Reader–text interactions: How differential text and question types influence cognitive skills needed for reading comprehension.

TLDR

Comprehension varies with text and question types, and reader characteristics such as word recognition, background knowledge, semantic and syntactic awareness, inferencing, and planning/organizing have been linked to reading success but not yet examined in relation to specific text and question types. This study investigates how reader characteristics interact with text and question types in children aged 10–14. The authors compared performance on narrative, expository, and functional texts and on literal versus inferential questions, analyzing how semantic and syntactic awareness, inferencing, and planning/organizing contribute to comprehension across these conditions. Results showed main effects of text and question types and an interaction where the relationship between question types differed by text type, with higher‑order skills such as inference and planning/organizing driving comprehension of more complex texts and inferential questions, suggesting early skill development benefits later reading.

Abstract

Current research has shown that comprehension can vary based on text and question types, and that readers' word recognition and background knowledge may account for these differences. Other reader characteristics such as semantic and syntactic awareness, inferencing, planning/organizing have also all been linked to reading comprehension, but have not been examined with regard to specific text and question types. The aim of this study was to explore the relationships between reader characteristics, text types, and question types, in children aged 10-14. We sought to compare children's performance when comprehending narrative, expository, and functional text, as well as to explore differences between children's performance on comprehension questions that assess their literal or inferential comprehension of a passage. To examine such differences, we analyzed the degree to which distinct cognitive skills (semantic and syntactic awareness, inferencing, planning/organizing) contribute to performance on varying types of texts and questions. This study found main effects of text and question types, as well as an interaction in which relations between question types varied between text types. Analyses indicated that higher order cognitive skills, including the ability to make inferences and to plan and organize information, contribute to comprehension of more complex text (e.g., expository vs. narrative) and question types (e.g., inferential vs. literal), and therefore are important components of reading for later elementary and middle school students. These findings suggest that developing these skills in early elementary school may better equip students for comprehending the texts they will encounter in higher grades.