The relationship between field dependence‐independence and the comprehension of expository and literary text types

Abstract

The purposes of the study were to investigate the relationship between field dependence‐independence and the comprehension test scores for expository and literary text types and to examine the relationship between text structure and reading comprehension. Field dependent‐independent characteristics of 121 sixth grade subjects were assessed by the Embedded Figures Test (EFT). Subjects were randomly assigned to an expository or literary text type group. Findings showed that although the differences between the mean comprehension scores for the field dependent‐independent groups were not statistically significant, they did approach statistical significance (p = .059). With regard to text type, the analysis of covariance showed that the literary text group attained a higher mean comprehension score than the expository group. Implications for future research and for adapting teaching strategies to the individual differences of students’ field dependent‐independent characteristics are discussed.