Development of Text Structure Knowledge as Assessed by Spoken and Signed Retellings of a Deaf Second-Grade Student

Abstract

Encouraged by research documenting improved reading comprehension when the components of text structure are realized by students who are deaf or hard of hearing (e.g., Kluwin & Papalia, 1989; Schirmer & Bond, 1990), the researchers analyzed 28 texts retold by the same second-grade deaf child. Methodology provided for analysis of transcripts of the child's weekly text retellings across a Baseline Phase, Intervention Phase 1, and Intervention Phase 2 of data collection. Initially, stimulus for the retellings was provided by narrative and expository text in a second-grade basal reader adopted by the school and used by staff in the child's deaf education program, in keeping with the district's inclusion philosophy. During Intervention Phase 2, instructional-level stories were added and analyzed. Quality of adult mediation was manipulated during intervention. Improvements in the child's ability to include specific elements of text structure were documented over 9 months. A 12-month increase in reading ability and improved narrative ability (evidenced by school district curriculum-based assessment) were also documented.

Narrative Comprehension Abilities of Children with Typical Hearing and Children Using Hearing Aids: A Pilot Study

“…Thus, researchers anticipated that these children would identify fewer key story elements than their peers with typical hearing. Prior research has, in fact, reported deficits in the narrative abilities of children with hearing loss, specifically noting that their story retells lacked important key elements (Luetke-Stahlman, Griffiths, & Montgomery, 1998). Although in the present study the performance of children with hearing loss was slightly poorer than that of the matched group, the difference was not significant, suggesting that children with and without hearing loss are similarly able to supply target word(s) within a cloze test structure.…”

A Survey of Assessment Tools Used by LSLS Certified Auditory-Verbal Therapists for Children Ages Birth to 3 Years Old

“…Thus, researchers anticipated that these children would identify fewer key story elements than their peers with typical hearing. Prior research has, in fact, reported deficits in the narrative abilities of children with hearing loss, specifically noting that their story retells lacked important key elements (Luetke-Stahlman, Griffiths, & Montgomery, 1998). Although in the present study the performance of children with hearing loss was slightly poorer than that of the matched group, the difference was not significant, suggesting that children with and without hearing loss are similarly able to supply target word(s) within a cloze test structure.…”

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

“…Retelling has commonly been studied and used as a valid assessment tool for measuring comprehension of stories that students read or stories that were read to them (Gillman & Carlile, 1997;Isbell, Sobol, Lindauer, & Lowrance, 2004;Luetke-Stahlman, Griffiths, & Montgomery, 1998;Mandler & Johnson, 1977;Roberts, Good, & Corcoran, 2005;Robertson, Dow, & Hainzinger, 2006;Stein & Glenn, 1979;Sudweeks, Glissmeyer, Morrison, Wilcox, & Tanner, 2004;Thorndyke, 1977). Some researchers, however, have explored the use of retelling as a learning strategy for comprehending text.…”