Higher-Order Comprehension Processes in Struggling Readers: A Perspective for Research and Intervention

TLDR

Reading difficulties persist from childhood into adulthood, and research has identified decoding, vocabulary, and comprehension skills as essential for successful reading, noting that even proficient readers can struggle when lacking processing skills or knowledge. The article reviews cognitive science research on higher‑order, coherence‑oriented comprehension processes to offer an empirically grounded perspective for studying struggling readers. The authors draw on cognitive‑science research describing higher‑order, coherence‑oriented comprehension processes as a framework for investigating struggling readers. The perspective informs instructional development and assessment by linking to effective interventions, guides the authors’ own research to extend understanding of readers’ difficulties, and proposes new avenues for addressing challenges in reading comprehension.

Abstract

Abstract Many children struggle to learn to read, and these difficulties can persist well into adulthood. To address this problem, researchers have investigated the processes that underlie reading. An informative body of work has thus identified basic skills (e.g., decoding, vocabulary knowledge) as necessary for successful reading. Researchers also have begun to examine comprehension skills and their contributions to the reading process. In this article we describe research from the cognitive sciences on the processes that underlie higher-order, coherence-oriented comprehension to provide an empirically and theoretically driven perspective for investigating struggling readers' difficulties. We show that this perspective is particularly beneficial in the development and assessment of instructional approaches by relating it to existing, effective interventions. Finally, we demonstrate how our own research activities have derived from this perspective and how preliminary findings extend our understanding of readers' difficulties. This work seeks to address existing challenges in the field of reading comprehension while also suggesting new ways of investigating the plight of struggling readers. Notes 1These same constrained patterns occur in older children or adults when they are lacking essential processing skills, capacities, adequate strategies, or prior knowledge. Indeed, even otherwise proficientreaders may suffer in similar fashions when rushed through their reading of a text, when lacking knowledge necessary for understanding a text, and so on.