Early Oral Language Comprehension, Task Orientation, and Foundational Reading Skills as Predictors of Grade 3 Reading Comprehension

Abstract

<p> The present five-year<br /> longitudinal study from preschool to grade 3 examined<br /> the developmental associations among oral language comprehension,<br /> task orientation, reading precursors, and reading fluency, as well as their<br /> role in predicting grade 3 reading comprehension. Ninety Finnish-speaking<br /> students participated in the study. The students’ oral language comprehension<br /> (vocabulary knowledge, listening comprehension, and inference making)<br /> and task orientation were assessed in preschool, kindergarten, and grade 3.<br /> Reading precursors (letter knowledge and phonological awareness) were assessed<br /> at the first two timepoints and reading fluency at the third timepoint.<br /> Structural equation modeling showed that oral language comprehension,<br /> reading fluency, and task orientation each contributed uniquely to concurrent<br /> reading comprehension, and together they accounted for 76% of variance<br /> in reading comprehension. A reciprocal relationship was found between oral<br /> language comprehension and task orientation from preschool through kindergarten<br /> to grade 3, a finding that extends our knowledge of the longitudinal<br /> determinants of reading comprehension.</p>