INFLUENCE OF NARRATIVE TEXT AND PREDICTION ON WRITTEN RECALL

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of four types of predictions on the story understanding of sixth graders. Subjects were asked prediction questions, prediction plus justification questions, prediction plus review questions, or no questions. The stories were selected based on their differences in genre type and story structure. Written retellings were analyzed to determine the percentage of important information the writer included from the original story. A story effect was detected for the three narrative texts. Analysis using student demographic data revealed a significant interaction for story and gender. Findings indicated that the differences in what students identify as important may be due to the story rather than the question treatments.