Reading ability and text difficulty as influences on second graders' oral reading errors.

This study assessed the influence of reading ability and difficulty of material on the types of oral reading errors made by second-grade children. The results showed that, overall, the proportion of graphically similar errors increased as material became more difficult, while the proportions of grammatically acceptable and semantically appropriate errors decreased. The interactions between reading ability and difficulty level were also significant, however, indicating that poor readers showed less change in all types of errors than good or normal readers. These results may be attributable to a greater flexibility in the reading strategies used by more skilled readers. Methodological implications of these findings for the reinterpretation of the results of past research and for the design of future studies are discussed.