Listening and reading comprehension
Decades of research, not to mention personal experiences, confirm that listening comprehension outpaces reading comprehension from early childhood through at least middle school. Based on their review of research, Stricht and James (1984) analyzed the gap between listening and reading comprehension by age of learner (see Figure1). What is obvious from this figure is the fact that access to complex ideas, for many years of the learner's life, requires oral rather than written input.
Simply stated, children can listen to and talk about much more complex ideas than they can read (and probably write) about. In addition to the research, anyone who has ever read a bedtime story to a preschooler knows that listening comprehension is more sophisticated than reading comprehension. The proof comes from nights when you're tired and you skip a page while reading a bedtime story. That 3-, 4-, or 5-year-old's eyes pop open. You are accused of skipping some of the story, and the punishment is that now you must start over. Yes, in fact, the child is listening, understanding, and comparing the text with his or her expectations.
What is less obvious from personal experience is the persistence of this gap. According to Stricht and James (1984), the gap extends well into middle school. This gap has implications for high-quality instruction across the learner's elementary and middle school experience, and oral language development should not be considered solely the role and responsibility of early childhood educators.
Figure1.Listening and Reading Comprehension by Age (Stricht & James,1984)
Articles
All Categories
Child & Adolescent Development Classroom Management & Discipline Elementary School Energizers & Activities Engaging Academics Families First Weeks of School Learning Loss Middle School Morning Meeting Positive Community Self-Reflection Teacher Language Whole School