Oral Retelling Research Articles

Coherence in Aphasia: Implementation of Different Measurement Procedures

Coherence is a semantic property of the text to make sense to readers or listeners and is crucial for any text. Various coherence measures have been developed for assessment of discourse abilities in different clinical populations. However, the results of decades of research on coherence of speech of individuals with brain damage have yielded contradictive results. We suggest that this might be due to the different sensitivity of the methods.In this study we two measures of global coherence and five measures of local coherence on the same set of texts by healthy speakers of Russian and people with dynamic aphasia in order to find which methods allow to distinguish between the two groups and how these results correlate. The material for the study is texts from the Russian CliPS corpus which is a collection of oral retellings of the pear film by individuals with brain damage and healthy speakers of Russian language.

Evaluating the effectiveness of PrepSTART for promoting oral language and emergent literacy skills in disadvantaged preparatory students

Purpose: This study examined the effectiveness of a classroom-based intervention programme aimed at improving the oral language and emergent literacy skills of students from low socio-economic, culturally diverse backgrounds within their first formal year of schooling (“prep”).Method: Data from 137 students were available for analysis. Participants were from three primary schools located in Queensland, Australia. Eight classes were allocated to intervention and two classes acted as a business as usual control. All students received literacy instruction as per the Australian Curriculum. However, the intervention group received 24 weeks of scripted, classroom-based, book-based intervention targeting code- and meaning-related emergent literacy skills. All students were assessed individually pre- and post-intervention on code-related measures (i.e. letter identification and phonological awareness) and meaning-related measures (i.e. vocabulary, oral narrative comprehension and retell).Result: All students made significant improvement over time for all measures. Students in the intervention group showed significantly more progress than the business as usual group on all measures, except for letter identification and oral narrative comprehension.Conclusion: This classroom-based book-based intervention can improve the code- and meaning-related emergent literacy skills of prep students from low socio-economic backgrounds and provide these students with the building blocks for successful literacy acquisition.

The psychosocial benefits of oral storytelling in school: developing identity and empathy through narrative

The oral re-telling of traditional tales, modelled by a storyteller and taught to children in school, can be understood as ‘non-instrumental’ practice in speaking and listening that emphasises oral language over the reading and writing of stories. While oral storytelling has significant benefits to children’s education and development, it is under-utilised within Primary Education in the UK. This interview and library-based study explores participant perceptions of oral storytelling in relation to its psychosocial effects and benefits. In addition, observation of an oral storytelling initiative provides a research context through which such perceptions are understood. The findings highlight the benefits of oral storytelling to children in relation to a complex of processes tied to the opportunities afforded by oral storytelling for self-expression, identification with story characters, empathic understanding of self and others and bi-directional communication. It is suggested that the oral retelling of pre-existing stories offers children a parsimonious yet psycho-socially complex form of Speaking and Listening practice which is as rare within the classroom as it is native to human thought and interaction. It is upon the basis of the importance of talk to learning and development that its use within education needs to be viewed, to allow more opportunities for oral language practice that supports the psychosocial development of young people in school to be encouraged and actively pursued.

Oral narrative retelling among emergent bilinguals in a dual language immersion program

ABSTRACTOral narrative retelling is a complex linguistic and cognitive task that has been shown to map onto reading fluency and comprehension. Therefore, it is important to understand oral retelling skill, especially among emergent bilingual children – those who are learning two languages simultaneously. In this article, exploratory quantitative and qualitative findings from a study investigating the bilingual narrative retelling abilities of young heritage Spanish-speaking emergent bilingual children are reported. Kindergarten, first, and second grade children (N = 65) were assessed in each language separately using comparable wordless picture books, and their performance within and across languages was investigated. Two findings emerged: (1) children’s performance on retelling was significantly related across languages; but (2) individual children exhibited different patterns of bilingual strengths and challenges. These findings underscore the value of conducting academic oral assessments in both languages. In particular, the oral language proficiency of some children would be underestimated if their performance in only one language was considered. Implications for instruction and assessment are discussed.

Oral Storytelling, Speaking and Listening and the Hegemony of Literacy: Non-Instrumental Language Use and Transactional Talk in the Primary Classroom

The oral re-telling of traditional tales, modelled by a storyteller and taught to children in school, can be understood as ‘non-instrumental’ practice in speaking and listening that emphasises oral language over the reading and writing of stories. While oral storytelling has significant benefits to children’s education and development, it is under-utilised within Primary Education in the UK. This interview and library-based study explores participant perceptions of oral storytelling and the barriers to the utilisation of such non-instrumental practice in school. In addition, observation of an oral storytelling initiative provides a research context through which such perceptions are understood. The findings suggest that speaking and listening is implicitly devalued as a result of the elevation of instrumental literacy-based practice in the primary curriculum. In addition, enquiry into the specific effects of engaging with orality as a precursor to literacy development is lacking. It is suggested that while New Literacy Studies has enhanced our understanding of the interrelationship between the written and spoken word, it is less helpful when considering language as a ‘continuum of spontaneity’. It is concluded that spoken language that is explicitly unattached to literacy-based outcomes should be strongly encouraged in school. In addition, it is important to understand on an empirical basis whether the attachment of a written outcome affects the way that spoken language practice is engaged with in the classroom.

The development of narrative skills in learners of Basque as a second language

The aim of this paper is to analyse some aspects of development of Basque as a second language (L2) in children for whom Spanish is their first language (L1) who attended immersion school in Basque in a Spanish-speaking sociolinguistic context. Data consist of oral story retellings produced in a classroom setting where the same children participated at ages 5, 8 and 11. Another group of children for whom Basque was the L1 and who lived in a strong Basque-speaking environment also took part in the study. Two aspects are analysed in the stories: lexical difficulties and the production of text organisers. According to the results, the Basque L2 children seemed to have acquired a linguistic competence quite comparable to L1 capacity: the lexical aspects studied show a clear development in L2, since lexical gaps were frequent at age 5, diminished at age 8 and were practically non-existent at age 11. The production of text organisers also shows a clear developmental pattern and, with increasing age, the children produced a higher variety of text organisers, providing precise temporal links to different segments of the story. It is concluded that Basque immersion seems to foster the development of Basque L2 in contexts where the use of Basque is quite reduced.

Influência da modalidade de reconto na avaliação do desempenho de escolares em compreensão leitora

Este estudo buscou estudar a influência da modalidade de reconto sobre a avaliação da compreensão leitora. Avaliaram-se 34 escolares do 2º ao 5º ano do Ensino Fundamental, sem queixas de leitura, agrupados em: 1) Grupo Reconto Oral: 19 crianças que recontaram oralmente texto narrativo e expositivo lidos; 2) Grupo Reconto Escrito: 15 que o fizeram por escrito. A análise dos recontos quantificou proposições de ideia central, detalhe, inferências e número de enlaces. Estabeleceu-se, também, o padrão de compreensão (3-0, do melhor para o pior desempenho). Resultados evidenciaram semelhanças entre as médias de desempenho dos grupos nas variáveis do reconto de texto narrativo. Para o expositivo, houve diferença para enlaces de primeiro nível (t = -2,114, p = 0,042), com maior média do Grupo reconto escrito. Concluiu-se, portanto, que a modalidade do reconto não influenciou a avaliação da compreensão de textos narrativos, mas o reconto escrito de textos expositivos favoreceu o aparecimento de enlaces entre ideias centrais.

Syntactic markers in the oral retelling of dyslexic students.

To investigate, in the oral retelling after reading process, the syntactic markers capable of characterizing different clinical groups of developmental reading disabilities. Thirty-two Brazilian students were evaluated: dyslexic group (DG) - 16 individuals were diagnosed with developmental dyslexia; control group (CG) - 16 individuals did not present reading difficulties when compared with the DG by age, gender, and educational level. They all read one narrative and one expository text and orally retold what was read. The retellings were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed via Coh-Metrix-Port . The performances were statistically analyzed using productivity indexes, lexical diversity, grammar skills, and complexity. DG showed a lower average of correct sentences in the narrative and expository retellings, fewer words per sentence, and a lower incidence of content words in the expository retelling. The analysis of the microstructure of retellings differentiated the groups' performances. Dyslexic students presented lower grammar skills for narrative and expository text retellings. Fewer words per sentence and a lower incidence of content words characterized the retellings of expository texts by dyslexic students, possibly a consequence of a higher cognitive demand to the reading comprehension of this type of text.

The Effects of Different Types of Environmental Noise on Academic Performance and Perceived Task Difficulty in Adolescents With ADHD

Objective: To examine the effects of environmental noises (speech and white noise) relative to a no noise control condition on the performance and difficulty ratings of youth with ADHD (N = 52) on academic tasks. Method: Reading performance was measured by an oral retell (reading accuracy) and the time spent reading. Writing performance was measured through the proportion of correct writing sequences (writing accuracy) and the total words written on an essay. Results: Participants in the white noise condition took less time to read the passage and wrote more words on the essay compared with participants in the other conditions, though white noise did not improve academic accuracy. The participants in the babble condition rated the tasks as most difficult. Conclusion: Although white noise appears to improve reading time and writing fluency, the findings suggest that white noise does not improve performance accuracy. Educational implications are discussed.

Dimensions of discourse level oral language skills and their relation to reading comprehension and written composition: an exploratory study

We examined the relations of discourse-level oral language skills [i.e., listening comprehension, and oral retell and production of narrative texts (oral retell and production hereafter)] to reading comprehension and written composition. Korean-speaking first grade students (N = 97) were assessed on listening comprehension, oral retell and production, word reading, spelling, handwriting fluency as well as reading comprehension and written composition. Listening comprehension, and oral retell and production tasks were best described as having a bi-factor structure, capturing a general discourse-level oral language construct as well as unique listening comprehension and oral retell constructs which are not explained by the general discourse-level oral language skill. The general discourse-level oral language skill was related to reading comprehension whereas listening comprehension and oral retell were not. Although positive in direction, the general discourse-level oral language skill did not reach the conventional statistical significance in relation to writing quality. These findings suggest that the general discourse-level oral language skill underlying listening comprehension, and oral retell and production tasks is important for reading comprehension, and unique listening comprehension and oral retell skills that are not subsumed to the general discourse-level oral language skill do not independently contribute to reading comprehension.

The Ethics of Uncovering Something Else in Histoire(s) du cinema

In lieu of an abstract, here is the essay's opening paragraph:Marguerite Duras prefaces the second edition of Le navire night, from which an excerpt is cited above, by explaining that after writing the story of a man named J.M., everything came too late, including the realization of the film version of Le navire night. Once the event has been written and the common night of history been closed up, did she have the right to flash a light into the darkness to go back and see? The only seeing through cinema that was possible, she continues, was to film the failure, the disaster of the film. But how does one film the failure of realizing a film adaptation of a written text, which itself was transcribed from an oral re-telling of a story, which itself was adapted from memory? The event already took place – writing, “this history here” –, leaving cinema to film what never took place, namely, the film itself. As Jean-Luc Godard confirms in a chapter titled Seul le cinéma in Histoire(s) du cinéma, not only in the form of his project as a whole but also more explicitly in one shot that positions two close-up photographs of his face with the sound of Paul Hindemith’s “Funeral Music” and this text: “Faire une description précise de ce qui n’a jamais eu lieu est le travail de l’historien.” Describing the rise of the film Le navire night from its disastrous death, Duras writes: “On a mis la caméra à l’envers et on a filmé ce qui entrait dedans, de la nuit, de l’air, des projecteurs, des routes, des visages aussi.” The camera turned upside-down, or in the other sense, inside-out, Duras films the entrance of the exterior, a sort of a Levinasian visage. The question no longer is one of having the right but of the duty to re-write history, as is insinuated by the reference to “The Critic as Artist” written across one of the photographs mentioned above, which is again a gesture of Godard’s positioning himself as the critic whose role Oscar Wilde defined: “The one duty we owe to history is to rewrite it.”

Embedding perseverative interest of a child with autism in text may result in improved reading comprehension: A pilot study

Objective: We investigated the effects of embedding the perseverative interest (PI) of a child with autism (i.e. cars) within texts on reading comprehension. Methods: A PI text condition (text altered to include cars) was compared with a non-PI text condition (same story without cars inserted) in an alternating treatment design. Dependent variables were responses to reading comprehension questions and number of words uttered during an oral retell (i.e. curriculum-based measures [CBMs]). The reading level, instructional routines, and therapist where held constant across the randomly alternated conditions. Results: Both CBMs suggested that reading comprehension was enhanced when the story included the child’s PI. Conclusions: These preliminary findings suggest that embedding the PIs of students with autism spectrum disorder within readings may result in more accurate responses to reading comprehension questions and more detailed oral retelling. These findings are discussed in terms of potential directions for future research.

A viagem das histórias: da voz ao livro, do livro à voz, da voz ao palco

O artigo discute um projeto desenvolvido no sudoeste da Inglaterra, baseado na narração oral de contos tradicionais e literários em diferentes escolas, e voltado à recriação cênica dos contos pelas crianças. A partir de exemplos de narrações baseadas na mitologia greco-romana (Virgílio), na tradição medieval anglo-saxã (Beowulf), em um conto popular russo (Afanássiev) e na literatura sobre o bombardeio de Guernica que inspirou Picasso, entre outras fontes, o autor explora quatro aspectos centrais do envolvimento das crianças com as narrativas. O primeiro é a facilidade com que elas se dispõem a acreditar profundamente nas histórias, uma crença aqui entendida como base para atividades criadoras no âmbito da escrita, das artes visuais e do teatro. O segundo aspecto é a memorabilidade, considerada valiosa no contexto de projetos em que é necessário envolver cada uma das crianças, e portanto considerar dimensões alternativas às habilidades acadêmicas convencionais. O terceiro aspecto é a inventividade estimulada nas crianças a partir de seu envolvimento com as histórias, particularmente se contam com o encorajamento dos(as) professores(as). Por fim, o autor destaca o sentido de comunidade, o sentimento de que a história pertence ao grupo, facilitado pela presença responsiva do(a) professor(a) e do qual brota a confiança das crianças e o desejo de elas ajudarem umas às outras no desenvolvimento de performances coletivas. O artigo enfatiza que os poderes de acreditar, lembrar, inventar e criar comunidades que o envolvimento com as histórias contadas promove nas crianças, são cruciais para sua experiência literária e estética em sentido amplo.

The influence of task repetition and task structure on EFL learners' oral narrative retellings

This article reports on an empirical study which attempted to explore the influence of repeating two different types of narrative tasks on complexity, accuracy, and fluency (CAF) in the oral production of learners of English as a foreign language (EFL). For this purpose, the effects of four conditions (i.e. no task repetition with a loosely structured narrative, task repetition with a loosely structured narrative, no task repetition with a tightly structured narrative, and task repetition with a tightly structured narrative) on learners’ CAF in producing English language were examined. Sixty Iranian intermediate-level EFL learners participated in this study. They were randomly assigned to the four performance conditions. The results of one-way analyses of variances revealed that narrative type significantly contributes to the impact of task repetition on learners’ oral performance. Interestingly, it was found that giving EFL learners the opportunity to repeat a tightly structured narrative task brings about gains in complexity, fluency, as well as accuracy. These findings bear theoretical and pedagogical implications for researchers and practitioners in EFL context.

Examining Reliability of Reading Comprehension Ratings of Fifth Grade Students' Oral Retellings

The purpose of this study was to rate oral retellings of fifth graders to determine how passages, raters, and rating occasions affect those ratings, and to identify what combination of those elements produce reliable retelling ratings. A group of 36 fifth grade students read and orally retold three contemporary realistic fiction passages. Two researchers rated these retellings on two separate occasions using the Reader Retelling Rating Scale (3-RS). These ratings were analyzed using generalizability software. Results showed that to obtain high reliability coefficients, retellings of a minimum of four (preferably six) passages should be rated by at least two raters on one occasion.

Culturally Responsive Instruction Leaves No Child Behind:The Story of Juan, a Pacific Island Special Needs Student

The purpose of this qualitative case study is to explore the use of retelling as a culturally responsive literacy strategy for Juan, a Pacific Island (Chamorro) special needs student on the island of Guam. Data were collected from the following sources: (1) participant-observation (2) fieldnotes (3) audiotaped recordings of students’ oral retellings (4) audiotaped interviews with students (5) audiotaped interviews with classroom teacher, and (6) samples of students’ written retellings. Results of the study suggest that retelling helps to bridge the dissonance between home and the school. Retelling, congruent with the Chamorro tradition of storytelling, is a natural way of learning for Chamorro students. Moreover, retelling in a small group setting is compatible with inafa’maolek, a core value of Chamorro culture that means helping each other in an agreeable fashion. Based on Juan’s productive academic performance and appropriate behavior during the retelling sessions, the following two issues warrant consideration: a reevaluation of his diagnosis of ADHD and further exploration of the use of culturally responsive instruction to scaffold his academic performance.

‘This is Me’: developing literacy and a sense of self through play, talk and stories

Children from literate home backgrounds, who have exposure to supportive, positive reading role models using good quality texts, are the ones who are best able to cope with the demands of learning about literacy and the transition from home to school. This study of 3-year-old children will focus on their interactions with picturebook read aloud, their repeated requests to have favourite books read over and over again, their developing sense of identity and their growing ability to respond to the books through play, oral retellings, drawings, emergent writing and ‘readings' of the stories in their own words. Over a period of time, as the children had a series of picturebooks read to and shared with them, they were able to identify a sense of self mirrored in the content of some of the books and to make informed choices about their favourites. The children identified themselves in the storybook narratives and went on to record their responses in a variety of differing modes some of which led to them becoming real authors as they constructed their own books to be read, re-read and enjoyed.

Comparison of the effectiveness and efficiency of oral and written retellings and passage review as strategies for comprehending text

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to compare the instructional effectiveness and efficiency of oral retelling, written retelling, and passage review comprehension strategies on third‐grade students' accuracy and rate of answering reading comprehension questions. A modified alternating treatment design was used to compare the effects of oral retelling, written retelling, and passage review strategies. Each strategy occurred within the context of repeated readings with phrase drill error correction. This study extended previous research findings by examining the effects of oral and written retelling as strategies for improving both literal and inferential comprehension and by investigating the efficiency of retelling procedures. Findings revealed that students' accuracy in answering reading comprehension performance was better under both retelling conditions than the passage review condition. The oral retelling coupled with repeated readings and phrase drill error correction was the most efficient instructional method for answering comprehension questions correctly. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Drawing Stories: The Power of Children's Drawings to Communicate the Lived Experience of Starting School

ALL TOO FREQUENTLY THE process of starting school is viewed through the eyes of teachers and parents alone. What is often overlooked is that the children, who live this experience, and their interpretation of events, may be vastly different from that of their parents and teachers. The use of drawings in conjunction with oral retellings is an innovative strategy in terms of studies related to transition. In the study reported on in this article, experiences were shared not only through what the children themselves said, but also through what they have drawn. This article highlights the nature of children's experiences as they start school, and how both oral and visual narratives can be effectively combined to access the lived experiences of young children. The wider study reported in this article was qualitative in nature and focused on the transition1 to Kindergarten2 experience at Callan Public School3, a small school in rural New South Wales, Australia. The study included three key stakeholders: the classroom teacher, the parents and, importantly, the children themselves. The children's drawings and comments have been combined with observations and anecdotes from parents and the classroom teacher in order to offer a richer insight into the process of starting school in this small rural community.

Independent Reading of CD‐ROM Storybooks: Measuring Comprehension With Oral Retellings

CD‐ROM storybooks may facilitate reading comprehension for students who are struggling with reading comprehension. Therefore, the use of CD‐ROM storybooks in the classroom as part of a reading instruction program, literacy center, or for independent reading time could benefit young readers.