Executive Functions and English Reading Comprehension among Filipino Students

Recent studies have proposed developments to the Simple View of Reading to reflect reading development across age groups and differences among learner profiles and account for additional factors that explain reading comprehension performance beyond word recognition and language comprehension. One of these proposals is the inclusion of cognitive processes such as executive functions in the model. In the current study, the generalizability of SVR and the role of executive functions in reading comprehension are evaluated through the participation of a less researched population, bilingual Filipino learners ages 9 to 14 who have learned Filipino and English at home and in school. The study utilized behavior ratings to measure executive functions and standardized tests to assess word recognition, language comprehension, and reading comprehension. It also included a researcher-made tool to evaluate comprehension of expository texts specifically. Partial correlation analyses reveal that only language comprehension is significantly associated with reading comprehension as measured by the standardized tool. Regression analyses show that while executive functions shared variance with word recognition and language comprehension in predicting reading comprehension, they were not found to have a significant direct effect on reading comprehension beyond the two traditional measures of reading. The results highlight the role of language throughout late childhood and early adolescence among skilled readers and suggest that integration of executive functions in classroom instruction may not be as advantageous as desired for learners with no issues with the cognitive control processes.