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W ' A ' “ If.” I “9" 6-5 - a. ‘ ’ ' M-mrmummvx 3.2.x..- . ‘ .. :17 This is to certify that the thesis entitled Oral Story Making Experiences To Improve The Oral Language Proficiencies and "Sense of Story" of Fourth Grade Remedial Reading Students presented by Janet Coleman-Mitzner has been accepted towards fulfillment of the requirements for Ph.D. degree inllementary and Special Education (Elementary Education) flijuz',w 9. flag 1¢4&_, 5L7“, Major professor Datew 0-7639 25¢ per dry 5:23" ‘ mum ~ - Place if- how 7 Change From x - ‘_ ", p ‘ ORAL STORY MAKING EXPERIENCES TO IMPROVE THE ORAL LANGUAGE PROFICIENCIES AND ”SENSE OF STORY" OF FOURTH GRADE REMEDIAL READING STUDENTS By Janet Coleman-Mitzner A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Elementary and Special Education l98l ~J'Sri71:? (<25: fail (:- .4v (9 ii Copyright by JANET COLEMAN-MITZNER T981 ABSTRACT ORAL STORY MAKING EXPERIENCES TO IMPROVE THE ORAL LANGUAGE PROFICIENCIES AND "SENSE OF STORY" OF FOURTH GRADE REMEDIAL READING STUDENTS By Janet Coleman-Mitzner The purpose of this study was to determine the feasibility of using oral story making experiences to improve the oral language pro- fiCiencies and "sense of story" of fourth grade remedial reading stu- dents through select literary experiences. These literary experiences include exposure to select literature (a) in read-aloud experiences, and (b) in wordless picture books for creative oral composition experiences. The design of the study was a quasi-experimental Pretest/ Posttest Control Group Model. Twelve fourth grade students were assigned to the experimental (n==6) group and control (n= 6) group. Subjects were pretested during the first week of the study and post- tested during the tenth week of the study in their respective groups in which they were given The Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test, Primary B, Form l (pretest) and Form 2 (posttest) and A Look at Literature: The NCTE Cooperative Test of Critical Reading and Appreciation, Form A, Part I (pretest) and Form B, Part I (posttest). Individual testing sessions were conducted for the Creative Oral Compositions (story making) in which the wordless picture books, A Boy, A Dog, A Frog, Janet Coleman-Mitzner and A Friend (Mayer, l97l) was used for the pretest, and A Flying Saucer Full of Spaghetti (Krahn, 1970) was used for the posttest. The Creative Oral Compositions were analyzed by the instrument validated by inter- rater reliability and designed for this study to determine oral language proficiencies, "sense of story," and facility with visual literacy. Only this researcher analyzed the Creative Oral Compositions because the instrument used for this aspect of the study was validated by high inter-rater reliability. Procedure Read-aloud experiences. For a period of ten weeks, the experi- mental and control groups met as separate groups approximately twice a week for eighteen read-aloud experiences at which times they heard and viewed quality literature rich in language. Each literary selection was followed by questions to stimulate discussion of the selection. Oral story making experiences. For a period of ten weeks, the experimental group met individually approximately three times a week for the oral story making experiences at which times they creatively and orally composed twenty-three stories to accompany the illustrations contained in the selected wordless picture books. Following the tape recorded oral compositions, the subjects were given the opportunity to listen to the stories they composed as they viewed the illustrations in the wordless picture books. Major Findings The data for the oral language proficiencies and “sense of story" aspects of the Creative Oral Compositions were submitted to Janet Coleman-Mitzner a multiple analysis of covariance. Only the post-oral language proficiencies of the experimental group was significant at the .05 level. The data of the composite scores of the Creative Oral Com- positions were submitted to an analysis of covariance. There was a marginally significant difference favoring the experimental group at the < .05 level. The data were submitted to the Kruskal-Wallis Test for experimental studies with small samples. There was a significant difference favoring the experimental group with H* value p< .025. The data from the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests were submitted to an analysis of covariance and the Kruskal-Wallis Test. There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups. The data from A Look at Literature were not submitted to statistical analysis, because only Part I, the listening section, was administered to the two groups. There appeared to be no observable difference between the scores of the two groups. As there appears to be no satisfactory measurement for improvement in facility with visual literacy, the total scores of the Creative Oral Compositions of the two groups were evaluated. The cumu- lative growth of the experimental group (6.67 mean total points out of a possible 35 points) far excelled the cumulative growth of the control group (0.67 mean total points out of a possible 35 points). This may indicate that participation in oral story making experiences positively affects the subjects' facility with visual literacy. Janet Coleman-Mitzner Conclusions The oral story making experiences through select literary experiences appear to be a feasible means for improving the oral language proficiencies, "sense of story," and facility with visual literacy of fourth grade remedial reading students. Select literature in read-aloud experiences and in wordless picture books appears to facilitate students' ability to creatively and orally compose stories. The oral story making experiences through select literary experiences appear to be an innovative means of instruction and should be included in the elementary school curriculum. Dedication to: J. J. and Kai/Le 60ft the/UL encou/Lagememt and undwtandéng, and most decaf/Ky to Danny ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My sincere appreciation is expressed to the many people who have made this study possible. To Dr. Patricia Cianciolo, my major advisor, for her guidance, understanding, advice, humor, and personal support throughout my doctoral program, and especially during the months of writing this dissertation. She has been a friend, and for her I have great respect and admiration. To Dr. Shiela Fitzgerald for her guidance throughout my doctoral program and for her support on my committee. To Dr. Donald Nickerson for his support and guidance on my committee. To Dr. Gordon Thomas for his sophisticated use of persuasive techniques with university committees and for his support and interest throughout my doctoral program. To Virginia Niseman in the College of Education Graduate Office for her assistance and knowledge of the doctoral program. To Necia Black and Carol Blumberg in the Office of Research Consultants for their valuable help with the statistics, and for their patience in explaining them. To Arly Anang, Jewell Fajole, Marti Hart, Laura Rauner-Rolf, Chris Vasher, and Emily Wolf for acting as raters during the development of my testing instrument. iv To the superintendent, principal, reading consultant, teachers, and children who were interested in and participated in my study. Without their support this study could not have been completed. To my mother, Emily Coleman, who helped as only grandmothers can help throughout the research and writing of this dissertation. To my sister, Marian, for her encouragement throughout my doctoral program. To Grace Rutherford, my typist, who took the time and personal concern to create a masterpiece. TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ......................... LIST OF FIGURES ........................ Chapter I. INTRODUCTION ...................... Research Questions .................. Design of the Study ................. Selection of Sample ............... Development and Validation of the Instrument . Testing Procedures ............... Procedures .................... The Need for the Study ................ Significance of the Study .............. Limitations ..................... Definition of Terms ................. Overview ....................... II. REVIEW OF THE RESEARCH AND RELATED LITERATURE ..... Oral Language Development .............. Oral Language Development and Children's Literature Children's Sense of Story and Oral Story Making Experiences .................... vi 03034:- 10 l4 T6 18 T9 21 21 37 45 Chapter Page Summary ....................... 79 Overview ....................... 80 III. DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY ................. 8l Research Questions .................. 82 Assumptions ..................... 83 The Design ...................... 85 The Population .................... 85 The Sample .................... 86 The Instrument .................... 89 Phase I of Developing the Instrument ....... 90 Phase II of Developing the Instrument ...... 9l Instrument Changes as a Result of the Limited Pilot Study .............. 92 Phase III of Developing the Instrument: Establishing Inter-Rater Reliability ...... 94 Pretest and Posttest Sessions ............ lO4 Testing Procedures ................ 104 Selection of Pretest and Posttest Wordless Picture Books ................. lO6 Experimental and Control Groups ........... lO7 Procedure .................... lO7 Criteria for the Literary Selections ......... ll3 Literary Selections for the Read-Aloud Experiences .................. ll3 Literary Selections for the Oral Story Making Experiences .................. ll5 Overview ....................... ll8 vii Chapter IV. ANALYSIS OF EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS ............. Creative Oral Compositions ............... Data Analysis Relating to Research Questions ...... Pretest of Style, Literary Devices, and Dialogue for the Experimental Group ............ Pretest of Style, Literary Devices, and Dialogue for the Control Group .............. Posttest of Style, Literary Devices, and Dialogue for the Experimental Group ............ Posttest of Style, Literary Devices, and Dialogue for the Control Group .............. Differences Between the Scores for Style, Literary Devices, and Dialogue for the Experimental and Control Groups ......... Pretest and Posttest Creative Oral Compositions Subjects' Use of Style in Pretest and Posttests of Creative Oral Compositions .......... Experimental Subjects' Use of Style in Oral Story Making Sessions .............. Subjects' USe of Literary Devices in Pretest and Posttests of Creative Oral Compositions ..... Experimental Subjects' Use of Literary Devices in Oral Story Making Sessions .......... Subjects' Use of Dialogue in Pretest and Post- tests of Creative Oral Compositions ....... Experimental Subjects' Use of Dialogue in Oral Story Making Sessions .............. Pretest of Plot, Characterizations, Settings, and Theme for the Experimental Group ....... Pretest of Plot, Characterizations, Settings, and Theme for the Control Group ......... viii Page 120 122 122 122 123 124 125 126 127 130 135 136 138 140 141 145 146 Chapter Page Posttest of Plot, Characterizations, Settings, and Theme for the Experimental Group ....... l47 Posttest of Plot, Characterizations, Settings, and Theme for the Control Group ......... l49 Differences Between the Scores for Plot, Characterizations, Settings, and Theme ...... lSO Pretest and Posttest Creative Oral Compositions . . l54 Subjects' Use of Plot in Pretests and Posttests of Creative Oral Compositions .......... l54 Experimental Subjects' Use of Plot in Oral Story Making Sessions .............. l57 Subjects' Use of Characterizations in Pretest and Posttests of Creative Oral Compositions . . . l58 Experimental Subjects' Use of Characterizations in Oral Story Making Sessions .......... l59 Subjects' Use of Settings in Pretests and Posttests of Creative Oral Compositions ..... l6l Experimental Subjects' Use of Settings in Oral Story Making Sessions .............. 164 Subjects' Use of Theme in Pretests and Posttests of Creative Oral Compositions .......... l65 Pretest of the Creative Oral Compositions for the Experimental Group .............. 172 Pretest of the Creative Oral Compositions for the Control Group ................ T72 Posttest of the Creative Oral Compositions for the Experimental Group .............. l72 Posttest of the Creative Oral Compositions for the Control Group ................ l73 Differences Between the Creative Oral Compositions Scores for the Experimental and Control Groups . . l73 ix Chapter Page Differences Between the Scores for Oral Language Proficiencies and "Sense of Story" Aspects for the Experimental and Control Groups ....... 174 Pretest and Posttest Creative Oral Compositions . . 175 Subjects' Creative Oral Compositions in Pretests and Posttests .................. 175 Experimental Subjects' Creative Oral Compositions in Oral Story Making Sessions .......... l8l Pretests of the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests for the Experimental Group ............ l83 Pretests of the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests for the Control Group .............. 185 Posttests of the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests for the Experimental Group ............ 187 Posttests of the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests for the Control Group .............. l89 Differences Between the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test Scores for the Experimental and Control Groups ...................... l9l Pretest of A Look at Literature for the Experimental Group ................ 193 Pretest of A Look at Literature for the Control Group .................. l95 Posttest of A Look at Literature for the Experimental Group ................ 196 Posttest of_A Look at Literature for the Control Group .................. 197 Differences Between A Look at Literature Scores for the Experimental and Control Groups ..... 198 Experimental Subjects' Facility with Visual Literacy in Oral Story Making Sessions ...... 201 Chapter Page Children's Responses to Participating in the Study ..................... 208 Overview ....................... 210 V. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS ................ 211 Suggestions for Changes in the Study ......... 224 Problems ..................... 225 Suggestions for Further Research ........... 226 Conclusions ..................... 231 Appendix A. TITLES USED IN THE STUDY ................ 235 B. INSTRUMENT I (First Draft) ............... 244 C. INSTRUMENT I (Second Draft) .............. 246 D. LETTERS TO PARENTS ................... 247 BIBLIOGRAPHY .......................... 250 xi Table LIST OF TABLES Stanford Achievement Reading Test ............ Stage I of Establishing Inter-Rater Reliability Creative Oral Compositions Scores of Students A, B, C, and D ....................... Stage II of Establishing Inter-Rater Reliability Creative Oral Composition Scores of Subject E4 ..... Variables of Style, Literary Devices and Dialogue Which Comprise the Oral Language Aspects of the Creative Oral Compositions of the Experimental and Control Groups ................... Variables of Plot, Characterizations, Settings, and Theme Which Comprise the "Sense of Story” Aspects of the Creative Oral Compositions of the Experimental and CbntrOl Groups ................... The Creative Oral Compositions of the Experimental and Control Groups ................... Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test--Primary B ........ The NCTE Cooperative Test of Critical Reading and Appreciation: A Look at Literature (Interpretive Response to Imaginative Literature) ........... xii Page 88 102 102 128 152 176 194 200 LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Oral Language Aspects of Creative Oral Compositions (Composite Scores of Style, Literary Devices, and Dialogue) ........................ 129 2. "Sense of Story” Aspects of Creative Oral Compositions (Composite Scores of Plot, Characterizations, Settings, and Theme) ........................ 153 3. Creative Oral Compositions (Composite Scores of Plot, Characterizations, Settings, Theme, Style, Literary Devices, and Dialogue) .................. 177 xiii CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION The purpose of this study was to determine the feasibility of using oral story making experiences to improve the oral language proficiencies and "sense of story" of fourth grade remedial reading students through select literary experiences. These literary expe- riences include exposure to select literature in (a) read-aloud experiences, and (b) wordless picture books for creative oral composition experiences. Proficiency in oral language and acquisition of "sense of story" are the major aspects of this study. By giving children opportunities to hear and use their language in literary contexts, they have means to improve their oral language and to acquire a "sense of story." Two basic purposes for providing these experiences in oral language are espoused by those who encourage activities which give children practice in hearing literature read aloud and in using their own language to orally compose their thoughts. One purpose is related to the belief that children need to be able to speak effectively and fluently for personal and social growth. The other purpose is related to the knowledge that proficiency in oral language is the requisite for learning to read, and increased competency in language continues to affect reading achievement throughout the school years.1 Also the extent of a child's "sense of story" affects comprehension and facility in reading and listening to stories, and affects the ability to retell and create stories.2 Research has demonstrated that oral language facilitates reading, for reading draws upon support from Speaking, verbal under- standing, and expression of thought. Reading, in turn, facilitates oral language, for it contributes to growth in all the language- related areas. Carol Chomsky's study, "Stages in Language Development and Reading Exposure," shows a strong correlation between a number of reading exposure measures and language development. "Preschoolers in higher linguistic stages are read to by more people and hear more books per week, at higher complexity levels, than children at lower linguistic stages."3 Thus, new words and patterns that children hear from read— aloud experiences find their way into their oral expression. Oral language and reading, therefore, are mutually facilitative, for the growth of either is essential for the growth of both. Loban found in his thirteen-year longitudinal study that proficient speakers were superior, at a statistically significant level, 1Walter Loban, Language Development: Kindergarten Through Grade Twelve (Urbana, 111.: National Council of Teachers of English, 1976), p. 71. 2Garth H. Brown, "Development of Story in Children's Reading and Writing," Theory Into Practice 16 (December 1977): 358-359. 3Carol Chomsky, "Stages in Language Development and Reading Exposure," Harvard Educational Review 42 (February 1972): 27. in smooth, fluent speaking style as opposed to a hesitant, faltering, and labored style.1 Proficiency in oral language contributes to the other language areas as well. Speaking, listening, reading, and writing can develop concomitantly; while each contributes to the other, each draws support from the others. Loban found that in reading and written composition, the subjects proficient in oral language, excelled over subjects in the low group. On listening tests, those who were superior with oral language also ranked the highest.2 His data, therefore, showed a positive relationship of success among the language arts. This reciprocity of the language arts is evident when children's proficiency in oral language facilitates reading comprehension and listening. It is theorized, but not yet demonstrated in research, that when children are exposed to literature through read-aloud experiences, they develop a "sense of story" as they comprehend the relationships among the components of literature. They learn through consistent exposure that the imaginative works are unified and have a language of their own. "As children listen to stories read aloud, they are learning to attend to and comprehend written language, and they are learning about the language and structure of the narrative."3 It would be logical to assume that as children are given the opportunity to orally retell and create original stories, they will use their acquired 1Loban, Language Development, p. 71. 2Ibid. 3Joy F. Moss, "Learning to Write by Listening to Literature," Language Arts 54 (May 1977): 537. language of story, which is part of the "sense of story," to impose structure on their stories. This structure may then manifest itself in a language of story which will facilitate the development of their oral language. Loban suggests that research in oral language should investigate the feasibility of using wordless picture books to evaluate children's oral language proficiencies. He recommends, "tape pupils' oral language in some natural but standard situation such as telling a story from one of the books that presents a story in pictures but uses no words."1 This study proposes to show that the oral story making experiences in which fourth grade remedial reading students participate facilitate improvement of oral language proficiencies and "sense of story." The use of select books for read-aloud experiences and select wordless picture books and the creative oral compositions created could serve as an innovative means of developing oral language proficiencies and "sense of story" which, in turn, could affect the reading achievement of these students. Research Questions These research questions were used to determine the feasibility of using oral story making experiences to improve the oral language proficiencies and "sense of story" of fourth grade remedial reading students through select literary experiences. 1. After participating in oral story making experiences using wordless picture books and after listening to literature rich in language through read-aloud experiences, will fourth 1Loban, Language Development, p. 124. grade remedial reading students improve their oral language proficiencies, e.g., more effective a. use of an interpretive or creative and evaluative style in their narration? b. use of inventive and expressive literary devices? c. use of inventive and expressive dialogue for their characters? After participating in oral story making experiences using wordless picture books and after listening to literature rich in language through read—aloud experiences, will fourth grade remedial reading students improve their "sense of story,I e.g., more effective a. use of interpretive or creative and evaluative narration of plot? b. use of interpretive or creative and evaluative narration of characterizations? c. use of interpretive or creative and evaluative narration of settings? d. use of interpretive or creative and evaluative narration as they recognize and elaborate the emotion conveyed in the theme of the story? After participating in oral story making experiences using wordless picture books and after listening to literature rich in language through read-aloud experiences, will fourth grade remedial reading students improve their Creative Oral Compositions? After participating in oral story making experiences using wordless picture books and after listening to literature rich in language through read-aloud experiences, will fourth grade remedial reading students improve their reading vocabulary and reading comprehension? After participating in oral story making experiences using wordless picture books and after listening to literature rich in language through read-aloud experiences, will fourth grade remedial reading students improve their interpretive response to imaginative literature? After participating in oral story making experiences using wordless picture books and after listening to literature rich in language through read-aloud experiences, will fourth grade remedial reading students improve their facility with visual literacy? Design of the Study This experimental study was designed to determine the feasibility of using oral story making experiences to improve the oral language proficiencies and "sense of story" of fourth grade remedial reading students through select literary experiences. These literary experiences include exposure to literature rich in language through read-aloud experiences and creative oral compositions using wordless picture books. Selection of Sample The design for the ten week experimental study was a quasi- experimental Pretest/Posttest Control Group Model. Twelve students from three fourth grade remedial reading classrooms who attended one of the three fourth grade remedial reading classes were selected. A modified random sampling procedure was used to assign six students to the experimental group and six students to the control group. Those students assigned to the experimental group met with this researcher three times a week for each oral story making session, and two times a week for each read-aloud session. Those students assigned to the control group met with this researcher two times a week as this researcher read aloud to the group. To determine any improvements in the oral language profi- ciencies and "sense of story” of the fourth grade remedial reading students, the experimental group was compared to the control group by analyzing the pretest and posttest scores of the two groups. Development and Validation of the Instrument The development of the instrument used in this experimental study consisted of three phases. In Phase I, an instrument was devel- oped based on information found in the professional literature and related research concerning oral language proficiencies, "sense of story, and creative oral composition. In Phase II, a limited plot study was conducted to establish the feasibility of the instrument develOped during Phase 1. Phase III consisted of validation of the instrument by inter-rater reliability. The instrument evaluated the Creative Oral Compositions, or the expression of feeling through narration, of each subject. The expressions of feeling through narration determined the degree of acquisition of ”sense of story," the use of literal, interpretive, and/or creative and evaluative narration of the components of litera— ture, and the use of inventive and expressive emotion in the Creative Oral Compositions. The instrument scored seven variables for each narration: plot, characterizations, settings, and theme comprised the "sense of story" aspects of the Creative Oral Compositions, and style, literary devices, and dialogue comprised the oral language aspects of the Creative Oral Compositions. A rank order scale from zero (low) to five (high) was used to determine the degree of emotion expressed through narration for each of the seven variables, or the components of literature. Literal narration (zero to one), interpre- tive narration (two to three), and creative and evaluative narration (four to five) were recorded for each of the seven variables of the Creative Oral Compositions. Testing Procedures Group and individual testing sessions were conducted during the first and last weeks of the study to obtain pretest and posttest data. The experimental group and control group met separately for two forty-five minute group sessions in which The Gates-MacGinitie, Primary B, Form 1 (pretest) and Form 2 (posttest), and A Look at Literature: The NCTE Cooperative Test of Critical Reading and Appreciation, Form A, Part I (pretest) and Form B, Part I (posttest) were administered. 115; Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests were used to determine subjects' reading vocabulary and reading comprehension. A Look at Literature tests were used to determine subjects' interpretive response to imaginative literature. Individual testing sessions were conducted for the Creative Oral Compositions (story making) in which the wordless picture backs, A Boy, A Dog, A Frog, and A Friend (Mayer, 1971) was used for the pre- test and A Flying Saucer Full of Spaghetti (Krahn, 1970) was used for the posttest. These Creative Oral Compositions of the experimental and control group subjects were analyzed by the instrument designed for this study to determine oral language proficiencies, "sense of story," and facility with visual literacy. Only this researcher analyzed the grep; tive Oral Compositions because the instrument used for this aspect of the study was validated by high inter-rater reliability. Procedures Read-aloud experiences. The experimental group and the control group met as separate groups twice a week for the read-aloud experiences at which times they heard and viewed literature rich in literary and verbal quality. Each literary selection was introduced and read by this researcher, and followed by questions to stimulate discussions of the selections. Some of the literary selections that were read aloud to the children included The Clown of God (de Paola, 1978), The Accident (Carrick, 1976), The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses (Goble, 1978), IDS. Hundred Penny Box (Mathis, 1976), and The Foxes of Chironupp Island (Takahashi, 1976). Criteria for selection of the read-aloud books and a complete list of all the titles will be elaborated upon in Chapter III and in Appendix A. Oral story making experiences. The experimental group subjects met individually three times a week for the oral story making experi- ences at which times they creatively and orally composed stories to accompany the sequence and array of the illustrations in the wordless picture books. Following the tape recorded oral compositions, this researcher transcribed the oral compositions, and applied the instrument designed to be used with this study to each of the oral compositions. Following the analysis of each Creative Oral Composition, it could be determined what improvements there were in plot, characterizations, settings, and theme, the "sense of story" aspects of the study; and in style, literary devices, and dialogue, the oral language aspects of the study. Some of the wordless picture books included in this aspect of this study were The Snowman (Briggs, 1978), Pancakes for Breakfast (de Paola, 1978), The Mystery of the Giant Footprints (Krahn, 1977), Vicki 10 (Meyer, 1969), and Deep in the Forest (Turkle, 1976). Criteria for selection of the wordless picture books and a complete list of all the titles will be elaborated upon in Chapter III and in Appendix A. The Need for the Study The last two decades have generated much research and literature regarding children's language acquisition and develOpment. Early investigators were concerned with how preschool children acquire their language, and to what degree they are competent in their oral language. The results of such research produced statements such as, "the child comes to school in command of all the important sentence structures he will need,"1 or “the mastery of most basic grammatical fundamentals has occurred for many children by the time they are four years old,"2 led some educators to believe that children came to school proficient in their oral language relative to their age. Seldom were deficits in oral language defined, if they were noticed at all, and some educators tended to believe that as children matured so would their oral language competency automatically mature. This belief has been reexamined in light of new research in the fields of education, communications, and linguistics. "Contrary to the commonly held view that a child has mastered the structures of his native language by the time he reaches 1Marvin L. Klein, Talk in the Language Arts Classroom (Urbana, 111.: National Council of Teachers of English, 1977), IL 20. 2Ibid. 11 the age of six, we find that active syntactic acquisition is taking place up to the age of nine and perhaps evern beyond."1 The ability to acquire and use language is a primary and unique process. Some linguists theorize that although language acquisition is complex, it occurs regularly and informally, without instruction. Even in the earliest stages, however, language learning does not occur in a vacuum, but requires a social context where individuals interact with others. It is theorized that the degree to which individuals gain proficiency with their language is dependent upon the amount and quality of interacting they do with others in their homes, schools, and communi- ties when they have opportunities to hear, read, and use their language in varied and meaningful ways. For years, educators have claimed that throughout the preschool years and the years in school, children need to have exposure to a variety of literature in read-aloud experiences and in independent reading. They need to have experiences made available to them where they use their language to express their perceptions, ideas, and attitudes. To facilitate children's language acquisition and development, whether they are proficient at a level commensurate with their potential or not, preschool experiences and elementary school experiences need to be based in oral language instruction. Unfortunately, most language learning instruction is the skills and drills of language study in which the emphasis is on the product of the language instruction where children learn about their language 1Carol Chomsky, The Acquisition of Syptax in Children from 5 to 10 (Cambridge, Mass.: The M.I.T. Press, 1969), p. 121. 12 instead of on the process of language instruction where they use their language. For teachers who wish to organize classroom language learning in terms of process, the task is twofold: first, to discover the stages of personal and linguistic growth students have attained when they arrive in class; and second, to devise and implement language learning situations that will advance their natural individual development.1 This change of product-oriented instruction to one of process- oriented instruction encourages the use of teaching strategies aimed at developing language abilities holistically rather than improving them as separate skills. This technique is based on the knowledge that children learn their language by the "whole-task" method, and the logical instruction would be to continue with the holistic method for improving their oral language proficiency. Courtney Cazden in ijlg_ Language and Education, discusses this controversy over part-task and whole-task instructional procedures. She says that the oral language learning before children go to school is whole-task; therefore, it is logical to continue instruction in school on a whole-task basis.2 Brossell's instruction of a holistic method would be encouragment of continuous reading of increasing depth and variety, the use of exploratory talk, the relation of writing to talk and to the ongoing 1George C. Brossell, "Developing Power and Expressiveness in Language Learning Process," The Teaching of English. The Seventy-Sixth Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education, Part 1, ed. Jame: R4 Squire (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1977), pp. 5- 6. 2Courtney B. Cazden, Child Language and Education (New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1972), p. 138. 13 work of the class, the provision of realistic situations for using language--these are fundamental strategies for language learning at all stages of development.‘ Oral language instruction, at all age levels, can facilitate students' capacities for receiving informative and imaginative mate- rials, for producing oral language commensurate with their potential, and for responding to language read and heard in critical and creative ways. Oral language proficiency can be attained only when teachers understand the benefits of such instruction and use their resources to implement such instruction. Students, too, need to be made aware of the benefits they will gain personally and socially if they are encouraged and given the opportunity to express their thoughts in fluent, deliberate, coherent, and expressive ways. Directly related to oral language proficiency is the knowledge that oral language competency is the requisite for learning to read, and this competency affects the reading performance of students throughout their school years. The relationship of language development to learning to read is well-documented. While having language skills does not ensure that a child will learn to read, the lack of an adequate language can prevent a child from succeeding in reading.2 In this experimental study, this researcher hypothesized that by reading aloud literature rich in language and by providing for oral 1Brossell, p. 47. 2Phillip C. Gonzales, "What's Wrong With the Basal Reader Approach to Language Development?" The Reading Teacher 33 (March 1980): 669. 14 story making experiences, one might improve one's oral language proficiencies. It was also hypothesized that, by exposure to literary selections, the read-aloud literature, and the wordless picture books, a "sense of story" would develop as students realized the components of literature contained in the stories, and were made aware of the language of story and how this language effectively and fluently expresses feeling through narration. As increased competency in language continues to affect reading achievement throughout the school years, the extent of "sense of story" affects comprehension and facility in reading and listening to stories, and also affects the ability to retell and create stories. Significance of the Study This experimental study to determine the feasibility of using oral language proficiencies and "sense of story" of fourth grade remedial reading students through select literary experiences was conducted as an alternative approach to the corrective work that has been implemented in most remedial reading programs. The use of select literature by teachers for the read-aloud experiences and select word- less picture books for the oral story making experiences could serve as an innovative means of developing oral language proficiencies and "sense of story" which, in turn, could affect the reading achievement of these students. This instruction would not interfere with the basic reading instruction, but could, in some cases, promote growth in reading achievement. 15 The instrument designed for this study to determine the oral language proficiencies and "sense of story" as the subjects creatively and orally composed stories to accompany the illustrations in the select wordless picture books could be used by teachers to evaluate the improvements, if any, in oral language proficiencies and ”sense of story." Because this instrument was validated by inter-rater reliability, educators could also use the instrument to help determine the oral language proficiencies and "sense of story" of their students with some degree of reliability. The criteria used and the selection of literary selections for the read-aloud experiences and the oral story making experiences could facilitate educators who choose to implement such a program to precede and parallel their reading instruction in the classrooms or in remedial reading classes. Educators could follow or modify the procedures outlined in this experimental study as they implement such a program in their classrooms or in their remedial reading classes. The individual story making sessions of this experimental study could be revised to allow two students to creatively and orally compose stories to one another as the oral compositions are tape recorded for listening at a different time by other students or the teacher. For small group instruction, students could "read" from different copies of the same wordless picture book and stop at a specific point in the story, and discuss what they believe the ending will be. Students in pairs or in small groups could creatively and orally compose stories to accompany 16 the illustrations in the wordless picture books, and thus learn from each other as they elaborate on their collaborated stories. Filmstrips or slides of the sequence and array of the illustrations of the wordless picture books could be shown to an entire class. Discussion of visual elements contained in the illustrations could facilitate the students' visual literacy. A composite story orally composed by all the students in a class would give students practice in hearing and using their language as they identified, described, and elaborated the components of literature found in the illustrations. Oral language and "sense of story" would be heard and used. A climate in which children hear, "read," and use their language is a climate in which they are stimulated by literature selected for its literary quality for read-aloud experiences, is a climate in which they are motivated to creatively and orally compose stories, is a climate in which they are given practice to facilitate their visual literacy as they "read" the illustrations in the wordless picture books, and is a climate in which their efforts can be evaluated to determine their oral language proficiencies and "sense of story." These are the essential elements of a climate for oral language instruction. Limitations There are seven limitations to this study. They are identified below. 1. If a strict random sampling for the experimental and control groups was used to select students for the experimental and control 17 groups, a contaminating factor would occur because the students available for study would have contact with one another in homeroom classes and remedial reading classes. It was necessary, therefore, to select the experimental group from one homeroom class, and the control group from two different homeroom classes since the students attended remedial reading instruction according to homeroom and reading ability level. 2. The experimental group and the control group were not taught by the researcher.* The researcher met with the students in the experimental and control groups only for purposes of this research; she was not their regular classroom teacher. 3. Since all classrooms in the building had classroom collec- tions of books, and some teachers engaged in oral reading to their classes, it was not known whether any discussion of literature took place outside the experimental procedure, or how often and for what duration oral reading occurred. 4. The researcher observed the fourth grade classrooms of the experimental and control groups three times a day for four days prior to the beginning of the experimental study to determine what, if any, oral language activities prefaced or would parallel the experimental procedure. Through observation of the activities and teaching techniques and perusal of the English textbook and workbook, it was concluded that the teachers of these fourth grade students followed comparable curricula and methods of instruction. If oral language activities prefaced or would parallel the experimental study, evidence of such activities was not existent. 18 5. The read-aloud experiences for both the experimental and control groups occurred late on Wednesday and Friday afternoons due to class scheduling and teacher preferences. Perhaps the experimental and control groups would have been more attentive and receptive to the material if the read-aloud experiences had occurred earlier in the day. 6. The literary components of style, literary devices, and dialogue are the oral language aspects under investigation in this experimental study. The literary components of plot, characterizations, settings, and theme are the "sense of story" aspects under investigation in this experimental study. 7. The instrument used in this study, though validated by interrater reliability, imposed limitations in that subjectivity in judgment by the researcher may have occurred during the analyses of the pretest and posttests. Usually in this kind of research, the raters who validated the instrument would also be used to prove reliability of the researcher's analyses. Definition of Terms Oral language proficiencies, competencies, abilities, and linguistic competence. For the purpose of this study, the terms oral language proficiencies, oral language competencies, oral language abilities, and linguistic competence will be used interchangeably since they represent the same skills. Sense of story. A sense of story is the underlying structure imposed on a literary work by the components of literature--plot, characterizations, setting, style, and theme, and is the framework 19 that provides the organizational scheme of the story. A sense of story is the developing ability to purposely impose a structure on the events, and to compose a language entity with a theme.1 Oral story making experiences. Oral story making is the creative oral composition of original stories or the retelling of stories from hearing stories read-aloud or by reading the fiction- in-pictures of wordless picture books. Children can use their language to express their thoughts and imaginings as they interpret and respond to the array and sequence of the illustrations.2 Wordless picture books. Wordless picture books are books which consist only of pictures and have no written text. The array and sequence of the illustrations tell the story, and the reader needs to interpret or speak the language of these visuals. Expression of feeling through narration. The expression of feeling through narration is the degree towhich a "sense of story" is employed, the degree to which literal, interpretive and/or creative and evaluative narration of the components of literature are used, and the degree to which inventive and expressive emotion are exercised in oral story making experiences. Visual literagy, Visual literacy is a group of vision competencies a human being can develop by seeing, and at the same 1Garth H. Brown, "Development of Story in Children's Reading and Writing," Theory Into Practice 16 (December 1977), p. 358. 2Patricia Jean Cianciolo, "Using Children's Literature in the Reading Program" (unpublished paper, Michigan State University, 1974), p. 6 20 time, having and integrating other sensory experiences. Seeing is responding to the surface patterns, but visualizing brings meaning to the image and a reaction in a critical manner. Overview Chapter I contains an introduction to the problem, the research questions to be investigated in the dissertation, and the design of the study. The need for and significance of the study is also stated. The limitations, the definitions of terms, and the scope of the study are presented. Chapter II is the review of pertinent research and related literature. Chapter III is the design of the study. It is a delineation of the experimental method and the specific procedures used in this study. Also discussed in the chapter are the population and its selection as well as the instruments used in the study and the method of validating the instrument. Criteria for and literary selections for the literary experiences are also included. Chapter IV contains an analysis of the data and related topics. Chapter V concludes the study. In it, the summary, conclusions, and recommendations for future study are made. CHAPTER II REVIEW OF THE RESEARCH AND RELATED LITERATURE The review of the literature has been divided into three major areas which are directly relevant to the present research study: (1) research pertaining to oral language development, (2) the influence of literature on oral language development, and (3) children's sense of story as it relates to oral story making experiences and visual literacy. Oral Language Development Loban's thirteen—year longitudinal study investigated the language development of over two hundred children from kindergarten through grade twelve. The study sought answers to the following questions: (1) What are the differences between pupils who rank high in proficiency with language and those who rank low? What is typical proficiency for subjects at each grade level? (2) Does growth in children's language follow a predictable sequence? (3) Can definite stages of language development be identified? (4) Can the velocity and relative yearly growth in language ability be ascertained and predicted precisely?l 1Walter Loban, Language DevelOpment: Kindergarten Through Grade Twelve (Urbana, 111.: National Council of Teachers of English, 1976), p. 2. 21 22 The same children were studied as they progressed through school during these thirteen years. The accumulation of data continued until the 211 subjects remaining in the study had either graduated from high school or were eighteen years of age. Three subgroups were selected from the total sample. These consisted of a group high in language ability, a group low in language ability, and a group selected randomly, irrespective of level of ability. Each group consisted of thirty-five pupils, with approximately equal numbers of boys and girls. Throughout the longitudinal study an effort was made to obtain a comprehensive record for each subject, not only on linguistic growth and behavior but also on other variables which might have influenced speaking, reading, writing, and listening. The research used the following sources of data: annual oral interviews, typed transcripts of the oral interviews, written compositions, reading tests, I.Q. tests, listening tests and ratings, tests on the use of connectives, teachers' ratings, and book lists. This study found that no single measure in any of the studies completed to date is sufficiently valid and reliable to provide a thoroughly dependable indication of where an individual child is at a given point in time on the path towards linguistic maturity. Loban states in his conclusion that it is of special note that those superior in oral language in kindergarten and grade one before they learned to read and write were the very ones who excelled in reading and writing by the time they were in grade six.1 1Ibid., p. 71. 23 Loban emphasized fluency and effectiveness of speech, "the ability to find words with which to express oneself--and to find them readily--is normally one mark of success with language.”1 Loban deter- mined the differences between pupils who ranked high in proficiency with language and those who ranked low. The students who demonstrated high language proficiency had control for the ideas they expressed by following an overview or plan. They spoke fluently and effectively using a variety of vocabulary, and they adjusted the pace of their words to their listeners. Students who ranked low in language proficiency rambled without purpose, exhibited a meager vocabulary, and were unaware of the needs of the listener. Loban said the difference in language development was so great that the higher group had reached a level of oral pro— ficiency in first grade that the lower group did not attain until sixth grade.2 Loban reasoned that the above findings were due to the social conditions under which the high-performance subjects lived which provided them with practice situations requiring and encouraging power of expression. Their home lives and their compatibility with the school environment exacted of them complexity of thought, func- tional uses of abstraction, distillations of experience into words, and imaginative foreseeing of consequences.3 1Ibid., p. 72. 2Ibid. 3Ibid., p. 89. 24 An earlier report to Loban's thirteen-year longitudinal investigation was his study completed in 1963.1 In this earlier investigation Loban studied the language used by 338 subjects from eleven kindergarten classes through their first six years of school. Loban was concerned with the subjects' use and control of langauge, their effectiveness in communication, and the relationship among their oral, written, listening, and reading uses of language. Each interview followed a standardized form, and each subject was interviewed individ- ually and spoken responses were recorded annually on an Audograph. Loban found that these subjects, over a period of seven years, increased the amount of language they used in the same controlled situation, and by reducing the proportion and size of their mazes, gained an increase of smoothness in their expression.2 In the dimension of effectiveness and control of language, the subjects varied little in their use of the basic structural patterns of English, yet those high in language ability showed much greater dexterity in varying the elements within these patterns.3 Loban stated that the interrelations among the language arts was still a matter of speculation. In the successive years of Loban's study, he found that pupils at the third grade level who were superior and above average on the writing scale also ranked high in their speaking and reading. Those who were below average on any of the 1Walter Loban, The Language of Elementary School Children (Urbana, 111.: National Council of Teachers of English, 1963). 2Ibid., p. 42. 3Ibid., p. 68. 25 three measures were also below average on the other two. Another interrelation apparent at the third grade level was those subjects who read well were the same subjects who ranked high in oral language for the kindergarten and first three years of the study. Not a single one of the twenty best readers in grade three was below the mean on oral language. For the average and poor readers, however, this rela- tionship with oral language was not apparent. Loban concluded that those subjects who are below average in reading, read the same material, and only the exceptional readers were allowed to participate in inde- pendent reading. Although not quite as marked, there is also a positive relation between oral language and listening. Though good listeners excel in oral language, it does not follow from this study that poor listeners will be poor in oral language skills.1 A 1965 study by O'Donnell, Griffin, and Norris, The Syntax of Kindergarten and Elementary School Children, analyzed language samples that were produced by 180 white, middle class children in six grade groups after they had viewed two moving-picture cartoon versions of Aesop's fables. The children were encouraged to interpret and support their interpretations of the two stories seen silently enacted. Most of all the responses simply recounted the stories as they had been understood. From these analyses, O'Donnell et al., found that in oral discourse the total length of responses increased with every advance in grade level. This study confirms earlier comparable reports in lIbid., P. 77. 26 showing that up through the elementary grades there is a general, positive correlation between age-grade advancement and increasing word-length of total responses to a particular stimulus situation.1 O'Donnell et al., found that the first grade year was one of rapid and extensive development in exploiting language structures. From the end of grade one to the end of grade five, growth in control of syntax in Speech proceeded at a much slower pace. Approaching adolescence, the children apparently made most important advances in the handling of oral expressions.2 A study designed to investigate the developmental trend of syntactic maturity and vocabulary diversity in the oral language of first, second, and third grade rural school children was undertaken by Ciani.3 Syntactic maturity was measured by mean T-unit length and the verb ratio. "Minimal Terminal Units,” or T-units, are main clauses with attached subordinate clauses. These segments constitute the shortest units which can be punctuated as sentences. The verb ratio is calculated by counting the principal verbs and dividing the total verbs by the number of sentences. Vocabulary diversity was measured by the number of different words (types), the total number 1Roy C. O'Donnell, William J. Griffin, and Raymond C. Norris, Syntax of Kindergarten and Elementary School Children: A Transforma- tional AnalysisTTUFbana, 111.: National Council of TeaChers of English, 1967), p. 97. 2Ibid., p. 99. 3Alfred J. Ciani, "Syntactic Maturity and Vocabulary Diversity in the Oral Language of First, Second, and Third Grade Students," Research in the Teaching of English 10 (Fall, 1976): 150-156. 27 of words (tokens), and type-token ratio and corrected type-token ratio. The following aspects were considered for the study: Is there a develOpmental trend in the oral language of rural first, second, and third grade school children as measured by the average length of T-unit, by the verb ratio, and by the corrected type—token ratio? Ciani's subjects consisted of sixty students, twenty at each grade level; they were randomly selected from the total primary grades population of over five hundred children from a rural mid-western community school district. The investigator showed a stimulus film to one child at a time, conducted the interview, and collected the oral language sample. Responses were recorded on tape and transcripts were typed. An analysis of variance was run to test the hypothesis stated above. Ciani found that there was an increase over grades one through three on all the language measures, thus indicating a deve10p- mental trend. However, T-unit scores between grades one and two were essentially the same, while between grades two and three there was a substantial increase.1 Ciani concluded that the T-unit was a reliable gauge of develOpmental growth in syntactic maturity. The newly pro- posed verb ratio appeared to be an appr0priate procedure for also measuring syntactic maturity in oral language. The importance of oral language growth as a requisite to successful reading was investigated thirty-five years ago by Shire2 'Ibid., pp. 153-154. 2Sister Mary Louise Shire, "The Relation of Certain Linguistic Factors to Reading Achievement of First Grade Children" (Ph.D. disser- tation, Fordham University, 1945). Abstract. 28 who studied this relationship with first-grade children. Shire compared a group of high achievers in reading with an equated group of low achievers. She found that in terms of average sentence length, number of complete grammatical sentences, number of different words, number of elaborated sentences, and in number of nouns and conjunctions used, the two groups were significantly differentiated. Loban found in his seven-year longitudinal study completed in 1963,1 that students who were high in general language ability were the ones high in reading ability, and those were were low in general language ability were the ones low in reading ability. This high positive correlation between students' oral language abilities and their reading abilities has been overlooked by many educators despite the overwhelming amount of research and professional literature which demonstrates the existence of such a relationship. Loban gives three reasons why oral language has not received the attention it warrants. (1) When children come to school they do not need to be taught to speak as they need to be taught to read and write. (2) Class size discourages teachers from emphasizing oral work. (3) Most important of all, Loban says, oral language is disregarded in evaluation.2 It is true that children acquire their language with no systematic instruction, no teachers, and no programed materials. 1Loban, The Language of the Elementary School Children. 2Walter Loban, "Oral Language and Learning," in Oral Lapguage and Reading, ed. James Walden (Urbana, 111.: National Council of Teachers of English, 1969), p. 101. 29 Human infants need only be exposed to language and they quickly, within four to five years, become adept at using it to communicate. Therefore, when children come to school, they do not need to be taught to speak as they need to be taught to read and write. Students enter school, how- ever, with varying degrees of linguistic competence relative to their age, develOpment, and experiential background. Those children at higher linguistic stages may be ready to begin reading instruction, because as research has demonstrated, they have had exposure to a variety of literature, the quality of their conversations with adults and with their peers is stimulating, and their pre-school experiences enable them to identify with much they encounter in the reading process. Other children, those at lower linguistic stages, have not been exposed to literature often enough or for any duration to make an impact on their oral language. These children's conversations are usually with children their own age, and rarely have meaningful verbal contact with adults. Because of their environment and pre-school experiences which are not varied and stimulating, these children bring to the reading circle limited knowledge of the world around them. Their world is their home and neighborhood, and the information they glean from these areas constitutes their only experiences. Thus, these less verbal children, though they have acquired language for communication, do not have sufficient oral language proficiency to meet the challenge of reading instruction. Kenneth S. Goodman said, "Instruction in reading assumes that the child has a basic control over his/her language and is able to use this knowledge in reconstructing meaning 30 from print."1 These then are the children who need many oral language experiences before they learn to read. Artley summarized the findings of research and professional writings to show the validity of the assumption that Competency in oral language is an essential prerequisite of interpretation of printed symbols. When children do not have proficiency in oral language rela- tive to their age and develOpment, they have difficulty bridging the gap between interpreting and reacting to spoken and written symbols. When this fact is overlooked, many children are in the position of having to attach meaning to a printed symbol when the symbol lies outside their spoken vocabulary; to understand a printed ten-word sentence when normally they speak only a disjointed three-word sentence; to interpret a complex sentence when they have difficulty in using simple ones; to follow the organization of a new story that they are trying to read when they are unable to tell in logical order the events in the familiar ”Little Red Riding-Hood"; to read complete sentences with expression when they are unable to give emphatic eXpression to their own ideas; to interpret punctuation marks when they attach no significance to gestures, pantomimes, and free play. Truly, we are asking many children to place the cart far, far ahead of the horse.2 "A child can read no better than he can organize his ideas and express them."3 This generalization is rooted in the basic principle of reading where reading is considered a process of thinking, interpreting, and reacting. Nicholas Anastasiow supports this premise 1Kenneth S. Goodman, The Psycholinguistic Nature of the Reading Process (Detroit: Wayne State University, 1973), quoted in Phillip C. Gonzalez, ”What's Wrong with the Basal Reader Approach to Language Development?" The ReadingoTeacher 33 (March 1980): 668-673. 2A. Sterl Artley, "Oral-Language Growth and Reading Ability," Elementary School Journal 53 (February 1953): 321. 3Ibid. 31 in Oral Language: Expression of Thought where he explains that a child in beginning reading will be able to decode only those specific words already mastered in the child's own language and will recognize only those ideas already learned.1 Anastasiow says that this is not a new idea. This is J. L. Hymes, Jr.'s notion of the role of experience in reading, and R. G. Stauffer's emphasis on the bonds among work, action, thought, language, and experience.2 The printed symbols, therefore, serve as triggers to release the thought process. Children are better equipped when they see the printed symbols in reading to have already had Opportunities to think about, interpret, and react to similar ideas in their minds and express these ideas in their speech. When children verbalize their thoughts, they clarify their thoughts, and these thoughts have therefore then been practiced. These are the oral language experiences that prepare children for reading. Loban's second premise as to why oral language instruction is not offered is his contention that large class sizes discourage teachers from implementing oral language activities. “Individual speeches and book reports consume appalling quantities of time; group and classroom discussions prove highly complex so that improving them is a baffling experience."3 The notion that speeches and oral book reports are the only means for oral language practice, suggests a lack of understanding 1Nicholas Anastasiow, Oral Language: Expression of Thought (Newark, Del.: International Reading Association, 1979), p. 13. 2Ibid. 3Loban, "Oral Language and Learning,” p. 101. 32 among teachers as to what constitutes oral language instruction. For the primary grades, songs, fingerplays, games, chants, and dramatic play, movement, pantomimes, story dramatizations of creative dramatics, discussions following the reading aloud of a literary selection can be used in whole-group, small-group, or paired activities. For the upper elementary grades, more songs of increasing length and complexity, choral readings, story dramatizations, improvi- sations, storytelling, puppetry, round-table discussions, interviews, and oral reading can also be conducted in large or small groups or in pairs. With these oral language activities, the students are inter- acting with one another, they are devising their own means for accom- plishing their goals, they are the creators and the performers. These procedures of oral language activities involve a process-oriented, whole-task method of developing oral language. Children are given stimulating, natural, and meaningful oral language Opportunities to hear and use their language in informative and imaginative ways. As early as 1964, four organizations filed a joint statement on the importance of speech to the whole of education. The Joint Committee in its publication, Children and Oral Language, stressed the interdependence of language and thought. They explained that those with power over spoken language are better able to make distinctions, modify ideas, and control unity. Such powers, the committee continued, cannot be gained through drills and exercises, but in situations where 33 learners are deeply involved and genuinely concerned.1 Because children's language development is influenced by and influences the cognitive, personal, and social development, they need to have various opportunities to express their perceptions and ideas, to create a language appropriate for the experience, to use a variety of vocabulary necessary to express their feelings and attitudes, and to adjust the pace of their oral language to their listeners. All of this needs to be developed with reference to the correlation between cognitive growth and language learning. This then is teaching for integrated human development, a conception that imbues the process of language education with deeper purpose than does a language-as-skill or language-as- knowledge model.2 Loban's third reason to eXplain why oral language has been slighted in education is that oral language is disregarded in eval- uation. It appears in neither achievement tests nor college entrance examinations.3 In 1975, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) published the National Assessment and the Teaching of English. Included in the report were the results of the assessments in writing, reading and literature, and the implications for the teaching and measurement 1Loban, "Oral Language and Learning," p. 102. 2George C. Brossell, "Developing Power and Expressiveness in Language Learning Process,“ The Teaching of English, The Seventy-Sixth Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education, Part 1. ed. James R. Squire (Chicago: 'The University of Chicago7Press, 1977), p. 42. 3Loban, "Oral Language and Learning," p. 101. 34 of these three language arts. The report was void of any information concerning the assessment of oral language. Assessments in oral language could benefit those who are assessing reading, since it has been shown in research that effective reading instruction builds upon children's linguistic competence. If scores on the reading assessment were low in specific, consistent, or many areas, one could look to the oral language assessment to determine which aspects of oral language might be impeding reading growth. The reading assessment, therefore, judges the symptoms of reading diffi- culty, but not the problems which may cause these difficulties. Loban says in Language Development: Kindergarten Through Grade Twelve, his thirteen-year longitudinal study, and earlier in "Oral Language and Learning“ that the curriculum inevitably shrinks to the boundaries of whatever evaluation the schools use.1 Loban suggests school districts could use the following means of evaluating children's oral language develOpment. Tape pupils' oral language in some natural but standard situation, such as telling a story from one of the books that presents a story in pictures but uses no words. From that tape we would distill the length of communication unit and the depth of vocabulary. We consider expressive intonation to be exceptionally important for it shows whether or not the pupil is learning to be aware of listeners. Still another means for assessing oral language proficiency would be to look for the following factors: flexibility of sentence patterns and the frequency of different patterns, size of vocabulary lLoban, Language Development, p. 121. 2Ibid., p. 124. 35 appropriate to children's needs, ability to express tentativeness and abstractions, control of mazes, ability to use language that is appropriate for the situation, confidence in a variety of situations, and the development of personal styles of communication.1 Of concern to this research study was the need for a system of evaluation of oral language proficiencies. Adoption of Loban's suggestion to tape pupils' oral language was instituted by this researcher where pupils' stories were taped as they orally composed stories to follow the sequence and array of illustrations in wordless picture books. Assessments of their oral language proficiencies combined various means of judging their oral language, some of which were recommended by Loban. What Irwin and Marks said in Fitting the School to the Child almost sixty years ago, Artley repeated thirty years later. "In its feverish haste to teach the child to read, the school forgets entirely to teach the child to talk."2 Loban, Smith, Goodman, and Meredith are reemphasizing the need for oral language instruction today. The key to learning, and especially reading performance, is in the children's oral language proficiency. The linguistic ability which children possess upon entering school, and the oral language instruction offered 1Sheila Fitzgerald, "Assessing a Child's Oral Language Proficiencies" (East Lansing, Mich.: Michigan State University, College of Education, Department of Elementary and Special Education, 1975). (Mimeographed.) 2Elizabeth Irwin and Louis Marks, Fitting the School to the Child (New York: Macmillan Company, 1924), quoted in Artley, p. 321. 36 to precede and parallel reading instruction, help children achieve linguistic growth, reading performance, and school learning. An examination of the literature concerning the language development of children reveals agreement among those in the fields of education, linguistics, and psychology, of the necessity to promote oral language proficiency, for it is not clear whether children gain high intelligence as a result of language power or gain linguistic competence as a result of high intelligence. Historically, factors contributing to cognitive growth and linguistic development have sug- gested that influences from the inherent and environmental theories are mutually facilitative for the growth of either is essential for the growth of both. Recently, however, environmental influences are receiving more attention and acceptance in the study of oral language development. Nature ordinarily endows the child with a complete set of equipment ensuring the potential for growth, but that potential is achieved only in the course of the child's interaction with his circumstances. The rate and quality of his growth can be accelerated, retarded or even stopped by the condition of his circumstantial nature.1 Bruner also gives considerable support to the view that particular environments exercise a stimulating or debilitating effect on the develOping child. "One finds no internal push to growth without a corresponding external pull."2 The degree to which children develOp lPose Lamb, Guiding Children's Language Learnipg (Dubuque, Iowa: William C. Brown Company, 1971), pp. 19-20. 2Jerome S. Bruner, Studies in Cognitive Growth (New York: John Wiley, 1966), Quoted in Dorothy Butler, in Cushla and Her Books (London: Hodeer & Stoughton, Ltd., 1979), p. 90. 37 intellectually and linguistically, therefore, appears to be strongly dependent on "external pull"; the consistent and continuing exposure to rich and complex materials interacting with children's physical, social, and intellectual environments. Loban says that children need to use their language to categorize, compare, contrast, and conjecture as well as to clarify and communicate feelings and emotions. "It does seem to us that if all children had similar experiences and similar motives for expression, their language, responding to such challenges, would demonstrate much the same degree of proficiency."1 The wealth of experiences found in the words and pictures in literature for children stimulate the "internal push," and together they contribute significantly to the cognitive and affective and linguistic development of children. Oral Language Development and Children's Literature Several studies (Cohen, 1966; Strickland, 1971; and Chomsky, 1972) and numerous doctoral dissertations have demonstrated that exposing children to literature that is rich in language positively affects their oral language develOpment. The effect of a special program in literature on the vocabulary and reading achievement of second grade children was investigated by Cohen.2 Her sample of twenty second-grade classes in special service 1Loban, Language Development, p. 89. 2Dorothy Cohen, "Effect of a Special Program in Literature on the Vocabulary and Reading Achievement of Second Grade Children in Special Service Schools" (Ph.D. dissertation, New York University, 1966). 38 schools were matched from classes grouped homogeneously by the schools according to reading level. In addition to the regular basal reading series, the experimental variable, story-reading, was introduced and maintained only by the experimental teachers. Each experimental class was given fifty books at three levels of difficulty based on length of story and complexity of plot and language. Each teacher read from these books every day, and allowed the children free access to them. Experimental and control classes were given a free association vocab- ulary test and the MetrOpolitan Reading Achievement Test, Upper Pri- mary, in October and again in June. Of particular importance to the present research study are the following results from Cohen's study: the experimental groups had an increase over the control group in vocabulary, word knowledge, and reading comprehension. Quality of vocabulary showed numerical superiority for the experimental group; however, no significant difference was foundin word discrimination between experimental and control groups. The researcher concluded that the importance of reading to children from a selected body of apprOpriate literature as a precursor to success in learning to read has been shown to be vital in the case of socially disadvantaged children, The relationship believed to exist between oral language and reading was confirmed by Cohen. In a study conducted by Dorothy Strickland,1 the effects of a special literature program on the oral language expansion of 1Dorothy Strickland, "The Effects of a Special Literature Program on the Oral Language EXpansion of Linguistically Different, Negrp, Kindergarten Children" (Ph.D. dissertation, New York University, 1971 . 39 linguistically different, Negro, kindergarten children was evaluated. Fifteen subjects were randomly selected from each of eight kindergarten classes located in the lower socioeconomic areas of two metrOpolitan communities participating in the study. Due to attrition, the final number of students remaining at the end of the study were forty—five in the experimental group. These students were exposed to a literature- based oral language program consisting of daily reading aloud from selected children's books and followed by an oral language activity. Forty-nine remained in the control group. These students were exposed to daily reading aloud followed by a placebo activity which did not seek oral language participation by the children. Each classroom was provided with fifty books which met the criteria for literary merit, all teachers attended workshops related to children's literature, and all teachers were provided with handbooks containing suggestions for the type of activities they were expected to conduct. Only the exper- imental teachers received additional training in specific techniques for reading aloud and the use of related oral language activities to effect language expansion. Experimental and control groups were given the Education Study Center Bidialectal Task for Determining Language Proficienoy in Economically Disadvantaged Negro Children in October and again in May. Analysis of covariance was performed on the posttest results of the standard repetitions on the Bidialectal Task, using the pretest scores as the covariate. Strickland concluded the experimental treatment offers strong evidence that educationally disadvantaged, Negro, kindergarten students who speak a nonstandard dialect can 40 eXpand their language repertoire to include standard English without negating their native dialect. Carol Chomsky's study1 of language acquisition in children between the ages of six and ten investigates their linguistic compe- tence with respect to complex aspects of English syntax. Thirty-six children were tested for knowledge of nine complex syntactic structures. Five of the structures proved to be acquired in sequence, revealing five develOpmental stages in acquisition of five test structures which were "easy to see," "promise," ”ask," "and," and ”although." Children's ability to apply the five structures in a regular fashion shows that their acquisition of syntax proceeds from simple to complex structures.2 The second portion of Chomsky's study surveyed the children's reading background and current reading activity. Chomsky considered the relation of the amount and complexity of what children read to rate of linguistic development. She compared the five linguistic stages outlined above as the measure of rate of linquistic development and a variety of information on reading and listening. Of particular interest to the present research study is Chomsky's conclusion that children enter the classroom equipped to learn language from their own internal organization and innate abilities. The discovery that children's language acquisition 1Carol Chomsky, "Stages in Language Development and Reading Exposure," Harvard Educational Review 42 (February 1972): 1-33. 2Ibid., p. 22. 41 continues throughout their elementary school years, suggests that the best method of encouraging learning is to make it possible for children to receive a variety of language experiences in interesting, stimulating situations. Our reading results indicate that eXposure to the more complex language available from reading does seem to go hand in hand with increased knowledge of the language. This would imply that perhaps wider reading should find a place in the curriculum . . . effort should be towards providing more and richer language eXposure, rather than limiting the child with restrictive and carefully programmed materials.1 Chomsky says that a young child's exposure to literature, to the language contained within the literary selections benefits from a ”wide range of linguistic inputs that is unavailable to the non-literary child."2 Prereaders in higher linguistic stages are read to by more pe0ple and hear more books per week, at higher complexity levels than children at lower linguistic stages.3 Chomsky found that complex language available in reading is in accord with the nature of language acquisition as linguists are coming to understand it. That is, children should be permitted to derive what is accessible to them through listening to the complex, imaginative language in the literature that is read aloud to them, even if they do not fully comprehend the rich, stimulating language they hear. Only by offering a wide range of experiences, can children 'Ibid., p. 33. 2Ibid., p. 23. 3Ibid., p. 27. 42 learn to sift and sort what they know, and put it to use in their own ways. Boodt1 found that the general reading comprehension abilities improved as a result of direct instruction in select critical listening skills through activities in which select literary materials were read orally to her subjects and following the oral reading posed questions designed to stimulate group discussions. A strong statement advocating reading literature aloud to children to promote oral language develOpment is shown in the case study, Cushla and Her Books. Dorothy Buler's2 in-depth account of a highly original book-based program for a child with developmental handicaps caused by a chromosome deficiency demonstrates how early, consistent, lengthy, and stimulating oral reading to Cushla contributed to her intellectual and linguistic growth. Cushla, born with a genetic abnormality, had numerous physical handicaps and visual impairment. She was a distressed and fractious baby as evidenced by her inability to sleep for any length of time, by her constant battles with illness, and her inability to be ade- quately fed. Cushla's abnormal behavior caused her anxious parents to tend to her needs constantly. To soothe the agitated, sick child, Cushla's parents began to read to her. 1Gloria M. Boodt, "Direct Instruction in Critical Listening: Its Effect on the Reading Progress of Children Identified as Remedial Readers" (Ph.D. dissertation, Michigan State University, 1978), p. 56. 2Dorothy Butler, Cushla and Her Books (London: Hodder and Stoughton, Ltd., 1979). 43 Books were introduced for the first time at four months, when it was realised that Cushla could see clearly only if an object was held close to her face. Filling the long hours during the day and night necessitated some parental ingenuity, and desperation certainly played a part. The baby would look at a book; she constituted a totally captive audience, and reading the text gave her mother something constructive to do. Cushla's mother turned to books naturally, at the time for help.1 Cushla's early introduction to books had a profound effect on her development. Though Cushla lagged several weeks and months behind other infants of comparable age on personal-social skills and fine and gross motor skills, her language was developing. Quite suddenly, at about a year old, she began to sound the initial letter of separate nouns as she pointed to pictures. Again, it was B is for Bear that provided the stimulus. Cushla, with eyes close to the book and finger pointing, would breathe "fff" when the fish appeared, I'p" for the pig, etc.2 Cushla's enjoyment and involvement with literature was evident as she listened with rapt attention as her favorite stories were read aloud. Complete memorization of the literary works, both prose and poetry, was accomplished. At two-and—a-half years Cushla's vocabulary was fairly extensive. By three years of age, Cushla's speech was "enabling her to represent the world, eXpress her thoughts, report occurrences and reflect on possibilities—-in short, to communicate."3 By the time she was three years and eight months old, Cushla's own words indicate the contribution of her books to the quality of her life. 1Ibid., p. 19. 2Ibid., p. 34. 3Ibid., p. 83. 44 They were spoken as she settled herself on the sofa, her rag doll in her arms and the usual pile of books at her side: ”Now I can read to Looby Lou, 'cause she's tired and sad, and she needs a cuddle and a bottle and a book."1 . . . "Surely a prescription for any child, with or without handicaps."2 As has been demonstrated in the above research studies, reading aloud facilitates language development as linguistic competence facilitates reading performance. Both are affected by regularity of exposure to literature and the length of time the treatment is applied.3 Investigations of the effects of reading aloud to children on a regular basis have shown significant increases in quantity of vocabulary growth, knowledge of word meanings, visual decoding, motor encoding, and reading comprehension achievement.“ An additional benefit of the read-aloud experiences for children is the effect reading aloud has on their reading interests. Children are more eager to read for themselves the books which have been read aloud to them, or books of the same type. If a child has examined many books, has had many stories, read to him, has talked about their events and characters, has participated in dramatization of stories and poems, has had much experience with language as it is encoun- tered in books--and this experience has been pleasant 1Ibid., p. 102. 2Ibid. 3Sandra McCormick, "Should You Read Aloud To Your Children?” Languoge Arts 54 (February 1977): 140. 'Ibid., p. 139. 45 and fulfilling for him--he will want to learn to read for himself. With rare exceptions, such a child will learn to read.1 By providing children with a variety of literary selections from the different genres, by including prose and poetry, informational, and imaginative works, the children are exposed to literature at a higher complexity level than they usually encounter in their programed or independent reading. Children's Sense of Story and Oral Story Making Experiences Applebee2 found a strong developmental progression in the original story making experiences of children two to five years of age and older children's retelling of stories. Though young children may not be able to tell what they expect to find in a story, these expectations are reflected more or less directly in their attempts to tell stories.3 This can be inferred from the child's gradually increasing use of various features and characteristics of story--formal endings and beginnings and the use of past tense--and the developing ability to purposefully impose a structure on events. By five, most children are using some dialogue, and the beginnings of complex plot forms are being established. Of particular interest to the present 1Walter T. Petty, Dorothy C. Petty, Anabel P. Newman, and Eloise M. Skeen, "Language Competencies Essential for Coping in Our Society," The Teaching,of English, The Seventy-Sixth Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education, Part I, ed. James R. Squire (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1977), p. 93. 2Arthur N. Applebee, The Child's Concept of Story--Ages Two to Seventeen (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1978). 3Ibid., p. 36. 46 research study is the finding that the thematic center is relatively undeveloped and of little concern to children until after nine years of age.1 The plot.structure, according to Applebee, develops from stories with few links between sentences for the young children to stories which are a chain of events linked to one another by a central character. Applebee says, by approaching the plots of the children's stories as conceptual structures or modes of organization, it has been possible to recognize a series of stages parallel to those which Vygotsky (1962) has described for concept development in general. From least to most complex, the six major stages of narrative form found here are heaps, sequences, primitive narratives, unfocused chains, focused chains, and true narratives.2 Applebee hypothesized that if the plots of stories are treated as a series of elements of incidents, such as, characters, actions, setting, and themes, then Vygotsky's work provides a model for analysis of the narrative form. The true narrative represents a complex combining of two basic structuring principles, "chaining and centering,“ to create a story which has a point or moral, a goal or direction, a character who.remains central to the story. This gives unity and focus, insuring that there will be an overall "shape” as well as links between incidents.3 1Garth H. Brown, "Development of Story in Children's Reading and Writing," Theory Into Practice 16 (December 1977): 358. 2Applebee, Child's Concept of Story, p. 72. 31bid., p. 70. 47 In two separate studies, Botvin and Sutton-Smith1 randomly selected eighty children from a sample size of 150 children from the New York City public school system for the first study, and 140 children from a sample of 300 children also drawn from the New York City public school system for the second and larger study. There were approximately ten children for each age group of the five-year-olds to twelve-year- olds for the first study, and fourteen children for each age group of three-year-olds to twelve-year-olds in the second study. In both studies there were equal numbers of boys and girls at each age level. In each study children were seen individually and asked to make up a story. Only fantasy narratives were included in the investigation. For both studies the spontaneously told stories were decomposed into action elements and analyzed in terms of plot units and then scored according to seven levels of structural complexity. The researchers attempted to determine if (a) there is a developmental sequence of increasing structural complexity in children's fantasy narratives, and (b) if that sequence conforms to their levels of structural complexity.2 The findings of this study are of particular interest to the present research study: Botvin and Sutton-Smith found that the structural complexity of children's fantasy narratives progressively increased with age. In general, children appeared to progress from 1Gilbert J. Botvin and Brian Sutton-Smith, "The Development of Structural Complexity in Children's Fantasy Narratives," Developmental Psychology 13 (July 1977): 377-388. 21bid., p. 379. 48 (a) the concatenation of a series of single plot units, to (b) the construction of narrative around a simple nuclear dyad, to (c) the conjunction and coordination of a series of nuclear dyads, to (d) the embedding of subordinate dyads within a superordinate dyad.1 Initially, the fantasy narratives of young children appeared to be devoid of any structure, and not until the ages of four or five did simple narrative structures emerge. The next narrative acquisition was the ability to conjoin and coordinate multiple action sequences together into a series of episodes. The use of complex narratives, those with embedded struc- tures, did not appear until around eleven years of age. Children around twelve years of age used narratives with multiple embedded structures, the most difficult narrative for they require preplanning, that is, children employing the embedded narrative structures must construct a mental image of the entire narrative before they tell it. Mary Jett-Simpson's study2 investigated the feasibility of develOping a classification system to describe verbalized inferences and to apply the classification system to observations of the differ- ences in production of inferences by high, middle, and low readers in kindergarten, second, and fourth grades. Subjects were drawn from a middle-class p0pulation. There were twenty-one kindergarteners, second graders, and fourth graders classified according to high, middle, and 'Ibid., p. 385. 2Mary Jett-Simpson, "Children's Inferential Responses to a Wordless Picture Book: Development and Use of a Classification System for Verbalized Inference" (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Washington, 1976). 49 low reading readiness scores in kindergarten and high, middle, and low reading scores at second and fourth grade levels. Groups of two children participated in a warm-up activity with the researcher which consisted of tape recorder play and oral response to a four-picture story sequence developed for the study. When the warm-up procedure was completed, one child returned to the classroom while the other remained to tape record his/her original story for the wordless picture book Frog Goes to Dinner (Mayer, 1974). After the first child finished, the second child returned for his/her storytelling. Significant differences, (p<<.OOl), in the quantity of the inferences made between grade levels for all main categories except theme were indicated in the Friedman two-way analysis of variance. The number of verbalized inferences increased as grade level increased for conversation, plot, setting, and character.1 Jett-Simpson found that a comparison of percentage of inference within each grade level showed that the pr0portion of occurrence of inferences for the cate- gories of plot, setting, character, and theme were about the same for kindergarten, second, and fourth grade subjects.2 Inferences made about character predominated, followed by those made about plot, and then setting. Jett-Simpson also concluded that the finding that direct statements of theme did not appear in the natural storytelling responses of the children supports the contention that children seldom made theme statements independent of teacher guidance.3 1Ibid., p. 9. 21bid., pp. 12, 14. 3Ibid., p. 10. 50 Of particular interest to the present research study is Jett-Simpson's conclusion that since the only constraint on the child's choice of inference was the picture story itself, the order of frequency of responses for plot, setting, and character categories suggests that certain literary elements are more important to the storyteller.1 This conclusion and the above findings are in accord with Applebee's theory that the child's sense of story is develOpmental. Children include plot, characters, and setting in their stories more often than conversation and theme, and the inclusion of these literary elements increased as grade level increased. The lack of verbalization of theme also agrees with Applebee's theory regarding children's sense of story which states that the thematic center is relatively undevelOped and of little conscious concern to children until after nine years of age.2 The listening to literature read aloud at an early age and the continued, consistent practice of reading to children at all ages enables them to unconsciously develOp a sense of story from the multi- tude of stories they hear. Children learn that the underlying struc- ture imposed on the literary works by the components of literature-— plot, characterizations, theme, setting, and style, is the framework that provides the organizational scheme of the story. This knowledge enables them "to see literature as a whole rather than as a collection 11bid., p. 14. 2Brown, "Development of Story," p. 358. 51 of unrelated entities."1 This theory that a child's sense of story is developmental can be inferred from the child's gradually increasing use of the components of literature and "the developing ability to purposely impose a structure on the events, and to compose a language entity with a theme."2 The inherent nature of children's sense of story can be seen in Britton's spectator role in language. In considering language as a model of representing experience, our main stress has been upon its use in turning confusion into order, in enabling us to construct for ourselves an increasingly faithful, objective, and coherent picture of the world.3 This spectator role in language is used to modify theories of the world and evaluate events, to think about experiences much as a spectator would view these happenings without becoming involved. Britton says that children practice the spectator role in language at an early age. In looking at the way young children sort experience as they learn words, the classification we had in mind was primarily a classification in accordance with "the way things are." We did observe, however, that our repre- sentation of the world is affected also by the projec- tion of our individual feelings, our needs and desires; a classification in accordance with "the way I feel about things."“ 1Glenna Davis Sloan, The Child as Critic. Teaching Literature in the Elementary School (New York: New York Teachers College Press, 1975), p. 28. 2Brown, "Development of Story," p. 358. 3James Britton, Language and Learning (Middlesex, England: Penguin Book, Inc., 1970), p. 105. l'Ibid., pp. 105-106. 52 This sense of story, this urge and need to impose structure on events or to make generalizations about the world is a typical and central example of the spectator role in language. Applebee asks if the spectator role of language exists at all for the very young child. In The Child's Concept of Story, Applebee discusses the traditional theories of language development which imply that the spectator role uses would be a later acquisition. Language begins within a supporting social context without which it does not function, and that the earliest functions of language are interactive, even imitative, rather than detached and personal in the ways characteristic of the spectator role.1 In contrast, various studies have demonstrated that the literature device of rhythm in prose and poetry is closely linked to body rhythms. The fascination of verse with young children in studies by Chukovsky in Russia and White in New Zealand demonstrate that children use various methods to learn their spoken language and the arrangement of words in certain patterns plays a significant role. "The child thinks of words in pairs: he assumes that every word has a 'twin'--an opposite in meaning or quality."2 "Almost all children delight in games based on rhythmic rhymes, and they respond to them not merely with pleasure but even with rapture."3 1Arthur N. Applebee, The Child's Concept of Story (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1978), p. 30. 2Kornei Chukovsky, From Two to Five. (Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1971), p. 61. 31pm, p. 62. 53 Wier's discussion in Language in the Crib is based on the pre-sleep monologues of the Wier's son. These monologues, says Applebee, pose a basic challenge to traditional theories of language development. "If language learning depends on a supporting environment responding to vocalizations, the monologues should never have taken place at all."1 These monologues provide the earliest examples of language in the spectator role. There are no participatory demands and no audience. The sense of story for infants and young children is crucial in the ongoing effort to make sense of the world. "We resort to story to make an entity of experience; to give our experience form and balance; to make generalizations about the world."2 Of particular interest to the present research study is the controversy concerning the inherent or environmental influences on children's sense of story. Children's use of the literary components of literature as they create stories, therefore, may be seen to indi- cate the existence of an internalized representation of story, or sense of story, determined, as some studies indicate, by inherent forces. Applebee, however, found the sense of story to be devel- 0pmental. Brown extended the developmental theory by referring to age, experience with stories, and facility with language as factors which influence the reception and production of story. Brown contends 1Arthur N. Applebee, The Child's Concept of Story(Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1978), p. 31. 2Brown, "Development of Story," p. 358. 54 that the extent of a child's sense of story or internalized representation of story, affects comprehension and facility in reading and listening to stories, and affects the ability to retell and create stories.l Of interest to this researcher, is the reciprocal nature of the inherent and environmental forces which appear to be mutually facilitative for children's development of a sense of story. Botvin and Sutton-Smith found in their study that the narra- tive development appears to proceed in a manner similar to that of linguistic structures. They contend that there is a developmental progression starting with productions which are fragmented with no underlying organization or integration; then productions in which these elements are organized around some simple structure; followed by productions which are the result of the conjunction and coordination of these simple structures; and productions which hierarchize elements into superordinate and subordinate sequences.2 "For example, in language development, children progress from (a) single word utterances, to (b) simple sentences, to (c) compound sentences, to (d) embedded sentences."3 In both of their experiments, the number of elements used by children in their fantasy narratives gradually increased with age. They found, however, that narrative length is not simply the result of age, but is primarily the result of the acquisition of increasing more complex narrative structures. "In other words, length is facilitated 1Ibid., pp. 358-359. 2Botvin and Sutton-Smith, p. 386. 3Ibld. 55 by structure and, conversely, structure tends to constrain length."1 This finding is supported by the conclusion of Applebee (1973) that increased structure complexity simplifies the task of bringing more and more elements into the narrative. As the number of narrative elements integrated into a narrative increases, it is necessary to have more complex ways of organizing these elements.2 The literary components, therefore, included as children retell or compose an original story and the language they use appears to be a viable measure of their literary and linguistic competence. Oral story making of either original thoughts or the retelling of a story is basic to the language experience approach develOped several years ago as a pre-reading activity. This approach, the creative oral composition of children either individually or coop- eratively as a group and recorded by the teacher, utilizes the experimental backgrounds of students and their abilities to express themselves orally. Interest in, and application of, the language experience approach to the teaching of reading and other communication processes have expanded since the late 19505. As attention to the approach has increased, so has the amount of research investigating the achievement of students instructed with this approach. Researchers have begun to examine particular dimensions of the approach, such as 1Arthur N. Applebee, "The Spectator Role: Studies in Literature and Response“ (Ph.D. dissertation, University of London, 1973), quoted in Botvin and Sutton-Smith, p. 386. 2Brown, "Development of Story," p. 359. 56 oral language growth, the nature of the content of children's productions and affective factors.1 Giles2 reported in his 1966 study that first grade pupils using the language experience approach made greater gains in oral language than did pupils using a basal approach. Giles measured six aspects of oral language which were extent of verbalization, vocabulary, expressions of tentativeness, use of structural patterns, colorful and vivid expressions, and use of mazes. Giles recommended that greater emphasis be placed upon the language experience approach in teacher education courses. He further recommended that first grade teachers provide many opportunities for classroom discussion, communication, and sharing. Cox's 1971 study3 tested two hypotheses which were (1) Is there reciprocity of the language skills employed by first grade Language Experience Approach students in language activities? (2) Is there reciprocity of the language skills employed by first grade Language Experience Approach students in three types of language activities: spontaneous expression, the presentation of dictation and 1Mary Ann Hall, The Language Experience Approach for Teaching Reading: A Research Perspective (Newark, Del.: International Reading Association, 1978), p. l. 2Douglas E. Giles, "The Effect of Two Approaches to Reading Instruction Upon the Oral Language Development of First Grade Pupils” (Ph.D. dissertation, North Texas State University, 1966). 3Vivian E. Cox, "Reciprocal Oracy/Literacy Recognition Skills in the Language Production of Language Experience Students" (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Arizona, 1971). 57 personal authorship? Her sample was twenty-five first grade students from five different geographic areas of Tucson, Arizona, representing low to upper middle income families. Cox found that the language skills used by first grade Language Experience Approach students were interrelated, but not reciprocal. Christensen1 investigated the effects of two kindergarten programs, social class and sex upon children's oral syntactic language facility. The subjects in this study consisted of a stratified random sample of eighty children drawn from the approximately 300 kindergart- ners in the school district of Seaford, Delaware. Forty of the assigned children from eight different classrooms and four different teachers participated in an Adapted Kindergarten program and forty participated in a Non-Adapted Kindergarten program. Since the use of language is an important component of the language-experience approach, it was hypothesized that participation in an Adapted Kindergarten program would influence children's use of oral syntax. Christensen concluded from the findings that neither teaching approach, social class status, nor sex individually exerts a significant effect on the oral language facility of kindergarten children as measured by changes in T-unit length during the first half of a school year. She did find, however, that increases in number of multi T-units used by the Adapted Kindergarten program children were significantly greater than those of Non-Adapted Kindergarten program children. It appeared 1Katharine E. Christensen, "Language Facility of Kindergarten Children," Elementary English 49 (November/December 1972), pp. 1107— 1111, 1119. 58 that the language experience approach did affect this particular aspect of children's language facility. Though there was no significant difference in the syntactic growth as measured by change in T-unit length between middle- and lower-class children, middle-class children showed significantly greater gains in number of multi T-units than did lower-class children. Christensen also concluded that at the kinder- garten level, changes in number of multi T-units is a better discrim- inator between the language behavior of middle- and lower-class chil- dren than changes in either T-unit length or number of single T-units. Since multi T-units measure a more complex level of oral language than single T-units, this study showed that at the kindergarten age level, it is number of multi T-units or quality of language which is most sensitive to the effects of the language experience approach. Wells's research1 with remedial fourth grade readers in 1975 showed significant growth in oral language facility when oral language samples were measured by gains in total number of words, number of T-units, and number of words per T-unit. Wells found that the visual literacy techniques in the language experience approach to reading was an effective means of developing fourth grade reading students' reading abilities, oral language, and writing abilities. 1Timothy M. Wells, "An Investigation Designed to Test the Feasibility of Using Visual Literacy Techniques and the Language Experience Approach to Reading to Develop the Reading Abilities of Remedial Fourth Grade Readers" (Ph.D. dissertation, Michigan State University, 1975). 59 R. Stauffer and Pikulski's analysis1 of the oral language reflected in the stories dictated by first graders revealed significant improvement in all evaluated dimensions of oral language which included variables of average number of words, sentences, long sentences, pronouns, different pronouns, prepositions, different prepositions, and different words. Growth in average number of words, sentences, and prepositions was particularly impressive according to the authors. Stauffer and Pikulski concluded that a language experience approach to teach reading is pedagogically sound because it capitalizes on the child's existing language skills. It also contributes to further growth of oral language as well as reading and writing skills.2 The research substantiates that the language experience approach is an effective means of teaching reading and related communication skills. These studies demonstrate that the overall reading achievement of students who receive language experience instruction is satisfactory, and, in some cases, it is superior to the achievement of children instructed by other approaches.3 Language experience programs stress the integration of all language arts, and oral communication is the base for written language products in language experience instruction. Although it is limited, the research on oral language use and development in language experience programs shows generally favorable results. lRussell G. Stauffer and John J. Pikulski, "A Comparison and Measure of Oral Language Growth,” Elementary English 51 (November/ December, 1974): 1151—1155. 2Ibid., p. 1155. 3Hall, Language Experience Approach, p. 24. 60 Hall concludes in her review of language experience approach research that interest in the language experience approach has grown since her first edition in 1972 and this can be documented by the num- ber of journal articles, the amount of space in methods textbooks, the inclusion of the topic in conference programs, and the amount of doctoral research devoted to this approach. The quantity of language experience research reported in professional journals is limited; and much of the research concerning this approach has had to rely heavily on doctoral dissertations which, although they usually are supervised carefully, they cannot provide longitudinal investigations, nor are they often funded programs.1 The oral story making of either original thoughts or the retelling of a story uses the experiential backgrounds of students and their abilities to express themselves orally. If the children's background is one of limited experiences and restricted language use, the language experience approach can offer real and vicarious experi- ences where children hear, use, and read their language in a variety of ways. When directing and stimulating story making experiences in the language experience approach, the children's minds and emotions have to be aroused before they can be expected to create. One cannot say to them "write or make up stories about anything you want." They cannot create from or in a vacuum. The teacher must confront the children with new experiences and happenings that will warrant talking, writing, and reading about.2 'Ibid., pp. 37-38. 2Patricia Jean Cianciolo, "Using Children's Literature in the Reading Program" (unpublished paper, Michigan State University, 1974), pp. 3-4. 61 New experiences that not only stimulate the minds and emotions of children, but also contribute to the sense of story and the language of story, can be found repeatedly in literature for children. Lit- erature to enrich children's language, to expand their imaginations, to extend their reasoning abilities, can offer the external pull so necessary for the internal push. It is important to expose children to an abundance of fine literature (prose and poetry) for this contributes immeasurably to a richer, more adequate expression and expands one's oral and written language power. Conversely, the effort to write (or orally compose) one's ideas effec- tively and colorfully heightens sensitivity to good literature.1 Wordless picture books, an innovation of recent years where the book artist uses the graphic form to tell a story, seem to be excellent facilitators to promote the sense of story and the use of literary language. As children orally create a story, they are encouraged to express their perceptions, ideas, experiences, feelings, and attitudes as they, initially, describe and interpret, and ultimately, creatively respond to the array and sequence of the illustrations. Children's ability to create a narrative work from the pictures presented might well be used to determine not only their literary and linguistic competence, but also their ability to perceive the graphic art. These books may be used to teach such visual literacy skills as literal translation of objects of situations presented in a visual or a sequence of illustrations 'Ibid., pp. 5-6. 62 arranged to transmit a fictional narrative and interpretation of figurative expressions presented visually.1 Included in the ability to perceive the graphic art in the textless books is the expression of feeling or emotion implied by the author/artist's elaboration of a point of view. As children recognize and evaluate the literary components of plot, character- izations, theme, setting, and style, and orally compose a story, they do so in a way that expresses their feelings, emotions, and attitudes relative to their linguistic ability, literary experience, and visual literacy. In the 1974 investigation by Wells,2 the feasibility of using selected wordless picture books and non-narrated films to facilitate reading achievement was studied. Twenty fourth grade students who were at least one year below grade level reading ability participated in the study. Wells's hypotheses were that visual literacy techniques used in the language experience approach to reading would result in significant growth in (1) reading ability, (2) oral language facility, (3) written language facility, and (4) change in students' attitudes towards reading. The results of his study showed that growth in reading vocabulary, comprehension, total reading, oral language facility, and written language facility was above the .05 level of significance. The change in students' reading attitudes was not significant at the .05 level. Wells concluded that the use of visual 1Patricia Jean Cianciolo, "Use Wordless Picture Books to Teach Reading, Visual Literacy, and to Study Literature," in Children's Literature Criticism and Response, ed. Mary Lou White (Columbus, Ohio: Charles E. Merrill Publishing, Co., 1976), p. 164. 2Wells. 63 literacy techniques in the language experience approach to reading was an effective means of developing remedial fourth grade reading students' reading abilities, oral language, and written language abilities. Jett-Simpson1 studied children's inferential responses to a wordless picture book in her 1976 study. Sixty-three subjects, high, middle, and low readers in kindergarten, second, and fourth grades, from a middle class school in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, told a story to accompany the wordless picture book, Frog Goes to Dinner (Mayer, 1974). A sample of nine stories was analyzed for natural inference groupings from which a classification system was developed. Of particular interest to the present research study were children's inferences around main categories of plot, character, setting, theme, and conversation. Subcategories identified for plot were cause/effect, elaborated event, and added event. For setting, subcategories were identification, refinement, and time. The Friedman two-way analysis of variance indicated significant differences (p<:.OOl) for differences between high, middle, and low readers across grade levels for the main categories of the classification system. The proportion of inferences for each category for each grade level were similar. Second and fourth graders included from most to least inferences of character, plot, setting, conversation, and theme. The order for kindergartners was the same except that there were more inaccuracies than conversations. Jett-Simpson's major conclusions were (1) as age increases from 1Jett-Simpson. 64 kindergarten to fourth grade, so do number of inferences; (2) for this study, in all cases except one, inference making was not a function of reading level; (3) for low readers there was a trend for inaccuracy to increase with age; and (4) responses of kindergarten, second, and fourth graders to the wordless picture book suggest that inferential comprehension of the literary elements--plot, character, and setting-- is holistic rather than hierarchical. Omotoso1 investigated the differences that might characterize the responses of North Floridian American and Western Nigerian seven- year-olds to wordless picture story books. His sample of thirty White North Floridian, Black North Floridian, and Western Nigerian children told stories to two wordless picture story books. Analysis of the stories was based on two independent variables, sex and ethnicity. Two dependent variables, visual literacy and linguistic competence, were also analyzed. Of particular interest to the present research study was the visual literacy variable which had two dimensions: recognizing things in detail in the picture story book and inter- preting actions that were supposed to be in progress in the sequentially arranged pictures. Omotoso found that there was no significant difference in the stories told by girls and those told by boys under any of the visual literacy and linguistic competence dimensions, but there were 1Samuel Oyedokun Omotoso, "Response of North Floridian American and Western Nigerian Seven-Year-Olds to Wordless Picture Story Books: A Cross-Cultural Analysis“ (Ph.D. dissertation, The University of Florida, 1976). 65 significant differences among ethnic groups. Under the visual literacy variable, all three groups recognized the same number of objects, but White North Floridian subjects told of significantly more action in progress in the picture story than either of the other groups. Under the linguistic competence variable, Nigerian subjects told longer, but less grammatically complex, stories than either of the American groups. Emotional expressions, as measured by the use of feeling words, were rare in any stories and virtually absent in Western Nigerian subjects' stories. Omotoso concluded that wordless picture story books might provide a vehicle for children raised in an oral-story-telling tradition to develop book awareness and stimulate language development. Children raised in a literary culture might be encouraged to tell stories to wordless picture story books as a bridge to oral story telling of original stories, an excellent avenue for language development. De Kane1 investigated the stimulus effect of graphic repre- sentation in producing generative language in kindergarten children in her 1978 study. Two questions posed in the study were: (1) What is the stimulus effect of graphic representative activity in generating oral composition? and (2) Is the stimulus effect of graphic representa- tive activity the same for all subjects regardless of sex, race, or 1Frances Pizzini-Zepeda De Kane, "The Stimulus Effect of Graphic Representation on the Oral Composition of Kindergarten Children as Related to Sex, Race and Socioeconomic Status” (Ph.D. dissertation, The University of Florida, 1978). 66 socioeconomic status? De Kane postulates that verbal expression and graphic expression are concomitant processes of symbolic representa- tion-—both represent internal thinking communicated externally. Fifty-five kindergarten children randomly assigned to three different groups were used as subjects. Structured-passive and semistructured- active pictorial stimuli were presented to subjects in two control groups. Subjects in the third, experimental, group were requested to generate their own pictorial stimuli. All subjects had previously participated in a field trip that provided the basis for stimuli presentation and data collection. De Kane found that the analysis of data indicated that subjects in the experimental group generated greater visualization in response to stimuli than subjects in the control groups. These findings were consistent for subjects in the experimental group regardless of vari- ables of sex, race, or socioeconomic status. De Kane concluded that this study suggests that externalizing thought processes through pictorial symbolization established a transitional visual referent for verbal expression. During the years since 1969, there has been increasing interest among educators in the use of visual literacy as it relates to education. Dwyer studies the effects of stimuli emitted by various types of visual illustrations. His report summarized several studies which were con- cerned with guidelines which educators could use in their selection and use of visual illustrations in instruction. Eight generalizations were developed from the summary of studies. The most significant one for the present research study is 67 the use of visual illustrations will significantly improve student achievement of specific educational objectives provided the visuals are designed to complement a specific method of instruction and to facilitate a specific educational objective.1 Another in the field of visual literacy claims that as we are immersed in a visual culture the schools need to help students relate the visual and verbal stimuli about them with perception and under- standing. Schools need to recognize the interdependence of the visual and the verbal in shaping our behaviors. Fillion says that only by translating vision in the symbolic realm of verbal language are we really able to cope with and analyze it, to determine its potential effects upon behavior. Fillion recommends, it may be possible, as a first step, to have students respond to a visual stimulus by creating their own visuals, but to determine the meaning they apply to these events is to apply words to them, to translate from the objective fact of the image to the feelings and incipient behaviors implied.2 Of particular interest to the present research study is the interdependence of the visual and the verbal elements of communication. As students perceive the visual, they are receiving practice in inter- preting, analyzing, and communicating, or verbalizing, what they perceive whether it be self-generated pictorials or the illustrations contained in wordless picture books. Visual and verbal parallels are directly related to this research study as visual literacy materials 1Francis M. Dwyer, "Visual Learning--A Critical Analysis,” Proceedings of the First National Conference on Visual Literacy, eds. Clarence M. Williams and John L. Debes (New York: Pitman Publishing Corporation, 1970), p. 96. 2Bryant Fillion, "Visual Literacy," The Clearing House 47 (January 1973): 310. 68 are used to promote the oral language proficiencies of elementary school age students. There are varying levels of ability in reading visuals. Brown, Lewis, and Harcleroad1 suggest three levels, recognizing and naming particular objects in the picture, determining and describing picture details, and inferring past, present, and future action in relation to the picture. Williams2 adds three more points: grasping importance of more points, adding imaginative elements, and engaging in further activities related to the picture. Debes3 says there are visual rhymes, visual puns, visual metaphors, and possibly a visual counterpart for nearly every aspect of the verbal model. Cianciolo“ extends the visual literacy notion by giving examples of figurative expressions and literary devices which are presented visually in children's wordless picture books. In Qpe, Two, Where's My Shoe and Snail Where Are You by Tomi Ungerer and Topsy Turvies: Pictures that Stretch the Imagination by Mitsumasa Anno, the authors/artists have created the "visual pun.‘I In both of Ungerer's books, the reader searches for a shoe or a snail, and they are found 1James Brown, Richard Lewis, and Fred Harcleroad, Media Methods, (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1969). 2Catherine M. Williams, Learning from Pictures (Washington, D.C.: Department of Audiovisual Instruction, National Education Association, 1963). 3John L. Debes, "The Loom of Visual Literacy--An Overview," Proceedings of the First National Conference on Visual Literacy, eds. Clarence M. Williams and John L. Debes (New York: Pitman Publishing Corporation, 1970), pp. 1-16. “Cianciolo, "Use Wordless Picture Books,‘I pp. 163-171. 69 in the most unlikely places. In Anno's Topsy Turvies, the pictures are optical illusions which form structures in which people can go upstairs to get to a lower place, hang pictures on the ceiling, and walk walls. A visual metaphor is evident in George Mendoza's And I Must Hurry for the Sea Is Coming In. The young reader can enjoy on the literal level the visual metaphor that is presented via the photographs as a ghetto boy's small boat becomes a ship that rides the waves. On a more mature level, one can grasp the powerful message expressed in the theme which is "there exists an urgency in providing lives of dignity and strength for all children--'or the sea is coming in' and we had all better hurry."1 Some of the literary devices that are identified in the wordless picture books and used by authors of verbal fictional narra- tives include devices used to develop the plot (backflashing and foreshadowing); the point of view from which the story is told (first person, second person, third person, and omniscient point of view); the mood of the story (fanciful, realistic, satirical, ironical, serious, or humorous); and the style in which the story is told. In order to read the pantomime story that is told in popp;§_ Qrepm_by Martha Alexander, the reader must first recognize that the actions portrayed in the balloon pictures represent dreams. This manner of telling the story by depicting the dog's dreams in balloons would probably be comparable to the device of telling a story from the 1Ibid., p. 166. 7O omniscient point of view.1 Only the reader in the macabre book, Ipe_ Inspector by Mendoza, is fully aware of the inspector's plight as the hound gradually grows as it consumes monstrous creatures. Neither the hound nor the inspector is fully knowledgeable about his own or the other's state, but the reader 15.2 V1951 by Renate Meyer exemplifies the first person point of view. In unusually full color paintings, the reader is told by the little girl how it feels to experience a spell of friendlessness. The little girl's resolution to her problem is a surprise to readers and requires the readers to correctly interpret the expressionistic art. The style of art used by the book artist, the use of color, and space are the basic factors to appraise the literary style of the wordless picture book. Kjell Ringi uses color to lead the reader of The Magic Stick to the world of imagination as the real world is por- trayed in black and white; the boy's make-believe world is portrayed through colored pictures. The line drawings by Peter Parnall to tell the story of The Inspector are as macabre as the story. Parnall's style of art, his use of details, of lines and shadowing, and space, produced a mood of horror, developed unique characters, and depicted a setting that was believable. The carefree pastel sketches that Ruth Carroll did in Ipe_ Chimp and the Clown are compatible with the fun-filled adventures of these circus animals. The pen and ink sketches done by Mercer Mayer 1Ibid., p. 166. 2Ibid. 71 establish the naive but action-packed experiences of the boy, his dog, and their friend, the frog, in Frog, Where Are You? The wordless picture book offers an effective means by which one may be able to recognize the theme of a literary selection. Young readers would be able to identify with the boy in Edward Ardizzone's The Wrong Side of the Bed as he goes fumbling through his day offending everyone and pleasing no one. Ringi's The Winner and Fernando Krahn's A Flying Saucer Full of Spaghetti show "one-upmanship" and social inequities, respectively. The plot in the latter story is easily followed even by young children but the theme would not be identified or understood until children are nine years old or more, when they are perceptive about or sympathetic with social inequities. As children perceive the graphic art, they are gaining experience in interpreting and presenting their responses in the form of creative oral composition as they creatively and orally compose a story to go with the sequence and array of the illustrations and the figurative expressions and literary devices included in many of the wordless picture books. Smith, Goodman, and Meredith in their study, Language and Thinking in School, discuss the symbolic transformation and repre- sentation of experience as perceiving, ideating, and presenting which corresponds to the process exercised by children as they creatively orally compose. 72 Each individual perceives new objects, events or ideas in his own way. He tries to incorporate what he perceives into his conceptual schemes through the process of ideation. Then he presents them on his own terms to himself and others by symbolic representation in media appropriate to his life- style and to the type of ideas.1 Perceiving, ideating, and presenting, three phases of mental activity, are implemented as children perceive the graphic art of the wordless picture books, and employ their sense of story and the language of story to creatively and orally compose. The "external pull," the exposure to literature rich in language, facilitates the "internal push" to literary and linguistic growth. The perceiving, ideating, and presenting defined by Smith, Goodman, and Meredith employed to orally compose a story not only facilitates literary and linguistic growth but is dependent on literary and linguistic competence. As has been shown in research and the lit- erature pertinent to this study, the volume and complexity of language increases with age and the language experiences offered to elementary school children. The availability of more complex syntactic structures in the child's repertoire from maturation and/or experiences with language allow for a greater variety of ways to express relationships among characters and the events as they orally compose a story. Con- tained within this literary and linguistic knowledge is an element which facilitates and is dependent on perceiving, ideating, and pre- senting; the element which defines, enhances, and expands thought is creativity. 1E. Brooks Smith, Kenneth S. Goodman, and Robert Meredith, Language and Thinking in School, 2nd ed. (New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1970), p. 96. 73 Though there is some argument about whether or not creativity can be taught, there seems to be no question that this aspect of human capability can be encouraged and nurtured. Torrance and Guptal posed two major problems in the conservation and development of creative talent that were of concern in their project, "Programmed Experiences in Creative Thinking." They stated the need for overcoming some of the difficulties teachers experience in encouraging and guiding crea- tive thinking experiences in the classroom and relating them to cur- ricular content, and the need for developing a way of counteracting the numerous influences which bring about a slump in creative thinking motivations and activities at about the fourth grade.2 Torrance and Gupta's definition of creative thinking states that it is the creation of something new, something which has never been seen or something which has never before existed and involves adventurous thinking and represents a successful step into the unknown and unexplored.3 They assume that everybody possesses these creative thinking abilities to some degree and has needs or motivations which exert pressures in the direction of the use of these abilities. It is also assumed that these abilities are capable of being increased 1E. Paul Torrance and Ram Gupta, "Development and Evaluation of Recorded Programmed Experiences in Creative Thinking in the Fourth Grade," U.S. Office of Education, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Title VII of National Defense Act of 1958, February 1964. 2Ibid., p. 1. 3Ibid., p. 13. 74 or developed through educational experiences and that it is one of the school's legitimate functions to provide such experiences.1 Some of the difficulties which teachers experience in encour- aging and guiding creative thinking experiences is their opposition to incorporating these experiences into their school day for a variety of reasons, most of which are not based in educational theory or practice. Many argue that emphasis must be on obedience, conformity, discipline, and fundamentals like the three R's.2 In an earlier study3 by Myers and Torrance, 114 teachers were sent questionnaires by the University of Minnesota Bureau of Educational Research and asked to record their experiences when they attempted to apply five principles for rewarding creative thinking. These principles were (1) treat questions with respect, (2) treat imaginative ideas with respect, (3) show your pupils that their ideas have value, (4) occasion- ally have pupils do something for "practice" without the threat of evaluation, and (5) tie in evaluation with causes and consequences.“ A majority of the incidents reported by the teachers were faithful to the five principles; however, many of the incidents had little to do with the principles, but were significant because they provided 1Ibid. 2E. Paul Torrance, "Creative Thinking Makes a Difference,“ in Creativity: Its Educational Implications, eds. John Curtis Gowan, George 0. Demos, and E. Paul Torrance (New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1967), p. 174. 3R. E. Myers and E. Paul Torrance, "Can Teachers Encourage Creative Thinking?" in Creativity: Its Educational Implications, eds. John Curtin Gowan, George 0. Demos, and E. Paul Torrance (New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1967). ''Ibid., p. 158. 75 information concerning the forces within teachers which oppose innovation.1 The second major concern of Torrance and Gupta was the need for developing a way of counteracting the numerous influences which bring about a slump in creative thinking motivations and activities at about the fourth grade. Those who have commented on the drops in creative thinking ability and creative behavior in general have almost always assumed that these were developmental phenomena. Torrance states that he is unwilling to accept the assumption that these severe drops in measured creative thinking ability are purely developmental phenom- ena and that this must be accepted as unchangeable. Torrance found evidence in his longitudinal study that children unnecessarily sacrifice their creativity at about the fourth grade and that many of them did not recover as they continued through school. Miriam Wilt, says Torrance, has written at length about the decline in creativity which occurs during what she calls the "stage of realism" and "gang age." She explains this decline on the basis of conformity to peer group pressure. Only the unusual child, she maintains, can withstand the pressures to conform to behavioral norms at this stage. She observed that in a few children creativity returns after the crisis, but that in most, it is lost forever.2 1Ibid., p. 161. 2Miriam E. Wilt, Creativity in the Elementary School (New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1959), quoted in Torrance and Gupta, "Develop— ment and Evaluation," p. 3. 76 A large number of studies dealing with various aspects of creative thinking have appeared in educational and psychological publications during the last three decades. From these studies a great deal of controversy has arisen regarding the nature of the creative process and the strategies that hold maximum promise for accelerating creative production. The first problem generating the controversy is that there is no single, widely-accepted theory of creativity which can serve to unify and direct efforts for adequate assessment procedures. Yamamoto stated that the dimensions of crea- tivity must be clearly formulated so that judgments of brightness, good personality, or active participation are not construed as creativity.1 Given the existing array of ideas about creativity, and the absence of "theoretical unity," it is not surprising that there exists a number of texts, all purporting to measure "creativity," but differing in a number of ways.2 It is, therefore, necessary to advise educators that creativity tests are simply samples of behavior under specific conditions, and that they ought not to expect similar behavior under different conditions. Crockenberg suggests that instead of selecting those who appear most creative to begin with, educators might encourage creativity in all children. 1James N. Jacobs and Joseph L. Felix, "Testing the Educational and Psychological Development of Preadolescent Children-~Ages 6-12," Review of Educational Research 38 (February 1968): 21. 2Donald J. Treffinger, Joseph S. Renzulli, and John F. Feldhusen, "Problems in the Assessment of Creative Thinking," Journal of Creative Behavior 5 (Second Quarter, 1971): 106. 77 Finally, if school pe0ple asked, "How can we encourage creativity?" instead of, "How do we select highly creative students?” researchers could shift their attention to the conditions or situations, the practices or experiences, the approaches and attitudes that are conducive to the production of novel, appropriate, quality ideas.1 Research conducted during the last several decades has shown the human left cerebral hemisphere to be specialized for primarily verbal, analytical, abstract, temporal, and digital operations. The right cerebral hemisphere has shown to be specialized primarily for nonverbal, spatial, concrete, creative, and aesthetic functions. The differences in preference of the two hemispheres for information processing have been more recently termed "hemisphericity" and "lateral dominance." The hemisphericity people prefer affects their style of learning and thinking. According to Reynolds and Torrance,2 current teaching strategies appeal to and develop primarily the left cerebral hemisphere through heavy emphasis on language processes and on the logical sequential processing of information. Different methods, materials, and pro- cedures, however, are required for the development of the right hemisphere, and educators need to recognize this because a person's two hemispheres are able to function in a complementary manner, improvement in the right hemispheric function often results in improved left hemispheric functioning. 1Susan B. Crockenberg, "Creativity Tests: A Boon or a Boon- doggle for Education?" Review of Educational Research 42 (Winter, 1972 : 43. 2Cecil R. Reynolds and E. Paul Torrance, "Perceived Changes in Style of Learning and Thinking (Hemisphericity) Through Direct and Indirect Training," The Journal of Creative Behavior 12 (Fourth Quarter, 1978): 247. 78 Only two published studies which have attempted to directly relate differences in creativity to differences in brain hemispheric functions have examined the relationship of hemisphericity to creative output. They are the use of hypnotic induction and the use of marijuana intoxication. With respect to hypnotic inductions, it was reported that people who habitually use the right hemisphere were more hypnotizable than those who habitually used the left, and one would expect to find a facilitation in creative production for people when they are under hypnotic induction. One study employed subjects who were highly susceptible to hypnosis and found that those who were hypnotized performed better than control subjects on Torrances' Figural tests of creativity but not on the Verbal tests. The facilitation on only the Figural tests is completely consistent with an interpretation based upon an increase of right hemisphere participation. Although this experimental study indicates a direct link between hypnosis and creativity, the link between hypnosis in this study and right hemi— spheric participation, while consistent with the earlier data, is less strong since there were no independent measures of hemispheric functioning or differentiation which could have occurred through the monitoring of an EEG.1 As with hypnosis, marijuana intoxication has been associated with the cognitive functions of the left and right hemispheres. One 1Albert N. Katz, "Creativity and Right Cerebral Hemisphere: Towards a Physiologically Based Theory of Creativity," The Journal of Creative Behavior 12 (Fourth Quarter, 1978): 256. 79 hundred fifty marijuana users completed a questionnaire and reported impairment with verbalization and temporal sequential tasks, but an enhancement of nonverbal holistic tasks such as depth perception and the synthesis of perceptual patterns. The pattern is consistent with the hypothesis that marijuana intoxications involve a facilitation of right cerebral hemisphere functions but a decrease in the functions of the left cerebral hemisphere. In another study, subjects were given a battery of cognitive tests when nonintoxicated and a parallel form of the battery when under marijuana intoxication. Intoxicated subjects (when compared to their nonintoxicated baseline) performed worse on verbal analytic tasks but better on nonverbal holistic tasks. While marijuana has been shown to enhance right hemispheric cognitive functions, there is yet no evidence to show that this facilitation is reflected in a higher level of creative production.2 Summary Research findings have demonstrated that proficiency in oral language is the requisite for learning to read, and increased compe- tency in language continues to affect learning throughout the school years. Research has also shown that an acquisition of "sense of story“ facilitates children's comprehension of stories and their ability to creatively and orally compose stories. 1Katz, "Creativity," p. 256. 2Ibid., p. 257. 80 The review of the literature demonstrated that research is needed to show that oral story making experiences can indeed improve oral language proficiencies and "sense of story" as children creatively and orally compose stories to accompany the sequence and array of illustrations found in wordless picture books. Improvement in reading vocabulary and reading comprehension, interpretive response to imagina- tive literature, and in facility with visual literacy were other areas of study in need of research. Overview Chapter II contained a summary of research studies and related literature in the fields of oral language development, oral language development and children's literature, and children's "sense of story" and oral story making experiences. Chapter III presents the design and methodology of the experimental study which includes the selection of students, the design and development of the instrument that was used in the study, the procedures for the pretest and posttest sessions for the exper- imental and control groups, and the criteria for and literary selections for the read-aloud experiences and for the oral story making experiences. CHAPTER III DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY This experimental study was designed to determine the feasibility of using oral story making experiences to improve the oral language proficiencies and "sense of story" of fourth grade remedial reading students through exposure to select literature in read-aloud experiences and by creative oral composition using wordless picture books. The Creative Oral Compositions variables of style, literary devices and dialogue which comprise the oral language aspects of the Creative Oral Compositions were evaluated by measuring: (1) interpretive and/or creative and evaluative style in narration and (2) inventive and expressive literary devices and dialogue in narration. The Creative Oral Compositions variables of plot, characterizations, settings, and theme which comprise the "sense of story" aspects of the Creative Oral Compositions were evaluated by measuring: (1) the literal, interpretive and/or creative and evaluative narration of plot, characterizations, and settings, and (2) interpretive and/or creative and evaluative narration of emotion as it was conveyed in the theme of the story. Composite scores for the Creative Oral Compositions were evaluated by measuring the literal, interpretive and/or creative and evaluative narrations of the seven components of literature, namely, characterizations, settings, theme, style, literary devices, and dialogue. 81 82 Research,Questions These research questions were used to determine the feasibility of using oral story making experiences to improve the oral language proficiencies and "sense of story" of fourth grade remedial reading students through select literary experiences. 1. After participating in oral story making experiences using wordless picture books and after listening to literature rich in language through read-aloud experiences, will fourth grade remedial reading students improve their oral language proficiencies, e.g., more effective a. use of an interpretive or creative and evaluative style in their narration? b. use of inventive and expressive literary devices? c. use of inventive and expressive dialogue for their characters? After participating in oral story making experiences using wordless picture books and after listening to literature rich in language through read-aloud experiences, will fourth grade remedial reading students improve their "sense of story," e.g., more effective a. use of interpretive or creative and evaluative narration of plot? b. use of interpretive or creative and evaluative narration of characterizations? c. use of interpretive or creative and evaluative narration of settings? d. use of interpretive or creative and evaluative narration as they recognize and elaborate the emotion conveyed in the theme of the story? After participating in oral story making experiences using wordless picture books and after listening to literature rich in language through read-aloud experiences, will fourth grade remedial reading students improve their Creative Oral Compositions? 83 4. After participating in oral story making experiences using wordless picture books and after listening to literature rich in language through read-aloud experiences, will fourth grade remedial reading students improve their reading vocabulary and reading comprehension? 5. After participating in oral story making experiences using wordless picture books and after listening to literature rich in language through read-aloud experiences, will fourth grade remedial reading students improve their interpretive response to imaginative literature? 6. After participating in oral story making experiences using wordless picture books and after listening to literature rich in language through read-aloud experiences, will fourth grade remedial reading students improve their facility with visual literacy? Assumptions The first assumption is that oral language proficiencies can be improved if a rich language environment is created and children are motivated to hear, read and use their language in a variety of ways. This assumption is based on such research studies as that done by Loban. Loban's research demonstrated that the social conditions under which those children who are high in their oral language proficiency live, provide them with practice in situations requiring and encouraging power of expression.1 This researcher assumes that home and school environments must be conducive to the promotion of oral language proficiencies. The second assumption is that children who are proficient in oral language are the same children who excel in reading achievement in the elementary grades. Loban reported that those children who were 1Walter Loban, Language Development: Kindergarten Through Grade Twelve (Urbana, 111.: National Council of Teachers of English, 1976). p. 89. 84 superior in oral language in kindergarten and grade one were the ones who excelled in reading by the time they were in sixth grade.1 The third assumption is that children's exposure to literature that is rich in verbal quality contributes to verbal competencies. Chomsky found that a young child's exposure to literature, to the language contained within the literary selections benefits from a wide range of linguistic inputs that is unavailable to the non- literary child.2 The fourth assumption is that as children identify, interpret, and creatively respond to visuals, they become more proficient in their visual skills. Seeing is responding to the surface patterns, but visualizing brings meaning to the image. The fifth assumption is that both enriched language and sharpened perception to one's surroundings are necessary for effective speaking, listening, reading, and writing for these language arts areas are based on oral language and are promoted by children's experiences. Cianciolo has commented that it is important to expose children to an abundance of fine literature (prose and poetry) for this contributes to a richer, more adequate expression and expands one's oral and written language power.3 1Ibid., p. 71. 2Carol Chomsky, “Stages in Language Development with Reading Exposure," Harvard Educational Review 42 (February 1972): 23. 3Patricia Jean Cianciolo, "Using Children's Literature in the Reading Program" (unpublished paper, Michigan State University, 1974), pp. 3-4. 85 The Design The design for the ten week experimental study was a quasi-experimental Pretest/Posttest Control Group Model. Graphically the design is: Twelve students were selected from three classrooms and three remedial reading classes. Six students were assigned to the treatment group and six students were assigned to the control group by a modified random sampling procedure. Those students assigned to the treatment group met with the investigator three times a week for approximately twenty minutes for each oral story making session, and two times a week for approximately twenty minutes for each read-aloud session for ten weeks. Those students assigned to the control group met with the investigator two times a week for approximately twenty minutes for each read-aloud session for ten weeks. Both the experimental and control groups met with the researcher as a group for approximately ninety minutes for the pretest and posttest standardized test sessions and individually for approximately fifteen minutes for the pretest and posttest oral story making sessions. The Population The twelve Caucasian students who participated in this study were selected from three groups of fourth grade remedial reading students. This experimental study was conducted in a school district located in a small, rural community in south central Michigan having a population 86 of approximately 2,500 residents. There were three separate educational facilities: one lower elementary school for kindergarten through grade three, one upper elementary school for grades four through grade seven, and one high school for grades eight through grade twelve to serve 1,670 students. The racial make-up of the school system was comprised of 1,616 Caucasian students, 44 Hispanic students, 8 Black students, and 2 Native American students. In the school in which the study was conducted, there were 530 pupils in grades four through grade seven. Of these, 518 pupils were Caucasian, 10 pupils were Hispanic, 1 pupil was Black, and l pupil was Native American. The five fourth grade classrooms totaled 144 students. The school received appropriations from the Title I Reading Program for the purpose of providing supplementary reading services. In the Title I Reading Program, the school district to receive the funds, must have a certain percentage of low income families to qualify for the funds. The Sample The twelve fourth grade students who qualified for Title I Reading Program's remedial reading instruction were reading one to two years below grade level, according to the Stanford Achievement Reading Test administered in the spring of the preceding school year. The experimental subjects' scores ranged from a high of 3.0 to a low of 1.9, and the control group subjects' scores ranged from a high of 3.0 to a low of 2.2. The actual range of scores on the Stanford 87 Achievement Reading Test achieved by students in the experimental and control groups was a grade level score of 3.0 to 1.9. Scores for the experimental group. A total of six Stanford Achievement Reading Test scores was reported for the experimental group. The scores for the six subjects ranged from a high of 3.0 to a low of 1.9. Three subjects, two girls and one boy, obtained scores in the 3.0 to 2.7 range; two subjects, two boys, obtained scores in the 2.6 to 2.3 range; and one subject, a girl, obtained a score in the 2.2 to 1.9 range. The mean for the group of three boys and three girls was 2.6. Scores for the control group, A total of six Stanford Achievement Reading Test scores was reported for the control group. The scores for the six subjects ranged from a high of 3.0 to a low of 2.2. One subject, a boy, obtained a score in the 3.0 to 2.7 range; four subjects, three girls and one boy, obtained scores in the 2.6 to 2.3 range; and one subject, a boy, obtained a score in the 2.2 to 1.9 range. The mean for the group of three boys and three girls was 2.5. The Stanford Achievement Reading Test scores were used to determine if the experimental group's scores were comparable to the control group's scores before this experimental study began. No other reading scores were available. Students selected for this study, therefore, had participated in remedial reading instruction for approximately seven months of the present school year prior to this study. 88 Table 1. Stanford Achievement Reading Testa Experimental Control Group Group Subject Sex Scores Subject Sex Scores El M 2.9 Cl M 3.0 E2 F 2.8 C2 M 2.2 E3 M 2.4 C3 F 2.5 E4 F 1.9 C4 F 2.6 E5 M 2.6 C5 M 2.6 E6 F 3.0 C6 F 2.3 Mean scores 2.6 2.5 aAdministered, Spring 1979. The experimental group students who were chosen from one of the remedial reading Classes were from the same homeroom class and participated in the basal reading program conducted by their homeroom teacher. In order to conduct this study, it was necessary to ensure that the experimental group and the control group did not have contact with one another during the school day. Twelve students qualified for the control group in that they attended remedial reading classes other than the one attended by the experimental group; they were from homeroom classes other than the experimental group's homeroom class, and they participated in the same basal reading program, but were not instructed by the experimental group's teacher. A list of random numbers was applied to these twelve students, and allowing for equal numbers of boys and girls, six students were chosen. Both the experimental group 89 and the control group received the same instruction in their remedial reading classes and were of comparable reading ability. In order to conduct this study, it was necessary to survey the classroom teaching practices and curriculum of the experimental group's teacher and the control group's two teachers for homeroom and reading, to determine if the teaching practices and curriculum offered were comparable. This researcher surveyed each classroom at three different times of the day for four days to determine if teaching practices, e.g., large group and small group instruction, independent and paired work, teacher-initiated instruction and student-initiated instruction, product-centered and process-centered approaches, and amount of oral language offered and promoted were comparable for each classroom. The curriculum offered, e.g., English, reading, spelling, social studies, science, and mathematics were textbook and workbook materials that each student in the fourth grade was expected to use and complete. The teaching practices and curriculum offered to the students in the experimental group's classroom and control group's two classrooms were comparable, and the teachers adhered to the curriculum guidelines established for the fourth grade. The Instrument Development of the instrument used in this experimental study consisted of three phases. The categories included in the instrument constructed during Phase I were based on information found in the pro- fessional literature and related research about oral language profi- ciencies, ”sense of story," and creative oral composition. Phase II 9O consisted of a limited pilot study which was conducted to establish the feasibility of the instrument developed during Phase 1. Phase III of developing the instrument consisted of two stages to determine the degree of inter-rater reliability of the instrument to be used in the experimental part of the study. The instruments developed during Phase I and Phase II are found in Appendices B and C. The instrument which was developed as a result of Phase III is found on pages 95-96 of this chapter. Phase I of Developing the Instrument The categories or division headings (expression of feeling through narration: affective scale and cognitive scale of literal, interpretive, and evaluative responses, and the components of litera- ture) were devised by this investigator to cover the various creative oral composition features. The subdivisions of the components of literature created a total verbal expression of feeling through narration score for each child participating in the oral story making experience. The instrument booklet consisted of three sections, one page for each section: definition, check-list for affective and cognitive scales, and evaluation. Included in the definition sections were the degrees of expression of feeling through narration: little or no narration, minimal narration, successful narration, and inventive and consistent narration of the story. The check-list for the affective scale included the range of emotion expressed: no emotion, little emotion, good expression of emotion, and inventive and 91 expressive emotion. The check-list page for the cognitive scale included the types of responses made when including the components of literature in the Creative Oral Compositions: literal, interpretive, and creative and evaluative. The evaluation section listed the compo- nents of literature: plot, characterizations, theme, setting, style, uses of dialogue and literary devices. Later the affective and cog- nitive scales which were gleaned from the recordings of the creative oral composition responses were transferred to the evaluation section at which time the degrees of expression of feeling through narration were recorded: little or no narration, minimal narration, successful narration, and inventive and consistent narration of the story. Examples of these various responses for each component of literature were recorded to substantiate the evaluation of a l, 2, 3, or 4 for each component. Phase II of Developing the Instrument Prior to using the instrument with the fourth grade remedial reading students in the major portion of the study, a limited pilot study was conducted to (1) test the instrument, (2) estimate the time factors, (3) determine the quality of the tape recordings in order to evaluate the Creative Oral Compositions, and (4) to clarify the inves- tigator's instructions. The five fourth grade children, one girl and four boys, who participated in the limited pilot study were chosen from four fourth grade classrooms in a middle-class neighborhood in central Michigan. All the children in the limited pilot study were Caucasian. This researcher secured five mothers of fourth grade 92 students who were willing to work with their youngsters for this limited pilot study. The names of ten possible volunteers were obtained from the elementary music teacher who taught in the school attended by these fourth grade students. The music teacher offered names of mothers who were elementary school teachers, volunteered their services in the elementary school, or worked with youngsters of this age level in other capacities, such as, after school activities, instruction in piano, and participation in the fine arts. Appointment times were made and this investigator visited the homes of the five fourth grade students who volunteered to participate in the limited pilot study. Each mother was instructed in how to use A Boy, A Dog, and A Frog (Mayer, 1967) for Creative Oral Compositions. At this time, this investigator gave each mother instructions for the procedures to evaluate the Creative Oral Compositions. The five Creative Oral Compositions for the limited pilot study were tape recorded and scored by each child's mother and this investi- gator. After the instruments were scored, significant changes were made in the instrument to clarify the categories and subdivisions, to increase the ease of scoring, and to cover a wider range of responses made by fourth graders. Instrument Changes as a Result of the Limited Pilot Study The definition section. The "Expression of Feeling Through Narration," the title of the definition section, was retained as the title for the Creative Oral Compositions. The definitions for degrees of expression of feeling: little or no narration, minimal narration, 93 successful narration, and inventive and consistent narration were deleted, because they were too cumbersome to use. Some of the information contained in the definitions, however, was retained to be used later in the literal, interpretive, and creative and evaluative narrations. The check-list section for affective and cognitive scales. The affective scale: no emotion expressed, little emotion expressed, good expression of emotion, and inventive and expressive emotion were deleted because the definitions were not concise. The information contained in the definitions for the affective scale, however, was retained to be used later in the literary component of theme. The cognitive scale of Literal Responses, Interpretive Responses, and Creative and Evaluative Responses were retained to include the degrees of expression of feeling through narration. The list of elements contained in each of the cognitive response scales were retained as elements in the respective components of literature, but the word cognitive was deleted to avoid confusion. The word "Responses” was changed to "Narration." The evaluation section. The elements in the components of literature were retained and included with the list of elements contained in the response scales of literal narration, interpretive narration, and creative and evaluative narration. The list of the components of literature were reordered with plot, characterizations, settings, and theme comprising the ”sense of story" aspects of the study, and style, literary devices, and dialogue comprising the oral language proficiencies of the study. The degrees of expression of 94 feeling through narration were changed from low scores of l and high scores of 4 to low scores of O to high scores of 5. Scores of O and l were contained in the Literal Narration, scores of 2 and 3 were contained in the Interpretive Narration, and scores of 4 and 5 were contained in the Creative and Evaluative Narration. Phase III of Developing the Instrument: Establishing Inter-Rater Reliability Establishing inter-rater reliability was completed in two stages. In Stage I, Instrument II was scored by this investigator and four other raters using three taped creative oral compositions from the limited pilot study and one taped creative oral composition of a fourth grade student from the school in which the study was con- ducted but not a remedial reading student and not from the same class- room as the experimental and control subjects. In Stage II, Instrument II was scored by this investigator and the same four raters using one taped creative oral composition of the pretest and one of the experi- mental subjects of the present research study. One of the four raters was a Ph.D. candidate in teacher education and had completed course work in children's literature. One rater held a master's degree in child development, and two raters were master's degree candidates and had completed course work in children's literature. All four raters had preschool or elementary classroom teaching experience and were knowledgeable in children's literature. The raters who helped establish the reliability of the revised instrument were not the raters who had participated in the limited pilot study. 95 INSTRUMENT II Story # Title Subject # Tape 4 From To Author/Illustrator Date Week # Session # Publisher Copyright Date EXPRESSION OF FEELING THROUGH NARRATION: The degree of acquisition of "sense of story," the use of literal, interpretive and/or creative and evaluative narration of the components of literature, and the use of inventive and expressive emotion in oral story making experiences. (Degrees of expression of feeling: 0-5.) 1. LITERAL NARRATION 2. INTERPRETIVE NARRATION 3. CREATIVE AND EVALUATIVE NARRATION 0 1 2 3 4 5 Plot: Plot: Plot: a. events a. events described____ a. events elaborated identified____ b. events in illustrations b. inferences drawn TFEm illustrations___ b. sequential linked together___ c. elaboration of cause and effect___ order____ c. recognition of cause and effect___ Characterizations: Characterizations: Characterizations: a. characters a. characters described a. characters described imaginatively: identified___ physically___ physical description___ b. characters given names personal traits/behaviors____ and roles___ b. characters given imaginative names and roles— Settings: Settings: Settings: a. settings a. settings described a. settings described imaginatively___ identified____ physically___. b. mood of settings inferred from the illustrations___ Theme: Theme: Theme: a. events, characters, a. events, characters, and/or a. events, characters, and/or settings and settings settings described by rec- elaborated with consistent expression of identified with no ognizing emotions conveyed emotion conveyed in the illustrations of emotion expressed in the illustrations by implying or expressing: love___, hate___, .___ identifying: love___, fear___, anger . jealousy___, sadness___, hate_, fear_, anger___, happiness_. Weliness_. sympathy— jealousy___, sympathy___. empathy;__, other___5 loneliness___, empathy___, as feelings of the characters and thus other___; creates a mood in the narration___. as feelings of the b. attitudes and/or beliefs evoked by the characters___ illustrations by implying or expressing: enjoyment___, hope___, trust/distrust___, justice/injustice___, acceptance___, freedom___, courage___, honesty___ Style: Style: Style: a. go literary style a. recognized a story contained a. narration elaborated by recognizing the recognized in the illustrations___ style in which the story is told: fictional narrative___, satire___, allegory___, parody___ Literary Devices: a. no figurative anguage or lit- erary techniques used___ Dialogue: a. go use of dialogue by characters Literary Devices: infrequent to frequent use of figurative language: simile , metaphor___, personification___J hyperbole . infrequent—to frequent use of literary techniques: alliteration___, assonance _. symbol ism__, onomatopoeia___, understate— ment___, exaggeration___, foreshadowing___, flash- backing___, repetition___ Dialogue: a. infrequent to frequent use of dialogue by characters Literary Devices: a. conscious use and control of figurative language simi1e___, metaphor___, personification , hyperbole , b. conscious use aha—control of Titerary techniques: alliteration___, assonance___, symbolisnr__, onomatopoeia___, understatement___, exaggeration___, foreshadowing___, flashbacking___, repetition___ Dialogue: a. imaginative and consistent use‘of dialogue by characters to convey feelings, emotions, and attitudes___ Story # Title Author/Illustrator Publisher 96 INSTRUMENT II-Continued Date Subject # Tape # From Copyright Date EXPRESSION OF FEELING THROUGH NARRATION: The degree of acquisition of "sense of story," the use of literal, interpretive and/or creative and evaluative narration of the components of literature, and the use of inventive and expressive emotion in oral story making experiences. expression of'fbeling: l. LITERAL NARRATION 0 . INTERPRETIVE NARRATION 3. CREATIVE AND EVALUATIVE NARRATION EXAMPLES of “sense of story,“ narration, and emotion expressed in the oral story making experiences. Plot: a. Degree 0-5 b. Characterizations: a. Settings: a. Theme: Style: Literary Devices: a. b. Dialogue: 97 Two formulas were used to compute the inter-rater reliability of the instrument to be used in the experimental part of this study. A percentage of agreement was used to determine the number of agree- ments for the total number of variables evaluated in the Creative Oral Compositions. This formula is -25. X _ nV where X is percentage of agreement, n is number, A is agreements, and V is variables. The alternative computational formula for r of the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient was used to deter- mine the correlation coefficient of the inter-rater reliability of the instrument. The Alternative Computational Formula for r is Xxy v’(2x2) (2)/2) r: 2 = sum; x = student score from a particular rater; y = student score from another particular rater; 2x2 = sum of squares from a particular rater; and 2 Zy sum of squares from another particular rater. In Stage I, five raters (this researcher and four others) used Instrument II to establish inter-rater reliability. Each of the four other raters evaluated the taped creative oral composition of one of the four fourth grade students, and this researcher eval- uated the taped creative oral compositions of all four of the same fourth grade students. 98 In Table 2 the three taped Creative Oral Compositions from the limited pilot study were identified by letters A, B, and C, and the one taped creative oral composition of an additional fourth grade student was identified by letter D. The five raters were labeled Rl (this researcher), R2, R3, R4, and R5. The figures in the body of the table were the seven variables, that is, the components of literature. The elements of plot: events identified or described, events hiillustrations linked together, and recognition of cause and effect provided two or three additional elements for evaluation. The characterizations for some raters included three specific characters: character one, the boy; character two, the dog; and character three, the frog. One rater combined the three characters, the boy, the dog, and the frog, into one general characterization. Stage I of Creative Oral Composition scores. The scores for Student A for the seven variables and the additional elements of plot and characterizations scored by Rater l were 319;: events identified, a score of l; events linked together, a score of 2; and cause and effect recognized, a score of——for not evident; Characterizations: character one (the boy), a score of 2; character two (the dog), a score of l; and character three (the frog), a score of l; Settings: a score of l; Theme; a score of 2; §£yle5 a score of 2; Literary Devices: a score of 0; and Dialogue: a score of 2. The scores for Student A scored by Rater 2 were 3193: events identified, a score of l; events linked together, a score of 2; cause and effect recognized, a score of--for not evident; Characterizations: character one (the boy), a score of 2; character two (the dog), a score of l; and 99 character three (the frog), a score of l; Setting: a score of l; Theme: a score of 2; Style: a score of 2; Literary Devices: a score of D; and Dialogue: a score of 2. The percentage of agreement by Rater l and Rater 2 for Student A was lOD percent with a correlation of +1.00. The scores for Student B for the seven variables and the additional elements of plot scored by Rater l were 319;; events identified, a score of 1; events linked together, a score of 2; and cause and effect recognized, a score of 2; Characterizations: charac- ter one (the boy), character two (the dog), and character three (the frog), a composite score of l; Settings: a score of 1; Theme: a score of 2; Style: a score of 2; Literary Devices: a score of 2; and Dialogue: a score of 2. The scores for Student B scored by Rater 3 were Plot: events identified, a score of 1; events linked together, a score of 2; and cause and effect recognized, a score of 2; Charac- terizations: character one (the boy), character two (the dog), and character three (the frog), a composite score of 1; Settings: a score of 2; Theme: a score of 2; Style: a score of 2; Literary Devices: a score of 2; and Dialogue: a score of 2. The percentage of agreement by Rater l and Rater 3 for Student B was 88 percent with a correlation of +.9838. The scores for Student C for the seven variables and the additional elements of plot and characterizations scored by Rater l were 319;: events identified, a score of 3; events linked together, a score of 3; and cause and effect recognized, a score of 2. Qfleyee; terizations: character one (the boy), a score of 2; character two 100 (the dog). a score of l; and character three (the frog). a score of l; Settings: a score of 1; Theme: a score of 3; Style: a score of 3; Literary Devices: a score of 2; and Dialogue: a score of 2. Scores for Student C scored by Rater 4 were Plot: events identified, a score of 3; events linked together, a score of 3; and cause and effect recog- nized, a score of 2; Characterizations: character one (the boy), a score of 2; character two (the dog), a score of 0; character three (the frog), a score of 2; Settings: a score of 1; Theme: a score of 3; Style: a score of 3; Literary Devices: a score of 2; and Dialogue: a score of 2. The percentage of agreement by Rater l and Rater 4 for Student C was 91 percent with a correlation of +.99l0. The scores for Student D for the seven variables and the addi- tional elements of plot and characterizations scored by Rater l were 319;; events identified, a score of 2; events linked together, a score of 3; and cause and effect recognized, a score of—-for not evident; Characterizations: character one (the bOY), a score of l, character two (the dog), a score of l; and character three, a score of 1; Settings: a score of 1; Theme: a score of 3; Style: a score of 2; Literary Devices: a score of 2; and Dialogue: a score of D. Scores for Student D by Rater 5 were 319;; events identified, a score of 2; events linked together, a score of 3; and cause and effect reg- ognized, a score of--for not evident; Characterizations: character one (the boy), a score of 1; character two (the dog), a score of l; and character three (the frog), a score of l; Settings: a score of 2; Theme: a score of 3; Style: a score of 2; Literary Devices: a score lOl of 2; and Dialogue: a score of 0. The percentage agreement by Rater l and Rater 5 for Student D was 90 percent with a correlation of +.9868. For this instrument, the inter-rater reliability of .9838, .9868, and .99l0 to 1.00 for the Creative Oral Compositions scores was quite high since they nearly approach l or are l. This indicated that the five raters shared agreement in the manner in which the creative oral compositions were to be scored. In Stage II, the same five raters used Instrument II to establish inter-rater reliability. In this stage, the five raters evaluated the taped creative oral composition of the pretest of one of the experimental subjects, E4, of the present research study. In Table 3 the taped creative oral composition of the experi- mental subject, E4, was evaluated by the same five raters and labeled as in Stage I where this researcher was R1. The figures in the body of the table were the seven variables and the totals of the seven variables for the creative oral composition of the experimental subject. For this stage of inter-rater reliability, there were no additional elements of Plot and Characterizations. Instead composite scores for Plot and Characterizations were obtained. Stage II of Creative Oral Composition scores. The scores for the creative oral composition of experimental subject, E4, scored by Rater l for the seven variables and total score were Plot: a score of 2; Characterizations: a score of 1; Settings: a score of l; Theme: a score of 2; Style: a score of 2; Literary Devices: a score of 2; and Dialogue: a score of 0 for a total score of 10. l()2 mmm. mm m o N N N p _ _ mm oo._ oo— op o N N N _ p N em mmm. mm a o N N N — p _ ma em oo.P oo— o— o N N N P P N Nm -- u- o— o N N N P P N .m cowumpwccou ucosmmcm< mucoum mamoFa_a mmum>mo m_aNm osmcp mmcwuaom mco_um~_cmuumcmsu uo_¢ ucmuzum we a Pouch Ngmcmuwd em Nuannzm co mucoum =o_pcmoasou Paco asapaocu Nuw_cna_.am Lasa¢-LaN=N m=_;mw_nacmw co NH amasm .N menac .AmoLN «guy moan» cmpumcmzu "Amen azuv ozu cmuuocogu ”Axoa mguv oco couomcozum . o N N N N _ _ _ -- m N mm mama ON o N N N F _ P _ -- m N _N o . N N N N _ _ o N N N N em opmm _m N N N N F _ _ N N m N .N u . N N N N N -- _ -- N N P MN mmmm mm N N N P _ -- _ -- N N . _N N . N o N N P _ F N -- N _ NN oo _ oo_ N o N N _ P _ N -- N _ .N < 5523.89 2959.? 2532a 39:3 33m me5 3533 MW MMN u0% HQ mthns MM: acovzum .2; SE: N». om... an .3. awe mm a D. D. D. 3 a 19 a 1? 19 a... 3 a D 19 U: ps I? s 1 19 11 P a I, a a a u J In. J J J p a p om:o_umN_cwuomgogo uo—a o egg .8 .N .< mucousum co macoum =o_p_moasou _aco a>wuaacu NNN__naw_m¢ L~N~N-L~»=~ mea;m__aaumu co . amaam .N speak l03 The scores for the creative oral composition of experimental subject, E4, scored by Rater 2 were Plot: a score of 2; Characteriza- tions: a score of l; Settings: a score of l; Theme: a score of 2; Style: a score of 2; Literary Devices: a score of 2; and Dialogue: a score of 0 for a total score of 10. The percentage of agreement for Rater l and Rater 2 for experimental subject, E4, was l00 percent with a correlation of +l.00. The scores for the creative oral composition of experimental subject, E4, scored by Rater 3 were Plot: a score of l; Characteri- zations: a score of l; Settings: a score of 1; Theme: a score of 2; Style: a score of 2; LiterarygDevices: a score of 2; and Dialogue: score of 0 for a total score of 9. The percentage of agreement for Rater l and Rater 3 for experimental subject, E4, was 86 percent with a correlation of +.973. The scores for the creative oral Composition of experimental subject, E4, scored by Rater 4 were Plot: a score of 2; Characteri- zations: a score of 1; Settings: a score of l; Theme: a score of 2; Style: a score of 2; Literary Devices: a score of 2; and Dialogue: a score of 0 for a total score of 10. The percentage of agreement for Rater l and Rater 4 for experimental subject, E4, was l00 percent with a correlation of +l.00. The scores for the creative oral composition of experimental subject, E4, scored by Rater 5 were Plot: a score of l; Characteri- zations: a score of l; Settings: a score of l; Theme: a score of 2; Style: a score of 2; Literary Devices: a score of 2; and Dialogue: a score of 0 for a total score of 9. The percentage of agreement for a lO4 Rater l and Rater 5 for experimental subject, E4, was 86 percent with a correlation of +.973. For this instrument, the inter-rater reliability of .973 to l.OO for the Creative Oral Compositions scores was quite high since they nearly approach 1 or are l. This indicated that the five raters shared agreement in the manner in which the Creative Oral Composition was to be scored. Pretest and Posttest TestingiProcedures Group and individual testing sessions were conducted during the first and last weeks of the study to obtain pretest and posttest data. The pretest consisted of Creative Oral Compositions (story making) of the wordless picture book, A Boy, A Dog, A Frog, and A Friend (Mayer, 1971), and was analyzed by the instrument designed for this study to determine oral language proficiencies, "sense of story,‘ and facility with visual literacy. The posttests consisted of Creative Oral Compositions (story making) of the wordless picture book, A Flying Saucer Full of Spaghetti (Krahn, 1970), and was analyzed by the instrument designed for this study to determine oral language proficiencies, "sense of story," and facility with visual literacy. Only the researcher analyzed the Creative Oral Compositions because the instrument used for this aspect of the study was validated by high inter-rater reliability. The Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests, Primary B, Form 1 (pretest), and Primary B, Form 2 (posttest) were 105 used to determine reading vocabulary and reading comprehension. A Look at Literature: The NCTE Cooperative Test of Critical Reading and Appreciation, Form A, Part I (pretest) and Form B, Part I (post- test) were used to determine interpretive response to imaginative literature. During the pretest and posttest sessions, subjects in both the experimental and control groups met with their respective groups to complete the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests and A Look at Literature tests. The subjects were asked to listen to the directions for the tests given by this researcher. Once the directions were understood by all the subjects, the subjects were asked to complete the test items for the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests, reading vocabulary section and reading comprehension section. In A Look at Literature test, only Part I, the listening to imaginative literature was administered, as it was determined that Part II, the independent reading section, was too difficult for the experimental and control group subjects. In Part I, the subjects were asked to listen to the imaginative literature read by this researcher as they read along silently in their test booklets. The multiple choice test questions following the imaginative literature excerpts were read to the subjects as they read along silently. The subjects were asked to answer the questions at the end of each literary selection. For the Creative Oral Compositions (story making), subjects met individually with this researcher for the pretest and posttest sessions as they orally composed stories of the selected wordless picture books. Each subject was seated at right-angles to this lO6 researcher with the wordless picture book for the pretest and posttest in front of the subject. The tape cassette recorder was on the table between the subject and this researcher. Each subject was told: Today you are to make up a story to go along with the pictures you see in this wordless picture book. First, you are to "read" this book to yourself silently, and ask any questions or make any comments you wish about what you see in the pictures. After you read the story to yourself, then you will make up a story to go along with the pictures. I will record your story on this tape cassette recorder as you tell it out loud. Try to remember what you recall from hearing stories read aloud to you, and include this information in your story. Are you ready to begin? Each subject was given the opportunity to compose a story to go along with the sequence and array of illustrations found in the wordless picture books. Selection of Pretest and Posttest Wordless Picture Books The wordless picture books selected for the pretest and posttest sessions of the Creative Oral Compositions were A Boy, A Dog, A Frog, and A Friend (Mayer, l97l) and A Flying Saucer Full of Spaghetti (Krahn, 1970). These books met the selection guidelines for this study in that l. the literature was compatible with the interests of students in the upper elementary grades; 2. the literature was appropriate for oral story making experiences in that it contained the components of literature in the illustrations, and promoted the oral language aspects of the study which were style, literary devices, and dialogue; and 3. the literature was appropriate for oral story making experiences in that it contained the components of literature in the illustrations, and promoted the "sense of story" aspects of the study which were plot, characterizations, settings, and theme. l07 Experimental and Control Groups Procedure This study to determine the feasibility of using oral story making experiences to improve the oral language proficiencies and "sense of story” of fourth grade remedial reading students through select literary experiences began on March 20, l980 and concluded on May 30, l980. Subjects in the experimental group met individually with this researcher three times a week on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from lO:l5 to ll:00 a.m. and from ll:30 to l2:OO noon for the oral story making experiences for a total of twenty-five creative oral composi- tions during the course of the study. Twice a week on Wednesday and Friday afternoons, the experimental group met from 2:35 to 3:00 p.m. and the control group met from 2:l0 to 2:35 p.m. for the read-aloud experiences of children's literature. In order for the study not to be influenced by the Hawthorne Effect, this researcher met with the control group subjects twice a week for the read-aloud experiences, and was also physically present in the control group subjects' class- rooms for one-half hour sessions three times a week as a teacher's aide. The oral story making experiences and the read-aloud experi- ences were held in the upper floor textbook and audio-visual storeroom and copying center. Interruptions were frequent. The size of the room was ample for the individual story making experiences, but crowded when the experimental and control groups met as separate groups for the l08 read-aloud experiences. Due to lack of secure storage space, it was not possible to leave the wordless picture books or the books for the read-aloud experiences in the room for the subjects to read on their own after they had been used by the respective groups. It was not possible for this researcher to bring books previously read in the oral story making sessions or in the read-aloud sessions. Only the literary selections to be used on specific days could be brought to the sessions. On the last day of the oral story making sessions and the read-aloud sessions, this researcher brought many of the literary selections used in the sessions. At the oral story making sessions the experimental group subjects browsed through the wordless picture books used in the previous creative oral compositions. At the read- aloud sessions, the experimental group and the control group reviewed the read-aloud literature with this researcher. Read-aloud experiences. The experimental group and the control group met as separate groups twice a week for the read-aloud experiences at which time they heard and viewed literature rich in verbal quality. Each literary selection was introduced by this researcher by reading the title, the author's name, the illustrator's name, the dedication, and the copyright date. Subjects were asked if they had read or if the book had been read to them before. They were asked if the author's and/or illustrator's name sounded familiar. The subjects were asked what the dedication meant and what the copyright meant and if the book was written before or after they were born. Questions to precede and follow the read-aloud experiences directed children's thoughts toward pertinent information in the books, or the questions led children to lO9 recall main ideas, make inferences, and to make comparisons of characters, or to interpret the author's purpose and the theme of the stories. When two books on the same subject or in the same genre were read aloud to them, the subjects were asked to note similarities and differences in time, place, and characters, as well as, style of the story. Some of the questions asked to introduce the various selections required the subjects to think as they listened to the various stories. For The Accident (Carrick, l976), subjects were asked to recall if they, or someone they knew, had an incident similar to this one. For The Foxes of Chironupp Island (Takahashi, l976), subjects were asked to think about why the author wrote this book. For The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses (Goble, 1978), the subjects were asked what they believed happened in the end of the story. For The Jazz Man (Weik, 1966), the subjects were asked to compare Zeke's family to Mike's family in IDE. Hundred Penny Box (Mathis, l976). Following the introduction to the read-aloud selections, this researcher proceeded with the oral reading to the literary selection which lasted for five to twenty minutes depending on the length of the selection. Upon completion of the read-aloud session, this researcher asked questions designed to stimulate a group discussion which allowed the subjects to verbalize their reactions to the selections and which prompted the subjects to interpret what they had heard. For "The Emperor's New Clothes" (Haugaard, l976), subjects were asked why nobody told the emperor about his nakedness except the child. llO In Paul Revere's Ride (Longfellow, 1963) and And Then What Happened, Paul Revere? (Fritz, l973), subjects were asked to compare the rides of Paul Revere in Longfellow's account and Fritz's account. In Panda (Bonners, l978), subjects were asked to recall the color and size of a newborn panda bear, how the mother panda played with her youngster, and the mating habits of pandas. In The Clown of God (de Paola, l978), One Fine Day (Hogrogian, l97l), and It Could Always Be Worse (Zemach, l976), subjects were asked to recall how the selections began, and were asked what was similar about these beginnings, and what kinds of stories begin as these do. In The Treasure (Shulevitz, 1979), subjects were asked to tell the message in this story. With these subjects, one or two questions were needed to stimulate a group discussion. Often the subjects asked questions regarding the selections, such as, could they make quicksand, an idea they obtained from The Quicksand Book (de Paola, l977). Then they asked to see the directions for making their own quicksand. For The Foxes of Chironupp Island (Takahashi, 1976), subjects asked why the foxes were killed and why did they have to die and did the old couple return in time to save them. For Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing (Barrett, 1977), subjects asked if they could draw their own animals in clothing. Once the subjects began talking about the literary selections, this researcher allowed them to offer their reactions and feelings concerning the stories in a spontaneous manner rather than adhere to all the prepared questions. Oral story making experiences. At the beginning of each individual story making session for the experimental subjects, this lll researcher introduced the wordless picture book to be used. The subjects were instructed to read the wordless text silently to notice the story contained in the illustrations. During this silent reading, the subjects were instructed to ask questions and to make comments concerning the events in the pictures if they did not fully understand aspects of the story. Following the silent reading, this researcher said to each subject before each creative oral composition: Today you are to make up a story to go along with the pictures you see in this wordless picture book, [title of book] . I will record your story on this tape cassette recorder as you tell the story to me. Try to remember what you can about the stories I have read to you, and include what you can in your story. Are you ready to begin? At no time were these subjects told how to make up a story; that is, this researcher did not orally compose a story for the subjects as a method of instruction in oral composition. Instead, the subjects were instructed to try to include the components of literature that they recalled from their read—aloud experiences. These tape recorded oral compositions lasted from five to twenty minutes in length depending on the length of the wordless picture book and the pace at which the subject told the story. At the end of the oral story making, the subject was complimented for the original story,and the taped story was played again as each subject listened to the story either partially or in its entirety depending on the amount of time available. At this time, the subject was able to view the pictures and hear the story, and this researcher was able to show the components of literature that may have been misinterpreted llZ or not identified in the oral composition. Interpretive and creative responses, unusual and unique, to the sequence and array of the illustrations were praised. Upon completion of this study, this researcher transcribed all of the tape recorded oral compositions completed by the experimental group, and the pretests and posttests of the control group subjects, and applied the instrument designed to be used with this study to each of the oral compositions. The instrument evaluated the Creative Oral Compositions, that is the expression of feeling through narration, of each subject. The expression of feeling through narration determined the degree of acquisition of "sense of story," the use of literal, interpretive, and/or creative and evaluative narration of the components of literature, and the use of inventive and expressive emotion in the Creative Oral Compositions. The instrument scored seven variables for each narration: Plot, characterizations, settings, and theme comprised the ”sense of story" aspects of the Creative Oral Compositions, and style, literary devices, and dialogue comprised the oral language aspects of the Creative Oral Compositions. A rank order scale from zero (low) to five (high) was used to determine the degree of feeling through narration of each of the seven variables. As this researcher listened to the transcribed oral compositions, instances of literal narration (zero to one), interpretive narration (two to three), and creative and evaluative narration (four to five) were recorded on both pages of the instrument. Page one of the instrument was designed to be used as a means of determining what was to be included in each ll3 level of narration for each component of literature and for the "sense of story" aspects and oral language aspects. Page two of the instrument was designed to be used to include examples of the seven variables at their different levels of narration and to substantiate the score given for each variable. The scores for the seven variables and a total score were also included in page two. Criteria for the Literary Selections Literary Selections for the Read-Aloud Experiences Specific literary selections were chosen for the read-aloud experiences from the genre of modern realistic fiction portraying human relationships and social concerns; modern fantasy; traditional tales; biography; and poetry. Literature for this area of the study was selected by this researcher based on the following criteria: 1. The literature was compatible with the interests of students in middle and upper elementary grades in the age range of nine to twelve years. This researcher consulted an eminent text in the field of children's literature by Huck, Children's Literature in the Elementary School, as a guide in determining reading interests of children in the middle and upper elementary grades.1 2. The literature was judged to be of excellent quality by authorities in the field of children's literature as determined by reviews in professional journals; annotated bibliographies, books on children's lit- erature specifically, Picture Books for Children2 and 1Charlotte S. Huck, Children's Literature in the Elementary School, 3rd ed. updated (New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1979). 2Patricia J. Cianciolo, Picture Books for Children (Chicago: American Library Association, l973). ll4 Adventuring With Books;1 articles in professional journals which discussed literature rich in language; and perusal of holdings of various libraries. The literature would be appropriate, as determined by this researcher, for exposing children to litera- ture rich in language through read-aloud experiences in order that they may realize the "sense of story" and the language of story contained within these selections. The literary selections for the read-aloud experiences in the order in which they were read to the experimental and control groups are as follows: de Paola, Tomie. The Quicksand Book.* New York: Holiday House, Inc., 1977. Bonners, Susan. Panda.* New York: Delacorte Press; Dell Publishing Co., Inc., 1978. Zemach, Margot. It Could Always Be Worse.* New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, Inc., 1976. Haugaard, Erik, translator. Hans Andersen; His Classic Fairy Tales. Illustrated by Michael Foreman. New York: Doubleday & Co., Inc., 1976. "The Emperor's New Clothes" "The Little Match Girl” "The Princess and the Pea" Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth. Paul Revere's Ride. Illustrated by Paul Galdone. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Co., 1963. Fritz, Jean. And Then What Happened, Paul Revere? Illustrated by Margot Tomes. New York: Scholastic Book Services, 1973. de Paola, Tomie. The Clown of God.* New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., 1978. *Illustrated by author. 1Patricia J. Cianciolo, Adventuring With Books (Urbana, Ill.: National Council of Teachers of English, 1977). 115 . Mathis, Sharon Bell. The Hundred PennyxBox. Illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon. New York: The Viking Press, Inc., 1976. . Takahashi, Hiroyuki. The Foxes of Chironupp Island.* New York: Windmill Books, Inc., and E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc., 1976. . Hogrogian, Nonny. One Fine Day.* New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., 1971. . Barrett, Judi. Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing. Illustrated by Ron Barrett. New York: Atheneum Publishers, 1977. . Weik, Mary Hays. The Jazz Man. Illustrated by Ann Grifalconi. New York: Atheneum Publishers, 1966. . Shulevitz, Uri. The Treasure.* New York: Farrar, Straus, & Giroux, Inc., 1979. . Carrick, Carol. The Accident. Illustrated by Donald Carrick. New York: The Seabury Press, 1976. . Viorst, Judith. Rosie and Michael. Illustrated by Lorna Tomei. New York: Atheneum Publishers, 1974. . Goble, Paul. The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses.* Scarsdale, N.Y.: Bradbury Press, Inc., 1978. Literary Selections for the Oral Story_Making Experiences Specific literary selections were chosen for the oral story making experiences from the genre of wordless picture books portraying human relationships and social concerns; realistic fiction portraying animals, mystery, and humorous stories; traditional tales; modern fantasy; and informational stories. Literature for this area of study was selected by this researcher based on the following criteria: *Illustrated by author. ll6 l. The literature was compatible with the interests of students in middle and upper elementary grades in the age range of nine to twelve years. This researcher consulted Huck, Children's Literature in the Elementary School,1 as a guide to determine the reading interests of middle and upper elementary grade students. 2. The literature was judged to be of excellent quality by authorities in the field of children's literature as determined by reviews in professional journals; annotated bibliographies, books on children's lit- erature, specifically, Illustrations in Children's Books;2 articles in professional journals which discussed the story and style of wordless picture books; and perusal of holdings of various libraries. 3. The literature would be appropriate, as determined by this researcher, for oral story making experiences in that they contained the literary components of plot, characterizations, settings, and theme for the ”sense of story" aspects of the study, and they contained the literary components of style, literary devices, and dialogue for the oral language aspects of the study. 4. The literature would be appropriate, as determined by this researcher, for oral story making experiences in that they promoted the inclusion of the components of literature, and promoted the use of "sense of story" and oral language proficiencies in the Creative Oral Compositions. 5. The literature would be appropriate, as determined by this researcher, for oral story making experiences in that they contained a variety of genre of children's literature and a variety of styles of illustrations for facility with visual literacy. The literary selections for the oral story making experiences in the order in which the experimental group orally composed the stories are below. Unless otherwise indicated, the wordless picture books selected were illustrated by the author. 1Huck, Children's Literature. 2Patricia Cianciolo, Illustrations in Children's Books, 2nd ed. (Dubuque, Iowa: William C. Brown Publishers, 1976). ll7 Winter, Paula. The Bear and the Fly. New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1976. Krahn, Fernando. Catch the Cat. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., 1978. Carroll, Ruth. What Whiskers Did. New York: Henry Z. Walck, Inc., 1965. Krahn, Fernando. The Mystery of the Giant Footprints. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc., 1977. Amoss, Berthe. By the Sea. New York: Parents' Magazine Press, 1969. Krahn, Fernando. The Great Ape. New York: The Viking Press, 1978. Carroll, Ruth. The Dolphin and the Mermaid. New York: Henry Z. Walck, Inc., 1974. Carroll, Ruth. The Christmas Kitten. New York: Henry Z. Walck, 1970. de Paola, Tomie. Pancakes for Breakfast. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., 1978. Meyer, Renate. Vicki. New York: Atheneum Publishers, 1969. Krahn, Fernando. Little Love Story. New York: J. P. Lippincott Co., 1976. Fuchs, Eric. Journey to the Moon. New York: Delacorte Press; Dell Publishing Co., Inc., 1969. Ardizzone, Edward. The Wrong Side of the Bed. New York: Doubleday & Co., Inc., 1970. Hogrogian, Nonny. Apples. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., 1971. Krahn, Fernando. April Fools. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc., 1974. Shimin, Symeon. A Special Birthday. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1976. Turkle, Brinton. Deep in the Forest. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc., 1976. 118 o Briggs, Raymond. The Snowman. New York: Random House, Inc., 1978. - Mendoza, George. The Inspector. Illustrated by Peter Parnall. New York: Doubleday & Co., Inc., 1970. 0 Krahn, Fernando. How Santa Clause Had a Long and Difficult Journey Delivering His Presents. New York: Delacorte Press; Dell Publishing Co., Inc., 1970. 0 Alexander, Martha. Bobo's Dream. New York: The Dial Press, 1970. 0 Spier, Peter. Noah's Ark. New York: Doubleday & Co., Inc., 1977. ' Ward, Lynd. The Silver Pony. New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1973. Overview Chapter III contained the design and methodology of this experimental study to determine the feasibility of using oral story making experiences to improve the oral language proficiencies and "sense of story" of fourth grade remedial reading students through select literary experiences. These literary experiences included the exposure to select literature in (a) read aloud experiences and (b) in wordless picture books for creative oral composition experiences. Included in the design and methodology of this experimental study were selection of students, the design and development of the instrument, the procedures for the pretest and posttest sessions for the experimental and control groups, and the criteria for and literary selections for the read—aloud experiences and for the oral story making experiences. ll9 Chapter IV contains the analysis of data for the oral language and "sense of story" aspects of the Creative Oral Compositions, for the reading vocabulary and reading comprehension tests, for the interpretive response to imaginative literature test, and for facility with visual literacy. CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS OF EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS Chapter IV contains the analysis of data obtained from the pretest and posttest scores of the Creative Oral Compositions (story making) which were analyzed by the instrument designed for this study. The components of the instrument included aspects of oral language proficiencies, "sense of story," and facility with visual literacy. Two wordless picture books were used for the oral compositions: 'A Boy, A Dog, A Frog, and A Friend (Mayer, 197l--pretest) and A Flying Saucer Full of Spaghetti (Krahn, l970--posttest). This chapter also contains the analysis of data obtained from the pretest and posttest scores of the Gates-MacGinitie Readinngests, Primary B, Form 1 (pretest) and Form 2 (posttest), to determine reading vocabulary and reading comprehension. Included also are the results from the pretest and posttest scores of A Look At Literature: The NCTE Coqperative Test of Critical Reading and Appreciation, Form A, Part 1 (pretest), and Form B, Part I (posttest), to determine interpretive response to imaginative literature. Creative Oral Compositions The instrument, designed for this study to determine oral language proficiencies, "sense of story," and facility with visual literacy, and validated by interrater reliability, measured the degree l20 l2l of literal, interpretive, and/or creative and evaluative narration of the components of literature; namely, plot, characterizations, settings, theme, style, literary devices, and dialogue. The exper- imental group's scores from the pretest and posttest and the control group's scores from the pretest and the posttest were analyzed sta- tistically using the analysis of covariance to determine levels of significance for a composite score of the components of literature. To determine oral language proficiencies, the three literary components of style, literary devices, and dialogue from the experimental group's and control group's pretest and posttest scores were analyzed statis- tically. To determine "sense of story," four literary components: plot, characterizations, settings, and theme, from the experimental group's and control group's pretest and posttest scores were analyzed statistically. The Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests, Primary B, Forms 1 and 2, are standardized tests designed for use with second grade reading level students to determine reading vocabulary and reading comprehension. The fourth grade remedial reading students in this study were administered Primary B level for it was determined by the reading consultant that this level of the test was of sufficient difficulty for these students. A Look at Literature, Forms A and B, Parts I and II, are designed for use with fourth, fifth, and sixth grade reading level students to determine interpretive response to imaginative literature. The fourth grade remedial reading students in this study were adminis- tered Part I, the listening section, for it was determined by this researcher and the reading consultant that Part II, the independent l22 reading section, appeared to be too difficult for the students to read independently. This researcher administered the pretests to the subjects of the experimental and control groups from March 20 to March 25, 1980, and the posttests from May 23 to May 30, 1980. Data Analysis Relating to Research Questions Research Question 1. After participating in oral story making experiences using wordless picture books and after listening to literature rich in language through read-aloud experiences, will fourth grade remedial reading students improve their oral language proficiencies, e.g., more effective a. use of an interpretive or creative and evaluative style in their narration? b. use of inventive and expressive literary devices? c. use of inventive and expressive dialogue for their characters? These questions were measured by comparing the Creative Oral Compositions of the pretest scores of A pr, A Dog, A Frog, and A Friend (Mayer, 1971) with the posttest scores of A Flying Saucer Full of Spaghetti (Krahn, 1970) where degrees of narration for style, literary devices, and dialogue were evaluated for both the experimental and control groups. Pretest of Style, Literary Devices, and Dialogue for the Experimental Group A total of eighteen pretest scores was reported for the subjects of the experimental group for the variables of style, literary devices, and dialogue which comprise the oral language aspects of the Creative Oral Compositions. 123 §£Xl§- The scores for the six subjects in interpretive or creative and evaluative style of narration ranged from a high of 2 to a low of 0 out of a possible score of 5. Four subjects, two boys and two girls, obtained scores of 2; and two subjects, one boy and one girl, obtained scores of O for a total score of 8. The mean for the experimental group of three boys and three girls was 1.33. Literary devices. The scores for the six subjects for using inventive and expressive literary devices ranged from a high of 2 to a low of 0 out of a possible score of 5. Two subjects, one boy and one girl, obtained scores of 2; and four subjects, two boys and two girls, obtained scores of 0 for a total score of 4. The mean for the experimental group was 0.66. Dialogue. The scores for the six subjects for using inventive and expressive dialogue for their characters ranged from a high of 3 to a low of 0 out of a possible score of 5. One subject, a boy, obtained a score of 3; and five subjects, three girls and two boys, obtained scores of O for a total score of 3. The mean for the experimental group was 0.5. Pretest of Style, Literary Devices, and Dialogue for the Control Group A total of eighteen pretest scores was reported for the subjects of the control group for the variables of style, literary devices, and dialogue which comprise the oral language aspects of the Creative Oral Compositions. 124 Style, The scores for the six subjects in interpretive or creative and evaluative style of narration ranged from a high of 2 to a low of 0. Four subjects, two boys and two girls, obtained scores of 2; and two subjects, one boy and one girl, obtained scores of O for a total score of 8. The mean for the control group of three boys and three girls was 1.33. Literary devices. The scores for the six subjects for using inventive and expressive literary devices ranged from a high of 2 to a low of 0 out of a possible score of 5. One subject, a boy, obtained a score of 2; and five subjects, three girls and two boys, obtained scores of O for a total score of 2. The mean for the control group was 0.33. Dialogue. The scores for the six subjects for using inventive and expressive dialogue for their characters ranged from a high of 2 to a low of 0 out of a possible score of 5. One subject, a boy, obtained a score of 2, and five subjects, three girls and two boys, obtained scores of O for a total score of 2. The mean for the control group was 0.33. Posttest of Style, Literary Devices, and Dialogue for the Experimental Group A total of eighteen posttest scores was reported for the subjects of the experimental group for the variables of style, literary devices, and dialogue which comprise the oral language aspects of the Creative Oral Compositions. 125 Style, The scores for the six subjects in interpretive or creative and evaluative style of narration ranged from a high of 4 to a low of 2 out of a possible score of 5. Four subjects, two boys and two girls, obtained scores of 4; and two subjects, one boy and one girl, obtained scores of 2 for a total score of 20. The mean score for the experimental group of three boys and three girls was 3.33. Literary devices. The scores for the six subjects for using inventive and expressive literary devices ranged from a high of 4 to a low of 0 out of a possible score of 5. One subject, a girl, obtained a score of 4; two subjects, one boy and one girl, obtained scores of 2; and three subjects, two boys and one girl, obtained scores of O for a total score of 8. The mean for the experimental group was 1.33. Dialogue. The scores for the six subjects for using inventive and expressive dialogue for their characters ranged from a high of 4 to a low of 0. One subject, a girl, obtained a score of 4; two sub- jects, one boy and one girl, obtained scores of 2; and three subjects, two boys and one girl obtained scores of O for a total score of 8. The mean for the experimental group was 1.33. Posttest of Style, Literary Devices, and Dialogue for the Control Group A total of eighteen posttest scores was reported for the subjects of the control group for the variables of style, literary devices, and dialogue which comprise the oral language aspects of the Creative Oral Compositions. 126 Style, The scores for the six subjects in interpretive or creative and evaluative style of narration ranged from a high of 4 to a low of 0 out of a possible score of 5. One subject, a boy, obtained a score of 4; four subjects, three girls and one boy, obtained scores of 2; and one subject, a boy, obtained a score of 0 for a total score of 12. The mean score for the control group of three boys and three girls was 2. Literary devices. The scores for the six subjects for using inventive and expressive literary devices were 0 out of a possible score of 5. All six subjects, three boys and three girls, obtained scores of O for a total score of O. The mean for the control group was 0. Dialogue. The scores for the six subjects for using inventive and expressive dialogue for their characters ranged from a high of 2 to a low of 0 out of a possible score of 5. One subject, a girl, obtained a score of 2; and five subjects, three boys and two girls, obtained scores of O for a total score of 2. The mean for the control group was 0.33. Differences Between the Scores for Style, Literary Devices, and Dialogue for the Experimental and Control Groups The total score of the pretest for the variables of style, literary devices, and dialogue which comprise the oral language aspects of the Creative Oral Compositions for the experimental group was 15 with a mean of 2.5, and for the control group was 12 with a mean of 2. The total score for the posttest for the same variables for the experimental 127 group was 36 with a mean of 6, and for the control group was 14 with a mean of 2.33. The difference of points between the pretest score of 15 and the posttest score of 36 for the experimental group was a gain of 21 points. The difference of points between the mean pretest scores of 2.5 and the mean posttest scores of 6 for the experimental group was a gain of 3.5 points. The difference of points between the pretest score of 12 and the posttest score of 14 for the control group was a gain of 2 points. The difference of points between the mean pretest scores of 2 and the mean posttest scores of 2.33 for the control group was a gain of 0.33 points. The difference of points from the pretest to the posttest of the experimental group and the control group was 22 points favoring the treatment of the experimental group. The difference of means from the pretest to the posttest of the experimental group and the control group was 3.67 points favoring the treatment of the experimental group. There are differences between the posttest scores of the experimental group and the control group. There appeared to be no difference between the scores of style, literary devices, and dialogue for the boys and girls in the pretest and posttest sessions, see Table 4. Pretest and Posttest Creative Oral Compositions The Creative Oral Compositions of the pretest and posttest sessions were evaluated as this researcher listened to the orally composed stories, and were not evaluated by the written transcripts of the stories. Examples of the subjects' use of style, literary devices, and dialogue, cited below, should be read with the 128 .meEmw u m mm—mE n 20 .50NN. .cemcethpcaemaaw to __=a caozmm mcwx—u < Hummepmoa NAFNmF .cmxmzv ucmwcm < vcm .mocu < .moo < .xom < "pmmpmcan .m u saw; .v u 3o_ “cowpmccm: w>wpmzpm>m use m>wumwco mm u now; .N u 30_ ”cowumccmc m>wpmcagmch m_ n saw; .0 u 30p ”cowpwccm: chmpwbm mm.N mm.o o o.N o.N mm.o mm.o m._ mmcoum com: Hm. NV. hw. .we Np. NP. Np. 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E a E E NM 2 v 1 lllllllllllllllllll ._ LLI ”III” M LLJ ||||||||||||||l N U lllllllll llllllllllllllll sauoas alqtssod \ mp 130 understanding that they were evaluated in the oral form and not in the written form. Subjects'Use of Style in Pretest and Posttests of Creative Oral Compositions The three degrees of style used by the experimental and control group subjects in the pretest and posttest sessions were Literal Narra- tion, no literary style recognized; Interpretive Narration, recognized a story contained in the illustrations; and Creative and Evaluative Narration, narration elaborated by recognizing the style in which the story is told: fictional narrative, satire, allegory, or parody. Pretest sessions. In the pretest sessions the experimental and control group subjects orally composed stories to accompany the illustrations in A Boy, A Dog, A Frog, and A Friend (Mayer, 1971). Only examples of literal and interpretive narration of style were observed. Experimental subject 1 (El) did not recognize a story contained in the illustrations, and composed his story entirely in dialogue. "0h, Danny. YOu got you. . . . 0h, Lonny. Donny, I'll get you. I'll have to save you." Experimental subject 2 (E2) recognized the story contained in the illustrations, but often gave a page by page account and referred to the pages as she told her story. The little boy is fishing right on this first page—- trying to catch a fish. Then the other one he thinks he has a fish but he doesn't. And then the other one he is pulling on it and then he falls in the other page. 131 Experimental subject 3 (E3) recognized a story contained in the illustrations, but often referred to the pages as he told his story. The picture shows the turtle is carrying the hook in its mouth. The dog's going up to bark at the turtle and he's got his paw in the air and the turtle lets go of the hoof. 0n the next page the boy's got the fishing pole. Experimental subject 4 (E4) composed a page by page account of the story, but recognized a story contained in the illustrations. The boy is fishing and the dog and frog is watching him. The boy gets a bite and the dog and the frog looks at the bite. The bite is real strong. Experimental subject 5 (E5) recognized a story contained in the illustrations. And then the dog catched him, and the turtle grabbed his fbot, and the frog jumped off the rock he was sitting on. Then dragged the dog in the water, and walked across the water, and he almost got there and the turtle fell offii Experimental subject 6 (E6) did not recognize a story in the illustrations. She gave a page-by-page account of each illustration. Also she switched from first person telling the story to second person. He went fishing. He was waiting for bite. Then he got one. It almost drugged me in the water. Then it drugged me in the water. Control subject 1 (Cl) recognized a story contained in the illustrations. Once upon a time this boy went fishing, and he waited and waited. Then he got a bite. He thought it was a bass. It was strong. 132 Control subject 2 (C2) recognized a story contained in the illustrations. Once upon a time there was a boy. He wanted to go fishing. While he was fishing he caught a fish. He tried to pull it in, but he fell in with it. Control subject 3 (C3) recognized a story contained in the illustrations as she composed her story. The dog went up on shore and saw the turtle. The turtle bit the dog, and the frog jumped. The little boy went to get the dog. He picked him up and the turtle was still biting. Control subject 4 (C4) recognized a story contained in the illustrations. One day a boy went fishing, and the dog was standing watching him, but he couldn’t catch a thing. And he was fishing, and he caught something, and the dog couldn’t believe that he caught it. Control subject 5 (C5) did not recognize a story in the illustrations, but instead gave a page-by-page account. And he goes up the water, and the toad's going along with him. The turtle flops and falls in, and let's go. And the frog and went up. Control subject (C6) also did not recognize a story contained in the illustrations. And the boy decided to go in the water. And then he got out--got the dog out of the river, and then the dog started to go away. And then they tried to get the turtle out of the water. Posttest session. In the posttest session the experimental and control groups orally composed stories to accompany the illustra- tions in A Flying Saucer Full of Spaghetti (Krahn, 1970). Except for control subject 5, all experimental and control subjects used the interpretive and/or creative and evaluative narration for style. 133 Except for experimental subjects 1 and 6, it was observed that the other experimental subjects, 2, 3, 4, and 5, recognized that the elves in the story were taking food from a rich girl who had plenty of food and giving it to a poor girl who had nothing to eat as they composed their stories. Subject E2 elaborated on the social injustice depicted in the story. One day in this little town up on a hill there was a raggedy, shaggedy, old, icky house. And then these elves climbed up on top of this box and looked in the window, and they saw a little girl almost about ready to cry 'cause she was at the kitchen table and she had no fbod. Subject E3 comments on taking from the rich and giving to the poor. They make a plan that little girl who doesn't have any food. Betsy doesn't. The little elves run to a town. They see a gate closed. They look in the window and see a guy giving a girl spaghetti. Its a rich girl and she's not eating her spaghetti. Subject E4 recognizes the elves' plan. Then the little men planned a little plan, and the girl is still sitting there waiting for something to eat. The little men ran to a house, another house, to see if they could have something to eat. They looked at the big house, and there is a gate where people come in. Subject E5 also recognizes the meaning behind the elves' plan. Then they peaked in the window and the girl was rich. And they flyed to the old house and went right in the window, and then she had something to eat, and lived all by herself. Only one control subject, Cl, recognized that the elves in the story were taking food from the rich and giving it to the poor. 134 She was sitting at the table starving. These little people watched her starve, so they all made a plan. They went down through the town, and they came to this big mansion. The starving girl was pleased to see the spaghetti. She was so hungry she ate every bit of it. Following each experimental and control subjects' creative oral composition to A Flying Saucer Full of Spaghetti, each subject was asked by this researcher, "What did these elves do in this story, and why did they do it?" Some of the responses by those who recognized the social inequality were from E3, Give the other girl some fbod. They got it from the rich and gave it to the poor. Subject E4 said, From the little girl and brought it back to this little girl, because she didn't have anything to eat. She had lots of things to eat, 'cause she was in a big house, and a man served her anything she wanted. Subject E5 said, They took food from this little rich girl and gave it to the poor girl. I'm smart. Experimental subjects 1 and 6 and control subjects 2, 3, 4, and 6 created a story to accompany the illustrations in A Flying Saucer Full of_Spaghetti. Some included that the one girl was hungry or liked spaghetti and the other girl did not like spaghetti. Others did not recognize that the one girl was poor and hungry and the other girl was rich and not hungry. In these subjects' stories, the elves were having a fun time and were not out to correct any social injustices. 135 Only one subject, C5, did not recognize a story contained in the illustrations. His oral composition contained asides and digressions from the story. And they all make a plan, I don't know what, say get inside. They all rush down to the, to the, someplace I don't know where. I have no idea. Experimental Subjects' Use of Style in Oral Story MakingASessions During this experimental study, the experimental subjects participated in the oral story making experiences using wordless picture books. Their twenty-three additional creative oral compo- sitions were transcribed and examples of their use of style throughout the ten-week study are cited below. The experimental subjects progressed from literal narrations of style to interpretive and/or creative and evaluative narrations of style. The page-by-page accounts and references to the pages were replaced with fictional narratives and satires. Subject E4 in story 19, The Snowman (Briggs, 1978), Week 7, combined many pictures into one statement. Then before he went to bed, he watched his snowman. He was snuggled in his bed, and he was sleeping and cuddled up in the covers. In story 21, How Santa Claus Had a Long and Difficult Journey Delivering His Presents (Krahn, 1970), Week 8, subject E3 showed evidence of understanding satire as she orally composed her story. Then they put him on the sled. Then all the other little toys were trying to get some way to get the thing to go. so they put all the cars and all the trains and everything, and the reindeers and the 136 buses, and they they pushed and pushed and pushed. Then it was a bigger wreck. All the toys went splattering. In Story 17, A Special Birthday (Shimin, 1976), Week 7, subject E6 combined the repetitions of the illustrations into a fictional narrative. Tomorrow was Mary's birthday. She went to bed. That night her father got some ribbon and strung it all over the house, all over the library, all over her bedroom, all over. She got up. She was unwrapping it in her bed, all through her toys, and she found a little present. The distracting speech mannerisms of subject E3, the slowness of pace at which he told his stories; and subject E5, the stammering of words and phrases and the inaudible endings of sentences in his stories, did not change throughout the course of the study. Subject E6 had a rise at the end of every statement, and sometimes every phrase, as would be observed at the end of an interrogative sentence. This distracting rise was replaced by the falling of her voice at the end of sentences as is customary for declarative sentences. This occurred by story 17, Week 7. Subjects‘Use of Literary Devices in Pretest and Posttests of Creative Oral Compositions The three degrees of literary devices used by the experimental and control group subjects in the pretest and posttest sessions were Literal Narration, no figurative language or literary techniques used; Interpretive Narration, infrequent to frequent use of figurative language and literary techniques; and Creative and Evaluative 137 Narration, conscious use and control of figurative language and literary techniques. Examples of figurative language to be observed were simile, metaphor, personification, and hyperbole. Examples of literary techniques to be observed were alliteration, assonance, symbolism, onomatopoeia, understatement, exaggeration, foreshadowing, flashbacking, and repetition. Pretest sessions. In the pretest sessions, the experimental and control group subjects orally composed stories to accompany the illustrations in A Boy, A Dog, A Frog, and A Friend (Mayer, 1971). Only examples of interpretive narration of literary devices were observed, and these were used by subjects E1, E4, and Cl. Subject El used the literary technique of onomatopoeia as he said, "Splash! Splash!" Subject E4 used the literary techniques of onomatopoeia when she said, "Splash!" and repetition when she said, "He pulls and pulls." Subject C1 used the figurative language of hyperbole when he said, "He looked at the snapping turtle above his head and hollered for joy." He also used exaggeration when he said, "The dog stood under for five minutes," and repetition when he said, ”He waited and waited." Posttest sessions. In the posttest sessions, the experimental and control groups orally composed stories to accompany the illustra- tions in A Flying Saucer Full of Spaghetti (Krahn, 1970). Examples of interpretive narration of literary devices were used by E4 and E5, and examples of creative and evaluative narration of literary devices were used by E2. None of the control group subjects used any literary devices. 138 Subject E4 used the literary technique of repetition as she said, "so the little men started to wrap it on the fork, and they wrapped and wrapped and wrapped." Subject E5 also used repetition as he said, "Then they ran and ran to the city gate." Subject E2 used the literary technique of assonance as she said, "One day in this little town up on a hill there was a raggedy, shaggedy, old icky house." This description was repeated two other times during the story and at the end of the story when she said, "Then the elves fly in the window and bring the poor little girl in the raggedy, shaggedy, old house some spaghetti." Subject E2 also used repetition as she said, "Then that plate of’spaghetti is flying and flying towards that old raggedy, shaggedy house.” Experimental Subjects' Use of Literary Devices in Oral Story Making Sessions During the experimental study, the experimental subjects participated in twenty-three additional oral story making experiences using wordless picture books. Examples of their use of literary devices are cited below. ’The most frequently used literary technique was repetition. Subject El said in story 12, Little Love Story (Krahn, 1976), Week 5, "And she got it, and she blew and blew." In story 22, Bobo's Dream (Alexander, 1970), Week 8, subject El used repetition again as he said, "Bobo started to run and run and run." In story 5, The Mystery of the Giant Footprints (Krahn, 1977), Week 2, subject E2 repeated the same phrase in successive sentences. 139 Then they all went looking for the monsters way out. They went out in the lakes and deep in the forests, and everywhere. Still no sign and everybody's getting tired of it, and still they didn't find it. And they looked from day 'til night, and they still didn't find it. Then they got deeper and deeper in the forest, and still no sign of the footprints. Then they went separate ways; people went east and west and south, and everywhere, and they still didn't find them. Across trees, across mountains, and everywhere, and they still didn't find them. In story 13, Journey to the Moon (Fuchs, 1969), Week 5, Subject E4 said, "The rocket is going back to Earth. And that part of the rocket is falling and falling." Occasional uses of other literary techniques were observed. In story 8, The Dolphin and the Mermaid (Carroll, 1974), Week 3, subject E2 used alliteration as she said, "Then the dolphin comes along and bites his flipper-flopper thing off." In story 23, Neeflle Apt (Spier, 1977), Week 9, subject E3 used exaggeration as he said, "Everything goes out. There's a million rabbits that go out." In story 10, Pancakes for Breakfast (de Paola, 1978), Week 4, subject E6 used, perhaps unconsciously, the literary technique of foreshadowing as she said, "The dog is licking his lips. . . . The cat was licking his lips." Either she was identifying the dog's and cat's reactions to the eggs and milk, or she had a plan in her oral composition. Uses of other literary techniques, such as, symbolism, understatement, and flashbacking, were not observed in any of the creative oral compositions during the oral story making experiences of the experimental subjects. 140 Subjects' Use of Dialogue in Pretest and Posttests of Creative Oral Compositions The three degrees of dialogue used by the experimental and control group subjects in the pretest and posttest sessions were Literal Narration, no use of dialogue by characters; Interpretive Narration, infrequent to frequent use of dialogue by characters; and Creative and Evaluative Narration, imaginative and consistent use of dialogue by characters to convey feelings, emotions, and attitudes. Pretest sessions. In the pretest sessions, the experimental and control group subjects orally composed stories to accompany the illustrations in A Boy, A Dog, A Frog, and A Friend (Mayer 1971). Only examples of interpretive narration of dialogue were observed, and these were used by subjects El and C2. Subject El composed his entire story in dialogue. "I'll pull the turtle back to shore and bury him. I'll carry him over here and bury him. This dirt is hard. It’s real hard. I must really dig." Subject C2 used dialogue once as he said, "And the boy's going, 'Oh, no. Not again?'" Posttest sessions. In the posttest sessions, the experimental and control groups orally composed stories to accompany the illustra- tions in A Flying Saucer Full of Spaghetti (Krahn, 1970). Examples of interpretive narration of dialogue were used by subjects E1, E4, and C3, and examples of creative and evaluative narration of dialogue were used by E2. Subject El used dialogue as he said, "Hey!" "Hi!" and "come back." Subject E4 used dialogue as she said, "Hi, I am going to take the spaghetti" and "come back." Subject C3 used dialogue as she said, "Take this [inaudible] to her." 141 Subject E2 used creative and evaluative narration as she said, Then those elves were planning something. They all gather up and said, "Hey, You want to get this little girl some food?" Then they all hopped up and stacked up on top of’each other, and said, "Hi!" Then the little girl said, "Hi!" Then they take the plate of'spaghetti and go, "Bye. see you later." And they grab it and the elves zoom off'the table and go flying on the plate of’ spaghetti. Then the little girl says, ”come back here with my spaghetti!" Then the people are saying, "Hey, what did you do? What happened to that plate right there? I wonder what's happening?" Then all the townspeople are watching the plate of‘spaghetti fly- Experimental Subjects'Use of Dialogue in Oral Story Making Sessions During the experimental study, the experimental subjects participated in twenty-three additional oral story making experiences using wordless picture books. Examples of some of their dialogue used by their characters are cited below. The most frequent user of dialogue for her characters was subject E2 who began using dialogue in her creative oral compositions with story 5, The Mystery of the Giant Footprints (Krahn, 1977), Week 2, as She said, "Oh, oh, oh!" "Oh, my!" and "Oh, my God, they left follow- ing those footprints!" Later in the story, she continued with, "we better find what's happening, because somebody's going to get killed by these things." In story 10, Pancakes for Breakfast (de Paola, 1978), Week 4, subject E2 said, She walked in the house, and she goes, "Oh, my God! Look what they did. They got the eggs, and the flour and the milk all over the place. I’m going to kill them. " 142 In story 14, The Wrong_Side of the Bed (Ardizzone, 1970), Week 5, subject E2 used dialogue throughout the story. And then he was trying to run away, and the mom was saying, "calm down. You're getting your hair brushed. You're not going to school looking like a hobo. . . ." Then he grabbed his sister's hair and started yanking on it. Then the ma goes, "Young man, you go to school right now. And if‘you don't go to school, you're into trouble. . . ." And his ma goes, "Go see your father right now." In story 19, The Snowman (Briggs, 1978), Week 7, subject E2 again used dailogue throughout the story, and used dialogue for more than one character. so he took off his pajamas, put on his top, pulled on his pants, and asked his mom if he could go outside. His mom said, "Yes, but put on your boots. Put on your hat. . . ." Then he went into a room with the little boy. He was teaching him how to ride a skate- board. And then the boy got on first, and then the snowman got up, and then the snowman fell off'and had a headache. And the boy goes, "Are you alright, you stupid dummy? What in the heck are you doing on a skateboard in the first place?" "Because you told me to get on it to teach me how to ride one." Subject El who told his pretest story entirely in dialogue began to use less dialogue in his stories except for story 3, tetep That Cat (Krahn, 1978), Week 2, which was also told entirely in dialogue. He began to consistently use less dialogue and more components of literature with story 4, What Whiskers Did (Carroll, 1965), Week 2, as he said, "Whiskers, slow down. Whiskers, come this way, this way. Oh, no, the rope broke. I'll have to find Whiskers. Whiskers, don't go over that hill; I might not be able to find you." Whiskers was running past a hill that has a rabbit. Whiskers saw the rabbit. 143 Subject E3 rarely used dialogue in his stories, except for story 18, Deep in the Forest (Turkle, 1976), Week 7. Deep in the Forest is a parody of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. In this story a small bear ransacks the cabin of a family of three: papa, mama, and a little girl. Subject E3 said at the end of his silent reading of the story that it was The Three Bears. His only consistent use of dialogue in any of his oral compositions is as follows: Mommy says, "someone's been eating out of'my bowl!" Baby bear says, "SOmeone ate out of her bowl and broke it." They go look where their chairs are by the fire, and they say, "Someone's been sitting in my chair." Mama says, "Someone's been sitting in my chair." Baby says, ”Someone's been sitting in my chair and broke it." Subject E4 did not include more than one or two words of dialogue in her stories until story 12, Little Love Story (Krahn, 1976), Week 5. She said, The little girl asked, "could you blow the balloon up?? And the one mother tried, but she couldn't blow it up. . . . The little boy, "There's a pump!" The two mothers said, "Don't!" The little girl fell off the edge and the mothers tried to catch her. In story 18, Deep in the Forest (Turkle, 1976), Week 7, subject E4 included the "someone's been sleeping in my bed." In story 21, Hem_ Santa Claus Had a Long and Difficult Journey Delivering His Presents (Krahn, 1970), Week 8, she used dialogue three times. Santa Claus said, "Up, up and away we go!" and got up in the air. . . . And two fairies came by and asked if they needed some help, and santa Claus said, "We sure do. . . ." Santa Claus said, ”There's my reindeer up on the house." Subject E5 did not include more than one or two words of dialogue in any of his stories except for story 3, Catch That Cat 144 (Krahn, 1978), Week 2, when he said, "Hey Kid. Get back here,” and in story 24, The Silver Pony (Ward, 1973), Week 9, when he said, "And the father said, 'There wasn't really a horse up there." Even Deep in the Forest was void of any dialogue. Subject E6 did not include any dialogue in any of her oral compositions except for story 16, April Fools (Krahn, 1974), Week 6, when she said, It was April Fool's Day, and two boys was going to make something. "I'll put up the curtain so no one comes in." "And I'll saw the board." ”I'll hammer the boards together while I put the paper on it. we can both paint it." Then it was finished, and they let it dry. Later She said, "They were lost. The little boy said, 'Let's climb a tree.’ And so they climbed a tree, and people were watching the monster." Even Deep in the Forest was void of any dialogue. Research Question 2. After participating in oral story making experiences using wordless picture books and after listening to lit- erature rich in language through read—aloud experiences, will fourth grade remedial reading students improve their "sense of story," e.g., more effective a. use of interpretive or creative and evaluative narration of plot? b. use of interpretive or creative and evaluative narration of characterizations? c. use of interpretive or creative and evaluative narration of settings? d. use of interpretive or creative and evaluative narration as they recognize and elaborate the emotion conveyed in the theme of the story? These questions were measured by comparing the Creative Oral Compositions of the pretest scores of A Boy, A Dog, A Frog, and A Friend (Mayer, 1971) with the posttest scores of A Flying Saucer 145 Full of Spaghetti (Krahn, 1970) where degrees of narration for plot, characterizations, settings, and theme were evaluated for both the experimental and control groups. Pretest (If Plot, Characterizations, Settings, and Theme for the Experimental Group A total of twenty-four pretest scores was reported for the subjects of the experimental group for the variables of plot, charac- terizations, settings, and theme which comprise the ”sense of story" aspects of the Creative Oral Compositions. Elet, The scores for the six subjects in interpretive or creative and evaluative narration of plot ranged from a high of 2 to a low of 0 out of a possible score of 5. One subject, a girl, obtained a score of 2; four subjects, two boys and two girls, obtained scores of 1; and one subject, a boy, obtained a score of O for a total score of 6. The mean for the experimental group of three boys and three girls for the literary component of plot was 1. Characterizations. The scores for the six subjects for using interpretive or creative and evaluative narration of characterizations ranged from a high of l to a low of 0 out of a possible score of 5. Five subjects, three girls and two boys, obtained scores of l; and one subject, a boy, obtained a score of O for a total score of 5. The mean for the experimental group for the literary component of characterizations was .83. 146 Settings. The scores for the six subjects for using interpretive or creative and evaluative narration of settings ranged from a high of l to a low of 0 out of a possible score of 5. Four subjects, two boys and two girls, obtained scores of l; and two subjects, one boy and one girl, obtained scores of O for a total score of 4. The mean for the experimental group for the literary component of settings was 0.66. lheme, The scores for the six subjects in narration as they recognized and elaborated the emotion conveyed in the theme of the story ranged from a high of 2 to a low of 0 out of a possible score of 5. Four subjects, three girls and one boy, obtained scores of 2; and two subjects, two boys, obtained scores of O for a total score of 8. The mean for the experimental group for the literary component of theme was 1.33. Pretest of Plot, Characterizations, Settings, and Theme for the Control Group A total of twenty—four pretest scores was reported for the subjects of the control group for the variables of plot, character- izations, settings, and theme which comprise the "sense of story" aspects of the Creative Oral Compositions. Elet, The scores for the six subjects in interpretive or creative and evaluative narration of plot ranged from a high of 3 to a low of 0 out of a possible score of 5. One subject, a boy, obtained a score of 3; two subjects, one boy and one girl, obtained scores of 2; two subjects, one boy and one girl, obtained scores of 1; 147 and one subject, a girl, obtained a score of O for a total score of 9. The mean for the control group of three boys and three girls for the literary component of plot was 1.5. Characterizations. The scores for the six subjects for using interpretive or creative and evaluative narration of characterizations were 1 out of a possible score of 5. All six subjects obtained scores of 1 for a total score of 6. The mean for the control group for the literary component of characterizations was 1. Settings. The scores for the six subjects for using inter- pretive or creative and evaluative narration of settings ranged from a high of 2 to a low of 0 out of a possible score of 5. One subject, a boy, obtained a score of 2; four subjects, two boys and two girls, obtained scores of l; and one subject, a girl, obtained a score of O for a total score of 6. The mean for the control group for the literary component for settings was 1. lpeme, The scores for the six subjects in narration as they recognized and elaborated the emotion conveyed in the theme of the story ranged from a high of 3 to a low of 2. One subject, a boy, obtained a score of 3; and five subjects, three girls and two boys, obtained scores of 2 for a total score of 13. The mean for the control group for the literary components of theme was 2.16. Posttest of Plot, Characterizations, Settings, and Theme for the Experimental Group A total of twenty-four posttest scores was reported for the subjects of the experimental group for the variables of plot, 148 characterizations, settings, and theme which comprise the “sense of story" aspects of the Creative Oral Compositions. Elet, The scores for the six subjects in interpretive or creative and evaluative narration of plot ranged from a high of 3 to a low of 1 out of a possible score of 5. One subject, a girl, obtained a score of 3; three subjects, two girls, and one boy, obtained scores of 2; and two subjects, two boys, obtained scores of l for a total score of 11. The mean for the experimental group of three boys and three girls for the literary component of plot was 1.83. Characterizations. The scores for the six subjects for using interpretive or creative and evaluative narration of characterizations ranged from a high of 2 to a low of 1 out of a possible score of 5. Three subjects, two boys and one girl, obtained scores of 2; and three subjects, two girls and one boy, obtained scores of l for a total score of 9. The mean for the experimental group for the literary component of characterizations was 1.5. Settings. The scores for the six subjects for using inter- pretive or creative and evaluative narration of settings ranged from a high of 4 to a low of 1 out of a possible score of 5. One subject, a girl, obtained a score of 4; two subjects, one boy and one girl, obtained scores of 3; and three subjects, two boys and one girl, obtained scores of 1 for a total score of 13. The mean for the experimental group for the literary component of settings was 2.16. 149 lpeme, The scores for the six subjects in narration as they recognized and elaborated the emotion conveyed in the theme of the story ranged from a high of 4 to a low of 0. One subject, a girl, obtained a score of 4; three subjects, two girls and one boy, obtained scores of 2; and two subjects, two boys, obtained scores of O for a total score of 10. The mean for the experimental group for the literary component of theme was 1.66. Posttest of Plot, Characterizations, Settings, and Theme for the Control Group A total of twenty-four posttest scores was reported for the subjects of the control group for the variables of plot, characteriza- tions, settings, and theme which comprise the "sense of story" aspects of the Creative Oral Compositions. .Elet. The scores for the six subjects in interpretive or creative and evaluative narration of plot ranged from a high of 2 to a low of 0 out of a possible score of 5. Three subjects, two boys and one girl, obtained scores of 2; two subjects, one boy and one girl, obtained scores of l; and one subject, a girl, obtained a score of O for a total score of 8. The mean for the control group of three boys and three girls for the literary component of plot was 1.33. Characterizations. The scores for the six subjects for using interpretive or creative and evaluative narration of characterizations ranged from a high of 2 to a low of 1 out of a possible score of 5. Two subjects, two boys, obtained scores of 2; and four subjects, three girls and one boy, obtained scores of l for a total score of 8. The 150 mean for the control group for the literary component of characterizations was 1.33. Settings. The scores for the six subjects for using inter- pretive or creative and evaluative narration of settings ranged from a high of 3 to a low of 0 out of a possible score of 5. One subject, a boy, obtained a score of 3; one subject, a girl, obtained a score of 2; three subjects, two boys and one girl, obtained scores of l; and one subject, a girl, obtained a score of O for a total score of 8. The mean for the control group for the literary component of settings was 1.33. lpeme, The scores for the six subjects in narration as they recognized and elaborated the emotion conveyed in the theme of the story ranged from a high of 2 to a low of 0 out of a possible score of 5. Five subjects, three girls and two boys, obtained scores of 2; and one subject, a boy, obtained a score of O for a total score of 10. The mean for the control group for the literary component of theme was 1.66. Differences Between the Scores for Plot, Characterizations, Settings, and Theme for the Experimental and Control Groups The total score of the pretest for the variables of plot, characterizations, settings, and theme which comprise the "sense of story" aspects of the Creative Oral Compositions for the experimental group was 23 with a mean of 3.83, and for the control group was 34 with a mean of 5.66. The total score for the posttest for the same variables for the experimental group was 43 with a mean of 7.16, and for the 151 control group was 34 with a mean of 5.66. The difference of points between the pretest score of 23 and the posttest score of 43 for the experimental group was a gain of 20 points. The difference of points between the mean pretest score of 3.83 and the mean posttest score of 7.16 for the experimental group was a gain of 3.33 points. There was no difference in points between the pretest score of 34 and the post- test score of 34 for the control group, and there was no difference in points between the mean pretest score of 5.66 and the mean posttest score of 5.66 for the control group. The difference of points from the pretest to the posttest of the experimental group and the control group was 9 points favoring the treatment of the experimental group. The difference of means from the pretest to the posttest of the experimental group and the control group was 1.5 points favoring the treatment of the experimental group. There are differences between the posttest scores of the experimental group and the control group. There appeared to be no difference between the scores in the literary components of plot, characterizations, and settings for the boys and girls, but there appeared to be, however, some difference in their recognition and elaboration of the literary component of theme. Though the girls did not always obtain a higher score than the boys for theme, as in one pretest score, they scored at least a 2 con- sistently, and in one case a 4, for the literary component of theme. Two male experimental subjects in the pretest, two male experimental subjects and one male control subject in the posttest failed to recog- nize emotion conveyed in the theme of the story, see Table 5. 152 cmuzom mcwxpa < ”pmmwpmoa NAFNm— .cmxmzv ucmwca < new .moca < .ooo < .zom < .mpwsww u a ”opus u go .Aommp .ccmcxv wupmzqum mo __:a “ammumca a .m u saw; .v u sop ”cowpmccm: m>wumzym>w vcm o>wpmmcu so, "covpmccmc Facwpwwm 00 m u gar; .N u zo_ ”cowpmccm: m>wpmcacmpcw .P u sue; .o u KO q“) In 0 ob P m or) P m m r— m m P ‘0 Ln SD M oJoJc>oN MFNl-‘l—O‘w F FD v!"- (‘0 ml— "'03 OSF~F~U3W5U4 NNr-t—w—I—lm «>0404m101oq NPl—OI—F-ILOF- r—l—I—F-I—r—IKDI— m._ UDQJF-OJF-Cq03 me00m :00: mmLoom quoh Adv mo sz mu Adv so Nev mu sz Nu sz _o LO mf— d. 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L) C3 (F) C2 (M) M) U El (M) £2 (F) E3 (M) E4 (F) 55 (M) E6 (F) : Experimental Group Subjects "Sense of Story" Aspects of Creative Oral Compositions (Composite Scores of Plot, Characterizations, Settings, and Theme). Figure 2. 154 Pretest and Posttest Creative Oral Compositions The Creative Oral Compositions of the pretests and posttest sessions were evaluated as this researcher listened to the orally composed stories, and were not evaluated by the written transcripts of the stories. Examples of the subjects' use of plot, characteriza— tions, settings, and theme cited below should read with the under- standing that they were evaluated in the oral form and not in the written form. Subjects'Use of Plot in Pretests and Posttests of Creative Oral Compositions The two degrees of plot used by the experimental and control group subjects in the pretest and posttest sessions were Literal Nar- ration, events identified and sequential order observed; and Interpre- tive Narration, events described, events in illustrations linked together, and recognition of cause and effect. No subject obtained a score in Creative and Evaluative Narration, which were events elaborated, inferences drawn from illustrations, and elaboration of cause and effect. Pretest sessions. In the pretest sessions, the experimental and control group subjects orally composed stories to accompany the illustrations in A Boy, A Dog, A Frog, and A Friend (Mayer, 1971). Examples of literal and interpretive narration of plot were observed. On the Literal Narration level, two subjects, experimental subject El and control subject C6, obtained scores of O for the literary component of plot. El told his story entirely in dialogue, and failed to express 155 any plot structure throughout his story as he said, "Danny, go get him. Go get my fishing pole. Lanny, don't let him bite you. Oh, Danny, are you ok? Cbme on, Danny.” Subject C6 failed to identify several events in her story and gave a page-by-page account which was not always in sequential order. "And then he picked up a flower and put it--by it-- by the pole, and the turtle picked up his fishing pole and they got it all done. Then they went home." Also on the Literal Narration level, six subjects, E2, E3, E5, E6, C3, and C5, obtained scores of l for the literary component of plot. These subjects identified the events in the illustrations and followed the sequential order of the illustrations, but did not consistently link the illustrations together into a story. Subject E3 said, There's this boy. He's fishing. Got a bucket if he catches anything. Put it in the bucket. Dog's watching him. A frog is--got a fishing pole and he's got a bite and getting it pulled in. Subject E6 said, "He went fishing. He was waiting for bite. Then he got one. It almost dragged me in the water." Later she said, Then turtle came, and pulled him in. And you could only see his foot. The man tries to save him. He came back up. I got my clothes back on. He looked at the turtle, and it looked like it was dead. Interpretive Narration was observed for subjects E4, C2, C4 who obtained scores of 2, and subject C1 who obtained a score of 3. To obtain a 2, subjects must recognize cause and effect relationships as subject E4 did in her story. "The turtle jumped in. The boy is taking off his clothes to save the dog." Later she said, "The turtle is dead. The boy is going to bury the turtle. The turtle is laying on his shell." 156 Subject C2 also recognized cause and effect relationships when he said, He tried to pull it in, but he fell in with it. He was yelling at the turtle 'cause the turtle's taking his pole away, so the dog's swimming after him. The dog is barking at him, so the turtle bites his paw. Subject C4 recognized cause and effect also as she said, "He walked in the water, and so the turtle, he got slippery, and he went under water." Subject C1 obtained a 3 in the literary component of plot because of his recognition of cause and effect relationships, his description of events, and his linking the illustrations together into a story. "Then he walked to the other side of the swamp, and the snapping turtle let go, because he was walking out of’the water onto dry land." Later he said, "The boy's mad at his dog, 'cause the dog killed the snapping turtle. The dog felt sorry." Posttest sessions. In the posttest sessions, the experimental and control groups orally composed stories to accompany the illustra- tions in A Flying Saucer Full ofopaghetti (Krahn, 1970). All subjects obtained scores in the literal and interpretive narration levels for the literary component of plot. Only one subject, experimental subject E2, obtained a score of 3, and only one subject, control subject C6, obtained a score of 0. The other ten subjects obtained scores of l and 2. Subject E2 described the events in the illustrations and linked the events together into a cohesive story. An example of her story is, Then the elves started playing in the spaghetti. Then the elves take the spaghetti and put it all over the candles. And then the elves start taking more spaghetti 157 and putting it on the tables. Then they take the plate of’spaghetti and go, "Bye. See you later." And they grab it, and the elves zoom off’the table and go flying on the plate of'spaghetti. Subject C6 failed to identify several events in the story and failed to recognize any cause and effect relationships. "She was surprised, and started eating the spaghetti. Soon there was spaghetti all over the place." Experimental Subjects'Use of Plot in Oral Story Making Sessions During this experimental study, the experimental subjects participated in the oral story making experiences using wordless picture books. Their twenty-three additional creative oral compo- sitions were transcribed and examples of their use of plot throughout the ten-week study are cited below. The experimental subjects' stories progressed from identifying the events to describing the events in the stories, and recognizing cause and effect relationships with the exceptions of E3 and E5 who failed to move into the interpretive narration level with any con- sistency. E3, however, was able to draw inferences, an element found in the creative and evaluative narration level, from the illustrations in story 11, yieti_(Meyer, 1969), Week 4, when he said, Vicki sits back down in the grass. She is starting to cry. She doesn't have anybody to play with. Figures, she sees figures come up from the ground. She goes toward the girls. Ask them if'she can play. They say, "no." She sits all alone. Nobody to be with. She gets an idea to do something. 158 Subject E5 describes the events in story 16, April Fools (Krahn, 1974), Week 6, when he says, One day these two boys went into a junk yard and took a couple of’pieces of'wood with them. One kid took a saw and toolbox. And also they took a curtain so no one could see what they were doing. Subjects'Use of Characterizations in Pretest and Posttests of Creative Oral Compositions The two degrees of characterizations used by the experimental and control group subjects in the pretest and posttest sessions were Literal Narration, characters identified; and Interpretive Narration, characters physically described and characters given names and roles. Subjects did not obtain scores in Creative and Evaluative Narration where characters would be described imaginatively: physical descrip- tion and personal traits/behaviors, and characters would be given imaginative names and roles. Pretest sessions. In the pretest sessions, the experimental and control group subjects orally composed stories to accompany the illustrations in A Boy, A Dog, A Frog, and A Friend (Mayer, 1971). Only literal narration for the characterizations were observed. Experimental subject E1 who obtained a score of O, told the story in the first person entirely in dialogue, therefore, the word "boy" or a name for the boy was omitted. The word "dog”was not mentioned; however, the name, Danny, was given as the dog's name. The frog in the story was omitted, and the turtle, the friend, was mentioned only once. Other subjects, except for control subjects 2 and 5, identified the four characters in the story. Control subject C2 omitted any 159 mention of the frog, and control subject C5 referred to the boy as ”little shrimpo," but said this was not a name for the boy. Posttest sessions. In the posttest sessions, the experimental and control group subjects orally composed stories to accompany the illustrations in A Flying Saucer Full of Spaghetti (Krahn, 1970). All subjects obtained scores either in the literal and interpretive narration levels for the literary component of characterizations. Experimental subjects El, E2, and E3, and control subjects Cl and C2, who scored in the interpretive narration level, described the main characters in the story, the girl and the elves, as "little girl" or "starving little girl" or "little girl who was tired and hungry" and 'elves" or "little people” or "Martians." Other characters mentioned in minor roles were "dogs," Vpeople," "townspeople," and "lady." For these subjects' stories, all the main characters and minor characters were mentioned. For the other subjects who scored in the literal nar- ration level, only some of the main characters and minor characters were identified as the subjects referred to them as "kid," "little shrimpoes," "little men," and "whole bunch of'people." Experimental Subjects' Use of Character- izations in Oral Story Making Sessions During this experimental study, the experimental subjects participated in the oral story making experiences using wordless picture books. Their twenty-three additional creative oral compo- sitions were transcribed and examples of their use of characterizations throughout the ten-week study are cited below. 160 The experimental subjects' characterizations progressed from literal narration to interpretive narration due to the subjects' giving names and roles to their characters and not from the subjects giving physical descriptions for their characters. Experimental subject E2 gave names to her characters in only one story, story 12, Little Love Story (Krahn, 1976), Week 5. "The characters in the story is the one family, Mrs. Garrett and her son, Mike. The other lady is Mrs. Gibbs, and her little girl's name is Mary." Subject E3 often named his characters as he did in story 6, By the Sea (Amoss, 1969), Week 3, when he said, This family is going to the sea to go swimming. Vicki and Patricia is playing in the water. The mother is reading with an umbrella over her head. Brad is going to fly a kite with his dOg. Andy, he’s building. Subject E4 gave some of her characters names in only one story, story 10, Pancakes for Breakfast (de Paola, 1978), Week 4. "It was in the morning when the cat, the dog, and the lady were sleeping still. The dog, named Holly, and the cat named Simey, and the lady was washing." The lady was not named, however. Subject E6 gave her characters names often in her stories. As early as story 4, What Whiskers Did (Carroll, 1965), Week 2, she said, "It broke and Whiskers ran away, and Carrie fell down, and carrie tried to run after it." Later in the same story she said, The dog came in and they told him their names. The littlest one's was Carrie like his master; Mom's was Sherry, Daddy one was Bill, the middle-sized one was Steve, and the other one was Sue." In story 8, The Dolphin and the Mermaid (Carroll, 1974), Week 4, subject E6 referred to the mermaid as Mary the mermaid throughout 161 the story. At the conclusion of the story, she introduced her characters when she said, “And their names were Mary the mermaid, Steve the seahorse, Dilly the dolphin, Tom the turtle, and sue the octopus." After the subjects gave names to their characters, it was rare for them to refer to these characters by name later in the story. When they did refer to them by name, the subjects paused as they tried to recall the names given to the characters. The only physical descriptions given to any characters was in relation to size, such as ”the little girl," "the little boy,” and "the little dog." Subjects' Use of Settings in Pretests and Posttests of Creative Oral Compositions The three degrees of settings used by the experimental and control group subjects in the pretest and posttest sessions were Literal Narration, settings identified (time and/or place); Inter- pretive Narration, settings physically described; and Creative and Evaluative Narration, settings described imaginatively and mood of settings inferred from the illustrations. Pretest sessions. In the pretest sessions, the experimental and control group subjects orally composed stories to accompany the illustrations in A Boy, A Dog, A Frog, and A Friend (Mayer, 1971). Only examples of literal and interpretive narrations for settings were observed. Experimental subject El who obtained a score of 0, told his story in the first person and entirely in dialogue. The only reference to setting was when he said, "Let's go back to shore." 162 Any other references to time and place were omitted. Subject E6 who also obtained a score of O, mentioned only the "water" in her story. Control subject C4 asked what the different settings were. "And still hang on until the water (Is that water?), he walked in the water. " Other subjects, experimental subjects E2, E3, E4, and E5, and control subjects C2, C3, C5, and C6, obtained scores of l for identifying "water," "shore,” "pond," "land," "rock," "home," "lily pad," "little sand hill," and "grave." Control subject C2, the only subject to score in the interpretive narration level in the pretest, referred to several settings but with a minimal amount of description. So he walked with the turtle hanging onto the d0g's foot, and he walked through the stream. Then he walked to the other side of the swamp and the snapping turtle let go, because he was walking out of the water onto dry land. Posttest sessions. In the posttest sessions, the experimental and control group subjects orally composed stories to accompany the illustrations in A Flying Saucer Full of Spaghetti (Krahn, 1970). Subjects obtained scores in all three levels of narration: literal, interpretive, and creative and evaluative. Experimental subject E2 was the only subject to score in the creative and evaluative narration level when she described settings imaginatively as she said, "One day in this little town up on a hill there was a raggedy shaggedy old icky house. Later she said, Then they ran down from the old raggedy shaggedy house up on the hill in the old village. Then they went to a really beautiful, rich house. And they went to the 163 window, and they saw the butler feeding a little girl some spaghetti. Subjects El and E4 scored in the interpretive narration level when they physically described the settings. Subject El said, ”One day there was a little cottage, and it has an old one. . . . Then they left the shack and went to a big mansion." Subject E4 said, "One day on a hill there was a little house, and it had pails and stuff by it, and there were two plants." And later she said, "They looked at the big house and there is a gate where people come in. They looked in the window, and they saw a little girl sitting in a big chair." Control subject C1 also scored in the interpretive narration level, when he said, "One day in a town where the people are poor, a little girl lived. She was sitting at the table starving." And later, "They went down through the town, and they came to this big mansion." And still later, "The little girl said, 'Gbodbye,’ and there they went above the village, over the streets, over a lake until they got to the little girl’s house." Another subject who scored in the interpretive narration level was subject C3 when she said, The little boy lived in this old rickety house. It has a water pump beside it and two buckets, and he lived on top of the hill. His gate was opened, and he had lots of houses down beside him. The other subjects obtained scores in the literal narration level when they identified the settings by referring to "house," and by omitting the mansion in the town and its environs. 164 Experimental Subjects‘Use of Settings in Oral Story Making Sessions During this experimental study, the experimental subjects participated in the oral story making experiences using wordless picture books. Their twenty-three additional creative oral compo- sitions were transcribed and examples of their use of settings throughout the ten-week study are cited below. The experimental subjects' settings progressed from literal narration to interpretive narration due to the subjects' physically describing the settings and by indicating time. Experimental subject El did not indicate time, such as, one day, one night, one afternoon, until story 10, Pancakes for Breakfast (de Paola, 1978), Week 4, when he said, "One day in the morning, a lady and her cat on the bed and the dog was just waking up." All stories of subject El which followed story 10 contained reference to time. Subject E2 included settings in her stories, but rarely introduced the stories by referring to time except for Pancakes for Breakfast. "There's a house back in the woods, and its early in the morning, and the sun's just coming out, and it's winter time." Subject E3 rarely included settings in his stories. Instead he began his stories by referring to the characters in the stories as in story 17, A Special Birthdpy_(Shimin, 1976), Week 7. "Martha, she's sleeping. And Tiger sees Martha's dad tying a string under her pillow. And making a surprise for Martha for her birthday." Subjects E4 and E5 began most of their stories by referring to the setting in the following manner: "One day," "One morning," and ”Once upon a time." 165 Subject E6 used a variety of beginnings to her stories to establish the setting as in story 5, The Mystery of the Giant Foot- prints (Krahn, 1977), Week 2. "There's an old house in the middle of’nowhere. There's trees all around." In story 9, The Christmas Kitten (Carroll, 1970), Week 4, she said, "A couple of’days before Christmas, Mark was riding his bike with a basket with some kittens in it." In story 10, Pancakes for Breakfast (de Paola, 1978), Week 4, She said, "It was morning time in the winter in a little house." In story 24, The Silver Pony (Ward, 1973), Week 9, she said, "It was morning. The rooster woke everyone up. John came out of the barn and was feeding the chickens and the pigs and the cows." Subjects' Use of Theme in Pretests and Posttests of Creative Oral Compositions The three degrees of theme used by the experimental and control group subjects in the pretest and posttest sessions were Literal Nar- ration, events, characters, and settings identified with no emotion expressed; and Interpretive Narration, events, characters, and/or settings described by recognizing emotions conveyed in the illustrations by identifying love, hate, fear, anger, jealousy, sadness, happiness, loneliness, sympathy, and empathy as feeling of the characters. The third degree of theme, Creative and Evaluative Narration, showed events, characters, and/or settings elaborated with consistent expression of emotion conveyed in the illustrations by implying or expressing love, hate, fear, anger, jealousy, sadness, happiness, loneliness, sympathy, and empathy as feelings of the characters and thus created a mood in the narration. This level of narration also showed attitudes and/or 166 beliefs evoked by the illustrations by implying or expressing enjoyment, hope, trust and distrust, justice and injustice, acceptance, freedom, courage, and honesty. Pretest sessions. In the pretest sessions, the experimental and control group subjects orally composed stories to accompany the illustrations in A Boy, A Dog, A Frog, and A Friend (Mayer, 1971). Only examples of literal and interpretive narrations for theme were observed. In order to score in the interpretive narration level, subjects had to state the emotions the characters were experiencing. With the exceptions of experimental subjects El and E5 (two boys), all experimental and control group subjects stated the emotions of the characters in the story. Subject E3 said in his story, On the next page the turtle comes floating on its back and the boy feels sorry for the turtle. The frog looks sad. The boy's pulling the turtle into the shore. The frog and the boy are mad at the dog. Control subject Cl recognized and stated the emotion conveyed in the illustrations at a higher interpretive level than the other subjects when he said, "The boy's mad at his dog, 'cause the dog killed the snapping turtle. The dog felt sorry." And later he said, "And the boy was happy. He looked at the snapping turtle above his head and hollered for joy. And they all went home happy." Posttest sessions. In the posttest sessions, the experimental and control group subjects orally composed stories to accompany the illustrations in A Flying Saucer Full of Spaghetti (Krahn, 1970). Subjects obtained scores in all three levels of narration: literal, interpretive, and creative and evaluative. 167 Subject E2 was the only subject to score in the creative and evaluative narration level when she elaborated the emotion conveyed in the illustrations with consistent expression. And then these elves climbed up on top of this box and looked in the window, and they saw a little girl almost about ready to cry, 'cause she was at the kitchen table and she had no food. And later she said, "And she starts eating it, and the elves start singing a song." Throughout the story, subject E2 also expressed the injustice depicted in the illustrations as she told her story about the elves who stole the spaghetti from the rich girl and brought it to the poor girl who had nothing to eat. With the exceptions of experimental subjects El and E3 and control subject C5, the other subjects identified some of the emotions conveyed in the illustrations. Control subject C1 said, "The starving girl was pleased to see the spaghetti. She was so hungry, she ate every bit of it." The subjects, El, E3, and C5, who failed to identify the emotion conveyed in the illustrations, were boys. The other subjects, three boys and six girls, identified or elaborated the emotion conveyed in the illustrations. Experimental Subjects' Use of Theme in Oral Story Making Sessions During the experimental study, the experimental subjects participated in the oral story making experiences using wordless picture books. Their twenty-three additional creative oral compo- sitions were transcribed and examples of their use of theme throughout the ten-week study are cited below. 168 The experimental subjects' stories progressed from not identifying the emotion conveyed in the illustrations to identifying and elaborating the emotion conveyed. In story 17, A Special Birthday (Shimin, 1976), Week 7, subjects E4, E5, and E6 implied how the daughter felt towards her father, but did not state any reasons for the girl feeling as she did. Subject E4 said, "She found a present in the coat hanger closet. And she was trying to get it. And the little girl went by her daddy and hugged him." Subject E5 said, "Then she found a great big present in the closet. Then she found her mom. She is hugging her mom." Subject E6 said, "And she kept on going, and she found another present. And she hugged her father, and there wasn't any more ribbon." Subjects E2 and E3 expressed the emotion the girl felt towards her father for making it a special birthday. Subject E2 said, "Then she made it to another present. Then she saw her daddy, and she hugged and kissed him, 'cause she was very, very, very, very happy." Subject E3 said, "She finds the string. She found all of it, and pulls it down. Then a box comes down. She's happy. Goes over and hugs her dad for the present she got." In story 19, The Snowman (Briggs, 1978), Week 7, a boy and a snowman have a fantasy—filled night together and become great friends who are most appreciative of one another. Five of the six subjects identified the embrace the boy and the snowman gave one another, but failed to explain why they felt the need to hug. Subject E4 expressed the best account of this emotional event. "Then the snowman walked him 169 to the house. The snowman hugged him, the boy hugged him. And the snowman said, 'Goodbye. See you next year!’" Subject E3 rarely identified the emotions conveyed in the illustrations of the stories, yet he was able to express the emotion throughout story 11, liEEi (Meyer, 1969), Week 4. Vicki's sitting down looking at the flowers. She's looking at the ground at the flowers, everything around her. Vicki finds a friend to play with and they're shaking hands. Vicki tells her friend a secret. Her friend looks down at the ground. They're skipping along the path. The boy's coming. The girl, the friend, sees the boy. Looking at each other. Vicki looks another way. Vicki sits back down in the grass. She is starting to cry. She doesn't have anybody to play with. Figures, she sees figures come up from the ground. She goes toward the girls. Ask them if she can play. They say, "No." She sits all alone. Nobody to be with. She gets an idea to do something. She is looking at it. She is holding something and looking at it. There is a figure coming up from the grass. It's an old lady. She comes toward Vicki, and Vicki's scrubs her with a brush. Makes the girl better, and then she gets all pretty. She laying down in the grass. The figures are laying down in the grass. Vicki is looking at the flowers. She picked one. Then she, there is a painting. She takes her friend with the other girls and boys, see if she can play, and they say, "Yes." So she plays with them. Subject E5 consistently identified the events in the stories with little recognition of the emotion or theme underlying the story. In story 16, April Fools (Krahn, 1974), Week 6, subject E5, however, concluded the story by stating the theme of the story. All the people came right to the woods and saw the head of the monster. And then they came in and saw these two little boys. Then they brung them home. Everyone thought it was a good April Fool's joke. In story 23, Noah's Ark (Spier, 1977), Week 9, subject E5 again con- cluded the story by stating the theme. "Then there were trees starting to grow, then a rainbow, and there was never a flood like that again." 170 The macabre satire of a myopic inspector and his voracious dog challenged the subjects' ability to tell a story from the omniscient point of view as in story 20, The Inspector (Mendoza, 1970), Week 8. As the inspector investigates the source of the giant footprints, his dog consumes the monsters that threaten the inspector. The open-endedness of the story allowed for a variety of conclusions and generated questions from the subjects. Subject E1 said, "Then the inspector was looking at a rock. Then he looked up there, the monster saw something in the ground. Then the inspector looked at the monster." When subject E1 was asked by this researcher, ”What is happening in this whole book," El said, "The inspector's trying to find the monster and the d0g is eating everything around. But I don't get how the footprints kept on going around. But what is making the footprints?" Subject E2 said, "Then the inspector is looking up at his dog. He's going to eat him." When this researcher asked why, E2 said, "Because he was too busy looking around." Subject E3 concluded his story, but a technical difficulty with the tape cassette recorder failed to produce a recording of his conclusion. Subject E4 said, "The little man saw this big, huge creature and he didn't know where it come from, and he looked around for his other dog, and that was it." When this researcher asked E4, "Was the dog the monster?" she said, "Yes." When asked, "What made the foot- prints?“ E4 said, "Big monsters." When this researcher asked her, 171 "Why didn't the inspector see that his dog was getting bigger and bigger," She replied, "He was still looking for clues." Subject E5 said, "A couple of'teeth already broke from eating that stuff. He was almost all ready. Then he looked up and saw a big. . . ." This researcher asked this subject, "Why didn't the inspector know the dog was getting bigger and fatter?" He responded, "He wasn't looking at him. Trying to find who made the footprints. I couldn't figure out who made the footprints at the beginning." Subject E6 concluded her story with, And the man walked up the side of'the mountain still following tracks. His dog came and the footprints stopped, and that's all. He saw a shadow and he didn't know what it was. Then he turned around and saw a big monster. He never did find out what the footprints led to. Research Question 3. After participating in oral story making experiences using wordless picture books and after listening to literature rich in language through read-aloud experiences, will fourth grade remedial reading students improve their Creative Oral Compositions? This question was measured by comparing the Creative Oral Compositions of the pretest scores of A Boy, A Dog, A Frog, and A Friend (Mayer, 1971) with the posttest scores of A Flying Saucer Full of Spaghetti (Krahn, 1970) where degrees of expression of feeling for plot, characterizations, settings, theme, style, literary devices, and dialogue were evaluated for both the experimental and control groups. 172 Pretest of the Creative Oral Compositions for the Experimental Group A total of six pretest scores was reported for the subjects of the experimental group from their Creative Oral Compositions. The scores for the six subjects ranged from a high of 10 to a low of 4 out of a possible score of 35. One subject, a girl, obtained a score of 10; two subjects, one boy and one girl, obtained scores of 7; two subjects, two boys, obtained scores of 5; and one subject; a girl, obtained a score of 4 for a total score of 38. The mean for the experimental group of three boys and three girls was 6.33. Pretest of the Creative Oral Compositions for the Control Group A total of six pretest scores was reported for the subjects of the control group from their Creative Oral Compositions. The scores for the six subjects ranged from a high of 13 to a low of 4 out of a possible score of 35. One subject, a boy, obtained a score of 13; one subject, a boy, obtained a score of 10; two subjects, two girls, obtained a score of 7; one subject, a boy, obtained a score of 5; and one subject, a girl, obtained a score of 4 for a total score of 46. The mean for the control group of three boys and three girls was 7.66. Posttest of the Creative Oral Compositions for the Experimental Gropp_ A total of six posttest scores was reported for the subjects of the experimental group from their Creative Oral Compositions. The scores for the six subjects ranged from a high of 25 to a low of 8 out 173 of a possible score of 35. One subject, a girl, obtained a score of 25; one subject, a girl, obtained a score of 15; two subjects, two boys, obtained scores of 11; and two subjects, one boy and one girl, obtained scores of 8 for a total score of 78 or a gain of 40 points over the pretest scores. The mean for the experimental group of three boys and three girls was 13 which was a gain of 6.67 points over the pretest mean for the experimental group. Posttest of the Creative Oral Compositions for the Control Group A total of six posttest scores was reported for the subjects of the control group from their Creative Oral Compositions. The scores for the six subjects ranged from a high of 13 to a low of 3 out of a possible score of 35. One subject, a boy, obtained a score of 13; two subjects, one boy and one girl, obtained scores of 11; one subject, a girl, obtained a score of 7; one subject, a girl, obtained a score of 5; and one subject, a boy, obtained a score of 3 for a total score of 50 or a gain of 4 points over the pretest scores. The mean for the control group of three boys and three girls was 8.33 which was a gain of 0.67 points over the pretest mean. Differences Between the Creative Oral Compositions Scores for the Experimental and Control Groups The pretest mean for the experimental group was 6.33 and the posttest mean for the experimental group was 13 for a gain of 6.67 points. The pretest mean for the control group was 7.66, and the posttest mean for the control group was 8.33 for a gain of 0.67 points. 174 The difference of the gain in points from the pretest to the posttest of the experimental group and the control group was 4.67 points favoring the treatment of the experimental group. Scores from the posttest of the Creative Oral Compositions test were analyzed by analysis of covariance using the pretest scores as the covariant. With the level of significance at .001, there was a marginal significant difference between the two groups of rprepost equals 0.798 and [F (1,9) = 4.981, p<:.053]. Using the Kruskal-Wallis Test for experimental studies with small samples, a value of 6.2922619 for H* was found. H* is distributed 2 approximately as X1 Hence this value of H* has p<<.025, again showing a significant difference in the Creative Oral Compositions between the two groups. Differences Between the Scores for Oral Language Proficiencies and "Sense of Story? Aspects for the Experimental and Control Groups In oral story making, the oral language aspects of the creative oral compositions, style, literary devices, and dialogue; and the "sense of story" aspects of the creative oral compositions, plot, characteriza- tions, settings, and theme are treated as related components. That is, the subjects' knowledge of "sense of story" helps to determine the language they will use in their creative oral compositions. A Multiple Analysis of Covariance (MANCOVA) was run after it appeared that the scores for post-oral language proficiencies and post- "sense of story" were correlated with r= .7896. When the dependent variables, post—"sense of story" and post-oral language proficiencies 175 were analyzed with pre-"sense of story" and pre-oral language proficiencies as covariates, the multivariate F test was not sig- nificant. Because it was not significant, there was no reason to look at these two dependent measures in a multivariate sense, instead, they were looked at in a univariate F within the same MANCOVA. The post-"sense of story'I was not significant at p> .05, but the post-oral language proficiencies of the experimental group was significant at p= .03 when adjusted for both of the pretests. It can, therefore, be concluded that oral language and not the "sense of story" was the sig- nificant factor in the experimental subjects' improved scores in their creative oral compositions. Pretest and Posttest Creative Oral Compositions The Creative Oral Compositions of the pretests and posttest sessions were evaluated as this researcher listened to the orally com- posed stories, and were not evaluated by the written transcripts of the stories. Examples of the subjects' Creative Oral Compositions cited below should be read with the understanding that they were evaluated in the oral form and not in the written form. Subjects' Creative Oral Compositions in Pretests and Posttests The raw data for the composite scores for the Creative Oral Compositions showed an improvement for all six of the experimental subjects and for three control group subjects, one boy and two girls. Two control group subjects, one boy and one girl, obtained the same scores in the posttest as they did on the pretest, and one control 176 .mFaEmN u N NoFoE u :u .AONNF .cgocxv Fpumcmeqm No FFsa cmuamm mcFNFN < Humoupmon ”FFNmF .coxozv uchcm < use .moca Fum=Fa>w use o>Fuomcu “N u smF: .N u :oF ":oFumcgo: o>FumcncoucF NF n ngg .o u zoF ”somuoccac FocmuFFN NN.N mm.o o N om.F mm.F mm.F mm.F mo.N mm.o mm.o mm.F mF.N F F m.F ocoum cam: 81 NI b1 .N.N PF. N1 ml m. 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