The Effects of Expository and Narrative Prose on Student Achievement and Attitudes Toward Textbooks

Learning and memory of factual content from narrative and expository text

“…In this study, we examined learning and memory for common factual content about the human circulatory system that was presented in texts that were either narrative or expository genres. There was no overall difference between text genres for either learning or memory, consistent with some prior research on text genre effects (Cunningham & Gall, 1990; Roller & Schreiner, 1985). When the prior domain knowledge of the reader was taken into consideration, however, clear differences emerged between the narrative and expository genres.…”

“…They found that expository texts elicited better performance on the application questions and no genre differences on true/false questions. Cunningham and Gall (1990) also used a pre‐ and post‐test to assess knowledge gains. Subjects studied textbook style passages that were presented in either narrative or expository format and were much longer than texts that are typically used in comprehension research (41 and 44 pages for the expository and narrative texts, respectively).…”

The sharing of personal science and the narrative element in science education

“…Indeed, recent research (Rubba et al 1988) has cautioned us that we cannot rely solely on STS vignettes to accomplish the aims of STS-motivated curricula-at some point in the teaching of science the STS topics may also require a paradigmatic development. Further, Cunningham and Gall (1990) have demonstrated that in measured student achievement on standardized tests, the use of narratives in student texts produces no statistically significant difference when compared to more traditional forms of exposition. Interestingly, however, Cunningham and Gall did detect a student preference for texts containing narrative (stories, anecdotes, etc.).…”

Memory and comprehension of narrative versus expository texts: A meta-analysis

“…In contrast, other studies find just the opposite: that expository texts are more easily comprehended and better recalled than narratives (e.g., Diakidoy, 2014 ; Moè & De Beni, 2005 ; Saadatnia, Ketabi, & Tavakoli, 2017 ; Wolfe & Woodwyk, 2010 ). A few studies also report finding no difference between the two genres (e.g., Cunningham & Gall, 1990 ; Kintsch & Young, 1984 ; Roller & Schreiner, 19856 ). Based on these conflicting results, it is evident that a meta-analysis is necessary to establish whether it is possible to detect an overall effect based on the extant evidence.…”