Type of Document	Dissertation
Author	Tannenbaum, Kendra
URN	etd-07062008-140741
Title	Relationships between Measures of Word Knowledge and Reading Comprehension in Third- And Seventh-Grade Children
Degree	Doctor of Philosophy
Department	Psychology, Department of
Advisory Committee	Advisor Name Title Joseph K. Torgesen Committee Chair Christopher J. Lonigan Committee Member Janet Kistner Committee Member Richard K. Wagner Committee Member Stephanie Al Otaiba Committee Member
Keywords	Word Knowledge Reading Comprehension Reading Vocabulary
Date of Defense	2008-06-26
Availability	unrestricted
Abstract This study examined the relationships between reading comprehension and breadth, depth, and fluency of word knowledge in third- and seventh-grade students. The Expressive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test-Third Edition (EOWPVT) and the Receptive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test-Second Edition (ROWPVT) were used to measure breadth of word knowledge. The Multiple Contexts subtest of the Test of Word Knowledge (TOWK) and the Associations subtest of The WORD Test-2 were used to measure depth of word knowledge. The Retrieval Fluency subtest of the Woodcock Johnson III Tests of Cognitive Abilities and the Picture Naming: Nouns subtest of the Test of Word Finding-2 (TWF-2) and Test of Adolescent/Adult Word Finding (TAWF) were used to measure fluency of word knowledge. Confirmatory factor analyses showed that a one factor model of General Word Knowledge provided the best fit to the data in the third-grade sample. A two-factor model of Fluency and Breath/Depth emerged as the best fitting model in the seventh-grade sample, and Breadth/Depth had a stronger relationship to Reading Comprehension than did Fluency. Equivalence testing indicated that the two measures of reading comprehension were invariant across the two groups; however, the majority of the measures of word knowledge were not invariant. The results of the current study, in combination with the results of an earlier study conducted by Tannenbaum, Torgesen, & Wagner (2006), do not support a robust three-factor model of word knowledge.
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