Unique Contribution of Korean Literal, Inferential, and Evaluative Comprehension Skills to English Reading Comprehension

Abstract

The present study was designed to examine the relationship between Korean literal, inferential, and evaluative comprehension skills and English reading comprehension, compared to English linguistic knowledge, in Korean EFL context. Furthermore, unique predicting power of each Korean comprehension skill in explaining English reading comprehension was measured. For this study, fifty four Korean middle school students were recruited as participants, and their Korean comprehension skills (literal, inferential, and evaluative skills), English linguistic knowledge (vocabulary and grammar), and English reading comprehension performance were assessed and analyzed. The findings of this study demonstrated that all variables were significantly correlated to English reading comprehension, but English linguistic knowledge was more predictable in accounting for English reading comprehension than Korean comprehension skills. In addition, among Korean comprehension skills, only Korean literal comprehension skill explained uniquely and significantly English reading comprehension. Some speculations regarding the findings were discussed in the latter part of the article.