The Relationship Between Reader Response and Prior Knowledge on African American Students’ Reading Comprehension Performance Using Multicultural Literature

Abstract

Educators receive numerous strategies to engage reluctant readers (L'Allier & Elish-Piper, 2007). Most methods involve motivating through student interest. It is important to consider cultural context when engaging reluctant readers. This study asks which is the stronger indicator of comprehension performance for 117 eighth grade African American students: interest or prior knowledge. A repeated measure design was used to investigate within-group variability of students at different achievement levels. The quantitative analysis explored the effects of cultural orientation of texts, prior achievement, and prior knowledge on students' comprehension performance. The results reveal prior knowledge as a consistently stronger indicator of comprehension.