Young Readers' Inference Strategies in Reading Comprehension

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Abstract
This study identified strategies used by Grade 6 readers reading three short narratives. Differences in strategy use were studied with reading proficiency and background knowledge varied. Eighty students-40 low-proficiency and 40 high-proficiency readers-comprised the sample. Equal numbers of students were randomly assigned to read either three passages on familiar topics or three passages on unfamiliar topics and to report verbally their thinking as they constructed interpretations. Qualitative analyses showed similarities and differences between young readers' inference strategies and those used by adults as reported in the seminal work of Collins, Brown, and K. M. Larkin (1980). The quantitative analyses showed that an interaction between proficiency and text familiarity determined frequency of strategy use. The strategies most frequently associated with high-proficiency and high-background-knowledge readers are shifting focus when an impasse is reached, confirming prior interpretations, and empathizing with story content. The strategies most frequently associated with low-proficiency and low-background-knowledge readers are assuming default interpretations and withholding or reiterating information.