In:Narrative, Literacy and Other Skills: Studies in intervention
Edited by Edy Veneziano and Ageliki Nicolopoulou
[Studies in Narrative 25] 2019
► pp. 69–90
Chapter 3Do children’s oral retellings of narrative and informational texts predict scores on a standardized reading comprehension test?
Published online: 6 May 2019
https://doi.org/10.1075/sin.25.04kin
https://doi.org/10.1075/sin.25.04kin
Abstract
This study assesses whether oral retellings of a narrative and informational text during the summer following third grade predicted performance on reading comprehension in the fall of fourth grade. To assess comprehension of a narrative and an informational text, 52 teachers called 117 third-grade students over the summer and asked them to provide an oral retelling of two books. All students were participating in a summer literacy intervention called READS for Summer Learning (READS). Oral retellings of narrative and informational books from the READS lessons were analyzed using content units, or individual units of meaning, from the books. We found that the percentage of total content units recalled on the narrative text was a predictor of narrative comprehension subtest scores, while the percentage of content units recalled on the informational text was not a significant predictor of informational comprehension subtest scores. This study lends further empirical evidence to the link between oral retellings of narrative texts and later reading comprehension and extends prior research by examining the possible link between both informational oral discourse skills and reading skills.
Keywords: retelling, reading comprehension, oral narrative, story recall
Article outline
- Introduction
- The relationship between oral retellings and reading comprehension
- Narrative and informational retellings
- The present study
- Method
- Study context
- Participants
- Data
- Outcome measure
- Method
- Results
- Content units
- Discussion
- Limitations and future research
References Appendix
References (36)
Alexander, K. L., Entwisle, D. R., & Olson, L. S. (2001). Schools, achievement, and inequality: A seasonal perspective. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 23(2), 171–191.
Beck, I., Omanson, R., & McKeown, M. (1982). An instructional redesign of reading lessons: Effects on comprehension. Reading Research Quarterly, 17(4), 462–481.
Best, R., Floyd, R., & McNamara, D. (2008). Differential competencies contributing to children’s comprehension of narrative and expository texts. Reading Psychology, 29, 137–164.
Blum-Kulka, S., & Snow, C. (1992). Developing autonomy for tellers, tales, and telling in family narrative events. Journal of Narrative and Life History, 2(3), 187–217.
Boudreau, D. (2008). Narrative abilities Advances in research and implications for clinical practice. Topics in Language Disorders, 28(2), 99–114.
Bridge, C., & Tierney, R. (1981). The inferential operations of children across text with narrative and expository tendencies. Journal of Reading Behavior, 13, 201–214.
Cooper, H., Nye, B., Charlton, K., Lindsay, J., & Greathouse, S. (1996). The effects of summer vacation on achievement test scores: A narrative and meta-analytic review. Review of Educational Research, 66(3), 227–268.
Curenton, S. M., Craig, M. J., & Flanigan, N. (2008). Use of decontextualized talk across story contexts: How oral storytelling and emergent reading can scaffold children’s development. Early Education and Development, 19(1), 161–187.
Dickinson, D. K., & McCabe, A. (2001). Bringing it all together: The multiple origins, skills, and environmental supports of early literacy. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 16, 186–202.
Dickinson, D. K., & Tabors, P. O. (1991). Early literacy: Linkages between home, school and literacy achievement at age five. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 6(1), 30–46.
Downey, D. B., von Hippel, P. T., & Broh, B. A. (2004). Are schools the great equalizer? Cognitive inequality during the summer months and the school year. American Sociological Review, 69(5), 613–635.
English Language Arts Standards. (2016). Retrieved July 08, 2016, from [URL]
Gambrell, L. B., Pfeiffer, W. R., & Wilson, R. M. (1985). The effects of retelling upon reading comprehension and recall of text information. Journal of Education Research, 78(4), 216–220.
Gardner-Neblett, N, Pungello, E., & Iruka, I. (2012). Oral narrative skills: Implications for the reading development of African American children. Child Development Perspectives, 6(3), 218–224.
Griffin, T., Hemphill, L., Camp, L., & Wolf, D. (2004). Oral discourse in the preschool years and later literacy skills. First Language, 24, 123–147.
Hoover, H. D., Dunbar, S. B., Frisbie, D. A., Oberley, K. R., Ordman, V. L., Naylor, R. J., & Shannon, G. P. (2003). The Iowa tests of basic skills forms A and B: Guide to research and development. Itasca, IL: Riverside.
Justice, L. M., Bowles, R., Pence, K., & Gosse C. (2010). A scalable tool for assessing children’s language abilities within a narrative context: The NAP (Narrative Assessment Protocol). Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 25(2), 218–234.
Kim, Y.-S., Park, C., & Park, Y. (2015). Dimensions of discourse level oral language skills and their relation to reading comprehension and written composition: An exploratory study. Reading and Writing, 28, 633–654.
Kucer, S. B. (2010). Going beyond the author: What retellings tell us about comprehending narrative and expository texts. Literacy, 45(2), 62–69.
Liles, B. Z. (1993). Narrative discourse in children with language disorders and children with normal language: A critical review of the literature. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 36, 868–882.
Miller, J. F., Heilmann, J., & Nockerts, A. (2006). Oral language and reading in bilingual children. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 21(1), 30–43.
Moss, B. (1997). A qualitative assessment of first graders’ retelling of expository text. Reading Research and Instruction, 37(1), 1–13.
Omanson, R., & Formosa, M. (1983). An analysis of narratives: Scoring manual. ERIC number ED240524, 106 pages.
O’Neill, D. K., Pearce, M. J., & Pick, J. L. (2004). Preschool children’s narratives and performance on the Peabody Individualized Achievement Test – Revised: Evidence of a relation between early narrative and later mathematical ability. First Language, 24(2), 149–183.
Pankratz, M. E., Plante, E., Vance, R., & Insalaco, D. M. (2007). The diagnostic and predictive validity of the Renfrew Bus Story. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 38(4), 390–399.
Phillips, M., & Chin, T. (2004). How families, children, and teachers contribute to summer learning and loss. In G. D. Borman, & M. Boulay (Eds.), Summer learning: Research, policies, and programs (pp.255–278). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Reese, E., Suggate, S., Long, J., & Schaughency, E. (2010). Children’s oral narrative and reading skills in the first 3 years of reading instruction. Reading and Writing Quarterly, 23, 627–644.
Sénéchal, M., & LeFevre, J. (2002). Parental involvement in the development of children’s reading skill: A five-year longitudinal study. Child Development, 73, 446–490.
Snow, C. E., Porche, M. V., Tabors, P. O., & Harris, S. R. (2007). Is literacy enough? Pathways to academic success for adolescents. Baltimore, MD: Brookes.
Storch, S., & Whitehurst, G. (2002). Oral language and code-related precursors to reading: Evidence from a longitudinal structural model. Developmental Psychology, 38, 934–947.