Скачать или смотреть Episode 3 Literacy Listens - Why Comprehension Is So Complex

In this episode of Literacy Listens, Amber and Brian explore why reading comprehension is more complex than it often appears and why that complexity matters for instruction.



Building on the Simple View of Reading, they introduce Dr. Young Suk Grace Kim’s Direct and Indirect Effects Model of Reading (DIER) to show how multiple skills work together to support comprehension. Through classroom examples and clear explanations, the episode unpacks how word reading, listening comprehension, and a range of supporting skills interact to shape students’ understanding of text.



This conversation helps educators move beyond a linear view of reading development and toward a more accurate picture of comprehension as hierarchical, interactive, and dynamic.

Key Takeaways
What Is the DIER Model?



• Expands on the Simple View of Reading


• Identifies word reading and listening comprehension as the two proximal skills with a direct influence on reading comprehension


• Shows how other skills contribute indirectly by strengthening those pillars


• Emphasizes that comprehension development is hierarchical, interactive, and dynamic


Why This Complexity Matters



• Reading comprehension is supported by multiple interrelated skills rather than a single ability


• Word reading and listening comprehension have the most direct influence on comprehension


• Skills such as vocabulary, background knowledge, executive function, and socio emotional factors support comprehension indirectly by shaping how students use language


• Text reading fluency functions as a bridge, allowing attention to shift toward meaning making as decoding becomes more automatic


• The influence of different skills changes over time, which has important implications for instruction


What’s Next


In the next episode, Amber and Brian zoom in on listening comprehension, one of the two central pillars in the DIER model, to explore how its many component skills work together.

Episode Resources


Website: https://www.listeningcomprehension.org

Organization: Read Charlotte https://www.readcharlotte.org



Simplicity Meets Complexity: Expanding the Simple View (Kim, 2023)

Publicly available chapter expanding the Simple View of Reading and illustrating the DIER framework.

This chapter includes two visual representations of the DIER model referenced in this episode.

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED...



Platforms: Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube

Production Notes


Voices are AI generated

Script developed with AI technology support

Content reflects research curated by Read Charlotte

References


(All sources below come directly from the Read Charlotte Knowledge Base and informed this episode.)



Kim, Y. S. G. (2020). Simple but not simplistic: The Simple View of Reading unpacked and expanded. The Reading League Journal, May and June, 15 to 22.



Kim, Y. S. G. (2020). Toward integrative reading science: The Direct and Indirect Effects Model of Reading (DIER). Journal of Learning Disabilities, 53(6), 469 to 491. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022219420908239



Kim, Y. S. G., and Petscher, Y. (2021). Influences of individual, text, and assessment factors on listening comprehension. Annals of Dyslexia, 71(2), 218 to 237.