer knowledge-based inferences related to the text compared to their peers.…”

El rol de la memoria de trabajo y la atención sostenida en la generación de inferencias explicativas

“…Para lograr esta representación, el lector debe conectar ideas provenientes de diferentes partes del texto e integrarlas (Abusamra, & Joanette, 2012), esto es, debe realizar inferencias y conexiones entre la información literal explícita (Elbro & Buch-Iversen, 2013;van den Broek & Kendeou, 2008). La generación de inferencias se refiere a la activación de información que no se encuentra explícitamente enunciada durante la lectura para dar mayor coherencia a la oración focal que se está leyendo (Carlson et al, 2014;Freed & Cain, 2016;van den Broek, Risden, Fletcher, & Thurlow, 1996).…”

Special Education Teachers Integrating Reading with Eighth Grade U.S. History Content

“…Researchers have reached some consistency regarding instructional practices that succeed in improving reading ability of adolescent struggling learners (Berkeley et al, 2010;Kamil, Borman, Dole, Kral, Salinger, & Torgesen, 2008;Swanson & Deshler, 2003). These practices include strategies for reading multisyllabic words and understanding what they mean, and also for integrating words, phrases, and passages to construct mental representations of what they read (Carlson et al, 2014;Kintsch, 1988). Instruction in preparatory skills students may need, such as letter patterns, affixes, and morphemes (i.e., meaningful parts of words), need to be integrated with opportunities to apply these skills to words that are appropriate for students' age and grade (Ebbers & Denton, 2008).…”