The effect of wide reading on listening comprehension of written text

This study is an attempt to determine whether it is likely that increasing wide reading in the early grades would help develop the language facility that later reading achievement may be built on. Children's oral language development is almost certainly a major contributor to the language development required for reading comprehension. What has not been previously investigated empirically is whether wide reading itself is also an important contributor to the language development required for reading comprehension. In other words, does wide reading foster reading growth in part because it develops the language base that further reading growth can build on?;This study is interpretable in light of the research on three controversies surrounding the relationship between later language development and reading; the aptitude/achievement controversy of listening comprehension; the one-way or reciprocal controversy of reading and reading-related language; and the unitary or dual process controversy of reading and language comprehension.;The results of this study support the achievement position of listening comprehension, the reciprocal position of the relationship between reading and reading-related language, and the dual process position of reading and language comprehension.