The Inferential Operations of Children across Text with Narrative and Expository Tendencies

Abstract

This study was designed to examine the effects of two different discourse types upon the amount and kind of explicit and inferred information in the free and probed recalls of good and poor third grade readers following their reading of a selection with expository/informative tendencies and a selection with narrative/entertaining tendencies. Findings indicated that different text types do influence the amount and kind of information recalled by good and poor readers in that both groups recalled a higher proportion of explicitly stated information, generated more connectors, and were better able to preserve the original order of propositions in the narrative than in the expository selections. Reader ability level also produced some general differences in recall across discourse types in that good readers recalled more explicit information and generated more inferred information than poor readers. Furthermore, good readers' tendency to include most of the explicit information they remembered in their free recalls and to generate inferred information primarily in response to probes indicates that they may possess greater metacognitive awareness and are better able to separate explicit and inferred information. However, within groups the effects were not stable across text type and reader ability level for individual readers who frequently varied considerably in the amount and kind of explicit and inferred information recalled after reading the two types of texts. Thus, it was concluded that it is not possible to reliably predict an individual's recall patterns from one type of text to another due to the potential influence of a variety of specific text and reader characteristics within varying contextual situations.