Grade three readers' inference strategies : the identification of and relationship to reading ability

Yetman, Sheila Ann (1991) Grade three readers' inference strategies : the identification of and relationship to reading ability. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

[English] PDF (Migrated (PDF/A Conversion) from original format: (application/pdf)) - Accepted Version Available under License - The author retains copyright ownership and moral rights in this thesis. Neither the thesis nor substantial extracts from it may be printed or otherwise reproduced without the author's permission. Download (19MB) [English] PDF - Accepted Version Available under License - The author retains copyright ownership and moral rights in this thesis. Neither the thesis nor substantial extracts from it may be printed or otherwise reproduced without the author's permission. (Original Version)

Abstract

Reading comprehension consists of a number of cognitive processes that are used to construct meaning. The research reported herein investigated the inferring process which is considered to be essential to the comprehension of text. The purpose of the study was to identify the inference strategies of grade three readers and to determine whether or not there was a relationship between reading ability and strategy use. -- Thirty grade three readers from two heterogeneous classes comprised the sample. Using a combined methodology of independent verbal reports and questions where necessary, the readers were asked to verbalize what they were thinking as they read a narrative text. The questions were used to supplement the reports in cases where insufficient or unclear information was given by the readers. The verbal reports were analyzed to determine how the readers made their interpretations of the story. Reading ability was determined by the percentiles achieved on the Vocabulary and Comprehension subtests of the Canadian Tests of Basic Skills (King-Shaw, 1989). -- The data were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. Qualitative results showed that the grade three readers used nine inference strategies in their attempts to comprehend the narrative. Quantitative results showed a significant positive relationship between vocabulary and comprehension, a significant negative relationship between vocabulary, comprehension, and strategy 5 (defaulting and transforming) and a number of significant positive relationships among the strategies themselves. -- Conclusions of the study, implications for comprehension instruction and recommendations for further research are also discussed.

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