A study of the relationship of storytelling ability and reading comprehension in fourth and sixth grade African‐American children

Abstract

S The purpose of the present investigation was to examine the relation of storytelling skills to achievement in reading comprehension in African‐American children. Socioeconomic status (SES), gender and developmental level of children's stories were examined as predictors of reading achievement. A total of 80 children in the fourth and sixth grades served as subjects. Results indicated that correlations of the narrative variables with reading achievement were significant for story level (0.37) and clauses per T‐unit (0.33). These results are discussed relative to the effect of oral language on academic achievement and the importance of examining this relationship in culturally and linguistically diverse groups. La recherche présentée ici a eu pour but d'examiner le rapport entre les capacités de conter des histoires et le niveau atteint en compréhension à la lecture chez des enfants afroaméricains. Le statut socioéconomique, le sexe et le niveau de développement des histoires des enfants ont été examinés en tant que variables explicatives du niveau atteint en lecture. Quatre‐vingts enfants en quatrième et sixième années de scolarité ont servi de sujets. Les résultats ont indiqué que les corrélations des variables de narration avec le niveau atteint en lecture étaient significatives en ce qui concernait le niveau de l'histoire (0,37) et le nombre de clauses par unité de thème (0,33). La discussion de ces résultats porte sur l'influence du langage oral sur le niveau atteint lors des études et sur l'importance qu'il y a à examiner ce rapport quand on s'interesse à des groupes différents des points de vue culturel et linguistique. Gegenstand dieser Untersuchung war die Beziehung zwischen Erzählfähigkeiten in afroamerikanischen Kindern und ihrem Verständnis beim Lesen. Als Prädiktoren für die Lese‐Verständnisleistung dienten der sozio‐ökonomische Status, das Geschlecht der Kinder sowie das Entwicklungsniveau der von den Kindern erzählten Geschichten. Insgesamt wurden 80 Kinder aus der vierten und der sechsten Schulklasse untersucht. Die Ergebnisse zeigten, daß die Korrelation zwischen narrativen Variablen und Leseleistung für dos Niveau der Geschichte (0,37) und für die Anzahl der Sätze pro T‐Einheit (0,33) signifikant waren. Diese Ergebnisse werden hinsichtlich der Bedeutung oraler Sprachfänigkeit für die schulische Leistung und hinsichtlich der Wichtigkeit, diese Beziehung in kulturell und sprachlich verschiedenen Gruppen zu unteruchen, erörtert.

Preschool Children’s Narratives and Performance on the Peabody Individualized Achievement Test – Revised: Evidence of a Relation between Early Narrative and Later Mathematical Ability

“…Furthermore, among a control group of typically developing children, no significant correlations were found between any measures of narrative and reading ability in Years 2 and 3. Similarly, among 80 fourth and sixth grade African-American children asked to create or make up an original story given a picture, Klecan-Aker & Caraway (1997) found that only two of their narrative measures, number of clauses and story level, were significantly correlated with reading achievement. In a third study, Snyder & Downey (1991) found that their non-narrative measure of sentence completion best accounted for the variance they observed in typically-developing and reading-disabled children's reading comprehension scores.…”

Oral Narrative Skills: Implications for the Reading Development of African American Children

“…Whereas having phonological awareness is crucial for learning to decode letters into sounds, oral narrative skills can help children develop mastery in language that will facilitate reading comprehension (Dickinson, Golinkoff, & Hirsh‐Pasek, 2010). Although there are few studies that have examined the links between oral narrative skills and reading among African American children, some evidence suggests that African American children who are able to tell well‐developed narratives are more likely to demonstrate higher reading achievement than children who tell less developed narratives (e.g., Hester, 2010; Klecan‐Aker & Caraway, 1997). Also, recent evidence finds that African American children excel in narrative comprehension about a character’s motives and beliefs, suggesting that understanding a character’s internal state may be a strength of African American children, a strength that may facilitate reading comprehension (Curenton, 2011).…”

Different Tales: The Role of Gender in the Oral Narrative–Reading Link Among African American Children

“…Studies including African American children find links between narrative skill and reading (e.g., Gardner‐Neblett & Iruka, ; Klecan‐Aker & Caraway, ). Klecan‐Aker and Caraway (), for example, found that the greater the structural complexity of narratives, as measured by the presence of story grammar elements, told by fourth‐ and sixth‐grade African American children, the higher their reading achievement scores.…”