Reading Comprehension as Predictor of Growth in Syntactic Maturity and Writing Quality in the First Two and One-Half Years of Undergraduate Study

Abstract

A previous study at Miami University indicated that sentence-combining practice in the freshman English class for a semester ( N = 290) results in improvement in syntactic maturity and writing effectiveness but not in reading comprehension. The present reanalysis of the same data investigated the role of reading comprehension (measured by the Sequential Test of Educational Progress) as a predictor of growth in writing skills (measured by syntactic and qualitative criteria). The results showed no consistent multivariate relationships between reading and writing.