ACQ Vol 11 no 2 2009

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Literacy
ACQ Volume 11, Number 2 2009 81
Marleen
Westerveld
This article
has been
peer-
reviewed
Keywords
reading com­
prehension
school-aged
children
Simple View of
Reading
or non-word reading accuracy and efficiency. In contrast,
difficulties in listening comprehension are reflected in a range
of oral language areas including measures of vocabulary,
verbal memory, and language processing. The independent
contributions of word recognition and listening
comprehension to reading comprehension change during
the course of reading development. In the early stages, word
recognition and listening comprehension are unrelated, and
although both skills are associated with reading
comprehension, word recognition shows the strongest
correlation (Catts, Hogan, & Adlof, 2005). Consistent with a
limited capacity working memory processing model (see
Baddeley, 2003), it seems likely that the slow and/or
inaccurate word recognition shown by beginning readers
utilises much of the available processing resources with little
remaining for text comprehension. In later stages of reading
development this pattern changes. The strength of the
relationship between word recognition and listening
comprehension increases and by eighth grade listening
comprehension is the dominant factor contributing to
reading comprehension (Catts et al., 2005).
Based on the Simple View of Reading, three main
subgroups of children with reading comprehension difficulties
can be identified:
• children who have difficulties in word recognition alone
(often referred to as dyslexic or specific poor decoders;
see Catts, Adlof, & Weismer, 2006),
• children who have difficulties in listening comprehension
but not in word recognition (referred to as having a
specific comprehension deficit), and
• children who have deficits in both word recognition and
listening comprehension (referred to as demonstrating a
mixed reading disability).
Differentiating between these different subgroups of poor
readers and their associated patterns of weaknesses is
critical in determining appropriate targets of intervention
(Catts, Hogan, & Fey, 2003, see also Roberts & Scott, 2006).
Reading comprehension
assessments
Although the main aim of standardised reading
comprehension assessments is to determine a child’s level of
functioning, it is important to understand that different tests
may tap into different underlying components or skill areas
(Cutting & Scarborough, 2006; Nation & Snowling, 1997).
More importantly, depending on the type of assessment that
is used and whether a child demonstrates strengths and
To obtain a complete picture of children’s
language abilities during the school years, the
speech pathologist’s assessment battery
should contain a test of reading
comprehension. There are many tests to
choose from, however, and evidence suggests
that not all tests tap the same underlying
construct. The aims of this article are twofold.
It will first present a brief summary of the
types of reading comprehension assessments
that are available. Using the Simple View of
Reading as a framework, this article will then
provide insight into the implications these
different types of reading assessments may
have for diagnostic purposes.
The important role of speech pathologists in the
assessment and treatment of individuals/children with
reading disabilities has gained increasing acceptance
(e.g., Serry, Rose, & Liamputtong, 2008), as it is now widely
recognised that weaknesses in spoken language skills
underlie most reading difficulties (Kamhi & Catts, 2005,
p.1). Therefore, to obtain a complete picture of children’s
language abilities during the school years, international
best practice indicates assessment should not only occur
across the domains of morphosyntax, semantics and
phonology, but should also include both spoken and written
modalities (Gillon, Moriarty, & Schwarz, 2006). Although
most speech pathologists are expected to feel confident
about the types of assessments that are needed to assess
a child’s spoken language skills, choosing the appropriate
reading comprehension assessment tool may be less
straightforward.
The Simple View of Reading –
A reading component model
The Simple View of Reading provides a useful basic model
for understanding the skill domains that underlie reading
comprehension. It proposes that skilled reading
comprehension is the product of two independent
components, namely word recognition (decoding) and
listening (or language) comprehension (Gough & Tunmer,
1986; Hoover & Gough, 1990). Difficulties in word
recognition may be reflected in measures of phonological
awareness (which assess underlying skills), as well as word
Measuring reading
comprehension ability
in children
Factors influencing test performance
Marleen Westerveld