Comparison of reading comprehension performances of good and poor readers in terms of cognitive and language factors

In this study, it is aimed to comparatively examine the cognitive and linguistic factors that predict reading performance in good and poor readers. For this purpose, the research was conducted with 650 children at the second grade level of primary school. Children's non-verbal intelligence performance was determined by TONI-3 Non-Verbal Intelligence Scale, and those whose intelligence quotient was not average or higher were excluded from the study. In line with the purpose of the study, the Reading Skills Assessment Tool (RSAT) was used to determine the decoding, fluency and reading comprehension performances of the children included in the study. The evaluation of the components of the language was carried out with the Turkish Test of Language Development-Primary (T-TOLD-P). Working Memory Scale (WMS) was used to evaluate working memory performance, which is considered as a cognitive factor, and Rapid Naming Test (RAN) was used to evaluate rapid naming performance. The study group was formed by purposefull sampling method. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to determine the cognitive and linguistic factors predicting reading comprehension in the context of the first research questions. In this direction, the analysis assumptions of the data obtained from the study group, which are linearity, normal distribution of error variances, covariance, independence of observations, uncorrelated error variances and multicollinearity problem, were examined and it was determined that the data met the analysis assumptions. In the context of the second aim of the study, multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) was conducted to answer the question "When decoding and reading fluency are controlled, do cognitive and linguistic factor scores that predict reading comprehension differ between good and poor readers at the second grade level?". The assumptions of MANCOVA before the analysis, which are the assumptions of the independence of the observations, are that there are outliers in the data set, the dependent variables are at least at the level of equal intervals, multivariate normal distribution, variance-covariance matrix equality, and there is no relationship between the covariate and the independent variables. In this direction, six participants determined as outliers were excluded from the analysis and it was determined that the assumptions were met. In the multiple linear regression analysis conducted in the context of the first question of the research; linguistic factors such as semantics (B = .19) and morphosyntax (B = .03); Among cognitive factors, verbal working memory (B = .18) and rapid naming (B = -.01) were determined as predictors of reading comprehension. For the second research question, [Pillai's Trace = .22; F(4.407) = 14.49; p < .05; partial η2 = .223]; morphosyntax and semantics among linguistic factors when decoding and fluency are controlled between good and poor reader groups; Among cognitive factors, it was determined that there was a significant difference in verbal working memory. It was observed that there was no difference between the groups in rapid naming, which was considered as a cognitive factor, one of the predictive variables of reading comprehension (p > .0125). The effect sizes of the differences were listed as morphosyntax (η2 = .155) > semantics (η2 = .126) > verbal working memory (η2 = .101). The findings obtained from the research were discussed within the framework of the literature and various suggestions were developed.