Empirical evidence supports the importance of executive function (EF) in reading, but the underlying mechanism through which EF contributes to the reading process is unclear. The present study examined the direct and indirect effects of EF on reading comprehension through the indirect pathway of language and cognitive skills (i.e., syntactic awareness and text‐connecting inferencing) among the beginning readers. The sample included one hundred and sixty‐five 2^nd and 3^rd grade students. The participants were tested on working memory (visuospatial working memory and verbal working memory) and inhibition (prepotent response inhibition and cognitive inhibition), and their syntactic awareness, inference‐making, and reading comprehension. The unitary EF construct was obtained by means of confirmatory factor analysis based on the structure of EF in middle childhood suggested in developmental studies. Structural equation modelling was used to examine the direct and indirect effects of EF on the reading outcome. The findings indicated that EF has a direct effect on reading comprehension among the beginning readers. The indirect pathway showed that EF supports the ability to evaluate on grammatical structure of sentences (i.e., syntactic awareness) during reading. However, the indirect effect of EF on reading via inference‐making ability is insignificant. The findings highlight the contributions of EF to reading and provide empirical evidence to the hypothetical relation between EF and language skills suggested in DIER (Kim, 2020, Resarch Quarterly, 50, 459). It further extends our knowledge on the roles of EF in the reading process among the beginning readers. Future research directions are implicated as well.

中文翻译：

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执行功能在初级读者阅读理解中的作用

经验证据支持执行功能 (EF) 在阅读中的重要性，但 EF 对阅读过程做出贡献的潜在机制尚不清楚。本研究通过语言和认知技能的间接途径（即句法意识和文本连接推理）在初级读者中检验了 EF 对阅读理解的直接和间接影响。样本包括165 2^次和3^次年级学生。测试参与者的工作记忆（视觉空间工作记忆和言语工作记忆）和抑制（优势反应抑制和认知抑制），以及他们的句法意识、推理和阅读理解。单一的 EF 结构是通过基于发育研究中建议的童年中期 EF 结构的验证性因素分析获得的。结构方程模型用于检查 EF 对阅读结果的直接和间接影响。研究结果表明，EF 对初级读者的阅读理解有直接影响。间接途径表明 EF 支持在阅读过程中评估句子的语法结构（即句法意识）的能力。然而，EF 通过推理能力对阅读的间接影响是微不足道的。研究结果强调了 EF 对阅读的贡献，并为 DIER 中建议的 EF 与语言技能之间的假设关系提供了经验证据（Kim，2020，Resarch Quarterly，50, 459）。它进一步扩展了我们对 EF 在初级读者阅读过程中的作用的认识。未来的研究方向也有牵连。