Retelling and the Reading Comprehension of Proficient and Less-Proficient Readers

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of practice in retelling on the prose comprehension of fourth-grade proficient and less-proficient readers across four practice sessions. The subjects in this study were 48 fourth-grade students (24 proficient readers and 24 less-proficient readers). Subjects were assigned, by proficiency level, to one of four story-order conditions. At each of the four sessions, the subjects silently read a story and rendered a free recall. Subjects were provided with opportunities to read and retell; however, no explicit teacher instruction was provided. At the conclusion of the first and fourth sessions, subjects responded to an eight-item cued-recall assessment. Analysis of the free-recall protocols and the responses to cued-recall questions revealed that practice in retelling across only four sessions resulted in significant increases in the number of propositions recalled, the proportion of story structure elements recalled, and the number of cued-recall questions answered correctly for both proficient and less-proficient readers. Practice in retelling resulted in significant improvements in the quantity and quality of the retellings of proficient and less-proficient readers. The results of this study support the hypothesis that by discourse, the reader learns something about organizing and remembering text-acquired information. The findings of this study are presented in light of current theories of verbal learning. Issues related to the use of retelling as a reading-comprehension assessment task are discussed.