Understanding Narrative Texts: Inferences Made During Reading by Children With and Without Language Impairments
Year: 2011
Type: dissertation
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Successful reading comprehension relies on a number of abilities, including decoding and using linguistic and world knowledge to link text propositions. While \ndifficulties with reading comprehension are well documented for children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI), only a handful of studies have investigated the inferences \nchildren with SLI make as they read. The present study examines the inferences made by children with SLI during and after reading, with particular attention to causal inferences, considered critical to good comprehension. The common procedure for assessing inferences - asking comprehension questions after reading - was combined with the more novel approach of eliciting children's thoughts about the text as they read ("think-aloud"). \nTwelve children with SLI (M age = 10;2) were compared to 12 age-matched peers with typical language development (TLD). The SLI group had lower scores than the TLD group on literal comprehension questions, and inferential questions requiring informational and causal inferences. The think-aloud data were consistent with these findings, and additionally showed that the causal inferences of the SLI group were less accurate than in the TLD group. Nevertheless, both groups had higher scores on \ncomprehension questions after engaging in the think-aloud, with the improvement in the SLI group driven by a significant improvement in causal comprehension. The results are examined in light of children's performance on measures of oral language and working memory, and discussed in terms of reading comprehension theories. Practical \napplications of the think-aloud procedure are also considered.
Author: Brenna N McClintock
Language: English
Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4342682