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Syntactic comprehension in young poor readers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2008

Suzanne T. Smith ,
Paul Macaruso ,
Donald Shankweiler  and
Stephen Crain
Suzanne T. Smith*
Affiliation:
Neurolinguistics Laboratory, Massachusetts General Hospital
Paul Macaruso
Affiliation:
University of Connecticut and Haskins Laboratories
Donald Shankweiler
Affiliation:
University of Connecticut and Haskins Laboratories
Stephen Crain
Affiliation:
University of Connecticut and Haskins Laboratories
*
Suzanne T. Smith, MGH Neurolinguistics Laboratory, 15 River Street, Boston, MA 02108
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Abstract

Children with specific reading disability fail to understand some complex spoken sentences as well as good readers. This investigation sought to identify the source of poor readers' comprehension difficulties. Second-grade good and poor readers were tested on spoken sentences with restrictive relative clauses in two experiments designed to minimize demands on working memory. The methodological innovations resulted in a high level of performance by both reader groups, demonstrating knowledge of relative clause structure. The poor readers' performance closely paralleled that of the good readers both in pattern of errors and in awareness of the pragmatic aspects of relative clauses. The findings suggest that limitations in processing account for comprehension difficulties displayed by some poor readers in previous investigations.

Type
Articles
Information
Applied Psycholinguistics , Volume 10 , Issue 4 , December 1989 , pp. 429 - 454
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1989

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