The relationship between inference skills and reading comprehension

Abstract

This research aims to reveal the extent to which inference-making ability predicts reading comprehension skill. The research participants consisted of 117 middle-grade students attending 5th and 6th grades. The data was collected by Inference-Making Ability Test and Reading Comprehension Test. The tests were administered to the respondents in a single session and the answers were interpreted by two evaluators. The answers provided by the participants were imported into a statistical software after being coded and were analyzed. The research findings showed that the participants had poor level of inference-making ability. Whereas reading comprehension skills of the participants was at a medium level. While especially lexical inferencing was achieved at a satisfying level, propositional and pragmatic inferencing could not be attained at sufficient levels. The research results assert that inference-making ability predicted reading comprehension skill at a medium level. In light of this finding, it was recommended to introduce and include inference-making strategy in reading and literacy education so that the level of reading comprehension skill would be enhancedges.