Final answer:
Verbal comprehension becomes more significant as children get older, shifting the focus from the foundational skill of oral reading fluency to interpreting and analyzing complex texts. The correct statement regarding their importance would be that verbal comprehension increases in significance over oral reading fluency with age.
option 'a' is the correct
Step-by-step explanation:
Importance of Oral Reading Fluency and Verbal Comprehension
When discussing the factors that contribute to reading comprehension, it is essential to understand the role of both oral reading fluency and verbal comprehension. Oral reading fluency refers to the ability to read text aloud smoothly and with expression, which is important for early reading development.
As children progress through school, however, verbal comprehension, which encompasses understanding and interpreting the meaning of spoken and written language, becomes increasingly significant. We can see this shift in importance as students are expected to grasp complex concepts and engage with more challenging texts.
Verbal comprehension becomes more critical as it encompasses various cognitive processes including but not limited to vocabulary knowledge, syntax, text cohesion, and inferential thinking. These skills are necessary for students to deeply understand and critically analyze texts. In contrast, oral reading fluency is a foundational skill that predominantly supports reading development in the earlier stages. It helps young readers recognize words quickly and read passages with appropriate speed and accuracy, crucial for developing confidence and a positive attitude towards reading.
From these perspectives, the most accurate statement about the relative importance of oral reading fluency and verbal comprehension as factors in reading comprehension would be that as children get older, verbal comprehension becomes more important than oral reading fluency. This does not, however, downplay the importance of oral reading fluency in the earlier stages of reading development but acknowledges the shifting focus towards verbal comprehension skills as the child matures and faces more complex reading and comprehension tasks.
While some students may experience difficulties with one aspect, it is not typically the case that strength in one area can completely compensate for weaknesses in the other. Both skills are important, and interventions or supports may be necessary to address specific challenges in either oral reading fluency or verbal comprehension to ensure successful reading comprehension as a whole.