The effects of explicit instruction on French-speaking kindergarteners’ understanding of stories

Abstract

The study examines the effects of a short period of explicit instruction on the narrative comprehension of French-speaking kindergarteners, as measured by story retell and comprehension questions. A group of kindergarteners that received explicit instruction (n = 15) was compared to a control group that was exposed to the same storybooks and afterwards shared related experiences (n = 15). In the explicit instruction group, comprehension was facilitated through instruction on story grammar, cause–effect relationships, and the internal states of characters. Instructional strategies included explanation, modelling of the identification of story components, guided practice, feedback, and the use of visuals to map story elements, depict causes and effects, and represent internal states.

At posttest, children in the explicit instruction group had significantly higher scores on the retell task, as expected, but not on the comprehension questions, a finding we discuss in light of task demands. Although further investigation is needed, the retell results are consistent with findings by others, demonstrating the benefits of instruction on children’s narrative skills. The study is the first we are aware of to assess instruction of brief duration and for French-speaking children, and one of the very few to examine explicit instruction with kindergarteners, regardless of language. Narrative instruction of the kind reported here might be of particular interest to speech-language therapists given the benefits that accrue to children as well as the opportunities that such instruction provides for ‘push in’ service delivery and collaboration with classroom educators.