Abstract
In this paper, we examined the degrees of contribution from reading aloud capability and auditory comprehension on the reading comprehension of Kanji words in 28 non-reading deficit children and 8 developmental dyslexic children. All the children were in fifth or sixth grade. In the non-reading deficit group, auditory comprehension significantly contributed to reading comprehension, and capability at reading aloud was also significant. At the same time, reading comprehension had an effect on both reading aloud and auditory comprehension. On the other hand, in the developmental dyslexic children, reading aloud capability significantly contributed to reading comprehension, and reading comprehension also had an effect on reading aloud. These results show that there is a robust relationship between reading aloud capability, auditory comprehension and reading comprehension, and that developmental dyslexic children cannot apply their ability in auditory comprehension to reading comprehension because of their difficulties in reading aloud. In addition, in non-reading deficit children, imageability was statistically extracted as a significant explanatory variable for all three abilities of reading comprehension, reading aloud and auditory comprehension. These findings suggest that the ease of imagining meaning affects capabilities in reading comprehension, reading aloud and auditory comprehension.
