Activation of background knowledge for inference making: Effects on reading comprehension

TY - JOUR

T1 - Activation of background knowledge for inference making: Effects on reading comprehension

AU - Elbro, Carsten

AU - Buch-Iversen, Ida

PY - 2013/11

Y1 - 2013/11

N2 - Failure to activate relevant, existing background knowledge may be a cause of poor reading comprehension. This failure may cause particular problems with inferences that depend heavily on prior knowledge. Conversely, teaching how to use background knowledge in the context of gap-filling inferences could improve reading comprehension in general. This idea was supported in an experimental study comprising 16 sixth-grade classes (N = 236) randomly assigned to experimental or control conditions. In the experimental condition, students' contribution to "gap-filling" inferences with expository texts were made explicit by means of graphic models and inference-demanding questions. After eight 30-min sessions, a large training effect was found on students' inference making skills with a substantial and sustained transfer effect to a standard measure of reading comprehension. The effects were not mediated by students' motivation, decoding ability, vocabulary, or nonverbal IQ.

AB - Failure to activate relevant, existing background knowledge may be a cause of poor reading comprehension. This failure may cause particular problems with inferences that depend heavily on prior knowledge. Conversely, teaching how to use background knowledge in the context of gap-filling inferences could improve reading comprehension in general. This idea was supported in an experimental study comprising 16 sixth-grade classes (N = 236) randomly assigned to experimental or control conditions. In the experimental condition, students' contribution to "gap-filling" inferences with expository texts were made explicit by means of graphic models and inference-demanding questions. After eight 30-min sessions, a large training effect was found on students' inference making skills with a substantial and sustained transfer effect to a standard measure of reading comprehension. The effects were not mediated by students' motivation, decoding ability, vocabulary, or nonverbal IQ.

KW - Faculty of Humanities

KW - Læseforståelse

KW - Inferens

U2 - 10.1080/10888438.2013.774005

DO - 10.1080/10888438.2013.774005

M3 - Journal article

SN - 1088-8438

VL - 17

SP - 435

EP - 452

JO - Scientific Studies of Reading

JF - Scientific Studies of Reading

IS - 6

ER -