Differences in Literal and Inferential Comprehension After Reading Orally and Silently

Responses on reading tests, both silent and oral, are measured by literal and inferential questions. If the kind of question is controlled, are there differences in comprehension due to test format (silent or oral)? Do such differences exist for both good and poor readers? Ninety-four children in Grades 2-5 were asked to read, orally and silently, grade-appropriate passages from the Analytic Reading Inventory ( Woods & Moe, 1977 ). Questions were classified as literal or inferential. A repeated measures analysis of variance showed no direct effects attributable to test format (whether the child read orally or silently) or kinds of comprehension (whether the child answered literal or inferential questions) but did show several interaction effects at different levels of competence. Results fail to support common assumptions regarding the greater ease of silent over oral reading or literal over inferential comprehension for poor readers but do support contentions of deficits in automaticity and attentional focus in poor readers.