A study of the relationship of reading skill, headings, and signals to comprehension monitoring of expository text
Abstract
Comprehension monitoring is regarded as a major component of skilled reading. However, individuals are not necessarily aware of their own comprehension failures. Monitoring deficits occur even among readers whose decoding and comprehension skills appear adequate. Features of a text's structure may influence comprehension monitoring. This study explored the interface among reading skill, headings, signals, and the monitoring process. Participants in the study were selected from two public schools in a largely middle-class suburban area. The sample consisted of 104 fifth graders who scored in the above-average and average ranges on standardized comprehension, word attack, and word identification tests. Comprehension monitoring was measured by assessment of anomaly identification in three reading conditions. Texts with headings were employed in the first condition; texts with signal words were employed in the second; a control text was employed in the third. The data were treated with multiple analyses of variance and chi-square tests, as well as descriptively. Comprehension skill and word identification skill were significantly related to comprehension monitoring success. Headings and signals did not influence monitoring.
Subject Area
Educational psychology|Literacy|Reading instruction|Developmental psychology
Recommended Citation
Todd, Edith Meisner, "A study of the relationship of reading skill, headings, and signals to comprehension monitoring of expository text" (1990). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI9109246.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI9109246
