Text Comprehension of Korean 3rd to 4th Graders of Typical Development and with Developmental Dyslexia Considering Semantic Knowledge

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to examine text comprehension ability according to text comprehension modes and question types for typical developing (TD), developmental dyslexic without poor semantic knowledge (DD), and developmental dyslexic with poor semantic knowledge (DD-PS) groups in 3rd to 4th graders. Methods: Thirty-nine children participated, with 13 children in each group. To assess text comprehensive ability; narrative text with topics familiar to 3rd and 4th graders were provided at a decodable level for students with dyslexia. Text comprehension ability was examined according to text comprehension modes (oral reading, silent reading, listening) and question types (literal informative, inferential informative). Results: In the groups, there were no significant differences between TD and DD, but DD-PS showed lower performance than TD. In the text comprehension modes, oral reading resulted in a higher performance than silent reading and listening. According to the groups and question types, TD and DD-PS showed significant differences in literal informative questions. However, in inferential informative questions, all the groups showed significant differences. Conclusion: These results showed the possibility that developmental dyslexic children may have similar performance to typical developing children in literal informative questions if they are provided decodable and controlled texts. It seems that dyslexic children are in need of linguistic support as well as literacy support. Lastly, the importance of oral reading extends to 3rd and 4th graders with difficulty in reading as it aids in the efficient use of limited cognitive resources not only for reading but also for comprehending inferring information.