Abstract A world-wide problem has been found with children in the fourth grade learning from expository text. Little is known about the effects of different text types and individual differences on...Show moreAbstract A world-wide problem has been found with children in the fourth grade learning from expository text. Little is known about the effects of different text types and individual differences on reading process and reading comprehension. In this study the effects of vocabulary and working memory capacity on expository and narrative texts is measured and the differences in reading processes and reading comprehension between groups of readers at the age of 7 is investigated. The results show that expository text are more difficult for young readers than narrative texts, while there are longer fixations in expository texts and readers find it difficult to answer questions of the these texts. Readers with a low vocabulary show longer fixations the readers with a high vocabulary and the have more difficulties in giving the right answers on the inference questions. No effect is found of working memory capacity on reading process, but there is an effect of working memory capacity on inference questions. Readers with a low working memory capacity find it harder to answer the inference questions than readers with a high working memory capacity. Readers with a low working memory capacity have little “room” in their heads to remember information of the texts. A second comparison has been made between weak and strong comprehenders. Weak comprehenders made more errors on the inference questions than strong comprehenders. With a regression analysis the effects of vocabulary seems to partly explain the differences between weak and strong comprehenders.Show less
