The Role of Referential Cohesion in the Process of Text Comprehension

Bayat N., Aydın Y., Şekercioğlu G.

Pegem Egitim ve Ogretim Dergisi, sa.15, ss.171-179, 2025 (ESCI)

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Basım Tarihi: 2025
  • Doi Numarası: 10.47750/pegegog.15.02.17
  • Dergi Adı: Pegem Egitim ve Ogretim Dergisi
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), Scopus, EBSCO Education Source, ERIC (Education Resources Information Center)
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.171-179
  • Akdeniz Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

This study examines the relationship between middle school students’ success in understanding referential cohesion devices and their reading comprehension skills and the extent to which these skills differ according to various demographic 

variables. The study involved 198 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students. Data was collected using a Personal Information Form, a Reading Comprehension Achievement Test, and a Referential Cohesion Test. According to the findings, understanding 

referential cohesion devices significantly predicts reading comprehension achievement. Participants were more successful in interpreting anaphoric and exophoric references than cataphoric ones. Female students demonstrated higher reading 

comprehension achievement than their male counterparts. Reading comprehension achievement also increased with grade level, and students who read books regularly exhibited higher reading comprehension. However, success in understanding referential cohesion did not significantly vary by gender, grade level, or reading frequency. These findings highlight the necessity of designing instructional practices to enhance referential processing skills.