Literature Review: Story Retelling

      Since reading is a meaning-making process, how then can we best teach, expand and assess comprehension gained from a reading experiences? A non-traditional method is through the use of story retellings. Retellings are post reading or post listening recalls in which readers or listeners tell what they remember (Morrow, 1996). But why retellings as opposed to multiple-choice, matching, fill in the blank or even open response questions?  Story Retelling is a procedure that enables a child to play a large role in reconstructing stories. It underlies both social and academic development.  When narrating stories, the speaker uses language for an extended period of time. This active participation with stories results in increased language development, comprehension and an interest in books and in learning to read (Evans & Strong 1996). Retellings after reading provide another opportunity for the reader to reconstruct the text. They extend and enhance the readers' comprehending and comprehension processes while providing evidence for and insights into understanding the two processes. Although no method can completely represent comprehension, retellings constrain the reader's ability to represent what has been comprehended. Miscue analysis and story retellings indicate that readers' use complex predicting and confirming strategies when they are concerned with unfamiliar concepts in a text (Goodman, 1982). This is significant because such strategies are essential for effective comprehension to occur. 

      Although all readers use information from the text for their retellings, they can differ greatly. The differences among retellings stem from varying schemata and experiences brought to the reading. The more relevant the story is to the reader, the more accurate the retelling will be. Bransford (1994) states, “Relatively subtle differences in schemata can have important effects on the interpretations readers make”.  Retellings provide a large amount of data for researchers to gain insight into a reader's comprehension process. They also provide an opportunity for the reader to present his/her ideas to the world and to rehearse, integrate, modify and add to comprehension.  Presenting one's concepts and generalizations to others allows the presenter to hear reflections from others and build shared meanings (Goodman, 1982). This is important because reading is a meaning construction process. Meanings are shared and negotiated between the learner, the text, the teacher and the classroom community (Ruddell & Unrau, 1994).  Additionally, readers who cannot remember the label for something will have the opportunity to show what they know through explanations. They will have the time to organize and think through what they have read or heard.  Teachers need to provide opportunities for readers to relate, rethink, and continue to make sense of the story-to continue comprehending past the actual reading event (Goodman, 1982). Story retelling provides a natural outlet for these processes to occur even before children can “decode” the words on their own. 

    Numerous studies exist to support the use of story retelling as a comprehension measure.  Moss (1997) examined the extent to which first graders were able to comprehend expository text as measured through oral retellings of an informational trade book.  Results indicated that the majority of participants were capable of understanding and retelling expository text based on their retellings scored using Irwin & Mitchell's 5 point retelling scale.  Prior to that, Moss (1993), examined how well children in grades K-5 comprehended expository texts. Results indicated that the majority of children in varying grade levels were able to review the text after hearing it read aloud indicating retelling as an appropriate measure to assess comprehension of expository texts.   Morrow (1985, 1986) carried out three different studies to determine specific instructional benefits of story retelling.  In all three studies, the experimental group showed significant improvement in oral language complexity, comprehension of story, and sense of story structure.    

     Story retelling has also proven to be an appropriate comprehension measure for students with varying learning abilities. Gambrell, Koskinen & Kapinus examined Retelling and the reading comprehension of proficient and less-proficient readers. They found that retelling is an effective instructional strategy for enhancing the comprehension of proficient and less-proficient readers. According to Gambrel et al., (1984) “The verbal reconstruction of the text helps readers to organize and to deploy their processing capacities more effectively”. Searfoss and Readence (1994) state that story retelling is an appropriate assessment tool for use with ESL students. General inquiries provide more opportunities for children to express everything that they remember, which may be more than they are able to do when specific questions are asked.  Here, children are required to do most of the talking, consider what they have read, and formulate their thoughts to express a true understanding of what they have read.