Selective attention in language comprehension: Children's processing of expository and narrative discourse∗

Abstract

This study examined the hypothesis that the ability to attend to connected discourse in a selective manner is an integral component of literate competence. In investigating this aspect of language comprehension in children, the study considered the relative importance of discourse type (expository or narrative), modality (oral or written), and reading level. An experimental group of 42 grade 4 children were given prequestions prior to reading/listening to subsequently presented texts, and comprehension scores were compared with those of a matched control group who had read/listened to the texts without the prequestions. The data revealed that children could attend to texts selectively when reading exposition, listening to exposition, and reading narrative, but not in listening to narrative. Good and average readers demonstrated selective reading and listening, while the poor readers did not. These results are considered in light of Olson's (1977) theory on the development of literacy and in the context of...