Examining the contribution of cognitive flexibility to metalinguistic skills and reading comprehension

The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which children’s executive function predicted their reading comprehension performance. Participants were approximately 18,000 kindergartners in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010–2011. The results suggest that individual differences in reading comprehension were influenced by variations in executive function. Cognitive flexibility, inhibitory control, and working memory all accounted for unique variance in reading comprehension. Language comprehension and fluency mediated the relations between children’s executive function and their reading comprehension. Working memory accounted for the highest total effect among the three core aspects of executive function. Children’s first-grade language comprehension contributed the most indirect effect, while fluency had the reading comprehension. The importance of considering ways to improve executive function, language comprehension, and fluency when implementing reading instruction and what the parents can do to help their children’s executive function and reading skills are discussed.

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A Different View on the Simple View of Reading

Remedial and Special Education ◽

10.1177/07419325211063487 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 074193252110634

Author(s):

Kenn Apel

Keyword(s):

Reading Comprehension ◽

Language Awareness ◽

Simple View Of Reading ◽

Simple View ◽

Wide Range ◽

Component Skills ◽

Educational Implications ◽

Linguistic Comprehension ◽

Metalinguistic Skills ◽

General Component

The simple view of reading (SVR) framework has been used for decades to explain two general component skills considered to contribute to reading comprehension: decoding and linguistic comprehension. In the past, researchers have assessed the linguistic comprehension component using a wide range of language and/or listening comprehension measures that differed from each other. Many of those tasks did not align with the concept of linguistic comprehension originally proposed. Regardless, the studies’ outcomes were similar: The SVR model adequately represents the process of reading comprehension. In this article, I propose a common thread that links those diverse measurement tasks; all the tasks measured students’ metalinguistic skills. In fact, the findings from these studies mirror those found from investigations directly measuring the influence of language awareness abilities on reading comprehension. I conclude the article with the theoretical and educational implications of taking a different view of the second component of the SVR model.

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Comunicación escrita, procesos lectores y habilidades metalingüísticas de estudiantes de primer año universitario / Written communication, reading processes and metalinguistic skills of first year students of university: Case Study

Revista Internacional de Aprendizaje en la Educación Superior ◽

10.37467/gka-revedusup.v4.259 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 4 (2) ◽

pp. 81-99

Author(s):

Paula Andrea Orozco Pineda ◽

Edgar Oswaldo Pineda Martinez ◽

Jairo Enrique Cortes Barrera

Keyword(s):

Reading Comprehension ◽

First Year ◽

First Year Students ◽

Reading Processes ◽

Metacognitive Processes ◽

Comprehension Skills ◽

Inferential Thinking ◽

Reading Comprehension Skills ◽

Metalinguistic Skills

RESUMENEste artículo describe las habilidades metalingüísticas y las habilidades de compresión de lectura involucradas en procesos de comprensión lectora y escritural en estudiantes de primer año universitario para establecer relaciones entre ellas. Se diseñaron dos grupos de trabajo para identificar las habilidades y se observaron sus relaciones con el género, la edad y el nivel socioeconómico en 700 estudiantes de primer año universitario, pertenecientes a diferentes programas de pregrado. Se encontró que las habilidades metalingüísticas y las de comprensión de lectura presentan diferencias en distintas edades y en diferentes niveles socioeconómicos, con mejores resultados en las inferencias complementarias y en las habilidades para relacionar el texto con el contexto; así mismo, se evidenció la correlación directa existente entre el pensamiento inferencial y la comprensión de lectura y se identificaron procesos cognitivos y metacognitivos que influyen en los procesos de comprensión lectora. Al final se expone una posible estrategia para abordar estas dificultades y deficiencias encontradas para el desarrollo de un plan de formación.ABSTRACTThis document describes the metalinguistic skills and reading comprehension skills, involved in writing and reading comprehension student’s processes, of the college of first year, to establish relationship between them. Two groups of work were designed to identify the mentioned skills and were observed their relations with their genre, age and socioeconomic level in 700 students of the first college’s academicals year, belonging to different undergraduate majoring. It was found that the metalinguistic and the reading comprehension skills, show different aspects in ages and socioeconomically levels, with their best results in the complementary inferences and in the ability to relate the text and the context; in the same way it was evidenced the existent direct correlation between the inferential thinking and the reading comprehension and were identified cognitive and metacognitive processes that affect the reading comprehension processes. At the end and it was exposed a possible strategy to approach the found difficulties and deficiency for the formation´s plan development.

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The Role of Cognitive Flexibility in Reading Comprehension: Past, Present, and Future

Handbook of Research on Reading Comprehension ◽

10.4324/9781315759609-17 ◽

2014 ◽

pp. 139-163

Keyword(s):

Reading Comprehension ◽

Cognitive Flexibility

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Cognitive Flexibility as a Moderator of the Relation between Reading Strategy Use and Reading Comprehension

10.30707/etd2015.gnaedinger.e ◽

2015 ◽

Author(s):

Emily K. Gnaedinger

Keyword(s):

Reading Comprehension ◽

Cognitive Flexibility ◽

Reading Strategy ◽

Strategy Use

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Metalinguistic Skills, Reading and Reading Comprehension Performance of Students of the 5th Grade.

Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences ◽

10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.01.757 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 174 ◽

pp. 1346-1350 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Simone Aparecida Capellini ◽

Bianca dos Santos ◽

Mariana Ferraz Conti Uvo

Keyword(s):

Reading Comprehension ◽

5Th Grade ◽

Metalinguistic Skills

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Distinct Effects of Executive Functioning, Impulsivity and Anxiety on Global and Local Reading Comprehension

Frontiers in Education ◽

10.3389/feduc.2021.746978 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 6 ◽

Author(s):

Rotem Leshem ◽

Carmit Altman

Keyword(s):

Reading Comprehension ◽

University Students ◽

Cognitive Flexibility ◽

Educational Achievement ◽

Self Report ◽

Attentional Processes ◽

Processing Strategies ◽

Trait Impulsivity ◽

The University ◽

Global And Local

Reading comprehension (RC) is a cognitive ability linked with higher-order cognitive functions referred to as executive functions (EFs) and is also associated with educational achievement. To date, there is little research exploring links between reading comprehension, EFs, and personality traits. This study attempts to fill this gap by elucidating the role of EFs, trait impulsivity, and trait anxiety in RC among university students. To achieve a more in-depth examination, RC is divided into its global and local subskills. Ninety university students (83% female) completed self-report questionnaires on EFs, impulsivity, and anxiety, a neuropsychological task for cognitive flexibility, and global/local RC assessments. Our results indicated distinct associations between poor general EFs and poor global RC, poor cognitive flexibility and poor local RC, and, finally, between high impulsivity and adequate global RC. Individual differences in global and local information processing strategies in the context of attentional processes and personal traits of the university students, is discussed.

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