Reading at different levels of understanding in elementary school children: the effects of medium format, topic interest, and reading goal on text comprehension

Abstract

Reading comprehension is essential for academic success and later participation in society. However, national and international assessment studies show that the reading comprehension skills of Dutch children have declined in recent years, particularly at deeper levels of comprehension. These deeper levels go beyond understanding what is explicitly stated in a text and include, for example, making connections across the text and reflecting on its content. Against this background, this dissertation investigates factors that may contribute to deeper text comprehension in children in the upper grades of elementary school. It builds on the idea that comprehension arises from the interaction between the text, the reader, and the reading activity. One factor is examined for each of these components: the medium format through which information is presented as a characteristic of the text, interest in the topic of a text as a characteristic of the reader, and reading goal as a characteristic of the reading activity. Both comprehension outcomes (after reading) and comprehension processes (during reading) are studied, providing insight not only into whether successful comprehension is achieved, but also how it emerges. Results show that each of the three factors has the potential to promote deeper levels of comprehension, particularly among children who struggle with reading comprehension. These findings point to different ways in which relatively simple adaptations to the reading context may help children develop a better understanding of texts. By examining the processes that unfold during reading, the studies also provide insight into how such adaptations may support comprehension. Taken together, the research presented in this dissertation may inform the design of effective reading instruction in educational practice.