TY - JOUR

T1 - The role of speech prosody and text reading prosody in children's reading comprehension

AU - Veenendaal, Nathalie J.

AU - Groen, Margriet A.

AU - Verhoeven, Ludo

PY - 2014/12

Y1 - 2014/12

N2 - BackgroundText reading prosody has been associated with reading comprehension. However, text reading prosody is a reading‐dependent measure that relies heavily on decoding skills. Investigation of the contribution of speech prosody – which is independent from reading skills – in addition to text reading prosody, to reading comprehension could provide more insight into the general role of prosody in reading comprehension.AimsThe current study investigates how much variance in reading comprehension scores is explained by speech prosody and text reading prosody, after controlling for decoding, vocabulary, and syntactic awareness.SampleA battery of reading and language assessments was performed by 106 Dutch fourth‐grade primary school children.MethodsSpeech prosody was assessed using a storytelling task and text reading prosody by oral text reading performance. Decoding skills, vocabulary, syntactic awareness, and reading comprehension were assessed using standardized tests.ResultsHierarchical regression analyses showed that text reading prosody explained 6% of variance and that speech prosody explained 8% of variance in reading comprehension scores, after controlling for decoding, vocabulary, and syntactic awareness. Phrasing was the significant factor in both speech and text reading. When added in consecutive order, phrasing in speech added 5% variance to phrasing in reading. In contrast, phrasing in reading added only 3% variance to phrasing in speech.ConclusionsThe variance that speech prosody explained in reading comprehension scores should not be neglected. Speech prosody seems to facilitate the construction of meaning in written language.

AB - BackgroundText reading prosody has been associated with reading comprehension. However, text reading prosody is a reading‐dependent measure that relies heavily on decoding skills. Investigation of the contribution of speech prosody – which is independent from reading skills – in addition to text reading prosody, to reading comprehension could provide more insight into the general role of prosody in reading comprehension.AimsThe current study investigates how much variance in reading comprehension scores is explained by speech prosody and text reading prosody, after controlling for decoding, vocabulary, and syntactic awareness.SampleA battery of reading and language assessments was performed by 106 Dutch fourth‐grade primary school children.MethodsSpeech prosody was assessed using a storytelling task and text reading prosody by oral text reading performance. Decoding skills, vocabulary, syntactic awareness, and reading comprehension were assessed using standardized tests.ResultsHierarchical regression analyses showed that text reading prosody explained 6% of variance and that speech prosody explained 8% of variance in reading comprehension scores, after controlling for decoding, vocabulary, and syntactic awareness. Phrasing was the significant factor in both speech and text reading. When added in consecutive order, phrasing in speech added 5% variance to phrasing in reading. In contrast, phrasing in reading added only 3% variance to phrasing in speech.ConclusionsThe variance that speech prosody explained in reading comprehension scores should not be neglected. Speech prosody seems to facilitate the construction of meaning in written language.

KW - reading comprehension

KW - text reading prosody

KW - speech prosody

U2 - 10.1111/bjep.12036

DO - 10.1111/bjep.12036

M3 - Journal article

VL - 84

SP - 521

EP - 536

JO - British Journal of Educational Psychology

JF - British Journal of Educational Psychology

SN - 0007-0998

IS - 4

ER -