Connections Between Lower- and Higher-Order Component Skills of Reading Comprehension and Written Expression

• In Event: The Interrelation of Literacy Skills Across Languages: Reading-Writing Connections in Monolinguals and Bilinguals

Abstract

Theoretical Background: It is known that reading problems are comorbid with writing problems. Further, reading is implicated in some aspects of writing, including reviewing and editing. Older theoretical models devoted solely to the interaction among reading and writing processes and broader frameworks of writing in adults specify various mechanisms of co-development. For example, text is extended according to background knowledge and the writer’s hypotheses about the readers’ knowledge, particularly in later grades, when students are required to write about topics outside of themselves. Inferencing allows the writer to elaborate a new representation from a former one. Inferencing has been directly related to writing for children in first grade and in college. Finally, it has long been recognized that vocabulary plays a key role in writing development. The important conclusion from the theoretical literature is that higher-order reasoning processes of reading and writing are text-based (i.e., require interaction with text) rather than broadly defined cognitive or linguistic processing. Despite what is known, however, there remain significant barriers to understanding the nature of these relations, as few studies have studied these relations.
Purpose and Methods: This study consists of a secondary data analysis of two studies employing structural equation modelling (SEM) to evaluate relations among reading components and writing components independently, using the Direct and Inferential Mediation Model (DIME) of reading comprehension and Not-so-Simple View of Writing (NSVW) as theoretical frameworks. The present study evaluates the relations between reading and writing components from these models: lower-order components included word reading, vocabulary, handwriting and spelling; higher-order components included: background knowledge, reading strategies, inferencing, pre-planning, editing, and revision. The literacy outcomes were oral reading fluency and reading comprehension, on the one hand, and writing quality and productivity on the other hand. We hypothesized that lower-order reading skills would predict transcription skills (handwriting and spelling) and higher-order reading skills would be related to both lower- and higher-order writing skills. The sample consisted of 405 children in grades 3-5 who were identified as struggling readers using the 25th percentile cutoff on the Test of Reading Efficiency and Comprehension (TOSREC). These students also struggled with written expression as evidenced by low scores on the Test of Written Language (TOWL).
Results and Conclusions: The results found support for the role of (1) word reading to spelling; (2) vocabulary to editing; (3) background knowledge and inferencing to writing quality; and (4) the robust association of oral reading fluency with all writing skills. The findings suggest that text reading fluency, and not deeper reading comprehension, is a critical factor in children’s written expression, and that the shared sources of common knowledge and skills include background knowledge and inferencing.

Author

• Yusra Ahmed, University of Houston