Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Reading Comprehension Difficulties

  • Chapter
Handbook of Children’s Literacy

Abstract

In this chapter we consider the nature and the source of difficulties experienced by children with a specific type of comprehension deficit, children who have developed age-appropriate word reading skills but whose reading comprehension skills lag behind. As discussed elsewhere in this volume, text comprehension is a complex task that involves many different cognitive skills and processes. Consequently, there are many different aspects of the reading process where difficulties may arise, which may, in turn, contribute to these children’s poor comprehension. In this chapter, we examine the evidence that impairments at the word-, sentence-, and discourse-level play a causal role in this population’s comprehension difficulties. In addition, we consider whether deficits in cognitive abilities such as memory skills and general intelligence, and factors such as amount of exposure to print, contribute to poor comprehension.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 269.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 349.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 499.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Anderson, R. C., Wilson, P. T., and Fielding, L. G. (1988). Growth in reading and how children spend their time outside of school. Reading Research Quarterly, 13, 285–303.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barnes, M. A. & Dennis, M. (1998). Discourse after early-onset hydrocephalus. Core deficits in children of average intelligence. Brain and Language, 61, 309–334.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bentin, S., Deutsch, A., & Liberman I. Y. (1990). Syntactic competence and reading ability in children. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 48, 147–172.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bowey, J. A. (1986a). Syntactic awareness and verbal performance from preschool to fifth grade. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 15, 285–306.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bowey, J. A. (1986b). Syntactic awareness in relation to reading skill and ongoing comprehension monitoring. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 41, 282–299.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bradley, L. & Bryant, P. E. (1983). Categorising sounds and learning to read A causal connexion. Nature, 301, 419–421.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cain, K. (1994). An investigation into comprehension difficulties in young children Unpublished D.Phil. thesis. University of Sussex.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cain, K. (1996). Story knowledge and comprehension skill. In C. Cornoldi & J. V Oakhill (Eds), Reading Comprehension Difficulties Processes and Remechation (pp. 167–192 ). Mahwah. NJ. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cain, K. (1999). Ways of reading: How knowledge and use of strategies are related to reading comprehension. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 17, 293–309.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cain, K. (in press). Text comprehension and its relation to coherence and cohesion in children’s fictional narratives. British Journal of Developmental Psychology.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cain, K. & Oakhill, J. (1996). The nature of the relationship between comprehension skill and the ability to tell a story. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 14, 187–201

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cain, K. & Oakhill, J. V. (1999a). Inference making and its relation to comprehension failure. Reading and Writing. An Interdisciplinary Journal, I 1, 489–503.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cain, K. & Oakhill, J. (1999b). “Comprehension skill, context, and the interpretation of figurative language.” Paper presented at the sixth annual meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Reading, Montreal, April 1999.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cain, K., Oakhill, J. V., & Bryant, P. E. (1999). “Reading comprehension failure: Profiles of individuals from different populations. ”Paper presented at the 1999 biennial meeting of the Society for Research into Child Development, Albuquerque, April 1999.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cain, K., Oakhill, J. V., & Bryant, P. E. (2000a). Investigating the causes of reading comprehension failure- The comprehension-age match design. Reading and Writing. An Interdisciplinary Journal, 12, 31–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cain, K., Oakhill, J. V., & Bryant, P. E. (2000b). Phonological skills and comprehension failure: A test of the phonological processing deficit hypothesis. Reading and Writing. An Interdisciplinary Journal, 13, 3l - 56.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cain, K., Oakhill, J., & Elbro, C. (in press). The ability to learn new word meanings from context by school-age children with and without language comprehension difficulties. Journal of Child Language.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cain, K., Oakhill, J. V., & Lemmon, K. (under review). Individual differences in the inference of word meanings from context: the influence of reading comprehension, vocabulary knowledge, and memory capacity.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cain, K., Oakhill, J. V., Barnes, M. & Bryant, P. E. (2001). Comprehension skill, inference making ability and their relation to knowledge. Memory and Cognition, 29, 850–859.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carroll, J. B. (1993). Human Cognitive Abilities: A Survey of Factor-Analytic Studies. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Cataldo, M. G., & Oakhill, J.V. (2000). Why are poor comprehenders inefficient searchers? An investigation into the effects of text representation and spatial memory on ability to locate information in a text. Journal of Educational Psychology, 92, 791–799.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cipielewski, J., & Stanovich, K. E. (1992). Predicting growth in reading ability from children’s exposure to print. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 54, 74–89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cornoldi, C., De Beni, R., & Pazzaglia, F. (1996). Profiles of reading comprehension difficulties: An analysis of single cases. In C. Cornoldi and J. Oakhill (Eds.), Reading comprehension difficulties Processes and interventions (pp. 113–136 ). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cunningham, A. E., & Stanovich, K. E. (1997). Early reading acquisition and its relation to reading experience and ability 10 years later. Developmental Psychology, 33, 934–945.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Daneman, M. (1988). Word knowledge and reading skill. In M. Daneman, G., MacKinnon, & T. G. Waller (Eds.), Reading research Advances in theory and practice, vol. 6 (pp. 145–175 ). San Diego, CA, US: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Daneman, M., & Carpenter, P. A. (1980). Individual differences in working memory and reading. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 19, 450–466.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Daneman, M., & Carpenter, P. A. (1983). Individual differences in integrating information between and within sentences. Journal of Experimental Psychology Learning, Memory and Cognition, 9, 561–584.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Beni, R., Palladino, P., Pazzaglia, F., & Cornoldi, C. (1998). Increases in intrusion errors and working memory deficit of poor comprehenders. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology Human Experimental Psychology, 51A, 305–320.

    Google Scholar 

  • Echols, L. D., West, R. F., Stanovich, K. E., & Zehr, K. S. (1996). Using children’s literacy activities to predict growth in verbal cognitive skills: A longitudinal investigation. Journal of Educational Psychology, 88, 296–304.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ehri, L. C. (1999). Phases of development in learning to read words. In J. Oakhill & R. Beard (Eds.), Reading Development and the Teaching of Reading (pp 79–108 ). Oxford, UK: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ehrlich, M. F. (1996). Mctacognitive monitoring in the processing of anaphoric devices in skilled and less skilled comprehenders. In C. Cornoldi & J. V. Oakhill (Eds.), Reading Comprehension Difficulties Processes and Remediation. (pp. 221–249 ). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ehrlich, M. F., & Remond, M. (1997). Skilled and less skilled comprehenders: French children’s processing of anaphoric devices in written texts. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 15, 291–309.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ehrlich, M. F., Remond M., amp; Tardieu, H. (1999). Processing of anaphoric devices in young skilled and less skilled comprehenders: Differences in metacognitive monitoring Reading and Writing. An Interdisciplinary Journal, 11,29–63.

    Google Scholar 

  • Forrest-Pressley, D. L., & Waller, T. G. (1984). Cognition, Metacognmon, and Reading New York. Springer Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Freebody, P., & Anderson, R. C. (1983). Effects on text comprehension of differing proportions and locations of difficult vocabulary. Journal of Reading Behavior, 15, 19–39.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garner, R., & Kraus, C. (1981–1982). Good and poor comprehender differences in knowing and regulating reading behaviors. Educational Research Quarterly, 6, 5–12

    Google Scholar 

  • Gernsbacher, M. A., & Faust, M. (1991). The mechanism of suppression: A component of general comprehension skill. Journal of Experimental Psychology - Learning, Memory and Cognition, 17, 245–262.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gernsbacher, M. A., Varner, K. R., & Faust, M. (1990). Investigating differences in general comprehension skill. Journal of Experimental Psychology. Learning, Memory and Cognition, 16, 430–445.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hulme, C. & Snowling, M. (1992). Deficits in output phonology: A cause of reading failure? Cognitive Neuropsychology, 9, 47–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Juel, C., Griffith, P. L., & Gough, P. B. 1986 ). Acquisition of literacy: A longitudinal study of children in first and second grade. Journal of Educational Psychology, 78, 243–255.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jensen, A. (1980). Bias in Mental Testing. New York: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jetton, T. L., Rupley, W. H., & Willson, V. L. (1995). Comprehension of narrative and expository texts: The role of content, topic, discourse, and strategy knowledge. In Hmchman, K. A., Leu, D. J., & Kinzer, C. K. (Eds.) Perspectives on literacy research and practice. Forty-fourth yearbook of the national reading conference (pp. 197–204 ). Chicago: International Reading Conference.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson-Laird, P. N. (1983). Mental Models. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kirby, J. R., & Moore, P. J. (1987). Metacognitive awareness about reading and its relation to reading ability. Journal of Psychoeducational Learning, 2, 119–137.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kurtz, B. E. (1991). Cognitive and metacognitive aspects of text processing. In G Denhiere and J.-P. Rossi (Eds.), Text and Text Processing (pp. 77–103 ). North Holland: Elsevier.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Myers, M., & Paris, S. G. (1978). Children’s metacognitive knowledge about reading. Journal of Educational Psychology, 70, 680–690.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nagy, W. E., Herman, P. A., & Anderson, R. C. (1985). Learning words from context, Reading Research Quarterly, 20, 233–253.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nation, K. & Snowling, M. J. (1998a). Semantic processing and the development of word-recognition skills: evidence from children with reading comprehension difficulties. Journal of Memory and Language, 39, 85–101.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nation, K. & Snowling, M. J. (1998b). Individual differences in contextual facilitation• evidence from dyslexia and poor reading comprehension. Child Development, 69, 996–1011.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nation, K. & Snowling, M. J. (1999). Developmental differences in sensitivity to semantic relations among good and poor comprehenders: evidence from semantic priming Cognition, 70, 81–83.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nation, K., Adams, J. W., Bowyer-Crane, C. A., & Snowling, M. J. (1999). Working memory deficits in poor comprehenders reflect underlying language impairments. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 73, 139–158.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oakhill, J. V. (1981). Children’s Reading Comprehension. Unpublished D.Phil. Thesis. Unixersity of Sussex.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oakhill, J. V. (1982). Constructive processes in skilled and less-skilled comprehenders’ memory for sentences. British Journal of Psychology, 73, 13–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oakhill, J. V. (1983). Instantiation in skilled and less-skilled comprehenders. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 35A, 441–450.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oakhill, J. V. (1984). Inferential and memory skills in children’s comprehension of stories. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 54, 31–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oakhill, J.V. & Kyle, F. (2000). The relation between phonological awareness and working memory. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 75, 152–164.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oakhill, J. V., & Yuill, N. M. (1986). Pronoun resolution in skilled and less skilled comprehenders: Effects of memory load and inferential complexity. Language and Speech, 29, 25–37.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oakhill, J. V., & Yuill, N. M. (1988). Understanding of anaphoric relations in skilled and less skilled comprehenders. British Journal of Psychology, 79, 173–186.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oakhill, J.V, Cain, K. & Bryant, P. E. (in press). The dissociation of single-word reading and text comprehension: Evidence from component skills. Language and Cognitive Processes.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oakhill, J. V., Cain, K. & Yuill, N. (1998). Individual differences in young children’s comprehension skill: Toward an integrated model. In C. Hulme and R. M. Joshi (Eds.), Reading and Spelling• Development and Disorders (pp. 343–367 ). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oakhill, J.V. Hartt, J. & Samols, D. “Comprehension monitoring and working memory in good and poor comprehenders” Presented at the XIVth Biennial ISSBD Conference, Quebec City, August 1216 1996.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oakhill, J. V., Yuill, N. M., & Parkin, A. (1986). On the nature of the difference between skilled and less-skilled comprehenders. Journal of Research in Reading, 9, 80–91.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pany, D., Jenkins, J. R., & Schreck, J. (1982). Vocabulary instruction: effects of word knowledge and reading comprehension. Learning Disability Quarterly, 5, 202–215.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pazzaglia, F., Cornoldi, C., & de Beni, R. (1995). Knowledge about reading and self-evaluation in reading disabled children. Advances in Learning and Behavioral Disabilities, 9, 91–117.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paris, S. G., & Jacobs, J. E. (1984). The benefits of informed instruction for children’s reading awareness and comprehension skills.Child Development, 55, 2083–2093.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paris, S. G., & Myers, M. (1981). Comprehension monitoring, memory and study strategies of good and poor readers. Journal of Reading Behavior, 13, 5–22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Perfetti, C. A. (1985). Reading Ability. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Perfetti, C. A. (1994). Psycholinguistics and reading ability. In M. A. Gernsbacher (Ed.), Handbook of Psycholinguistics, (pp. 849–894 ). San Diego: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Perfetti, C. A., Marron, M. A., & Foltz, P. W. (1996). Sources of comprehension failure: theoretical perspectives and case studies. In C. Cornoldi & J. V. Oakhill (Eds.), Reading Comprehension Difficulties Processes and Remediation (pp. 137–165 ). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seigneuric, A., Ehrlich, M.-F., Oakhill, J.V. & Yuill, N.M. (2000). Working memory resources and children’s reading comprehension. Reading and Writing. An Interdisciplinary Journal, 13, 81–103.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Semel, E., Wiig, E. H., & Secord., W. (1987). Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals - Revised. San Diego, CA: The Psychological Corporation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shankweiler, D. (1989). How problems of comprehension are related to difficulties in decoding. In D. Shankweiler & 1. Y. Liberman (Eds.), Phonology and Reading Disability. Solving the Reading Puzzle, (pp. 35–68 ). Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Siegel, L. S. & Ryan, E. B. (1989). Development of working memory in normally achieving and subtypes of learning disabled children. Child Development, 60, 973–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smiley, S. S., Oakley, D. D., Worthen, D., Campione, J., & Brown, A. L. (1977). Recall of thematically relevant material by adolescent good and poor readers as a function of written versus oral presentation. Journal of Educational Psychology, 69, 381–387.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, S. T., Macaruso, P., Shankweiler, D., & Crain, S. (1989). Syntactic comprehension in young poor readers. Applied Psycholinguistics, 10, 429–454.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spilich, G. J., Vesonder, G. T., Chiesi, H. L., & Voss J. F. (1979). Text processing of domain-related information for individuals with high and low domain knowledge. Journal of Verbal learning and Verbal Behavior, 18, 275–290.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stanovich, K. E. (1993). Does reading make you smarter? Literacy and the development of verbal intelligence. In H. Reese (Ed.), Advances in Child Development and Behavior, vol. 24, (pp. 133–180 ). New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stein, N. L., & Glenn, C. G. (1982). Children’s concept of time: The development of a story schema. In W. J. Friedman (Ed.), The Developmental Psychology of Time, (pp. 255–282 ). New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sternberg, R. J., & Powell, J. S. (1983). Comprehending verbal comprehension. American Ps_tchologist, 38, 878–893.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stothard, S. E., & Hulme, C. (1992). Reading comprehension difficulties in children: The role of language comprehension and working memory skills. Reading and Writing. An Interdisciplinary Journal, 4. 245–256.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stothard, S. E., & Hulme, C. (1996). A comparison of phonological skills in children with reading comprehension difficulties and children with word reading difficulties. Journal of Child Psychology and Child Psychiatry, 36, 399–408.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, B. M., Frye B. J., & Maruyama, G. M. (1990). Time spent reading and reading growth. American Educational Research Journal. 27, 351–362.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tunmer, W. E. (1989). The role of language-related factors in reading disability. In D. Shankweiler, & I. Y. Liberman (Eds.), Phonology and Reading Disability Solving the Reading Puzzle, (pp. 91–132 ). Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tunmer, W. E., & Bowey, J. A. (1984). Metalinguistic awareness and reading acquisition. In W. E. Tunmer, C. Pratt, & M. L. Herriman (Eds.), Metalinguistic Awareness in Children (pp. 144–168 ). New York: Springer-Verlag.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Wagner, R., & Torgesen, J. K. (1987). The nature of phonological processing and its causal role in the acquisition of reading skills. Psychological Bulletin, 101, 192–212.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wittrock, M. C., Marks, C., & Doctorow, M. (1975). Reading as a generative process. Journal of Educational Psychology, 67, 484–489.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yuill, N., & Joscelyne, T. (1988). Effect of organisational cues and strategies on good and poor comprehenders’ story understanding. Journal of Educational Psychology, 80, 152–158

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yuill, N. & Oakhill, J. (1988). Understanding of anaphoric relations in skilled and less skilled comprehenders. British Journal of Psychology, 79, 173–186.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yuill, N. & Oakhill, J. (1991). Children’s Problems in Text Comprehension An Experimental Investigation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yuill, N. M., Oakhill, J. V., & Parkin, A. J. (1989). Working memory, comprehension skill and the resolution of text anomaly. British Journal of Psychology, 80, 351–361

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. Kate Cain
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jane Oakhill
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Terezinha Nunes Peter Bryant

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2004 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Cain, K., Oakhill, J. (2004). Reading Comprehension Difficulties. In: Nunes, T., Bryant, P. (eds) Handbook of Children’s Literacy. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-1731-1_18

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-1731-1_18

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-90-481-6422-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-017-1731-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation