ERIC Number: EJ1051607
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015
Pages: 5
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0022-2194
EISSN: N/A
Reconsidering the Simple View of Reading in an Intriguing Case of Equivalent Models: Commentary on Tunmer and Chapman (2012)
Wagner, Richard K.; Herrera, Sarah K.; Spencer, Mercedes; Quinn, Jamie M.
Journal of Learning Disabilities, v48 n2 p115-119 Mar-Apr 2015
Recently, Tunmer and Chapman provided an alternative model of how decoding and listening comprehension affect reading comprehension that challenges the simple view of reading. They questioned the simple view's fundamental assumption that oral language comprehension and decoding make independent contributions to reading comprehension by arguing that one component of oral language comprehension (vocabulary) affects decoding. They reported results from hierarchical regression analyses, exploratory factor analysis, and structural equation modeling to justify their conclusion. Their structural equation modeling results provided the strongest and most direct test of their alternative view. However, they incorrectly specified their simple view model. When correctly specified, the simple view of reading model and an alternative model in which listening comprehension affects decoding provide identically good fits to the data. This results from the fact that they are equivalent models. Although Tunmer and Chapman's results do not support their assertion that a model in which oral language comprehension affects decoding provides a better fit to their data, the presence of equivalent models provides an ironic twist: The mountain of evidence that supports the simple view of reading provides equivalent support to their alternative interpretation. Additional studies are needed to differentiate these two theoretical accounts.
Descriptors: Reading Comprehension, Decoding (Reading), Listening Comprehension, Oral Language, Vocabulary, Structural Equation Models, Models, Regression (Statistics), Factor Analysis, Research Problems
SAGE Publications and Hammill Institute on Disabilities. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2814
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative; Opinion Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) (NIH); Institute of Education Sciences (ED)
Authoring Institution: N/A
IES Funded: Yes
Grant or Contract Numbers: P50HD052120; R305F100027; R305F100005