Following the increased emphasis on expository text in early grades, this study examined narrative and expository reading comprehension growth in a sample of children who were followed longitudinally from grades 1 to 4, with the goals of explaining potential differences in childrens overall performance and growth of narrative and expository text comprehension and identifying the cognitive factors that distinctly contribute to comprehension for each text type. We hypothesized that differences in reading comprehension growth of narrative and expository texts would be explained by various cognitive factors, specifically those related to executive functions (EF; e.g., working memory, planning/organization, shifting, and inhibition). At four annual time points, children (n = 94) read, retold (Recall), and answered questions (CompQ) about expository and narrative passages. Growth curve modeling was used to explore reading comprehension development across the two types of text. On average, results showed that children scored better on reading comprehension of narrative passages than they did on expository passages across all time points. After controlling for socioeconomic status (SES), vocabulary in 1st grade predicted 4th grade comprehension scores (Recall) for both narrative and expository passages, while word reading efficiency (WRE) in 1st grade predicted 4th grade comprehension scores (CompQ) for expository passages only. Additionally, WRE was associated with the growth of expository reading comprehension: children with higher WRE showed a faster growth rate for expository CompQ. The contribution of EF to text comprehension was largely confined to expository text, although planning and organization (measured using a direct cognitive assessment) in 1st grade also predicted 4th grade comprehension scores for narrative text Recall. For expository text comprehension, working memory, planning and organization, shifting, and inhibition (measured using a parent rating scale), predicted reading comprehension outcomes. Critically, 1st grade shifting and inhibition not only predicted 4th grade expository text comprehension (CompQ), but also modulated its growth rate: children with stronger shifting and inhibition had faster rates of growth. Together, these findings suggest that expository reading comprehension is (1) more difficult than narrative reading comprehension and (2) is associated with unique cognitive skills.

随着早期年级越来越重视说明性文本，本研究调查了从 1 年级到 4 年级纵向跟踪的儿童样本的叙事和说明性阅读理解能力的增长，目的是解释儿童整体表现和叙事发展的潜在差异。和说明性文本理解，并识别明显有助于理解每种文本类型的认知因素。我们假设叙述性文本和说明性文本的阅读理解能力增长的差异可以通过各种认知因素来解释，特别是与执行功能相关的因素（EF；例如工作记忆、计划/组织、转移和抑制）。在每年的四个时间点，儿童（n  = 94）阅读、重述（回忆）并回答有关说明性和叙述性段落的问题（CompQ）。增长曲线模型用于探索两种类型文本的阅读理解发展。平均而言，结果显示，在所有时间点上，孩子们在叙述性段落的阅读理解上的得分都高于解释性段落的得分。在控制社会经济地位 (SES) 后，一年级的词汇量预测了四年级叙述性和说明性段落的理解分数 (Recall)，而一年级的单词阅读效率 (WRE) 仅预测了四年级说明性段落的理解分数 (CompQ) 。此外，WRE 与说明性阅读理解能力的增长相关：WRE 较高的儿童在说明性 CompQ 方面表现出更快的增长速度。EF 对文本理解的贡献主要限于说明性文本，尽管一年级的计划和组织（使用直接认知评估进行测量）也预测了四年级叙述性文本回忆的理解分数。对于说明性文本理解、工作记忆、计划和组织、转移和抑制（使用家长评分量表测量），预测阅读理解结果。至关重要的是，一年级的转移和抑制不仅预测了四年级的说明性文本理解（CompQ），而且还调节了其生长速度：转移和抑制较强的儿童生长速度更快。总之，这些研究结果表明，说明性阅读理解（1）比叙述性阅读理解更困难，（2）与独特的认知技能相关。