Examining the Influence of Educational Cognitive Style on Reading Comprehension.

Abstract

Fifteen third grade students wrote one structured and one unstructured story using the language-experience approach to reading. Stories were dictated and transcribed. The mode of underst and ing of each story was determined by a panel of educators and an educational cognitive style map was developed for each student. High, average, and low comprehension scores were determined for each student using the Teaching Upper Grade Students (TUGS). The panel listened to tape recordings of the students reading the stories and with a transcription before them noted comprehension miscues (oral reading errors) based on Goodman's miscue analysis. These comprehension miscues were the dependent variable. The elements of educational cognitive style map of the student and the mode of underst and ing of the story were matched at four levels. Analysis of variance was used to test the significance of relationships and interactions of Story, Match, and Comprehension. Findings indicate that there was a statistically significant effect of Story, Comprehension, and Match. There were no statistically significant interactions. Children made the least number of comprehension miscues when reading a structured story generated using the language-experience approach to reading. Students with higher comprehension level made significantly fewer Goodman reading comprehension miscues. A child made the least number of Goodman comprehension miscues when the child read an experience story dictated by himself/herself, and when a child read an experience story dictated by another child whose educational cognitive style was similar to his/her own. The higher the degree of educational cognitive style match the student had with the mode of underst and ing of the story, the lower the number of Goodman comprehension miscues. The higher the degree of educational cognitive style match between the reader and the written materials, the greater the degree of comprehension. It is recommended that the educational cognitive style match between the reader and the written materials be considered as a factor to enhance reading comprehension and that the language-experience approach to reading provides written materials in a mode of underst and ing compatible in match with the educational cognitive style of the reader.