The correlation between metaphor comprehension and reading comprehension of poor readers in 4-6 grades

Abstract

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to identify metaphor comprehension according to types of metaphors in poor readers grades 4 through 6. Methods: The participants in this study were 21 elementary school students with poor reading ability and 21 age-matched students with normal reading skills. The metaphor comprehension task was composed of 40 questions (perceptual metaphors, psychological metaphors). The reading comprehension task was taken from the Korean Language based Reading Assessment (KOLRA). Results: First, the poor readers had lower metaphor comprehension compared to the normal children. Second, there was no difference in metaphor comprehension according to types of metaphors. Third, there was no interaction between the reading group and metaphor types. Fourth, the normal readers had no correlation between metaphor comprehension and reading comprehension, whereas the poor readers had a significant correlation between their metaphor comprehension and reading comprehension. Conclusion: The study demonstrated that poor readers had difficulties with metaphor comprehension and that there was a correlation between reading comprehension and metaphor comprehension. The normal children's ability to understand metaphor reached the completion stage in the upper grades. This study suggests that children need to master various linguistic elements, including metaphor comprehension. It seems necessary consider metaphor comprehension when providing an intervention program for poor readers.