title: Levels of Reading Comprehension Across Text Types: A Comparison of Literal and Inferential Comprehension of Expository and Narrative Texts in Iranian EFL Learners.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate two levels of reading comprehension, namely literal and inferential, of two text types of narration and exposition in Iranian EFL learners. The elicitation instruments were four expository texts and four narrative ones. One hundred eighty upper-intermediate EFL learners were assigned the reading passages followed by both literal and inferential multiple-choice items. Paired-samples t tests were run to provide answers to the research questions of this study. From an inter-text-type angle, the results demonstrated that the participants meaningfully outperformed on the expository texts at the level of literal comprehension. Yet, regarding inferential comprehension, there was no significant difference between the two text types. The results, from an intra-text-type perspective, also revealed that in the expository texts, literal comprehension meaningfully outweighed inferential comprehension, whereas no significant difference was observed between literal and inferential comprehension in the narrative texts. Finally, probable explanations and interpretations for the obtained results were provided.
authors.affiliation: University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran. msaadatnia@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Mahmood
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1173-7409
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Saadatnia
authors.affiliation: University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Saeed
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ketabi
authors.affiliation: University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Mansoor
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tavakoli
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D032882:Comprehension / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D019303:Multilingualism; D033262:Narration; D011932:Reading; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Expository text; Inferential reading comprehension; Literal reading comprehension; Narrative text