Prediction of Reading Ability: A Cross-Validation Study of the Simple View of Reading

Abstract

The Simple View of Reading, as originally articulated by Gough and Tunmer (1986), proposes that reading comprehension ability can be predicted by the product term of two components: decoding and listening comprehension (R = D × L). Based on a longitudinal study evaluating developmental reading in bilingual children, Hoover and Gough (1990) reported results providing initial support for the model. The present study attempted to cross-validate the Simple View of Reading using a sample of children with English as their first language. Results support the idea that reading comprehension ability can be decomposed into decoding and listening comprehension abilities, but they do not support the assumption that all or most of the substantive variance in reading comprehension can be explained by the multiplicative combination of decoding and listening comprehension. They do, however, support a more complicated version of the model, which requires the inclusion of both the linear and the product terms in predicting reading comprehension from decoding and language comprehension (R = D + L + D × L).