The Component Model of Reading: Simple View of Reading Made a Little More Complex

The “Simple View of Reading” proposes that reading comprehension could be predicted by the product of decoding and linguistic comprehension. A somewhat modified version of this model suggests that the relationship between decoding and linguistic comprehension should be additive rather than multiplicative. This research is comprised of two studies. The first study compared the efficacy of the two formulas: (a) Reading Comprehension = Decoding ◊ Listening Comprehension, and (b) Reading Comprehension = Decoding + Listening Comprehension. The second study reported here explored whether adding another factor, speed of processing, to the Simple View of Reading formula improves its ability to predict reading comprehension. Forty third-grade children were administered word-attack and listening comprehension subtests from the Woodcock Language Proficiency Battery; the reading comprehension subtest from the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests; and a list of 40 letters to measure speed of processing. The results showed that Decoding and Listening Comprehension, whether multiplied with each other or added to each other, did not significantly alter the outcome. Furthermore, while 48% of the variance for Reading Comprehension could be explained by Decoding and Listening Comprehension, speed of naming the letters added another 10%. A modified model of reading is proposed which can be expressed by the formula, R = D ◊ C + S.