"Education, Faculty of"@en . "Language and Literacy Education (LLED), Department of"@en . "DSpace"@en . "UBCV"@en . "Hewitt, Margot Elizabeth"@en . "2010-09-04T00:41:42Z"@en . "1989"@en . "Master of Arts - MA"@en . "University of British Columbia"@en . "The development of story schema in written narratives was correlated with reading comprehension ability. One hundred and two grade eight subjects were given a standardized reading test and asked to write an original story based on a picture stimulus. The stories were analyzed for number of propositions and for frequency of story structure categories according to a story grammar. A nine-point rating scale was employed to rate the narratives for story schema quality.\r\nSignificant correlations were found for reading ability scores with frequency of story structure categories (r =.24, p<.01), number of propositions (r =.32, p<.001), and ratings of schema quality (r =.45, p<.001). Further analyses included gender differences, frequency profiles of structural categories and of schema ratings, and a crosstabulation of reading ability by schema quality.\r\nResults were discussed in terms of the implications for narrative schema as an important component for both reading and writing."@en . "https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/28236?expand=metadata"@en . "A N I N V E S T I G A T I O N O P T H E R E L A T I O N S H I P B E T W E E N R E A D I N G A B I L I T Y A N D T H E D E V E L O P M E N T O P S T O R Y S C H E M A I N A D O L E S C E N T W R I T T E N N A R R A T I V E S b y M A R G O T E L I Z A B E T H H E W I T T B . E d . , T h e U n i v e r s i t y o f B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a , 1 9 7 7 A T H E S I S S U B M I T T E D I N P A R T I A L F U L F I L L M E N T O F T H E R E Q U I R E M E N T S F O R T H E D E G R E E O F M A S T E R O F A R T S i n T H E F A C U L T Y O F G R A D U A T E S T U D I E S ( D e p a r t m e n t o f L a n g u a g e E d u c a t i o n ) We a c c e p t t h i s t h e s i s a s c o n f o r m i n g t o t h e r e q u i r e d s t a n d a r d T H E U N I V E R S I T Y O F B R I T I S H C O L U M B I A M a r c h 1 9 8 9 \u00C2\u00A9 M a r g o t E l i z a b e t h H e w i t t , 1 9 8 9 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the head of my department or by his or her representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Department of Language Education The University of British Columbia Vancouver, Canada Date A p r i l 5 . 1989 DE-6 (2/88) ABSTRACT The development of s t o r y schema i n w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e s was c o r r e l a t e d with r e a d i n g comprehension a b i l i t y . One hundred and two grade e i g h t s u b j e c t s were g iven a s t a n d a r d i z e d r e a d i n g t e s t and asked to w r i t e an o r i g i n a l s t o r y based on a p i c t u r e s t i m u l u s . The s t o r i e s were ana lyzed for number of p r o p o s i t i o n s and for frequency of s t o r y s t r u c t u r e c a t e g o r i e s a c c o r d i n g to a s t o r y grammar. A n i n e - p o i n t r a t i n g s c a l e was employed to ra te the n a r r a t i v e s for s t o r y schema q u a l i t y . S i g n i f i c a n t c o r r e l a t i o n s were found for r e a d i n g a b i l i t y scores with frequency of s t o r y s t r u c t u r e c a t e g o r i e s (r =.24, p<.01) , number of p r o p o s i t i o n s (r =.32, p<.001), and r a t i n g s of schema q u a l i t y (r =.45, p<.001) . F u r t h e r ana lyses i n c l u d e d gender d i f f e r e n c e s , frequency p r o f i l e s of s t r u c t u r a l c a t e g o r i e s and of schema r a t i n g s , and a c r o s s t a b u l a t i o n of r e a d i n g a b i l i t y by schema q u a l i t y . R e s u l t s were d i s c u s s e d i n terms of the i m p l i c a t i o n s f o r n a r r a t i v e schema as an important component for both r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g . TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract i i L i s t of Tables v Acknowledgement v i Chapter One: The Problem Background to the Study 1 Rationale 9 Purpose of the Study 16 Quest ions * 17 Null Hypotheses 18 De f i n i t i o n of Terms 18 Assumption 20 Limitations 20 Organization of the Thesis 22 Chapter Two: Review of the Literature Introduction 23 The Reading/Writing Relationship: Research 24 The Reading/Writing Relationship: Theory 52 Narrative Schema Development: Related Research 65 Conclus ion 86 i i i TABLE OP CONTENTS (continued) Chapter Three: Methodology Research Design 87 Measurement 89 P i l o t Studies 95 Interrater R e l i a b i l i t y 97 Data Presentation 97 Chapter Four: Results Preliminary Analyses 99 Main Analysis 105 Further Analyses 107 Chapter Five: Discussion and Recommendations Summary 112 Discussion of Results 114 Implications: The Reading/Writing Relationship 124 Suggestions for Further Research... 129 References 132 Appendix A: Story Stimulus 142 Appendix B: Defintions of Story Structure Categories 143 Appendix C: Schema Rating Scale 145 Appendix D: Sample Story 147 Appendix E: Preliminary Analysis of Adult Story Protocols.... 148 iv LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Means and Standard Deviations for A l l V a r i a b l e s 100 Table 2: P r o f i l e of Subjects According to Reading A b i l i t y 101 Table 3: Pooled Variance Estimates for Males and Females for A l l V a r i a b l e s 102 Table 4: Point B i s e r i a l C o r r e l a t i o n s for Gender and A l l V a r i a b l e s 103 Table 5 : Independent C o e f f i c i e n t s f o r Reading A b i l i t y and Number of P r o p o s i t i o n s f o r Males and Females 104 Table 6: Pearson C o r r e l a t i o n s Between Reading A b i l i t y Scores and W r i t i n g V a r i a b l e s 106 Table 7: Use of D i f f e r e n t S t r u c t u r a l Categories i n T o t a l N a r r a t i v e Sample 108 Table 8: Frequency of Schema Q u a l i t y Ratings 110 Table 9: C r o s s t a b u l a t i o n of Reading A b i l i t y by Schema Quality.112 v ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would l i k e t o thank t h e members of my committee i n t h e Department of Language E d u c a t i o n , Dr. C l a i r e S t a a b , Dr. Jon S h a p i r o , and Dr. Wendy S u t t o n , f o r t h e i r a d v i c e and g u i d a n c e . I am p a r t i c u l a r y g r a t e f u l t o my a d v i s o r Dr. S t a a b f o r her p a t i e n c e and encouragement. I would a l s o l i k e t o thank Dr. H a r o l d R a t z l a f f , Department of E d u c a t i o n a l P s y c h o l o g y , f o r h i s a s s i s t a n c e and a d v i c e a t the t h e s i s d e f e n c e , and C a r o l e B i s h o p , Department of P s y c h o l o g y , f o r her h e l p w i t h s t a t i s t i c a l p r e s e n t a t i o n . F i n a l l y , I would l i k e t o acknowledge Dr. Melany Dyer f o r her i n e s t i m a b l e s u p p o r t and c o u n s e l d u r i n g the w r i t i n g of t h i s t h e s i s v i 1 CHAPTER ONE The P r o b l e m A c e n t r a l i s s u e i n t h e s t u d y o f l a n g u a g e and l i t e r a c y d e v e l o p m e n t i s t h e n a t u r e o f t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p between r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g . The p u r p o s e of t h e p r e s e n t i n v e s t i g a t i o n was t o examine n a r r a t i v e schema d e v e l o p m e n t as a p o s s i b l e r e a d i n g / w r i t i n g c o n n e c t i o n . The s t u d y e x p l o r e d a t h e o r y t h a t n a r r a t i v e schema d e v e l o p m e n t i s r e l a t e d t o r e a d i n g c o m p r e h e n s i o n and t h a t schema d e v e l o p m e n t s u b s e q u e n t l y m a n i f e s t s i t s e l f i n t h e s t r u c t u r e o f w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e s . S p e c i f i c a l l y , t h e s t u d y was d e s i g n e d t o examine t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p between r e a d i n g a b i l i t y and t h e s t o r y schema d e v e l o p m e n t o f w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e s . B a c k g r o u n d t o t h e S t u d y A r e s u r g e n c e o f i n t e r e s t i n r e a d i n g / w r i t i n g c o n n e c t i o n s i s e v i d e n t i n t h e t h e o r e t i c a l and p e d a g o g i c a l l i t e r a t u r e s i n c e 1980. A number of r e c e n t e d u c a t i o n a l t h e o r i e s have d e s c r i b e d d e v e l o p m e n t a l o r f u n c t i o n a l s i m i l a r i t i e s i n r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g as l a n g u a g e p r o c e s s e s and have i n f e r r e d c o n n e c t i o n s b a s e d on t h e s e s i m i l a r i t i e s ( A t w e l l , 1983; B i s s e x , 1984; C l a y , 1983; Goodman and Goodman, 1983; H a r s t e , B u r k e and Woodward, 1982; H a r s t e , Woodward and B u r k e , 1984; S q u i r e , 1983; T i e r n e y and 2 P e a r s o n , 1 9 8 3 ) . I n t h e o r y , e a r l y r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g d e v e l o p m e n t i n n a t u r a l c o n t e x t s e v o l v e s t h r o u g h e x p l o r a t i o n , o b s e r v a t i o n , and h y p o t h e s i s - t e s t i n g as does o r a l l a n g u a g e . E d u c a t i o n a l t h e o r i s t s have g r o u n d e d t h e i r t h e o r i e s i n t h o s e o f c o g n i t i v e p s y c h o l o g i s t s and l i n g u i s t s s u c h as P i a g e t ( 1 9 5 5 ) , V y g o t s k y ( 1 9 6 2 ) , B r i t t o n ( 1 9 7 0 ) , H a l l i d a y (1975) and o t h e r s , whose r e s e a r c h i n t o t h e l i n g u i s t i c and p s y c h o l o g i c a l d e v e l o p m e n t o f t h e c h i l d has had a p r o f o u n d i n f l u e n c e on t h e d i r e c t i o n o f l a n g u a g e e d u c a t i o n t h e o r y . I n t u r n , e d u c a t i o n a l t h e o r i s t s a r e c i t e d i n s u p p o r t o f p e d a g o g i c a l a r g u m e n t s f o r an i n t e g r a t e d o r h o l i s t i c a p p r o a c h t o t e a c h i n g t h e l a n g u a g e a r t s (Newman, 1983; Goodman, 1986; Tway, 1 9 8 6 ) . D e s p i t e i n t e r e s t i n t h e r e a d i n g / w r i t i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p , t h e n a t u r e o f t h a t r e l a t i o n s h i p i s n o t c l e a r l y u n d e r s t o o d . R e s e a r c h has y e t t o p r o v i d e us w i t h e x p l i c i t i n f o r m a t i o n t h a t c a n i n f o r m t e a c h e r s beyond t h e p h i l o s o p h i c a l o r t h e o r e t i c a l l e v e l and t h a t c a n p r o v i d e r e s e a r c h - b a s e d s u p p o r t f o r p r a c t i c e . A l t h o u g h t h e r e a p p e a r s t o be a c o n s e n s u s as t o t h e e x i s t e n c e and t h e i m p o r t a n c e o f a r e l a t i o n s h i p b etween r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g , i t i s s t i l l n o t c l e a r l y u n d e r s t o o d how t h e s e p r o c e s s e s a r e r e l a t e d and i m p o r t a n t q u e s t i o n s r e m a i n u n a n s w e r e d . A r e r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g s p e c i f i c a l l y r e l a t e d so t h a t t h e d e v e l o p m e n t and f u n c t i o n o f one p r o c e s s a f f e c t s t h e d e v e l o p m e n t and f u n c t i o n o f t h e o t h e r ? A r e t h e r e a s p e c t s o f e i t h e r r e a d i n g o r w r i t i n g t h a t a r e u n c o n s c i o u s l y d e v e l o p e d by e x p o s u r e t o o r p r a c t i c e i n t h e o t h e r p r o c e s s ? I n o t h e r w o r d s , i s c o m p r e h e n s i o n e n h a n c e d by c o m p o s i t i o n o r v i c e 3 v e r s a ? We need more t h a n r e a s o n e d a s s u m p t i o n i f t h e o r y i s t o i n f o r m p r a c t i c e i n t h e c l a s s r o o m . An a n a l y s i s o f t h e l i t e r a t u r e has r e v e a l e d i m p o r t a n t r e l a t e d i s s u e s t h a t need t o be c o n s i d e r e d i n d e s i g n i n g r e s e a r c h w h i c h w i l l f u r t h e r our k n o w l e d g e and u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f t h e r e a d i n g / w r i t i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p . One i s s u e i s t h e a p p a r e n t a b s e n c e of a s s o c i a t i o n between e x t a n t t h e o r e t i c a l o b s e r v a t i o n s and r e s e a r c h i n v e s t i g a t i o n s i n t o r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g . C u r r e n t t h e o r i e s a b o u t t h e r e a d i n g / w r i t i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p have n o t been f o l l o w e d by r e l a t e d e m p i r i c a l r e s e a r c h . T h e o r i e s w h i c h have p o s i t e d a r e l a t i o n s h i p b e c a u s e o f a n a l o g o u s c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f f u n c t i o n o r d e v e l o p m e n t between t h e two p r o c e s s e s have n o t been s u b s e q u e n t l y t e s t e d t h r o u g h r e s e a r c h . I n t u i t i o n , i n f e r e n c e and a n a l o g y may b u i l d e l o g u e n t and a p p e a l i n g t h e o r i e s , b u t i t i s n e c e s s a r y t o c o n f i r m , r e p u d i a t e , o r r e v i s e t h e o r y w i t h i n s i g h t s f r o m e m p i r i c a l r e s e a r c h . R e s e a r c h on t h e r e a d i n g / w r i t i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p has a p p e a r e d s p o r a d i c a l l y o v e r t h e l a s t f o u r d e c a d e s ( W i l s o n , 1981; S t o t s k y , 1 9 8 3 ) . Much o f t h e p a s t r e s e a r c h has e x a m i n e d t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p t h r o u g h g l o b a l c o r r e l a t i o n s o f g e n e r a l r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g a b i l i t y and has seemed t o l a c k t h e f o c u s and f o u n d a t i o n o f a p a r t i c u l a r p r e m i s e o r t h e o r y . Most p r e v i o u s r e a d i n g / w r i t i n g s t u d i e s p r e - d a t e t h e o r i e s a b o u t t h e n a t u r e o f r e a d i n g / w r i t i n g i n t e r a c t i o n s and have been e x p l o r a t o r y i n n a t u r e . A s y n t h e s i s o f t h i s r e s e a r c h y i e l d s g e n e r a l l y low p o s i t i v e c o r r e l a t i o n s w h i c h c a n n o t be u s e d t o s u p p o r t c o n c l u s i v e s t a t e m e n t s a b o u t t h e n a t u r e 4 o f t h e r e a d i n g / w r i t i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p . T h i s a b s e n c e o f a s s o c i a t i o n b e t w e e n e x t a n t t h e o r e t i c a l a n d r e s e a r c h l i t e r a t u r e i s a n i m p o r t a n t i s s u e t o c o n s i d e r i n t h e d e s i g n o f r e s e a r c h a t t e m p t i n g t o c l a r i f y r e a d i n g a n d w r i t i n g c o n n e c t i o n s . R e s e a r c h a n d t h e o r y h a v e p u r s u e d r a t h e r i n d e p e n d e n t p a t h s , a p r o b l e m w h i c h s e e m s t o h a v e o c c u r r e d a t l e a s t p a r t l y b e c a u s e o f t h e i n h e r e n t c o m p l e x i t y o f r e a d i n g a n d w r i t i n g . B o t h r e a d i n g a n d w r i t i n g h a v e b e e n d e s c r i b e d b y r e c e n t t h e o r i s t s a s m u l t i - f a c e t e d , i n t e r a c t i v e , c o g n i t i v e / l i n g u i s t i c p r o c e s s e s w h o s e p r i m a r y p u r p o s e i s t o c r e a t e o r t o a c q u i r e m e a n i n g . C e r t a i n l y r e a d i n g i s d e f i n e d a s a c o m p l e x , i n t e r a c t i v e , l i n g u i s t i c p r o c e s s b y t h e a u t h o r s o f a n u m b e r o f c a r e f u l l y a r t i c u l a t e d d e s c r i p t i v e m o d e l s ( G o o d m a n , 1 9 6 8 ; G o u g h , 1 9 7 2 ; R u m e l h a r t , 1 9 8 5 ) . W h i l e w r i t i n g h a s h a d l e s s a t t e n t i o n o v e r t h e y e a r s , i t h a s a l s o e m e r g e d a s a c o m p l e x i n t e r a c t i v e p r o c e s s i n r e c e n t l i t e r a t u r e o n d e v e l o p i n g w r i t e r s ( C a l k i n s , 1 9 8 3 ; E m i g , 1 9 8 3 ; W i l k i n s o n e t a l , 1 9 8 0 ; G r a v e s , 1 9 7 5 , 1 9 8 2 ; F . S m i t h , 1 9 8 2 ; A p p l e b e e , 1 9 7 8 ; B r i t t o n , 1 9 7 7 , 1 9 7 8 , 1 9 8 3 ) . T h e i n t e r r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n r e a d i n g a n d w r i t i n g c o m p o u n d s t h e c o m p l e x i t y o f t h e i n d i v i d u a l p r o c e s s e s a n d m a k e s t h e t a s k o f t h e r e s e a r c h e r a d i f f i c u l t o n e . E f f e c t i v e r e s e a r c h i n t o r e a d i n g / w r i t i n g c o n n e c t i o n s n e e d s t o u n t a n g l e t h e c o m p l e x w e b o f i n t e r a c t i o n i n o r d e r t o i l l u m i n a t e t h e n a t u r e o f t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p . A n o t h e r i s s u e r e l e v a n t t o d e v e l o p i n g u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f t h e n a t u r e o f r e a d i n g / w r i t i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p s i s t h a t o f ' p r o c e s s v e r s u s p r o d u c t ' . T h e o r y a n d r e s e a r c h a g a i n h a v e d i f f e r e d i n t h i s 5 r e g a r d . Whereas t h e o r i s t s have a t t e m p t e d t o d e s c r i b e t h e c o g n i t i v e / l i n g u i s t i c i n t e r a c t i o n b etween t h e p r o c e s s e s , r e s e a r c h s t u d i e s have a n a l y z e d and c o r r e l a t e d m e a s u r a b l e a s p e c t s of t h e p r o c e s s e s , i n o t h e r w o r d s , t h e p r o d u c t s of r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g . T h i s d i c h o t o m y seems t o have a r i s e n o u t o f n e c e s s i t y and i n i t s e l f i s n o t t h e i s s u e . R a t h e r , what seems i m p o r t a n t i s t h e e x t e n t t o w h i c h m e a s u r a b l e , o b s e r v a b l e f e a t u r e s of r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g p e r f o r m a n c e r e p r e s e n t t h e u n d e r l y i n g c o g n i t i v e / l i n g u i s t i c f u n c t i o n i n g o f t h e p r o c e s s e s . R e f l e c t i n g t h e i n h e r e n t c o m p l e x i t y o f t h e p r o c e s s e s a r e t h e v a r i e t y o f measurement a p p r o a c h e s t o r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g , e a c h r e p r e s e n t i n g a d i f f e r e n t v i e w o f what c o n s t i t u t e s p r o f i c i e n c y i n r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g . These m i g h t be c a l l e d t h e m e a s u r a b l e ' p r o d u c t s ' o f r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g . R e a d i n g , f o r e x a m p l e , has been d i f f e r e n t i a l l y d e f i n e d f o r r e s e a r c h p u r p o s e s . These d e f i n i t i o n s have i n c l u d e d : t h e a b i l i t y t o r e c o g n i z e words i n l i s t s ; t o sound o u t n o n s e n s e words o r s y l l a b l e s ; t o f i l l i n b l a n k s i n s e n t e n c e s ; t o r e a d s e l e c t i o n s s i l e n t l y and answer q u e s t i o n s c o r r e c t l y ; t o r e a d s e l e c t i o n s o r a l l y w i t h o u t e r r o r and answer q u e s t i o n s c o r r e c t l y ; and t o c h o o s e c o r r e c t d e f i n i t i o n s f o r w o r d s . W r i t i n g has been v a r i o u s l y d e s c r i b e d i n r e s e a r c h a s : s y n t a c t i c c o m p l e x i t y o f s e n t e n c e s ; d i v e r s i t y and c o m p l e x i t y o f v o c a b u l a r y ; number o f s e p a r a t e ' t h o u g h t u n i t s ' ; use o f c o h e s i v e t i e s ; number o f words p e r s e n t e n c e ; v a r i e t y o f s e n t e n c e p a t t e r n s ; c o r r e c t n e s s o f s p e l l i n g , p u n c t u a t i o n , a n d p a r a g r a p h i n g ; h a n d w r i t i n g ; a b i l i t y t o f i l l i n t h e c o r r e c t word i n a s e n t e n c e ; 6 a b i l i t y t o c o r r e c t t h e grammar, p u n c t u a t i o n , o r c a p i t a l i z a t i o n o f a g i v e n s e n t e n c e ; a b i l i t y t o name p a r t s o f s p e e c h ; o r a n y c o m b i n a t i o n o f t h e a b o v e . O f t e n t h e s e w r i t i n g p r o d u c t s a r e measured on s t a n d a r d i z e d t e s t s where t h e s t u d e n t d e m o n s t r a t e s competence by r e c o g n i z i n g and c h o o s i n g among d i f f e r e n t s e n t e n c e o r p a r a g r a p h o p t i o n s . F r e g u e n t l y no a c t u a l c o m p o s i n g t a k e s p l a c e , y e t t h e d e g r e e o f p r o f i c i e n c y d e m o n s t r a t e d on t h e s e measures has been c o n s i d e r e d by many t e a c h e r s and r e s e a r c h e r s t o be synonymous w i t h w r i t i n g a b i l i t y . The v a r i o u s a p p r o a c h e s t o m e a s u r i n g r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g have i n common t h e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c o f a c c e s s i b i l i t y . They measure t h o s e s a l i e n t r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g p r o d u c t s w h i c h a r e o b s e r v a b l e , c o u n t a b l e , m a n i p u l a b l e , and l e n d t h e m s e l v e s r e a d i l y t o o b j e c t i v e a n a l y s i s . These a p p r o a c h e s a n a l y z e o r d e s c r i b e t h e ' s u r f a c e f e a t u r e s ' o f l a n g u a g e ( S h u y , 1 9 8 1 ) . F o r t h e p u r p o s e s o f a n a l y z i n g t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p b etween r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g , i t i s n e c e s s a r y t o a s k i f t h e s e m e a s u r a b l e s u r f a c e f e a t u r e s a c t u a l l y r e p r e s e n t t h e e s s e n t i a l c o m m u n i c a t i v e n a t u r e o f t h e u n d e r l y i n g p r o c e s s e s . A l t h o u g h t h e i s s u e o f r e p r e s e n t a t i o n has been a d d r e s s e d i n t h e d e s i g n o f r e a d i n g m e a s u r e s , i t has been l a r g e l y i g n o r e d i n t h e d e s i g n o f w r i t i n g m e a s u r e s . The use o f c o m p r e h e n s i o n q u e s t i o n s a t d i f f e r e n t m e a n i ng l e v e l s , t h e a n a l y s i s o f m i s c u e s d u r i n g o r a l r e a d i n g , and t h e a n a l y s i s o f o r a l r e t e l l i n g s , a r e e x a m p l e s o f methods u s e d by r e s e a r c h e r t o a c c e s s t h e c o m m u n i c a t i v e n a t u r e o f t h e r e a d i n g p r o c e s s . However, a t t e m p t s t o 7 measure w r i t i n g beyond the surface l e v e l have not appeared in the l i t e r a t u r e u n t i l r e c e n t l y . Because so many important aspects of w r i t i n g a b i l i t y are d i f f i c u l t to o b j e c t i f y , researchers often have r e l i e d on a combination approach which includes both o b j e c t i v e or 'count' measures of surface features along with s u b j e c t i v e or i n t e r p r e t i v e measures. Measurement of features such as audience awareness, prose e f f e c t i v e n e s s , c r e a t i v i t y , imagination, and o r i g i n a l i t y , have been complicated by the inherent s u b j e c t i v i t y of a n a l y s i s . Results of combining o b j e c t i v e and s u b j e c t i v e measures have been confounded by concerns about the r e l a t i v e weighting of the i n d i v i d u a l measures and a lack of focus i n the c h a r a c t e r i z a t i o n of w r i t i n g p r o f i c i e n c y (Cooper and O d e l l , 1977; Shaughnessy, 1977). H o l i s t i c or general impression methods are often used e f f e c t i v e l y but they are too g l o b a l f o r the purposes of e x p l o r i n g s p e c i f i c r e a d i n g / w r i t i n g i n t e r a c t i o n s . Only r e c e n t l y have researchers considered the v i a b i l i t y of the measured w r i t t e n product as a r e p r e s e n t a t i o n of the communicative process c a l l e d w r i t i n g . One example i s the 'think aloud' p r o t o c o l of Flower and Hayes (1980, 1981) where the w r i t e r t a l k s aloud while w r i t i n g and the researcher records and analyzes the behaviours of composition. Another example i s the use of s t o r y schema a n a l y s i s to analyze the s t r u c t u r a l o r g a n i z a t i o n of w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e s (Hansche and Gordon, 1983; K r o l l and Anson, 1984; McConaughy, 1985a, 1985b). Story schema a n a l y s i s i s an attempt to access the deep s t r u c t u r e with which a 8 w r i t e r makes meaning i n a s t o r y . E m p i r i c a l r e s e a r c h i n t o c o n n e c t i o n s b e tween r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g needs t o d i s c o v e r t h o s e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f c o m m u n i c a t i o n w h i c h a r e o b s e r v a b l e and m e a s u r a b l e b u t a l s o r e p r e s e n t a t i v e of t h e a c q u i s i t i o n o f t h e 'meaning-making' a b i l i t y i n h e r e n t t o t h e two p r o c e s s e s . U n l e s s measured p r o d u c t s i n r e s e a r c h t r u l y r e p r e s e n t t h e c o m m u n i c a t i v e e s s e n c e o f r e a d i n g and o f w r i t i n g , i t w i l l n o t be r e a s o n a b l e t o i n f e r t h a t a n y r e l a t i o n s h i p o b s e r v e d b etween t h e p r o d u c t s c a n a c t u a l l y r e p r e s e n t t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p b e tween t h e p r o c e s s e s . I n summary, t h e k e y i s s u e s w h i c h have emerged w h i l e c o n s i d e r i n g t h e s t a t u s o f kn o w l e d g e a b o u t t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p b e tween r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g a r e as f o l l o w s : t h e a b s e n c e of a s s o c i a t i o n b etween t h e o r y and r e s e a r c h ; t h e compounded c o m p l e x i t y o f a r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t ween m u l t i f a c e t e d c o g n i t i v e / l i n g u i s t i c p r o c e s s e s ; t h e s e p a r a t i o n o f p r o d u c t from p r o c e s s i n r e s e a r c h i n v e s t i g a t i o n s . F o r f u t u r e r e s e a r c h t o be e f f e c t i v e i n p r o v i d i n g i n s i g h t i n t o t h e r e a d i n g / w r i t i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p , i t needs t o a d d r e s s t h e s e i m p o r t a n t i s s u e s . E m p i r i c a l r e s e a r c h i n t o t h e r e a d i n g / w r i t i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p s h o u l d be s p e c i f i c i n f o c u s ; d r i v e n by r e l e v a n t t h e o r y ; and d e s i g n e d so t h a t m e a s u r a b l e p r o d u c t s a r e c o n n e c t e d t o t h e p r o c e s s t h e y r e p r e s e n t . I t i s t h e i n t e n t i o n o f t h e p r e s e n t s t u d y t o meet t h e s e c r i t e r i a i n i t s d e s i g n . 9 Rationale An examination of r e a d i n g / w r i t i n g research and theory supports the conceptual framework and s p e c i f i c focus of the present i n v e s t i g a t i o n . Conceptual Framework The present study i s rooted i n t h e o r i e s about the r e c i p r o c a l i n t e r a c t i o n between the development of reading and w r i t i n g processes. Support for assumptions of i n t e r a c t i v e development of reading and w r i t i n g i s found i n research i n t o emergent l i t e r a c y and the development of o r a l s t o r y i n g . In theory, the c h i l d uses i n w r i t i n g what she has experienced from r e a d i n g , and v i c e versa (Goodman, K. and Goodman, Y., 1983). Observations of the w r i t i n g behaviours of very young c h i l d r e n have led t h e o r i s t s to assume that input from one process i n f l u e n c e s performance in the other (Harste, Burke and Woodward, 1984). C h i l d r e n were observed to incorporate in t h e i r w r i t i n g s t r u c t u r a l aspects of environmental p r i n t and t h e i r own s t o r y - r e a d i n g experiences ( B i s s e x , 1980, 1984; C a l k i n s , 1983) . S i m i l a r observations were made by researchers who examined the o r a l s t o r i e s of c h i l d r e n (Applebee, 1978; Botvin and Sutton-Smith, 1977). A n a l y s i s of c h i l d r e n ' s s t o r i e s revealed that c h i l d r e n incorporate i n t h e i r own s t o r i e s those s t r u c t u r a l aspects of n a r r a t i v e expected in t r a d i t i o n a l simple s t o r i e s . The c h i l d ' s concept of a well-formed s t o r y i s assumed to develop during reading and l i s t e n i n g experiences with s t o r i e s (Applebee, 10 1978; B r i t t o n , 1 9 8 3 ) . From t h e s e and o t h e r s i m i l a r r e s e a r c h o b s e r v a t i o n s a b o u t young c h i l d r e n , t h e o r i e s a b o u t t h e r e c i p r o c a l i n t e r a c t i o n o f r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g d e v e l o p m e n t have emerged. The p r e s e n t s t u d y i s d e s i g n e d t o examine f u r t h e r t h i s a s s u m p t i o n o f r e c i p r o c a l i n t e r a c t i o n . S p e c i f i c F o c u s I f i n p u t f r o m s t o r y e x p e r i e n c e s i n f l u e n c e s s t o r y p r o d u c t i o n , t h e r e may be a r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t ween r e a d i n g a b i l i t y and w r i t t e n s t o r y p r o d u c t i o n . P r e v i o u s r e s e a r c h on t h i s r e l a t i o n s h i p has n o t p r o d u c e d c o n c l u s i v e e v i d e n c e t o s u p p o r t t h e o r i e s a b o u t r e a d i n g / w r i t i n g c o n n e c t i o n s . A s u r v e y of t h e l i t e r a t u r e r e v e a l s t h a t most s t u d i e s were n o t s p e c i f i c a l l y f o c u s s e d i n t h e i r d e f i n i t i o n and measurement of w r i t i n g . The p r e s e n t s t u d y s o u g h t t o f i n d a w r i t i n g measure t h a t w o u l d be t i e d t o a t h e o r y r e l e v a n t t o b o t h r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g i n v e s t i g a t i o n s . N a r r a t i v e schema t h e o r y has p r o v i d e d a s p e c i f i c framework f o r t h e p r e s e n t r e a d i n g / w r i t i n g i n v e s t i g a t i o n . T h e o r i e s a b o u t n a r r a t i v e schema d e v e l o p m e n t have a p p e a r e d i n p s y c h o l o g i c a l r e s e a r c h t o d e s c r i b e c o g n i t i v e p r o c e s s i n g ( B a r t l e t t , 1 9 3 2 ) . A n a r r a t i v e schema i s d e s c r i b e d as a s e t o f e x p e c t a t i o n s f o r s t o r i e s t h a t f a c i l i t a t e s t h e c o m p r e h e n s i o n , r e c a l l and p r o d u c t i o n o f n a r r a t i v e s ( M a n d l e r and J o h n s o n , 1 9 7 7 ) . By d e f i n i t i o n , a n a r r a t i v e schema seems synonymous w i t h ' s t o r y k n o w l e d g e ' and ' c o n c e p t o f s t o r y ' as d e s c r i b e d by e d u c a t o r s . A l l t h r e e c o n s t r u c t s a t t e m p t t o d e f i n e an i n d i v i d u a l ' s i m p l i c i t 11 knowledge about the structural elements of narratives. Narrative schema development often has been measured by a story grammar. Story grammars, or sets of narrative structural categories, have been used in research to describe evidence of narrative schema organization in memory (Rumelhart, 1977; Stein and Glenn, 1979; Stein, 1982). Story grammars also have been used in comprehension research and to a lesser extent in writing research. They have been accepted in research as being viable representations of the cognitive construct of narrative schema (Black and Bower, 1980). It is assumed in the present investigation that the measurable product of narrative structures in written stories, as measured by a story grammar, can also represent the process of narrative schema development in writing. A story grammar w i l l be used in this study to describe and quantify evidence of narrative schema development in written narratives. A discussion of previous research on narrative schema development follows. Narrative Schema and Reading Comprehension The assertion that narrative structure f a c i l i t a t e s comprehension supports theories about the essential role in reading comprehension of prior knowledge including knowledge of text (Adams and Bruce, 1982; Squire, 1983; Wittrock, 1983). In theory, prose comprehension requires prior knowledge of story structure as well as prior knowledge of human action and behaviours (Glenn, 1980). According to theory, individuals 12 mobilize a n a r r a t i v e schema during comprehension as they a l i g n t h e i r expectations for s t o r i e s with n a r r a t i v e input during reading or l i s t e n i n g . Research which has examined n a r r a t i v e schema development has recognized the i n f l u e n c e of repeated exposures to n a r r a t i v e s t r u c t u r e s i n c l u d i n g both o r a l and w r i t t e n s t o r i e s (Brown, 1977; Poulson, K i n t s c h , K i n t s c h , and Premack, 1979; McGee, 1982; King and Rentel, 1983). In theory, repeated exposure to s t o r i e s during reading and l i s t e n i n g experiences i n f l u e n c e s the development of a schema for n a r r a t i v e s , which i n turn enables production and comprehension. A small number of s t u d i e s have i n v e s t i g a t e d r e l a t i o n s h i p s between reading comprehension a b i l i t y and the a b i l i t y to comprehend, r e c a l l and reorder s t r u c t u r a l aspects of t r a d i t i o n a l n a r r a t i v e s (McClure et a l , 1979; Hoover, 1982; F i t z g e r a l d and S p i e g e l , 1983; F i t z g e r a l d , 1984; McConaughy, Fitzhenry-Coor, and Howell, 1983; McConaughy, 1985a). Findings from t h i s research i n d i c a t e the presence of a r e l a t i o n s h i p between n a r r a t i v e schema development and reading a b i l i t y . These f i n d i n g s tend to confirm theory that p r i o r knowledge of n a r r a t i v e s t r u c t u r e s i s e s s e n t i a l to comprehension. It should be noted that t h i s p r i o r knowledge of n a r r a t i v e s t r u c t u r e need not be e x p l i c i t i n nature. Rather, i t i s c h a r a c t e r i z e d as an innate c o g n i t i v e schema which i s a c t i v a t e d during the reading or w r i t i n g process. The focus of t h i s research was to i d e n t i f y an i m p l i c i t knowledge of s t o r y s t r u c t u r e which 13 emerged as the s u b j e c t s r e c a l l e d or reordered s t o r i e s . Research which has p r e v i o u s l y examined the r e l a t i o n s h i p between reading a b i l i t y and schema development did not attempt to describe n a r r a t i v e schema manifested i n o r i g i n a l s t o r i e s , but r e l i e d on r e c a l l , summarization, and r e o r d e r i n g t a s k s . It would seem that i n order to examine n a r r a t i v e schema development, i t would be most u s e f u l to examine o r i g i n a l n a r r a t i v e production. O r i g i n a l w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e s may provide the opportunity for a more d i r e c t a n a l y s i s of the process of n a r r a t i v e schema development. N a r r a t i v e Schema and W r i t i n g Although research f i n d i n g s suggest that n a r r a t i v e schema development i s primary to comprehension and development of o r a l s t o r y i n g , the r o l e of n a r r a t i v e schema development i n w r i t i n g remains l a r g e l y unexplored. The precedence for t h i s research on n a r r a t i v e schema i n w r i t i n g i s p r i m a r i l y found i n research on the development of n a r r a t i v e concepts i n o r a l s t o r i e s . Research observations of c h i l d r e n ' s o r a l s t o r i e s have recorded a developmental patt e r n of c o n t r o l over n a r r a t i v e s t r u c t u r e . The s t o r i e s evolved from loose c o l l e c t i o n s of ideas of the youngest c h i l d r e n i n t o the organized, focussed n a r r a t i v e s of older c h i l d r e n (Applebee, 1978; Botvin and Sutton-Smith, 1977). D e s c r i p t i o n s of the s t r u c t u r a l patterns of o r a l s t o r i e s are not u n l i k e d e s c r i p t i o n s of n a r r a t i v e s encoded in schema theory by s t o r y grammars. 14 A few s t u d i e s have examined n a r r a t i v e schema development i n w r i t i n g . Two previous s t u d i e s have examined the n a r r a t i v e schema development of w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e s and i t s r e l a t i o n s h i p to reading a b i l i t y (Hansche and Gordon, 1983; Shanahan, 1984). These s t u d i e s u t i l i z e d s t o r y grammars to measure the s t r u c t u r a l c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s as evidence of s t o r y schema i n the o r i g i n a l s t o r i e s of elementary school s u b j e c t s . Both of these s t u d i e s found a s i g n i f i c a n t r e l a t i o n s h i p between reading a b i l i t y and the number of s t r u c t u r a l c a t e g o r i e s used in the s t o r i e s . The c o r r e l a t i o n s were low however, and the r e s u l t s were not c o n c l u s i v e . The Hansche and Gordon (1983) study and the Shanahan (1984) study generated o r i g i n a l n a r r a t i v e s with e i t h e r student choice of t o p i c or a s i n g l e - p i c t u r e stimulus. The use of broadly defined t o p i c s generated a v a r i e t y of n a r r a t i v e compositions, some of which were not s t o r i e s i n the t r a d i t i o n a l sense. Story grammar analyses of these various compositions were n e c e s s a r i l y g l o b a l i n nature and of questionable u s e f u l n e s s . A n a l y s i s could only account for the presence or absence of s t o r y c a t e g o r i e s . No judgement could be made about the q u a l i t y of schema employed in the n a r r a t i v e s . Some s o l u t i o n s to the problems of g l o b a l s t o r y grammar analyses were o f f e r e d by an e x p l o r a t o r y study of the w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e s of a small group of d i s a b l e d readers (McConaughy, 1985b). The task of the study was to explore the usefulness of a h i e r a r c h i c a l schema q u a l i t y s c a l e . The study analyzed n a r r a t i v e s which were generated by a t h r e e - p i c t u r e stimulus that contained a 15 n a r r a t i v e s t r u c t u r e . The p i c t u r e s presented three space scenes i n which a f a m i l y i s forced to leave a planet because of the i n c r e a s i n g heat of the sun. The inherent s t r u c t u r e suggested by the stimulus enabled McConaughy to describe a s p e c i f i c set of s t r u c t u r a l expectations for a well-formed n a r r a t i v e . Based on her previous research on s t o r y schema development, McConaughy devised a r a t i n g s c a l e to de s c r i b e schema q u a l i t y . Results of the analyses i n d i c a t e d that the s t o r y grammar and the r a t i n g s c a l e for schema q u a l i t y d e s c r i b e d g l o b a l o r g a n i z a t i o n a l problems i n the s u b j e c t s ' w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e s . The present i n v e s t i g a t i o n w i l l f o l l o w McConaughy's procedures. McConaughy's e x p l o r a t o r y study o f f e r s a u s e f u l method of a n a l y s i s f o r d e s c r i b i n g the q u a l i t y of n a r r a t i v e schema manifested i n w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e s . The use of a r e s t r i c t e d t o p i c enables the researcher to attempt a more s e n s i t i v e , l e s s generic a n a l y s i s of the s t r u c t u r a l p r o p e r t i e s of w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e s . McConaughy's more d e s c r i p t i v e v e r s i o n of a s t o r y grammar, i n c o r p o r a t i n g schema q u a l i t y r a t i n g s , i s based on previous f i n d i n g s about d i f f e r e n t i a l development of n a r r a t i v e schema (McConaughy et a l , 1983). This a n a l y s i s would appear to enable access to information about the development of schema q u a l i t y i n w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e s of readers of d i f f e r e n t a b i l i t i e s . The present study w i l l extend McConaughy's previous study by using adolescent su b j e c t s who are re g u l a r school students with a range of reading a b i l i t i e s . In summary, t h e o r i e s about the h o l i s t i c nature of 16 c o g n i t i v e / l i n g u i s t i c p r o c e s s i n g s u g g e s t t h a t a n a r r a t i v e schema w o u l d be i m p o r t a n t f o r p r o d u c t i o n o f w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e s as w e l l as o r a l s t o r i e s . P r e v i o u s r e s e a r c h and t h e o r y a l s o have e s t a b l i s h e d n a r r a t i v e schema a s e s s e n t i a l t o r e a d i n g c o m p r e h e n s i o n . I n t h e o r y i t i s p o s s i b l e t h a t n a r r a t i v e schema d e v e l o p m e n t i s an i m p o r t a n t s h a r e d component i n b o t h r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g . The i n t e n t i o n o f t h e p r e s e n t i n v e s t i g a t i o n i s t o e x p l o r e t h e h y p o t h e s i s t h a t n a r r a t i v e schema d e v e l o p m e n t i n w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e s i s r e l a t e d t o r e a d i n g c o m p r e h e n s i o n a b i l i t y . To r e c a p i t u l a t e , t h e f o c u s o f t h i s s t u d y i s on one a s p e c t o f t h e r e a d i n g / w r i t i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p - n a r r a t i v e schema d e v e l o p m e n t i n w r i t i n g and i t s r e l a t i o n s h i p t o r e a d i n g a b i l i t y . The c o n c e p t o f n a r r a t i v e schema as a p o s s i b l e r e a d i n g / w r i t i n g c o n n e c t i o n i s g r o u n d e d i n t h e o r i e s a b o u t l i n g u i s t i c p r o c e s s i n g i n w h i c h t h e l a n g u a g e p r o c e s s e s a r e v i e w e d a s i n t e r a c t i v e and r e c i p r o c a l i n d e v e l o p m e n t . T h i s i n v e s t i g a t i o n w i l l measure schema q u a l i t y i n w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e s t h r o u g h t h e use o f a s p e c i f i c s t o r y grammar w h i c h has been d e s i g n e d t o a c c e s s and d e s c r i b e t h e n a r r a t i v e schema of o r i g i n a l s t o r i e s . P u r p o s e o f t h e S t u d y The m a j o r p u r p o s e o f t h i s s t u d y was t o i n v e s t i g a t e t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t ween r e a d i n g c o m p r e h e n s i o n a b i l i t y and t h e q u a l i t y o f s t o r y schema d e m o n s t r a t e d i n a d o l e s c e n t w r i t t e n 17 n a r r a t i v e s . A secondary purpose was to i d e n t i f y and q u a n t i f y the types of s t o r y s t r u c t u r e s used by adolescents i n t h e i r n a r r a t i v e compositions i n order to determine whether there are d i f f e r e n c e s i n the number and type of d i f f e r e n t s t o r y s t r u c t u r e s and i n the number of p r o p o s i t i o n s . S p e c i f i c a l l y , the study explored w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e s i n order to de s c r i b e s t r u c t u r a l and q u a l i t a t i v e d i f f e r e n c e s i n s t o r y schema, and i n v e s t i g a t e the r e l a t i o n s h i p between the presence of n a r r a t i v e s t r u c t u r e s and reading a b i l i t y . Q u e s t i o n s The study attempted to answer the f o l l o w i n g research questions: 1. W i l l there be a r e l a t i o n s h i p between reading a b i l i t y scores and the frequency of d i f f e r e n t s t o r y s t r u c t u r e c a t e g o r i e s i n adolescent w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e s ? 2. W i l l there be a r e l a t i o n s h i p between reading a b i l i t y scores and the number of p r o p o s i t i o n s i n adolescent w r i t t e n narrat ives? 3. W i l l there be a r e l a t i o n s h i p between reading a b i l i t y scores and a r a t i n g of s t o r y schema q u a l i t y i n adolescent w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e s ? N u l l Hypotheses 18 For the purposes of s t a t i s t i c a l analyses, the research questions were re-formulated as the f o l l o w i n g n u l l hypotheses: HI There w i l l be no s t a t i s t i c a l l y s i g n i f i c a n t r e l a t i o n s h i p between reading a b i l i t y scores and the freguency of d i f f e r e n t s t o r y s t r u c t u r e c a t e g o r i e s i n adolescent w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e s . H2 There w i l l be no s t a t i s t i c a l l y s i g n i f i c a n t r e l a t i o n s h i p between reading a b i l i t y scores and the number of p r o p o s i t i o n s i n adolescent w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e s . H3 There w i l l be no s t a t i s t i c a l l y s i g n i f i c a n t r e l a t i o n s h i p between reading a b i l i t y scores and a r a t i n g of s t o r y schema q u a l i t y i n adolescent w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e s . D e f i n i t i o n of Terms Story S t r u c t u r e Categories Story s t r u c t u r e c a t e g o r i e s are the parts of a s t o r y grammar that denote the u n d e r l y i n g s t r u c t u r a l elements of a simple s t o r y . The eleven s t o r y elements included i n t h i s a n a l y s i s were: s e t t i n g , i n i t i a t i n g event, i n t e r n a l response, goal, attempt, 19 outcome, d e s c r i p t i o n , d i s p o s i t i o n , r e s o l u t i o n , r e a c t i o n , and moral.(See Appendix B for d e f i n i t i o n s ) Episode \"An episode i s comprised of a s t a t e d or implied i n t e r n a l response... of a c h a r a c t e r , one or more attempts or a c t i o n s , and the s p e c i f i c outcome(s) of the attempts.\"(McConaughy, 1985b) Story P r o p o s i t i o n A s t o r y p r o p o s i t i o n c o n s i s t s of a u n i t of prose which expresses an idea, emotion, or a c t i o n . I t may be as short as a word or phrase or as long as a clause or sentence. Story Schema Story schema i s a recognized conceptual mechanism which, i n theory, encodes information in the i n d i v i d u a l ' s mind about the e s s e n t i a l elements of a s t o r y and guides the r e c a l l , comprehension and production of s t o r i e s . I t i s assumed that through repeated exposure to s t o r i e s , s t o r y concepts are encoded as a schema whereby i n d i v i d u a l s formulate a set of expectations about the t y p i c a l s t r u c t u r e s of t r a d i t i o n a l s t o r i e s . 20 Story Grammar A s t o r y grammar represents a l a b e l l i n g system for the s t r u c t u r a l components of a s t o r y . Assumption It was assumed that s t o r y schema, e s s e n t i a l l y a mental c o n s t r u c t , i s evident i n the s t r u c t u r e of w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e s and i s measurable by w r i t t e n s t o r y s t r u c t u r e a n a l y s i s . L i m i t a t i o n s Test Conditions Although care was taken to ensure that t e s t c o n d i t i o n s for each c l a s s were as s i m i l a r as p o s s i b l e , t e s t c o n d i t i o n s for each c l a s s group may have been s l i g h t l y v a r i a b l e because students were in i n t a c t c l a s s e s and were t e s t e d during t h e i r r e g u l a r E n g l i s h c l a s s e s . S u b s t a n t i a l e f f o r t was made to ensure that none of the c l a s s e s was t e s t e d at l e s s than optimal times ( i e . during the period before lunch or l a s t p e r i o d F r i d a y a f t e r n o o n ) . In order fo r i d e n t i c a l t e s t c o n d i t i o n s to occur i t would have been necessary fo r a l l the students to write t h e i r t e s t s 21 together in a large h a l l . It was decided that the b e n e f i t s of s t a n d a r d i z i n g the t e s t venue may have been o f f s e t by the increased a n x i e t y produced in large group assessment s i t u a t i o n s . Story Stimulus Only one s t o r y stimulus was used to generate n a r r a t i v e samples. This i s a l i m i t a t i o n of t h i s study as i t increases the p r o b a b i l i t y that a p o r t i o n of the r e s u l t s was a f f e c t e d by student a f f i n i t y or d i s a f f e c t i o n for the t o p i c of space. A f u r t h e r l i m i t a t i o n of the use of one s t o r y stimulus i s the p o s s i b i l i t y that the w r i t i n g sample c o l l e c t e d on the t e s t day may not be t r u l y r e p r e s e n t a t i v e of a student's w r i t i n g a b i l i t y . I n t e l l i g e n c e Another l i m i t a t i o n of the study i s that the I n t e l l i g e n c e Quotients of the s u b j e c t s were not a v a i l a b l e and could not be c o n t r o l l e d f o r i n t h i s i n v e s t i g a t i o n . It has been the p o l i c y of the school board not to t e s t c h i l d r e n for IQ unless there i s some concern. I n t e l l i g e n c e could be considered as a v a r i a b l e i n a r e a d i n g / w r i t i n g i n v e s t i g a t i o n because i t has been shown to c o r r e l a t e with reading a b i l i t y . I t should be noted however that although IQ t e s t scores g e n e r a l l y c o r r e l a t e with reading t e s t scores and IQ t e s t s are h e l p f u l i n p r e d i c t i n g reading 22 achievement, the c o n s t r u c t s are not i d e n t i c a l . G o l i n k o f f (1976), i n her review of the l i t e r a t u r e on the reading and IQ r e l a t i o n s h i p concluded that there was i n s u f f i c i e n t evidence to conclude that reading and i n t e l l i g e n c e t e s t s measure the same s k i l l s . I n t e l l i g e n c e as a f a c t o r i s probably more important to consider i n experimental research where the causes of i n t e r a c t i o n s are d i s c u s s e d . The present study i s c o r r e l a t i o n a l and intends only to i n v e s t i g a t e the r e l a t i o n s h i p between reading a b i l i t y and n a r r a t i v e schema development. O r g a n i z a t i o n o f t h e T h e s i s The t h e s i s i s organized i n t o f i v e chapters. Chapter One presents the problem, the t h e o r e t i c a l context, and the r a t i o n a l e for the study, as well as the questions and research hypotheses. Chapter Two reviews the r e l e v a n t l i t e r a t u r e . Chapter Three de s c r i b e s the design and methodology of the study i n c l u d i n g the procedures for data c o l l e c t i o n and a n a l y s i s . Chapter Four presents the r e s u l t s of the data a n a l y s i s . Chapter F i v e includes a d i s c u s s i o n of the major f i n d i n g s of the study and s t a t e s c o n c l u s i o n s , l i m i t a t i o n s and i m p l i c a t i o n s for f u r t h e r r e s e a r c h . 23 CHAPTER TWO Review o f t h e L i t e r a t u r e I n t r o d u c t i o n The p u r p o s e o f t h i s r e v i e w o f l i t e r a t u r e i s t o p r o v i d e a s u r v e y o f r e l e v a n t t h e o r y and r e s e a r c h f o r b o t h t h e g e n e r a l and s p e c i f i c c o n t e x t s o f t h e p r e s e n t i n v e s t i g a t i o n . A c c o r d i n g l y , t h e r e v i e w i s o r g a n i z e d i n t o two m a j o r s e c t i o n s . The f i r s t s e c t i o n o f t h e r e v i e w e s t a b l i s h e s t h e g e n e r a l c o n t e x t o f t h e s t u d y . I t p r o v i d e s a s u r v e y o f p r e v i o u s e m p i r i c a l r e s e a r c h on t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p between r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g . I t t h e n p r o v i d e s a d e s c r i p t i o n o f more r e c e n t t h e o r y and r e s e a r c h w h i c h s u p p o r t s r e a d i n g / w r i t i n g c o n n e c t i o n s w i t h i n a h o l i s t i c v i e w o f l a n g u a g e r e l a t i o n s h i p s . The s e c o n d s e c t i o n o f t h e r e v i e w p r o v i d e s b a c k g r o u n d f o r t h e s p e c i f i c r e a d i n g / w r i t i n g c o n n e c t i o n t o be i n v e s t i g a t e d by t h i s s t u d y . T h i s s e c t i o n b e g i n s w i t h a b r i e f e x a m i n a t i o n o f t h e o r y and r e s e a r c h on t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f s t o r y k n o w l e d g e i n c h i l d r e n and an o v e r v i e w o f s t o r y schema t h e o r y . The s e c t i o n c o n c l u d e s w i t h a r e v i e w o f r e l e v a n t r e s e a r c h on r e a d i n g c o m p r e h e n s i o n a n d s t o r y grammars, and e x a m i n e s i n more d e t a i l t h o s e s t u d i e s w h i c h have p r e v i o u s l y i n v e s t i g a t e d t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t ween s t o r y schema d e v e l o p m e n t i n w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e s and r e a d i n g a b i l i t y . 24 The R e a d i n g / W r i t i n g R e l a t i o n s h i p ; R e s e a r c h I n t r o d u c t i o n R e s e a r c h and t h e o r e t i c a l d e s c r i p t i o n s o f t h e r e a d i n g / w r i t i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p a r e f u n d a m e n t a l l y d i f f e r e n t . The t h e o r e t i c a l l i t e r a t u r e has d e s c r i b e d d e v e l o p m e n t a l o r f u n c t i o n a l s i m i l a r i t i e s o f r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g p r o c e s s e s and has i n f e r r e d g e n e r a l c o n n e c t i o n s b a s e d on t h e s e s i m i l a r i t i e s . R e s e a r c h s t u d i e s , on t h e o t h e r hand, have a n a l y z e d s p e c i f i c r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g a b i l i t i e s i n o r d e r t o d e f i n e t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p e x p l i c i t l y . These s t u d i e s have been c o r r e l a t i o n a l as w e l l as e x p e r i m e n t a l i n d e s i g n . C o r r e l a t i o n a l s t u d i e s have i n v e s t i g a t e d t h e e x i s t e n c e and n a t u r e o f p o s s i b l e r e l a t i o n s h i p s , whereas e x p e r i m e n t a l s t u d i e s have e x p l o r e d w h e t h e r i n s t r u c t i o n i n one mode a f f e c t s p e r f o r m a n c e i n t h e o t h e r . I n t h e f o l l o w i n g r e v i e w , r e s e a r c h s t u d i e s w i l l be b r o a d l y c a t e g o r i z e d a c c o r d i n g t o w h e t h e r t h e y a t t e m p t e d t o answer one of t h e f o l l o w i n g i m p o r t a n t q u e s t i o n s a b o u t t h e r e a d i n g / w r i t i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p : 1. A r e r e a d i n g a b i l i t i e s and w r i t i n g a b i l i t i e s r e l a t e d ? 2. How a r e r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g r e l a t e d ? 3. Does w r i t i n g o r w r i t i n g i n s t r u c t i o n i n f l u e n c e r e a d i n g a b i l i t y ? 4. Does r e a d i n g o r r e a d i n g i n s t r u c t i o n i n f l u e n c e w r i t i n g a b i l i t y ? 25 Are Reading A b i l i t i e s Related to W r i t i n g A b i l i t i e s ? There has been s u r p r i s i n g l y l i t t l e research which c o n c l u s i v e l y supports the assumption that reading and w r i t i n g are c l o s e l y r e l a t e d processes. Global c o r r e l a t i o n a l s t u d i e s have described low p o s i t i v e r e l a t i o n s h i p s between general measures of reading and w r i t i n g . C o r r e l a t i o n s were not high enough to allow statements about the p r e d i c t i v e value of reading a b i l i t y f o r w r i t i n g a b i l i t y or w r i t i n g a b i l i t y f o r reading a b i l i t y . Research e x p l o r a t i o n s i n t o the r e a d i n g / w r i t i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p have appeared s p o r a d i c a l l y over the l a s t f o r t y years. The e a r l i e s t study found was an experiment on the e f f e c t of reading t r a i n i n g on w r i t i n g achievement i n c o l l e g e composition c l a s s e s . Matthew, Larsen and B u t l e r ' s (1945) experiment i s c i t e d i n recent l i t e r a t u r e on the r e a d i n g / w r i t i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p because i t found a s i g n i f i c a n t c o r r e l a t i o n between reading and w r i t i n g a b i l i t y . During a p r e l i m i n a r y a n a l y s i s , reading scores of 160 freshmen were c o r r e l a t e d with scores i n composition c l a s s e s . Students who r e c e i v e d lower grades i n w r i t i n g were a l s o found to have lower reading comprehension scores. The authors concluded that \"these f i g u r e s c e r t a i n l y h i n t that r e t a r d a t i o n i n reading a b i l i t y i s an important c o n t r i b u t i n g cause of poor grades i n Rhetoric I\"(p.500). However, the subsequent experiment of t r a i n i n g students in reading d i d not bear out an o r i g i n a l hypothesis that reading t r a i n i n g would improve w r i t i n g composition. In 1946, P i e x o t t o c o r r e l a t e d the reading and w r i t i n g 2 6 e n t r a n c e - t e s t s c o r e s o f 263 f i r s t y e a r f e m a l e c o l l e g e s t u d e n t s a n d , t h i r t y y e a r s l a t e r , Grobe and Grobe (1977) c o r r e l a t e d t h e r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g s c o r e s o f f r e s h m e n u n i v e r s i t y s t u d e n t s . I t was p r e d i c t e d t h a t r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g were s y s t e m a t i c a l l y r e l a t e d a b i l i t i e s so t h a t k n o w l e d g e of one w o u l d be a v a l i d p r e d i c t o r o f t h e o t h e r . B o t h s t u d i e s f o u n d p o s i t i v e c o r r e l a t i o n s b etween t h e r e s u l t s o f r e a d i n g a c h i e v e m e n t and e s s a y e n t r a n c e exams, b u t t h e y came t o v e r y d i f f e r e n t c o n c l u s i o n s . P i e x o t t o ' s (1946) low c o r r e l a t i o n (.21) l e d t o a c o n c l u s i o n t h a t w r i t i n g s k i l l was l a r g e l y i n d e p e n d e n t f r o m r e a d i n g s k i l l as measured i n t h a t s t u d y . The Grobe and Grobe (1977) r e s u l t s o f a m u l t i p l e r e g r e s s i o n a n a l y s i s y i e l d e d a c o e f f i c i e n t o f .50 and i t was c o n c l u d e d t h a t t h e a s s u m p t i o n o f a s y s t e m a t i c r e l a t i o n s h i p b e tween r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g a b i l i t y was s u p p o r t e d . The l a t t e r r e s e a r c h f o u n d a s t r o n g e r r e l a t i o n s h i p b etween p o o r r e a d i n g and p o o r w r i t i n g t h a n t h e y d i d f o r good w r i t i n g and good r e a d i n g . T h i s s u g g e s t s t h e p r e s e n c e o f s c h o o l - r e l a t e d , l i n g u i s t i c , o r c o g n i t i v e f a c t o r s n o t c o n s i d e r e d i n s t u d i e s w h i c h c o r r e l a t e g l o b a l m e a s u res o f r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g . S i m i l a r c o r r e l a t i o n a l v a l u e s were d i s c o v e r e d by W o o d f i n (1968) i n a s t u d y o f o v e r 500 g r a d e t h r e e s t u d e n t s a l t h o u g h c o n c l u s i o n s were a g a i n d i f f e r e n t f r o m t h e Grobe (1977) s t u d y . W o o d f i n i n c l u d e d a number of o t h e r f a c t o r s ( s e x , i n t e l l i g e n c e , s o c i o e c o n o m i c s t a t u s , l a n g u a g e a b i l i t y ) i n a m u l t i v a r i a t e a n a l y s i s of r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g a b i l i t i e s . W r i t i n g s a m p l e s were a n a l y z e d a c c o r d i n g t o measures o f e f f e c t i v e n e s s of e x p r e s s i o n , 27 o r g a n i z a t i o n o f i d e a s , c o u n t s o f words p e r c o m p o s i t i o n and words w r i t t e n p e r m i n u t e . A t o t a l o f s e v e n c o m p o s i t i o n s f o r e a c h c h i l d were a n a l y z e d , y i e l d i n g an e x t r e m e l y l a r g e number of w r i t i n g s a m p l e s . R e a d i n g a b i l i t y was measured by a s t a n d a r d i z e d r e a d i n g t e s t . C o n s i s t e n t l y , t h e l a r g e s t c o r r e l a t i o n w i t h w r i t i n g a b i l i t y was f o u n d t o be r e a d i n g a c h i e v e m e n t (mean .49-, p<.01), f o l l o w e d by l a n g u a g e s k i l l s , as measured by t h e l a n g u a g e s e c t i o n o f a s t a n d a r d i z e d t e s t (mean . 4 7 ) , I.Q. (mean . 3 4 ) , and s o c i o e c o n o m i c s t a t u s (mean . 2 2 ) . These c o r r e l a t i o n s were a l l j u d g e d t o be t o o l o w t o d e s c r i b e v a l i d p r e d i c t i v e r e l a t i o n s h i p s between t h e s e f a c t o r s and w r i t i n g a b i l i t y as measured by t h i s s t u d y . W o o d f i n c o n c l u d e d t h a t \" t e a c h e r s w i l l do w e l l n o t t o base t h e i r e x p e c t a n c i e s f o r c o m p e t e n c y i n w r i t t e n e x p r e s s i o n f o r t h i r d g r a d e c h i l d r e n t o o h i g h l y on a n y o f t h e f a c t o r s e x a m i n e d i n t h i s s t u d y \" ( P . 1 2 3 9 ) . W o o d f i n ' s 1968 f i n d i n g s f o r s o c i o e c o n o m i c s t a t u s c o n t r a d i c t e d t h e r e s u l t s o f a s t u d y by W a l t e r Loban ( 1 9 6 3 , 1 9 7 6 ) . Loban c o n d u c t e d a t h i r t e e n - y e a r l o n g i t u d i n a l s t u d y of l a n g u a g e d e v e l o p m e n t (1952-1965) and f o u n d s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e s i n o r a l l a n g u a g e p r o f i c i e n c y , r e a d i n g , and w r i t i n g p e r f o r m a n c e f o r low and h i g h s o c i o - e c o n o m i c g r o u p s . T h i s s t u d y i s o f t e n c i t e d i n t h e l i t e r a t u r e b e c a u s e o f i t s s c o p e and e x t e n s i v e d e s c r i p t i v e a n a l y s i s o f o r a l l a n g u a g e g r o w t h . I t i s i n c l u d e d i n t h i s r e v i e w b e c a u s e i t a l s o e x a m i n e d t h e i n t e r r e l a t i o n s b e t ween t h e l a n g u a g e a r t s i n c l u d i n g r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g a b i l i t y . 28 L o b a n ' s 211 s u b j e c t s were s e l e c t e d t o be r e p r e s e n t a t i v e o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n by a s t r a t i f i e d s a m p l i n g p r o c e d u r e f o r f o u r v a r i a b l e s : s e x , e t h n i c b a c k g r o u n d , s o c i o e c o n o m i c s t a t u s , and i n t e l l i g e n c e . F o r t h e p u r p o s e s o f d a t a a n a l y s i s , t h e s u b j e c t s were d i v i d e d i n t o t h r e e s u b g r o u p s o f t h i r t y - f i v e e a c h . Two of t h e g r o u p s were made up o f s t u d e n t s who r e c e i v e d c o n s i s t e n t l y h i g h o r low t e a c h e r r a t i n g s o f l a n g u a g e p r o f i c i e n c y o v e r t h e s t u d y ' s t h i r t e e n y e a r s . The t h i r d g r o u p was r a n d o m l y s e l e c t e d f r o m t h e r e m a i n i n g s u b j e c t s . The t e a c h e r s were a s k e d t o r a t e e a c h s t u d e n t on f i v e p o i n t s c a l e s f o r e i g h t c r i t e r i a : s k i l l i n c o m m u n i c a t i o n ; o r g a n i z a t i o n ; p u r p o s e and p o i n t ; w e a l t h o f i d e a s ; f l u e n c y ; v o c a b u l a r y ; q u a l i t y o f l i s t e n i n g ; g u a l i t y o f w r i t i n g ; and r e a d i n g . A c o m p a r i s o n o f t e a c h e r - r a t e d \" l o w \" and \" h i g h \" g r o u p s r e v e a l e d t h a t t h o s e c h i l d r e n who were r a t e d \" h i g h \" by t h e t e a c h e r s were a l s o i n t e l l i g e n t ( m e d i a n I.Q. o f 1 1 6 ) ; w h i t e ( 7 7 % ) ; f r o m ' w h i t e - c o l l a r ' f a m i l i e s ( 7 1 % ) ; and o f e i t h e r s e x ( 5 1 % f e m a l e ) . The s t u d e n t s i n t h e \" l o w \" g r o u p had a median I.Q. o f 88; were 69% n o n - w h i t e ; were f r o m ' b l u e - c o l l a r ' f a m i l i e s (86%) ; and were a l s o o f e i t h e r s e x ( 4 9 % f e m a l e ) . L o b a n i n t e r p r e t e d l ow S.E.S. t o be t h e s i g n i f i c a n t f a c t o r i n poor l a n g u a g e p e r f o r m a n c e -\" M i n o r i t y s u b j e c t s who came f r o m s e c u r e l y a f f l u e n t home b a c k g r o u n d s d i d n o t show up i n t h e low p r o f i c i e n c y g r o u p . The p r o b l e m i s p o v e r t y , n o t e t h n i c a f f i l i a t i o n . \" (p.23) Loban compared s t a n d a r d i z e d r e a d i n g s c o r e s and w r i t i n g a b i l i t y a s s e s s m e n t s o f t e a c h e r - r a t e d g r o u p s , and c o n c l u d e d t h a t 29 s t u d e n t s who were r a n k e d h i g h l y on l a n g u a g e d e v e l o p m e n t a l s o p e r f o r m e d w e l l i n r e a d i n g and i n w r i t i n g . S t u d e n t w r i t i n g s a m p l e s were r a t e d on a t e n - p o i n t s c a l e and p u t i n t o one of f i v e c a t e g o r i e s . A p p r o x i m a t e l y 79% o f t h e c o m p o s i t i o n s i n t h e \" h i g h \" g r o u p were p u t i n t o t h e S u p e r i o r o r H i g h - A v e r a g e w r i t i n g c a t e g o r i e s , w h e r e a s o n l y 5% o f \" l o w \" g r o u p c o m p o s i t i o n s were s i m i l a r l y c a t e g o r i z e d . L o b a n c o n c l u d e d t h a t \" t h e r e l a t i o n b etween r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g seems s o s t r i k i n g as t o be beyond q u e s t i o n \" . (P.82) He n o t e d t h a t o f t h o s e who w r o t e a t t h e s u p e r i o r l e v e l , none had r e a d i n g s c o r e s b e l o w age l e v e l and no w r i t e r s a t t h e l o w e s t w r i t i n g l e v e l s had r e a d i n g s c o r e s above age l e v e l . F u r t h e r a n a l y s i s o f t h e d a t a y i e l d s some c o n t r a d i c t i n g i n f o r m a t i o n : 10% of s u b j e c t s i n g r a d e f o u r , 1 9 % i n g r a d e s i x , and 17% i n g r a d e e i g h t , were j u d g e d good w r i t e r s b u t were p o o r r e a d e r s . S i m i l a r l y , some b e t t e r r e a d e r s s c o r e d p o o r l y on t h e w r i t i n g a s s e s s m e n t : 53% of s u b j e c t s i n g r a d e f o u r , 27% i n g r a d e s i x , and 23% i n g r a d e e i g h t s c o r e d above age l e v e l on t h e r e a d i n g t e s t , b u t were j u d g e d t o be b e l o w - a v e r a g e w r i t e r s . I t seems e v i d e n t f r o m e x a m i n a t i o n o f L o b a n ' s d a t a t h a t t h i s s e m i n a l s t u d y o f o r a l l a n g u a g e d e v e l o p m e n t i n s c h o o l c h i l d r e n d oes n o t p r o v i d e c o n c l u s i v e s u p p o r t f o r t h e a s s u m p t i o n t h a t r e a d i n g a b i l i t i e s and w r i t i n g a b i l i t i e s a r e d i r e c t l y r e l a t e d . The r e s u l t s o f t h i s s t u d y seem t o s u g g e s t t h a t r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g may be r e l a t e d i n d i r e c t l y b e c a u s e o f i n t e r r e l a t i o n s h i p s between i n t e l l i g e n c e , o r a l l a n g u a g e p r o f i c i e n c y , and s o c i o - e c o n o m i c 30 s t a t u s . They a l s o c l e a r l y d e m o n s t r a t e t h e d i f f i c u l t y o f m a k i n g s w e e p i n g s t a t e m e n t s a b o u t t h e r e a d i n g / w r i t i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p b a s e d on g l o b a l c o r r e l a t i o n a l d a t a . I t seems e v i d e n t t h a t t h e r e a d i n g / w r i t i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p i s c o m p l e x and m u l t i - f a c e t e d . A l t h o u g h g l o b a l c o r r e l a t i o n s may i n d i c a t e t h e p r e s e n c e of c o n n e c t i o n s , t h e y a r e n o t f o c u s s e d s u f f i c i e n t l y t o be i n f o r m a t i v e . F i n a l l y , two s t u d i e s c o r r e l a t e d s c h o o l p e r f o r m a n c e w i t h a v a r i e t y o f f a c t o r s r e l a t e d t o r e a d i n g e x p e r i e n c e . D o n e l s o n (1967) c o n d u c t e d a l a r g e c o r r e l a t i o n a l s t u d y o f 1821 g r a d e t e n s t u d e n t s . I t was r e p o r t e d t h a t e f f e c t i v e w r i t e r s owned more b o o k s , had more m a g a z i n e s i n t h e home, had f a t h e r s who r e a d , and were o f h i g h e r s o c i o - e c o n o m i c s t a t u s . A l t h o u g h c o r r e l a t i o n s were l o w , i t was c o n c l u d e d t h a t r e a d i n g was an i n f l u e n c e f o r s t u d e n t s who were good w r i t e r s . Woodward and P h i l l i p s ( 1 9 6 7 ) a l s o c o n c l u d e d t h a t p o o r w r i t e r s had f e w e r r e a d i n g e x p e r i e n c e s . N i n e h u n d r e d n i n e t e e n f r e s h m e n u n i v e r s i t y s t u d e n t s were l a b e l l e d good or p o o r w r i t e r s a c c o r d i n g t o t h e i r E n g l i s h marks and g i v e n a q u e s t i o n n a i r e a b o u t t h e i r r e a d i n g h a b i t s . R e s u l t s i n d i c a t e d t h a t p o o r w r i t e r s r e p o r t e d r e a d i n g l e s s and h a v i n g f e w e r r e a d i n g m a t e r i a l s a t home. A l t h o u g h t h e s e s t u d i e s p r o v i d e some e v i d e n c e t h a t r e a d i n g e x p e r i e n c e may be a f a c t o r i n good w r i t i n g , no e v i d e n c e c o u l d be f o u n d a b o u t k i n d s o f r e a d i n g e x p e r i e n c e , amount o f r e a d i n g , or a t t i t u d e s a b o u t r e a d i n g and t h e i r r e l a t i o n s h i p t o w r i t i n g p e r f o r m a n c e . G i v e n t h a t w r i t i n g p e r f o r m a n c e was n o t e v a l u a t e d 31 s p e c i f i c a l l y , i t seems spurious to assume that E n g l i s h grades represent w r i t i n g a b i l i t y . A l a t e r study of secondary E n g l i s h c l a s s e s in the United States found that students wrote i n c l a s s as l i t t l e as ten minutes a week (Applebee et a l , 1980). However, these large s t u d i e s do provide some evidence that students who were s u c c e s s f u l i n E n g l i s h c l a s s e s had more exposure to reading m a t e r i a l s i n the home than those who d i d not. Home f a c t o r s were found to be important i n another c o r r e l a t i o n a l study ( K r o l l , 1983). As part of the B r i s t o l Study (Wells,1985), a l o n g i t u d i n a l study of language and l i t e r a c y development, K r o l l analyzed data to di s c o v e r which of four f a m i l y and s c h o o l - r e l a t e d f a c t o r s would p r e d i c t w r i t i n g attainment at age nine. Four pieces of w r i t i n g from eighteen nine year-olds were analyzed and r e s u l t s compiled i n t o a \"Composite Index of Q u a l i t y \" which was c o r r e l a t e d with the home and school f a c t o r s c o l l e c t e d i n the l a r g e r study. Results i n d i c a t e d that the highest p r e d i c t o r of w r i t i n g success was 'parent i n t e r e s t i n l i t e r a c y ' (.74), followed by 'preschool knowledge of l i t e r a c y ' (.64) and 'class of f a m i l y background' (.59). The f i n a l s i g n i f i c a n t p r e d i c t o r of w r i t i n g success at age 9 was 'reading attainment at age seven* (.5-4). The study a l s o found 'preschool knowledge of l i t e r a c y ' to be the highest c o r r e l a t e with reading attainment at age seven. A major c o n c l u s i o n of the B r i s t o l study was that knowledge of l i t e r a c y was developed i n the home through p a r e n t / c h i l d i n t e r a c t i o n during s t o r y - r e a d i n g (Wells, 1985). I t was concluded 32 that knowledge of s t o r i e s and s t o r y s t r u c t u r e was important for the development of reading a b i l i t y and that t h i s knowledge was best developed e a r l y i n the c h i l d ' s home. In order to examine f u r t h e r the r e a d i n g / w r i t i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p , K r o l l c o r r e l a t e d reading scores with three more s p e c i f i c w r i t i n g measures. Low s i g n i f i c a n t c o r r e l a t i o n s were found f o r measures of s y n t a c t i c complexity (.06); mean number of clauses per t - u n i t (.26); and vocabulary d i v e r s i t y (.33). These r e s u l t s should be viewed with ca u t i o n i n terms of r e a d i n g / w r i t i n g research because of the small sample s i z e and the f a c t that there was a two year gap between c o l l e c t i o n of reading and w r i t i n g scores. To conclude, d e c i s i v e evidence of a r e l a t i o n s h i p between reading and w r i t i n g a b i l i t i e s cannot be found in s t u d i e s which have c o r r e l a t e d general reading and w r i t i n g measures. Although the s t u d i e s of Matthew et a l (1945), P i e x o t t o (1946), Woodfin (1968), Grobe (1977), and K r o l l (1983) a l l y i e l d e d p o s i t i v e c o r r e l a t i o n s , these were not large enough to have p r e d i c t i v e v a l i d i t y . Results i n the Loban study were confounded by other f a c t o r s ( i e . i n t e l l i g e n c e , and socio-economic s t a t u s ) . From an examination of t h i s research, i t becomes evident that the r e l a t i o n s h i p between reading and w r i t i n g processes i s h i g h l y complex and d e f i e s simple a n a l y s i s . Although g l o b a l c o r r e l a t i o n a l s t u d i e s do not provide a r e s o l u t e p i c t u r e of the r e a d i n g / w r i t i n g connection, they do provide some evidence of an a f f i l i a t i o n between reading and w r i t i n g a b i l i t i e s and 33 experiences. I t seems that more s e n s i t i v e and focussed a n a l y s i s i s necessary i n order to tease out s p e c i f i c r e l a t i o n s h i p s between these complex processes. How Are Reading and W r i t i n g Related? A few d e s c r i p t i v e s t u d i e s have examined the r e l a t i o n s h i p between reading and w r i t i n g more c l o s e l y i n an attempt to r e v e a l the nature of that r e l a t i o n s h i p . These s t u d i e s have compared reading a b i l i t y with the presence of s p e c i f i c s t r u c t u r e s i n w r i t i n g . In a 1969 study, Samuel Zeman attempted to d e s c r i b e the r e l a t i o n s h i p between reading comprehension and the presence and frequency of c e r t a i n sentence types and patterns i n w r i t t e n compositions. One hundred n i n e t y grade two and two hundred twenty grade three students were d i v i d e d i n t o above-average, average, and below-average reading a b i l i t y groups according to a standardized t e s t . The w r i t i n g task was to compose an ending to an u n f i n i s h e d s t o r y . These were analyzed for p r o p o r t i o n a l frequency of four sentence types and ten s t r u c t u r a l sentence p a t t e r n s . Results showed no d i f f e r e n c e s i n p r o p o r t i o n a l frequency of sentence patterns for the three reading groups. The noun/verb/noun p a t t e r n was most f r e q u e n t l y used by a l l groups. I t was concluded that a n a l y s i s of ten b a s i c sentence patterns could not d i f f e r e n t i a t e among grade two and three students i n terms of reading comprehension, sex, or grade l e v e l . 34 A n a l y s i s o f v a r i a n c e showed t h a t r e a d i n g was a main e f f e c t f o r two s e n t e n c e t y p e s . R e s u l t s i n d i c a t e d t h a t a b o v e - a v e r a g e r e a d e r s u s e d more compound s e n t e n c e s and b e l o w - a v e r a g e r e a d e r s u s e d more s i m p l e s e n t e n c e s . I t was c o n c l u d e d t h a t t h e use of s e n t e n c e t y p e s i n c o m p o s i t i o n s i s r e l a t e d t o r e a d i n g a b i l i t y . I n a n o t h e r s t u d y , s t u d e n t w r i t i n g was e x a m i n e d t o see w h i c h s y n t a c t i c s t r u c t u r e s c o u l d p r e d i c t r e a d i n g a c h i e v e m e n t ( E v a n e c h k o , O l l i l a , and A r m s t r o n g , 1 9 7 4 ) . The w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e s o f 118 g r a d e s i x s t u d e n t s were a n a l y z e d f o r t h i r t e e n s y n t a c t i c w r i t i n g i n d i c e s t o d i s c o v e r w h i c h ones w o u l d be p r e d i c t i v e o f r e a d i n g a c h i e v e m e n t . Of t h e t h i r t e e n , f o u r were f o u n d t o c o n t r i b u t e s i g n i f i c a n t l y as p r e d i c t o r s o f r e a d i n g a c h i e v e m e n t . These were i n o r d e r o f s i g n i f i c a n c e : t h e number o f c o m m u n i c a t i o n u n i t s ; s t r u c t u r e s w h i c h were d e s i g n a t e d as ' t w o - c o u n t ' ( p a s s i v e s , d e p e n d e n t c l a u s e s , c o m p a r a t i v e s , p a r t i c i p l e s , p a i r e d c o n j u n c t i o n s and o t h e r s i m i l a r m easures o f c o m p l e x i t y ) ; s e n t e n c e p a t t e r n s ( s u b j e c t / v e r b / i n d i r e c t o b j e c t ; s u b j e c t / v e r b / c o m p l e m e n t ) ; and t h e number of words p e r c o m m u n i c a t i o n u n i t . E v a n e c h k o e t a l c o n c l u d e d t h a t f l u e n c y and c o n t r o l o f s y n t a c t i c c o m p l e x i t y were \" t h e k e y l a n g u a g e c o m p e t e n c i e s u n d e r l y i n g r e a d i n g a c h i e v e m e n t \" ( p . 3 2 5 ) . They s t a t e d t h a t t h e number o f c o m m u n i c a t i o n u n i t s , t h e most s i g n i f i c a n t w r i t i n g i n d e x , r e p r e s e n t e d t h e number o f i d e a s e x p r e s s e d and was e s s e n t i a l l y a measure of f l u e n c y and t h a t ' t w o - c o u n t ' s t r u c t u r e s , t h e s e c o n d s i g n i f i c a n t i n d e x , were i n d i c a t o r s o f f l e x i b i l i t y , c o m p l e x i t y and s o p h i s t i c a t i o n o f e x p r e s s i o n i n l a n g u a g e . The 35 r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n w r i t i n g f a c t o r s a n d r e a d i n g a c h i e v e m e n t w a s i n t e r p r e t e d t o b e a n i n d i r e c t o n e b a s e d o n g e n e r a l l a n g u a g e c o m p e t e n c e . I t w a s c o n c l u d e d t h a t r e a d i n g a n d w r i t i n g u s e d \" c e r t a i n l a n g u a g e s k i l l s i n c o m m o n \" ( p . 3 2 3 ) . H o f m a n n a n d K e r e k ( 1 9 8 3 ) a l s o e x a m i n e d s y n t a c t i c m a t u r i t y a s a m e a s u r e o f w r i t i n g p e r f o r m a n c e . T h e s e r e s e a r c h e r s i n v e s t i g a t e d r e a d i n g c o m p r e h e n s i o n a s a p r e d i c t o r o f s y n t a c t i c m a t u r i t y or w o r d s p e r c l a u s e , a n d w r i t i n g e f f e c t i v e n e s s . W r i t i n g s a m p l e s w e r e c o l l e c t e d f r o m 2 9 0 u n d e r g r a d u a t e s t u d e n t s w h o a l s o w e r e a d m i n i s t e r e d a r e a d i n g c o m p r e h e n s i o n t e s t . T h e w r i t i n g s a m p l e s w e r e m e a s u r e d f o r s y n t a c t i c m a t u r i t y , u s a g e , i d e a s , o r g a n i z a t i o n , c o h e r e n c e , s e n t e n c e s t r u c t u r e , v o i c e , a n d q u a l i t y o f c o m p o s i t i o n . T h e s e m e a s u r e s w e r e c o r r e l a t e d w i t h r e a d i n g c o m p r e h e n s i o n a n d v o c a b u l a r y t e s t r e s u l t s . N o s i g n i f i c a n t r e l a t i o n s h i p s w e r e f o u n d b e t w e e n a n y o f t h e w r i t i n g m e a s u r e s a n d r e a d i n g a b i l i t y . I t w a s c o n c l u d e d t h a t t h e r e w e r e n o c o n s i s t e n t m u l t i v a r i a t e r e l a t i o n s h i p s b e t w e e n r e a d i n g a n d w r i t i n g a s d e f i n e d b y t h e m e a s u r e s u s e d t h e s t u d y . T h e r e s u l t s o f t h e H o f m a n n a n d K e r e k ( 1 9 8 3 ) s t u d y w e r e q u i t e c o n s i s t e n t w i t h t h e E v a n e c h k o e t a l ' s ( 1 9 7 4 ) f i n d i n g s f o r s y n t a c t i c m a t u r i t y . T h e l a t t e r g r o u p f o u n d t h e n u m b e r o f w o r d s p e r c o m m u n i c a t i o n u n i t t o b e t h e l e a s t s i g n i f i c a n t p r e d i c t o r of r e a d i n g p e r f o r m a n c e . T h e l a c k o f a n y p o s i t i v e f i n d i n g s i n t h e H o f m a n n a n d K e r e k s t u d y i s c o n s i s t e n t w i t h o t h e r s t u d i e s w h i c h u s e d s i m i l a r m e a s u r e s o f w r i t i n g p e r f o r m a n c e ( W o o d f i n , 1 9 6 8 ; Z e m a n , 1 9 6 9 ) . 36 A r e c e n t s t u d y a n a l y z e d r e l a t i o n s h i p s between r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g w h i l e c o n t r o l l i n g f o r s o c i o - e c o n o m i c s t a t u s ( C h a l l and J a c o b s , 1 9 8 4 ) . T h i r t y s t u d e n t s j u d g e d t o be low i n s o c i o - e c o n o m i c s t a t u s were s t u d i e d i n g r a d e s two, f o u r and s i x , and a y e a r l a t e r i n g r a d e s t h r e e , f i v e , and s e v e n . U n l i k e t h e Loban s t u d y , low S.E.S. s t u d e n t s were n o t compared t o o t h e r S.E.S. g r o u p s . The p u r p o s e o f t h i s s t u d y ( was t o a n a l y z e t h e r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g d e v e l o p m e n t o f l o w S.E.S. s t u d e n t s t o d i s c o v e r t r e n d s , and t o see i f t h e s e t r e n d s were t h e same f o r above and b e l o w a v e r a g e r e a d e r s w i t h i n t h e low S.E.S. g r o u p . An i n d i v i d u a l r e a d i n g measure was d e s i g n e d t o c o n s i s t o f s i x s u b - t e s t s : word r e c o g n i t i o n , p h o n i c s , o r a l r e a d i n g , word m e a n i n g , s i l e n t c o m p r e h e n s i o n , and s p e l l i n g . Ten m i n u t e s o f n a r r a t i v e w r i t i n g i n r e s p o n s e t o a p i c t u r e s t i m u l u s was c o l l e c t e d . W r i t i n g s a m p l e s were e v a l u a t e d on t w e l v e measures i n c l u d i n g s i x j u d g m e n t a l and s i x o b j e c t i v e m e a s u r e s . These measures f e l l i n t o one of f o u r c a t e g o r i e s : o v e r a l l m e a s u r e s ; s y n t a c t i c - o r g a n i z a t i o n a l m e a s u r e s ; c o n t e n t m e a s u r e s ; and p r e c i s i o n m e a s u r e s . The r e s u l t s o f t h e C h a l l and J a c o b s s t u d y s u p p o r t W o o d f i n ' s (1968) e a r l i e r f i n d i n g s f o r g r a d e t h r e e . L i t t l e d i f f e r e n c e b e t w een t h e w r i t i n g o f above and b e l o w a v e r a g e r e a d e r s was o b s e r v e d f o r g r a d e t h r e e . A t g r a d e s f i v e and s e v e n h o w e v e r , a b o v e - a v e r a g e r e a d e r s were g e n e r a l l y r a t e d \" b e t t e r \" and more c o n s i s t e n t on a l l t y p e s o f w r i t i n g m e a s u r e s . D e v e l o p m e n t a l t r e n d s were o b s e r v e d f o r b o t h g r o u p s o f r e a d e r s w i t h r e g a r d t o c o n t e n t 37 r a t i n g s ( c o h e s i o n , c o h e r e n c e , c o m p l e x i t y o f s i t u a t i o n a l d e v e l o p m e n t , i n t e r e s t and humour). B o t h r e a d i n g g r o u p s were f o u n d t o have p r o g r e s s i v e l y h i g h e r c o n t e n t r a t i n g s i n s u c c e s s i v e g r a d e s and e q u a l l y s t r o n g i n c r e a s e s were f o u n d a t g r a d e f i v e as compared w i t h g r a d e t h r e e and i n g r a d e s e v e n as compared w i t h g r a d e f i v e . I n o t h e r w o r d s , a l t h o u g h b e t t e r r e a d e r s were b e t t e r w r i t e r s , t h e w r i t i n g c o n t e n t o f b o t h good and p o o r r e a d e r s was s u p e r i o r t o t h e i r y o u n g e r c o h o r t s . The a u t h o r s c o n c l u d e d t h a t t h e b e l o w -a v e r a g e r e a d e r s i n t h e i r s a m p l e s t e n d e d t o have \" b e t t e r i d e a s t h a n ways o f e x p r e s s i n g them s u c c e s s f u l l y i n t h e i r w r i t i n g \" ( p . 9 8 ) . The f i n d i n g s o f t h i s s t u d y a p p e a r t o s u p p o r t t h o s e t h e o r i s t s who have d e s c r i b e d w r i t i n g a b i l i t y as a d e v e l o p m e n t a l phenomena. An i m p o r t a n t f i n d i n g o f t h e C h a l l and J a c o b s s t u d y was t h a t t h e s t r o n g e s t d i f f e r e n c e b e t ween r e a d i n g g r o u p s was o b s e r v e d on r a t i n g s o f w r i t i n g ' f o r m ' . Form r a t i n g s were b a s e d on m e c h a n i c s , s e n t e n c e s t r u c t u r e , and grammar. R a t i n g s f o r b e l o w - a v e r a g e r e a d e r s were r e p o r t e d t o be c o n s i s t e n t l y low and b e l o w t h e a b o v e -a v e r a g e g r o u p . I t c o u l d be c o n c l u d e d t h a t r e a d i n g a b i l i t y c o n t r i b u t e s t o t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f t h e m e c h a n i c s or f o r m of w r i t i n g . P o t e n t i a l l y c o n f o u n d i n g f a c t o r s s u c h as d i f f e r e n t i a l r e a d i n g e x p e r i e n c e s i n t h e home and s c h o o l may have been e l i m i n a t e d by c o n t r o l l i n g f o r s o c i o - e c o n o m i c s t a t u s . However, i t i s p o s s i b l e t h a t p r o f i c i e n c y i n w r i t i n g m e c h a n i c s may be more of an i n d i c a t i o n o f t h e s u c c e s s f u l l e a r n e r i n s c h o o l or o t h e r f a c t o r s s u c h as a d e q u a t e v i s u a l p e r c e p t i o n o r f i n e motor 38 c o o r d i n a t i o n . P e r h a p s b e t t e r r e a d e r s r e c e i v e d more o r d i f f e r e n t i n s t r u c t i o n and e x p e r i e n c e s w i t h w r i t i n g t h a n d i d p o o r e r r e a d e r s . I n s t r u c t i o n a l f a c t o r s s h o u l d be c o n s i d e r e d i n f u r t h e r r e s e a r c h des i g n . A l t h o u g h t h e s a m p l e i n t h e C h a l l and J a c o b s s t u d y was s m a l l and r e s u l t s c a n n o t s u p p o r t d e f i n i t e c o n c l u s i o n s a b o u t s p e c i f i c r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p s , i t i s i m p o r t a n t n e v e r t h e l e s s f o r a number of r e a s o n s . i t i s u s e f u l i n t h a t i t r e p o r t s r e l a t i o n s h i p s , o r a t l e a s t t r e n d s , between w r i t i n g and r e a d i n g a b i l i t y , i n d e p e n d e n t o f S.E.S. f a c t o r s . The f i n d i n g s a l s o r a i s e p e r t i n e n t g u e s t i o n s a b o u t c o m m o n l y - h e l d a s s u m p t i o n s r e g a r d i n g d e f i c i e n t w r i t e r s . R a t h e r t h a n d w e l l i n g on t h e d e f i c i e n c i e s o f po o r as compared t o good g r o u p s , C h a l l and J a c o b s were a b l e t o d i s c o v e r common c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f good and p o o r r e a d e r s as d e v e l o p i n g w r i t e r s . From t h i s p e r s p e c t i v e , one may s p e c u l a t e t h a t e x p e r i e n c e i n r e a d i n g may i n f l u e n c e a n y r e a d e r ' s n o t i o n o f s t o r y and t h e c o n t e n t o f h i s w r i t t e n work. C o n c e p t s a b o u t s t o r y c o n t e n t may be more s u b l i m i n a l l y d e v e l o p e d as compared t o t h e more o b v i o u s n a t u r e o f t h e m e c h a n i c s o f s u r f a c e f e a t u r e s . F i n a l l y , t h i s s t u d y i s i m p o r t a n t b e c a u s e i t c l e a r l y showed t h a t t h e a n a l y s i s o f s p e c i f i c a s p e c t s o f w r i t i n g p e r f o r m a n c e i s f a r more i n f o r m a t i v e t h a n i n v e s t i g a t i o n s o f b r o a d , i n c l u s i v e d e f i n i t i o n s o f w r i t i n g a b i l i t y . I n c o n c l u s i o n , a l t h o u g h one may s p e c u l a t e a b o u t t h e d i r e c t r e l a t i o n s h i p o f r e a d i n g on w r i t i n g f r o m t h e s e s t u d i e s , f u r t h e r r e s e a r c h i s n e e d e d . N e v e r t h e l e s s , one c a n i n f e r t h a t t h r o u g h 39 s e l e c t i o n and a n a l y s i s o f s p e c i f i c a s p e c t s o f t h e c o m p l e x p r o c e s s c a l l e d w r i t i n g , one may be a b l e t o b e g i n t o i s o l a t e t h e c o n t r i b u t i o n o f r e a d i n g t o t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f w r i t i n g and i l l u m i n a t e t h e n a t u r e o f t h e r e a d i n g / w r i t i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p . The r e s u l t s o f t h e s e s t u d i e s t e n d t o s u p p o r t t h e o r i e s a b o u t t h e d e v e l o p m e n t a l n a t u r e o f w r i t i n g i n t h a t o l d e r c h i l d r e n showed more a d v a n c e d d e v e l o p m e n t o f c e r t a i n a s p e c t s o f w r i t i n g . T h e r e i s a l s o some s u p p o r t f o r t h e t h e o r y t h a t s y n t a c t i c c o m p l e x i t y i n w r i t i n g i s a s s o c i a t e d w i t h r e a d i n g a b i l i t y . W i t h o u t f u r t h e r r e s e a r c h however i t r e m a i n s d i f f i c u l t t o draw d e f i n i t e c o n c l u s i o n s a b o u t t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p b etween r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g . Does W r i t i n g o r W r i t i n g I n s t r u c t i o n I n f l u e n c e R e a d i n g P e r f o r m a n c e ? The q u e s t i o n o f w r i t i n g i n f l u e n c e on r e a d i n g p e r f o r m a n c e has n o t been e x a m i n e d e x t e n s i v e l y . G e n e r a l l y t h e s t u d i e s p r o v i d e d s t u d e n t s w i t h w r i t i n g s t r a t e g i e s o r e x e r c i s e s and l o o k e d for s u b s e q u e n t i m p r o v e m e n t s i n r e a d i n g c o m p r e h e n s i o n . I n one s t u d y , 436 g r a d e f o u r s t u d e n t s i n f i v e s c h o o l s were d e s i g n a t e d h i g h , m i d d l e , o r l o w - a b i l i t y r e a d e r s a c c o r d i n g t o a s t a n d a r d i z e d r e a d i n g t e s t ( S m i t h , J e n s e n , D i l l i n g o f s k i , 1 9 7 1 ) . The s t u d e n t s were r a n d o m l y a s s i g n e d t o one o f t h r e e t r e a t m e n t g r o u p s . Two o f t h e g r o u p s were a s k e d t o do some w r i t i n g a f t e r t h e y r e a d and t h e t h i r d s e r v e d a s a c o n t r o l . T r e a t m e n t One s t u d e n t s r e a d a s h o r t s e l e c t i o n and were a s k e d t o e x t e n d t h e s e l e c t i o n ( d e s i g n a t e d a s a c r e a t i v e w r i t i n g t a s k ) . T r e a t m e n t Two s t u d e n t s r e a d a s h o r t 40 s e l e c t i o n a n d t h e n e i t h e r s u m m a r i z e d t h e s t o r y o r d e s c r i b e d t h e m a i n c h a r a c t e r o r a c t i o n i n t h e s t o r y ( d e s i g n a t e d a s a n o n -c r e a t i v e w r i t i n g t a s k ) . A f t e r w r i t i n g , t h e g r o u p s w e r e g i v e n a c o m p r e h e n s i o n t e s t o n t h e s e l e c t i o n . T h e c o n t r o l g r o u p r e a d t h e s e l e c t i o n a n d t o o k t h e c o m p r e h e n s i o n t e s t b u t d i d n o t w r i t e a n y t h i n g a f t e r r e a d i n g . I t w a s h y p o t h e s i z e d t h a t w r i t t e n p r o d u c t s w o u l d b e o f h i g h e r q u a l i t y w i t h t h e ' c r e a t i v e ' w r i t i n g e x p e r i e n c e a n d t h a t r e a d i n g c o m p r e h e n s i o n , f a c t u a l r e c a l l a n d m a i n i d e a i d e n t i f i c a t i o n , w o u l d b e e n h a n c e d b y t h e ' n o n - c r e a t i v e ' w r i t i n g e x p e r i e n c e . A s e c o n d h y p o t h e s i s w a s t h a t r e a d i n g c o m p r e h e n s i o n s c o r e s w o u l d b e h i g h e r f o r g r o u p s r e c e i v i n g e i t h e r o f t h e w r i t i n g e x p e r i e n c e s t h a n f o r t h e g r o u p r e c e i v i n g n o r e a d i n g - r e l a t e d w r i t i n g e x p e r i e n c e . A n a l y s i s o f v a r i a n c e r e s u l t s d i d n o t f i n d s i g n i f i c a n t e f f e c t s a t t h e . 0 5 l e v e l f o r t h e c o m p r e h e n s i o n t e s t s a m o n g t h e t r e a t m e n t g r o u p s a t a n y a b i l i t y l e v e l . T h e a u t h o r s c o n c l u d e d t h a t n e i t h e r o f t h e i r w r i t i n g t a s k s c o m b i n e d w i t h a r e a d i n g e x p e r i e n c e a p p e a r e d t o h a v e a n y a d v a n t a g e o v e r a r e a d i n g e x p e r i e n c e w i t h n o r e l a t e d w r i t i n g t a s k . A n o t h e r s t u d y i n v e s t i g a t e d t h e e f f e c t s o f s y n t h e t i c a n d a n a l y t i c a p p r o a c h e s t o w r i t i n g i n s t r u c t i o n o n g r o w t h i n r e a d i n g c o m p r e h e n s i o n ( S t r a w a n d S t r e i n e r , 1 9 8 2 ) . O n e h u n d r e d a n d t w e n t y - f o u r g r a d e f o u r s t u d e n t s i n s i x i n t a c t c l a s s e s , w e r e i n s t r u c t e d b y o n e o f t h r e e m e t h o d s o f g r a m m a t i c a l i n s t r u c t i o n : s e n t e n c e - c o m b i n i n g ( d e s i g n a t e d s y n t h e t i c ) , s e n t e n c e - r e d u c t i o n ( a n a l y t i c ) o r e l e m e n t i d e n t i f i c a t i o n ( a n a l y t i c ) . T w o c l a s s e s w e r e 41 randomly assigned to each treatment. Two i n s t r u c t o r s taught one c l a s s from each of the three groups. The e l e m e n t - i d e n t i f i c a t i o n treatment c o n s i s t e d of t y p i c a l grammar lessons from the classroom language te x t and was designated as the c o n t r o l . The treatments were for 30 minutes a day for 25 consecutive school days. The premise of the study was that i n s t r u c t i o n that a f f e c t s growth i n the \"underlying s y n t a c t i c knowledge of students, should be observable i n performances i n other language p r o c e s s i n g modes\"(p.341). In other words i t was hypothesized that sentence-combining i n s t r u c t i o n would a f f e c t reading comprehension. Previous r e s u l t s were discu s s e d which had i n d i c a t e d that students i n s t r u c t e d i n sentence-combining techniques developed greater s y n t a c t i c f l u e n c y i n t h e i r w r i t i n g . No previous s t u d i e s had c o n v i n c i n g l y e s t a b l i s h e d the e f f e c t s of sentence-combining on reading comprehension. Students were given pre and p o s t - t e s t forms of the Nelson Reading S k i l l s Test as well as an author-designed c l o z e post t e s t as reading measures. Pre and p o s t - t e s t forms of the S y n t a c t i c M a t u r i t y Test were a l s o administered. A three-way a n a l y s i s of covariance was employed. The independent v a r i a b l e s were treatment, i n s t r u c t o r , and reading a b i l i t y . A s i g n i f i c a n t treatment e f f e c t (P<.01) was reported for the cl o z e reading t e s t but not for the standardized reading t e s t . The sentence-combining treatment was higher than the sentence-r e d u c t i o n treatment, and both were higher than the c o n t r o l . However, a s i g n i f i c a n t i n s t r u c t o r - b y - t r e a t m e n t i n t e r a c t i o n was 42 found for the cl o z e t e s t and the spectre of i n s t r u c t o r bias made the r e s u l t s d o u b t f u l - The r e s u l t s of t h i s study d i d not provide s u f f i c i e n t evidence to support the hypothesis that the p r a c t i c e of sentence-combining i n w r i t i n g has an i n f l u e n c e on reading comprehens i o n . One of the problems of s t u d i e s l i k e those above i s that i t seems to be d i f f i c u l t to e s t a b l i s h any s i g n i f i c a n t r e s u l t s i n treatment experiments that are so s h o r t - l i v e d . Some research has examined the e f f e c t s of w r i t i n g p r a c t i c e on reading over a longer per i o d of time using case-study research. Two recent case s t u d i e s have i n v e s t i g a t e d the w r i t i n g -reading connection by examining the i n f l u e n c e of re g u l a r w r i t i n g p r a c t i c e on the reading comprehension of remedial readers. One case study d e s c r i b e d the improvement of a twelve year o l d boy with reading d i f f i c u l t i e s (Smith, 1982). Although previous remedial reading i n s t r u c t i o n had not been s u c c e s s f u l , the author documented an increase i n the boy's reading comprehension a f t e r a program of i n s t r u c t i o n that included d a i l y w r i t i n g . D a i l y w r i t i n g a l s o improved the reading of grade one students i n a l e a r n i n g a s s i s t a n c e centre (Dobson, 1985). The teacher-researcher reported on a case study of e i g h t students who were behind i n t h e i r reading s k i l l s . The students were involved i n a wr i t i n g - p r o c e s s programme. Most of t h e i r reading was done as they read and r e v i s e d t h e i r work. Dobson observed the c h i l d r e n ' s increased sense of c o n t r o l over language. She reported that t h e i r confidence grew as t h e i r competence increased during d a i l y 43 w r i t i n g s e s s i o n s i n t h e L e a r n i n g A s s i s t a n c e C e n t r e . The c h i l d r e n became i n v o l v e d i n t h e r e g u l a r r e a d i n g l e s s o n s i n t h e i r c l a s s r o o m s and e x p e r i e n c e d s u c c e s s f o r t h e f i r s t t i m e . B o t h of t h e s e c a s e s t u d i e s o b s e r v e d an i n c r e a s e i n t h e c o n f i d e n c e o f t h e s t u d e n t s as t h e y g a i n e d a s e n s e o f c o n t r o l o v e r w r i t t e n l a n g u a g e . S i m i l a r f i n d i n g s were r e p o r t e d f r o m an e x p e r i m e n t w i t h 70 f r e s h m e n i n two c o l l e g e r e m e d i a l r e a d i n g c l a s s e s ( C o l l i n s , 1 9 8 5 ) . R e m e d i a l r e a d i n g was t a u g h t t o b o t h c l a s s e s b u t one c l a s s a l s o w r o t e f r e e l y f o r t e n m i n u t e s d u r i n g e a c h s e s s i o n . I t was r e p o r t e d t h a t t h e w r i t i n g g r o u p had i n c r e a s e d i n s e l f - e s t e e m , c o n f i d e n c e and i m p r o v e d a t t i t u d e t o w a r d s r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g . A s i g n i f i c a n t i n c r e a s e i n t h e g r o u p ' s r e a d i n g c o m p r e h e n s i o n was a l s o r e p o r t e d . However, p e r t i n e n t d a t a was n o t a v a i l a b l e and no f i r m c o n c l u s i o n s c o u l d be made a b o u t t h e i n f l u e n c e o f w r i t i n g p r a c t i c e on r e a d i n g comprehens i o n . To s u m m a r i z e , t h e r e i s n o t enough r e s e a r c h i n t h e l i t e r a t u r e on w h i c h t o base an y f i r m c o n c l u s i o n s a b o u t t h e e f f e c t o f w r i t i n g o r w r i t i n g i n s t r u c t i o n on r e a d i n g p e r f o r m a n c e . I t seems t h a t w r i t i n g i n s t r u c t i o n may n o t a f f e c t r e a d i n g c o m p r e h e n s i o n b u t f r e e w r i t i n g p r a c t i c e i n t h e c l a s s r o o m may h e l p l e s s a b l e r e a d e r s t o g a i n c o n f i d e n c e i n t h e i r a b i l i t y t o d e a l w i t h w r i t t e n l a n g u a g e , i n c l u d i n g r e a d i n g . 44 Does R e a d i n g o r R e a d i n g I n s t r u c t i o n I n f l u e n c e W r i t i n g P e r f o r m a n c e ? The most p r o m i s i n g a r e a o f r e s e a r c h i n t o r e a d i n g / w r i t i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p s has been t h e i n f l u e n c e o f r e a d i n g and r e a d i n g i n s t r u c t i o n on w r i t i n g p e r f o r m a n c e . A g a i n t h e r e has been r a t h e r s p o r a d i c i n t e r e s t o v e r t h e l a s t f o r t y y e a r s and r e s e a r c h e r s have a p p r o a c h e d t h e t o p i c w i t h v a r i e d emphases. Even i n t h i s most p r o m i s i n g a r e a o f i n v e s t i g a t i o n , t h e c o n c l u s i o n s r e m a i n somewhat e q u i v o c a l . E x p e r i m e n t a l s t u d i e s w h i c h u s e d r e a d i n g i n s t r u c t i o n as a t r e a t m e n t were t h e l e a s t s u c c e s s f u l whereas t h o s e s t u d i e s w h i c h e x a m i n e d r e a d i n g i n p u t as an i n f l u e n c e on w r i t i n g y i e l d e d i n t e r e s t i n g r e s u l t s . A f t e r t h e i n v e s t i g a t i o n by M a t thew, L a r s e n and B u t l e r (1945) i n t o t h e e f f e c t of r e a d i n g i n s t r u c t i o n on w r i t i n g p e r f o r m a n c e i n c o l l e g e c o m p o s i t i o n c l a s s e s , no o t h e r e x p e r i m e n t a l r e s e a r c h on t h e t o p i c a p p e a r e d f o r a l m o s t t w e n t y y e a r s . One s t u d y d i s c o v e r e d i n a d v e r t e n t l y t h a t r e a d i n g had a p o s i t i v e e f f e c t on w r i t i n g p e r f o r m a n c e ( H e y s , 1 9 6 2 ) . I n f a c t Heys' r e a l p u r p o s e was t o e xamine t h e e f f e c t s of r e g u l a r w r i t i n g p r a c t i c e on w r i t i n g p e r f o r m a n c e w i t h two c l a s s e s e a c h of g r a d e s n i n e t o t w e l v e . One c l a s s o f e a c h p a i r was g i v e n w e e k l y w r i t i n g a s s i g n m e n t s w h i l e t h e o t h e r c l a s s was e x c u s e d f r o m w r i t i n g f o r t h e y e a r b u t was g i v e n e q u i v a l e n t t i m e t o r e a d i n c l a s s . S u b j e c t i v e e v a l u a t i o n o f w r i t i n g p e r f o r m a n c e a t t h e end o f t h e y e a r f a v o u r e d t h e r e a d i n g g r o u p o v e r t h e c l a s s e s w h i c h had e x t r a w r i t i n g p r a c t i c e . Heys c o n c l u d e d t h a t \" f o r many s t u d e n t s r e a d i n g i s a p o s i t i v e i n f l u e n c e 45 on w r i t i n g a b i l i t y \" , and t h i s i n f l u e n c e \"appears to be a s e p a r a t e f a c t o r , not r e l a t e d to the t e a c h e r ' s p e r s o n a l i t y and enthusiasm\" (p.322). He encouraged r e p l i c a t i o n of the s t u d y w i t h much l a r g e r samples of s t u d e n t s . A re v i e w of the l i t e r a t u r e , however, r e v e a l s t h a t no one e l s e was w i l l i n g to r e p l i c a t e the s t u d y by removing w r i t i n g from t h e i r c u r r i c u l u m f o r a yea r . A r e c e n t i n v e s t i g a t i o n examined the e f f e c t s of r e a d i n g i n s t r u c t i o n on w r i t i n g performance ( T a y l o r and Beach, 1984). These a u t h o r s h y p o t h e s i z e d t h a t \" r e a d i n g i n s t r u c t i o n would i n d i r e c t l y d e velop s t u d e n t s ' competence i n u s i n g t e x t s t r u c t u r e when w r i t i n g e x p o s i t o r y t e x t and thus a f f e c t the q u a l i t y of t h e i r w r i t i n g . \" (p.137) The s u b j e c t s were 114 grade seven s t u d e n t s who were i n one of t h r e e combined S o c i a l S t u d i e s / E n g l i s h c l a s s e s . The c l a s s e s r e c e i v i n g the e x p e r i m e n t a l and c o n v e n t i o n a l i n s t r u c t i o n were taught by the same t e a c h e r . The t h i r d c l a s s was d e s i g n a t e d as the c o n t r o l group and taught by a d i f f e r e n t t e a c h e r . A l l the c l a s s e s were t e s t e d on the C a l i f o r n i a Achievement Test and d e s c r i b e d as b e i n g of s i m i l a r r e a d i n g a b i l i t y . Students i n the e x p e r i m e n t a l group were taught t o summarize s o c i a l s t u d i e s textbook m a t e r i a l a c c o r d i n g t o the o r g a n i z a t i o n of main and s u b o r d i n a t e i d e a s i n the t e x t . C o n v e n t i o n a l i n s t r u c t i o n c o n s i s t e d of answering and d i s c u s s i n g q u e s t i o n s a f t e r r e a d i n g . The c o n t r o l group r e c e i v e d no r e a d i n g i n s t r u c t i o n i n s o c i a l s t u d i e s . The experiment l a s t e d seven weeks. A l l groups were pre and p o s t - t e s t e d i n r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g . Reading measures i n c l u d e d two w r i t t e n r e c a l l and s h o r t answer t e s t s i n response t o 46 e x p o s i t o r y e s s a y s . The w r i t i n g t a s k c o n s i s t e d o f two \" o p i n i o n / e x a m p l e \" e s s a y s . These were r a t e d f o r o v e r a l l q u a l i t y . Means were c a l c u l a t e d f o r t h e t h r e e g r o u p s on t h e p r e and p o s t -t e s t r e a d i n g m e a s u r e s , a s t a n d a r d i z e d r e a d i n g measure and t h e p r e and p o s t - t e s t w r i t i n g s a m p l e s . A n a l y s i s r e v e a l e d t h a t on t h e w r i t i n g p o s t - t e s t s , t h e e x p e r i m e n t a l g r o u p had s i g n i f i c a n t l y h i g h e r r a t i n g s t h a n t h e c o n t r o l g r o u p b u t were n o t h i g h e r t h a n t h e c o n v e n t i o n a l g r o u p . T h e r e had been no d i f f e r e n c e between t h e g r o u p s on t h e p r e - t e s t r a t i n g s . The e x p e r i m e n t a l g r o u p had s i g n i f i c a n t l y h i g h e r s c o r e s t h a n t h e o t h e r two g r o u p s on r e c a l l o f t h e f i r s t p a s s a g e . On t h e s e c o n d p a s s a g e , t h e y were h i g h e r t h a n t h e c o n t r o l g r o u p b u t t h e y were n o t s i g n i f i c a n t l y h i g h e r t h a n t h e c o n v e n t i o n a l g r o u p . The a u t h o r s c o n c l u d e d f r o m t h e i r d a t a a n a l y s i s t h a t \" r e a d i n g i n s t r u c t i o n f o c u s s i n g on t e x t s t r u c t u r e had i n d i r e c t e f f e c t s on t h e s t u d e n t s ' w r i t i n g i n a d d i t i o n t o d i r e c t e f f e c t s on t h e i r r e c a l l o f u n f a m i l i a r r e a d i n g m a t e r i a l \" p.143. They i n t e r p r e t e d t h i s f u r t h e r t o s t a t e t h a t a w a r e n e s s o f t e x t s t r u c t u r e may have i m p r o v e d t h e s t r u c t u r e o f t h e s t u d e n t s ' e x p o s i t o r y w r i t i n g . T h i s i n t e r p r e t a t i o n c a n n o t be c o r r o b o r a t e d f r o m t h e d a t a b e c a u s e t h e w r i t i n g measure was o n l y d e s c r i b e d as b e i n g f o r ' o v e r a l l q u a l i t y ' . A more r e v e a l i n g measure w o u l d have a n a l y z e d t h e e s s a y s f o r t h e p r e s e n c e o f a h i e r a r c h i c a l s t r u c t u r e w i t h s u p e r o r d i n a t e and s u b o r d i n a t e p r o p o s i t i o n s . A n o t h e r l i m i t a t i o n o f t h i s s t u d y was t h e use o f one t e a c h e r f o r two of t h e g r o u p s and a n o t h e r f o r t h e c o n t r o l g r o u p . The 47 a u t h o r s p o i n t e d o u t t h a t t h e t e a c h e r e f f e c t was n o t a f a c t o r b e c a u s e t h e y s a i d t h a t t h e t e a c h e r d i d n o t have a v e s t e d i n t e r e s t i n e i t h e r t r e a t m e n t . B u t a l t h o u g h t e a c h e r e f f e c t may n o t have been a f a c t o r i n d i f f e r e n c e s between t h e e x p e r i m e n t a l and c o n v e n t i o n a l i n s t r u c t i o n g r o u p s , i t c e r t a i n l y c o u l d be c o n s i d e r e d a f a c t o r where b o t h of t h o s e g r o u p s were d i f f e r e n t f r o m t h e c o n t r o l g r o u p , t a u g h t by a n o t h e r t e a c h e r . The p r o b l e m s of t h i s s t u d y need t o be c o n s i d e r e d b e f o r e a c c e p t i n g i t s e v i d e n c e of r e a d i n g i n s t r u c t i o n i n f l u e n c e on w r i t i n g p e r f o r m a n c e . Two s t u d i e s a t t e m p t e d t o examine r e a d i n g c o n t e n t as an i n f l u e n c e on w r i t i n g p e r f o r m a n c e . One s t u d y e x a m i n e d t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t ween r e a d i n g c o m p r e h e n s i o n and t h e p r o d u c t i o n o f s y n t a c t i c s t r u c t u r e s ( E v a n s , 1 9 7 9 ) . F i f t y s t u d e n t s i n g r a d e s e i g h t , t w e l v e and s e n i o r y e a r i n u n i v e r s i t y were g i v e n n i n e p r o s e p a s s a g e s t o r e a d and were r e q u i r e d t o r e s p o n d t o c l o z e r e a d i n g t e s t s c o n s t r u c t e d on t h e same p a s s a g e s . T h e r e were t h r e e p a s s a g e s e a c h of n a r r a t i v e , e x p o s i t o r y , and d e s c r i p t i v e p r o s e . E a c h p a s s a g e was r e w r i t t e n i n t o e i t h e r s i m p l e , m o d e r a t e or d i f f i c u l t s y n t a c t i c s t r u c t u r e s and e a c h s t u d e n t r e a d one of e a c h l e v e l o f d i f f i c u l t y i n e a c h o f t h e p r o s e c a t e g o r i e s . S t u d e n t s were a s k e d t o r e - w r i t e a s i m p l i f i e d p a r a g r a p h i n a \" b e t t e r way by c o m b i n i n g , r e a r r a n g i n g , and d e l e t i n g s e n t e n c e p a r t s 1 1 ( p . 130 ) . The r e w r i t e s were a n a l y z e d f o r s y n t a c t i c c o m p l e x i t y a c c o r d i n g t o t -u n i t l e n g t h , mean number o f noun c l a u s e s and p h r a s e s p e r s e n t e n c e . I t was p r e d i c t e d t h a t t h e r e w o u l d be a s i g n i f i c a n t r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t ween t h e w r i t i n g and r e a d i n g o f s y n t a c t i c 48 structures for a l l the grade levels. The results of the analysis of variance indicated an overall s i g n i f i c a n t inverse relationship between the three c r i t e r i a for written syntax because as the cloze means increased, the indices of writing decreased. The cloze means declined across the grades whereas the writing indices increased in the older students. This study was designed to show that a b i l i t y to produce certain kinds of syntactic structures in writing is related to the a b i l i t y to comprehend written language having those same structures. Unfortunately, by giving the students the passages to read before they wrote cloze tests based on the same passages, the task became one of short-term memory rather than comprehension. It is perhaps not surprising that the grade eight students out-performed the university seniors on the cloze task. They may have been more familiar with the 'fi11-in-the-blank' format from recent elementary school experience. The author also speculated that the grade eight students may have viewed the task more seriously. Cloze passages may be perfectly v a l i d on their own for measuring comprehension of syntactic structures and so i t is puzzling why Evans chose to have the students read the passages f i r s t . Comparing students of different grade levels also confounded the results with age and experience. An investigation which used more than one writing sample and which compared the results of s y n t a c t i c a l l y controlled cloze passages within grade levels might have more enlightening results. 49 The o t h e r s t u d y t h a t e x a m i n e d t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n r e a d i n g i n p u t a n d w r i t i n g p e r f o r m a n c e e x a m i n e d c l a s s r o o m r e a d i n g m a t e r i a l s a s a n i n f l u e n c e on c h i l d r e n ' s w r i t i n g ( E c k h o f f , 1 9 8 4 ) . E c k h o f f p r o p o s e d t h a t c h i l d r e n may l e a r n s t r u c t u r e s f r o m t h e i r r e a d i n g and u s e them i n t h e i r w r i t i n g . She c o m p a r e d t h e w r i t i n g o f two g r a d e two c l a s s e s who u s e d d i f f e r e n t b a s a l r e a d i n g s e r i e s . B a s a l A was d e s c r i b e d a s h a v i n g a somewhat l i t e r a r y s t y l e a n d B a s a l B a s h a v i n g a s i m p l i f i e d s t y l e . S t o r i e s we re r a n d o m l y s e l e c t e d f r o m e a c h b a s a l and a n a l y z e d f o r s e n t e n c e l e n g t h , t -u n i t s , and w o r d s p e r t - u n i t . B a s a l A was f o u n d t o h a v e more c o m p l e x s t r u c t u r e s t h a n B a s a l B . W r i t i n g s a m p l e s we re c o l l e c t e d a n d a n a l y z e d f o r s t y l e , f o r m a t , a n d l i n g u i s t i c s t r u c t u r e s . E c k h o f f f o u n d t h a t B a s a l A c h i l d r e n u s e d more e l a b o r a t e s t r u c t u r e s w i t h c o m p l e x v e r b s , s u b o r d i n a t e c l a u s e s , and i n f i n i t i v e a n d p a r t i c i p l e p h r a s e s . H o w e v e r , when a b o v e a v e r a g e B a s a l A a n d B c h i l d r e n were c o m p a r e d , no s t a t i s t i c a l l y s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e was o b s e r v e d f o r t h e use o f s u b o r d i n a t e s t r u c t u r e s . E c k h o f f r e p o r t e d s i m i l a r i t i e s o f f o r m a t a n d s t y l i s t i c f e a t u r e s o f t h e B a s a l B s e r i e s i n t h e w r i t i n g o f t h o s e c h i l d r e n . She c o n c l u d e d t h a t t h e B a s a l s t o r i e s had a s t r o n g i m p a c t on t h e c h i l d r e n ' s w r i t i n g a s t h e y seemed t o s e r v e a s m o d e l s f o r t h e c h i l d r e n . I t w o u l d seem t h a t a n a l y s i s o f l i n g u i s t i c s t r u c t u r e s a s a b a s i s f o r c o m p a r i s o n b e t w e e n r e a d i n g i n p u t a n d w r i t i n g o u t p u t i s d i f f i c u l t b e c a u s e o f s o many p o t e n t i a l l y c o n f o u n d i n g v a r i a b l e s . 50 A l i m i t a t i o n of the Eckoff study was that d i f f e r e n c e s i n teaching methods, o r a l l i n g u i s t i c a b i l i t i e s , and outside reading experiences may have i n f l u e n c e d the w r i t i n g performance of s u b j e c t s . F i n a l l y , three s t u d i e s examined the behaviour of w r i t e r s and found reading to be an i n f l u e n t i a l f a c t o r . These s u b j e c t i v e observations seem to a f f i r m hypotheses about the i n f l u e n c e of reading i n the development of w r i t i n g a b i l i t y . In one study examining the reading and w r i t i n g behaviours of e i g h t students s e l e c t e d from grades four and seven (Birnaum,1982), i t was found that the b e t t e r w r i t e r s were good readers; they formed plans and f r e q u e n t l y paused to re-read as they wrote. In c o n t r a s t , i t was reported that the poor w r i t e r s seldom re-read and seemed to have l e s s of a sense of c o n t r o l and purpose in t h e i r w r i t i n g . In a case study of an e i g h t year o l d , the r e l a t i o n s h i p between reading and w r i t i n g was described as a ' r e c i p r o c a l agreement'(Boutwe11, 1983). Boutwell d e s c r i b e d reading as a s t r a t e g y for w r i t i n g . The c h i l d , a p r o f i c i e n t reader and w r i t e r , was observed to re-read f r e g u e n t l y as she wrote and to r e v i s e with an awareness of her experience as a reader. Observations from a study of f i f t e e n grade twelve students who were good w r i t e r s ( S t a l l a r d , 1974), confirmed that frequent re-reading was part of the process fo r p r o f i c i e n t w r i t e r s . A good w r i t e r re-read not j u s t i n order to r e v i s e but a l s o i n order to r e f l e c t on what he had w r i t t e n , \"to experience i t h i m s e l f \" as a reader.(p.218) 51 I n summary, t h e r e s e a r c h on t h e i n f l u e n c e of r e a d i n g i n s t r u c t i o n on w r i t i n g p e r f o r m a n c e p r o v i d e s l i t t l e i n s i g h t i n t o t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p . S t u d i e s w h i c h t r i e d t o e s t a b l i s h r e a d i n g i n s t r u c t i o n as an i n f l u e n c e on w r i t i n g were n o t o f s u f f i c i e n t d u r a t i o n t o v e r i f y a n y h y p o t h e s e s a b o u t t h e r e a d i n g / w r i t i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p . The t i m e f a c t o r c o m b i n e d w i t h p r o b l e m s o f d e s i g n have meant t h a t t h i s body o f r e s e a r c h has n o t been o v e r l y e n l i g h t e n i n g i n t e r m s o f r e a d i n g / w r i t i n g c o n n e c t i o n s . The more p r o m i s i n g r e s e a r c h o f Heys ( 1 9 6 2 ) , S t a l l a r d ( 1 9 7 4 ) , B i r n a u m ( 1 9 8 2 ) , B o u t w e l l ( 1 9 8 3 ) , E c k h o f f ( 1 9 8 4 ) , has seemed t o s t r e n g t h e n t h e o r i e s a b o u t r e a d i n g ' s i n f l u e n c e on w r i t i n g p e r f o r m a n c e and d e v e l o p m e n t . However, t h i s r e s e a r c h o n l y p r o v i d e s a s e n s e of t h e r o l e o f r e a d i n g i n w r i t i n g p e r f o r m a n c e . These s t u d i e s , a l o n g w i t h t h o s e o f E v a n e c h k o e t a l (1974) and C h a l l and J a c o b s ( 1 9 8 4 ) , have f u r n i s h e d i n d i c a t i o n s r a t h e r t h a n f i r m c o n c l u s i o n s . They i n d i c a t e t h a t r e a d i n g p r a c t i c e and e x p e r i e n c e may i n f l u e n c e t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f s y n t a c t i c s t r u c t u r e s , m e c h a n i c s and f o r m i n w r i t i n g . They seem t o c o n f i r m o t h e r t h e o r i e s a b o u t t h e d e v e l o p m e n t a l c h a r a c t e r of w r i t i n g . They have n o t p r o v i d e d d e f i n i t i v e e v i d e n c e a b o u t t h e n a t u r e o f t h e r e a d i n g / w r i t i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p . Conclusion Few d e f i n i t e s t a t e m e n t s c a n be made a b o u t t h e r e a d i n g / w r i t i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p b a s e d on a s u r v e y of p a s t r e s e a r c h . R e s e a r c h i n t e r e s t i n r e a d i n g / w r i t i n g c o n n e c t i o n s has o c c u r r e d 52 o n l y s p o r a d i c a l l y o v e r t h e y e a r s . The work t h a t has been done has been i s o l a t e d , w i t h l i t t l e o b v i o u s c o n n e c t i o n t o p r e v i o u s work. R e s e a r c h e r s f r o m t h e f i e l d s o f l i n g u i s t i c s o r e d u c a t i o n have n o t e x p l o r e d or e x t e n d e d e a c h o t h e r ' s i n v e s t i g a t i o n s , b u t have p u r s u e d r a t h e r i d i o s y n c r a t i c p a t h s o f i n q u i r y . The r e s e a r c h p r o d u c e d by t h e s e i n d e p e n d e n t and v a r i a n t s o u r c e s has had p r o b l e m s w i t h d e s i g n and m e t h o d o l o g y . S m a l l s a m p l e s , i n s e n s i t i v e m e a s u r e s , and c o n f o u n d i n g v a r i a b l e s have i n t e r f e r e d w i t h r e s u l t s . C o r r e l a t i o n a l s t u d i e s have been t o o g l o b a l t o p r o v i d e much i n s i g h t . The e n s u i n g e v i d e n c e f r o m a l l t h e s e s t u d i e s i s n o t e a s i l y s y n t h e s i z e d i n t o an c l e a r p i c t u r e of t h e r e a d i n g / w r i t i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p . W h i l e t h e r e i s e v i d e n c e i n t h e r e s e a r c h t h a t t h e two p r o c e s s e s a r e r e l a t e d , t h e n a t u r e of t h a t r e l a t i o n s h i p r e m a i n s o b s c u r e . The R e a d i n g / W r i t i n g R e l a t i o n s h i p : T h e o r y I n t r o d u c t i o n The p r e s e n t i n v e s t i g a t i o n a t t e m p t s t o examine one a s p e c t of t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p between r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g . The t h e o r e t i c a l framework o f t h e s t u d y l i n k s t h e o r i e s a b o u t t h e r e c i p r o c a l i n t e r a c t i o n and d e v e l o p m e n t o f r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g w i t h t h e o r i e s w h i c h assume t h a t the. o r i g i n o f s t o r y e l e m e n t s i n c h i l d r e n ' s n a r r a t i v e s and t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f s t o r y schema a r e i n f l u e n c e d by e x p e r i e n c e w i t h s t o r y - r e a d i n g . T h i s s e c t i o n o f t h e r e v i e w d e s c r i b e s t h e o r i e s o f r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g d e v e l o p m e n t as i n t e r a c t i v e w i t h i n a h o l i s t i c p e r s p e c t i v e . I t a l s o d i s c u s s e s 53 t h e o r i e s a b o u t t h e o r i g i n s and d e v e l o p m e n t o f s t o r y c o n c e p t s and n a r r a t i v e a b i l i t i e s as one f a c e t o f h o l i s t i c l a n g u a g e d e v e l o p m e n t . The H o l i s t i c D e v e l o p m e n t o f Language A b i l i t y \"... we must come t o u n d e r s t a n d t h a t what t h e c h i l d knows a b o u t one e x p r e s s i o n o f l a n g u a g e c a n s u p p o r t g r o w t h and d e v e l o p m e n t i n a n o t h e r . \" ( H a r s t e , B u r k e , and Woodward ( 1 9 8 2 ) , p . 1 2 9 . ) D e s c r i b i n g t h e n a t u r e o f t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p between l a n g u a g e p r o c e s s e s has been a r e o c c u r r i n g i n t e r e s t w i t h i n t h e s o c i o -p s y c h o l i n g u i s t i c t h e o r e t i c a l p e r s p e c t i v e . E x p l o r a t i o n s i n t o s i m i l a r i t i e s i n c o m m u n i c a t i v e f u n c t i o n , and p a t t e r n s o f d e v e l o p m e n t o f c o m p e t e n c y i n e a c h o f t h e f o u r p r o c e s s e s ( r e a d i n g , w r i t i n g , s p e a k i n g , l i s t e n i n g ) , have f u e l e d a s s u m p t i o n s a b o u t t h e i n t e r r e l a t i o n o f t h e s e components o f l a n g u a g e . From t h i s r e c o g n i t i o n o f s i m i l a r i t i e s b e t ween l a n g u a g e p r o c e s s e s , a h o l i s t i c v i e w o f l a n g u a g e d e v e l o p m e n t emerges t o f o r m t h e f o u n d a t i o n o f t h e o r i e s a b o u t r e a d i n g / w r i t i n g c o n n e c t i o n s . I t i s f r o m t h i s t h e o r e t i c a l p e r s p e c t i v e t h a t t h i s s t u d y was c o n c e i v e d . A h o l i s t i c v i e w o f l a n g u a g e e m p h a s i z e s a n a l o g o u s p r o p e r t i e s and i n t e r a c t i o n b e t ween l a n g u a g e p r o c e s s e s . I n A t w e l l ' s (1983) h o l i s t i c v i e w f o r e x a m p l e , l a n g u a g e i s t h e r e l a t i o n a l base f o r s p e a k i n g , l i s t e n i n g , r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g and t h e s e d i f f e r e n t l a n g u a g e e x p r e s s i o n s r e l a t e t o t h e c o n t e x t u a l s e t t i n g and t h e p r a g m a t i c c h o i c e s o f t h e u s e r . She s t a t e s t h a t a l l e x p r e s s i o n s of l a n g u a g e c a l l upon t h e same b a s e , and t h a t movement between f o r m s 54 \u00E2\u0080\u00A2 i s n a t u r a l a s t h e u s e r c h o o s e s t h e f o r m a p p r o p r i a t e t o t h e c o n t e x t and p r a g m a t i c s o f t h e s i t u a t i o n . I n A t w e l l ' s l a n g u a g e schema, r e a d i n g , w r i t i n g , s p e a k i n g and l i s t e n i n g a r e ' r e p r e s e n t a t i o n a l f o r m a t s ' o f a w h o l e - l a n g u a g e b a s e . W i t h i n a h o l i s t i c p e r s p e c t i v e , t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f l a n g u a g e p r o c e s s i n g a b i l i t i e s i s v i e w e d a s i n t e r r e l a t e d . Many t h e o r i e s a b o u t i n t e r r e l a t e d l a n g u a g e d e v e l o p m e n t a r e r o o t e d i n p a r a l l e l o b s e r v a t i o n s a b o u t c h i l d r e n ' s o r a l l a n g u a g e a c g u i s i t i o n . The p r e m i s e o f t h e s e t h e o r i e s i s t h a t c h i l d r e n seem t o have a n a t u r a l a b i l i t y t o l e a r n l a n g u a g e i n a l l i t s for m s and t h a t c h i l d r e n do t h i s by o b s e r v i n g o r l i s t e n i n g , and e x p e r i m e n t i n g i n d i f f e r e n t c o n t e x t s . T h i s a s s u m p t i o n o f i n t e r a c t i v e l a n g u a g e g r o w t h a p p e a r s t o u n d e r l i e r e c e n t l i t e r a c y r e s e a r c h w h i c h has s t r e s s e d d e v e l o p m e n t a l s i m i l a r i t i e s b etween t h e f o u r l a n g u a g e p r o c e s s e s . A g r o w i n g number o f l i t e r a c y s t u d i e s s u p p o r t t h e p o r t r a i t o f t h e c h i l d as p o r t r a y e d by r e s e a r c h i n t o o r a l l a n g u a g e a c q u i s i t i o n ( J o h n s o n , 1 9 7 6 ) . R e c e n t r e s e a r c h i n t o e m ergent l i t e r a c y has c o r r o b o r a t e d a p r o f i l e o f t h e c h i l d a s an a c t i v e l e a r n e r who u s e s r e d u n d a n c i e s , h y p o t h e s i z e s , g e n e r a t e s r u l e s , and t e s t s r u l e s as she d e v e l o p s l a n g u a g e a b i l i t y . H a r s t e , B u r k e and Woodward ( 1 9 8 2 ) , f o r e x a m p l e , f o u n d e v i d e n c e i n c h i l d r e n ' s e a r l y w r i t i n g t h a t w r i t t e n l a n g u a g e i s l e a r n e d n a t u r a l l y by c h i l d r e n i n l i t e r a t e s o c i e t i e s . These c h i l d r e n , a r e a c t i v e l y i n v o l v e d w i t h p r i n t i n t h e i r e n v i r o n m e n t , and t h e i r p e r c e p t i o n s a r e \" o r g a n i z e d \" , \" s y s t e m a t i c \" and \" v e r i f i a b l e \" i n t h a t t h e y e x p e c t p r i n t t o be m e a n i n g f u l and have s e m a n t i c i n t e n t . These r e s e a r c h e r s have 55 p o s t u l a t e d t h a t w r i t t e n l a n g u a g e d e v e l o p m e n t i s a s o c i o p s y c h o l i n g u i s t i c p r o c e s s w h i c h p a r a l l e l s o r a l l a n g u a g e d e v e l o p m e n t . From t h e i r o b s e r v a t i o n s o f emergent l i t e r a c y and e a r l y w r i t i n g i n y oung c h i l d r e n , H a r s t e , B u r k e and Woodward have c o n s t r u c t e d an i m p o r t a n t t h e o r y a b o u t t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p s between l a n g u a g e p r o c e s s e s i n c l u d i n g r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g . They c o i n e d t h e t e r m \" L i n g u i s t i c D a t a P o o l \" i n o r d e r t o d e s c r i b e t h e c o g n i t i v e i n t e r a c t i o n w h i c h t h e y t h e o r i z e t a k e s p l a c e d u r i n g l i n g u i s t i c p r o c e s s i n g . T h i s t e r m d e s c r i b e s t h e i n t e r a c t i o n d u r i n g w h i c h what i s l e a r n e d v i a one e x p r e s s i o n o f l a n g u a g e becomes a v a i l a b l e d a t a f o r e x p r e s s i o n i n a n o t h e r l a n g u a g e f o r m . H a r s t e , B u r k e and Woodward s t a t e t h a t c h i l d r e n seem t o have a n a t u r a l s t r a t e g y o f \" f i n e t u n i n g l a n g u a g e w i t h l a n g u a g e \" and t h a t t h i s use of e x p e r i e n c e s w i t h o t h e r l i n g u i s t i c s o u r c e s d e m o n s t r a t e s t h e i n t e r r e l a t e d n e s s of t h e d e v e l o p m e n t of t h e l a n g u a g e p r o c e s s e s . S i m i l a r a s s e r t i o n s were made by B i s s e x ( 1 9 8 4 ) , Goodman ( 1 9 8 3 ) , Chomsky ( 1 9 7 9 ) , and C l a y , (1983) who o b s e r v e d t h a t c h i l d r e n d e m o n s t r a t e c o g n i t i v e f l e x i b i l i t y i n t h e i r w i l l i n g n e s s t o use what t h e y know f r o m o t h e r l i n g u i s t i c s o u r c e s i n t h e i r h y p o t h e s e s - t e s t i n g t o d i s c o v e r t h e p r a g m a t i c s , s e m a n t i c s and s y n t a x of w r i t t e n l a n g u a g e . I n o t h e r w o r d s , a c c o r d i n g t o t h e s e r e s e a r c h e r s , c h i l d r e n i n l i t e r a t e e n v i r o n m e n t s a r e a c t i v e l y p u r s u i n g k n o w l e d g e a b o u t w r i t t e n l a n g u a g e t h r o u g h ' r e a d i n g ' e n v i r o n m e n t a l p r i n t and a r e a b l e t o use t h i s k n o w l e d g e i n t h e i r e a r l y e x p l o r a t i o n s w i t h w r i t i n g . These t h e o r i s t s , a l o n g w i t h 56 H a r s t e , B u r k e , and Woodward, have i n common t h e i r e m p h a s i s on s i m i l a r i t i e s and a n a l o g o u s p r o p e r t i e s i n t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f l a n g u a g e p r o c e s s e s i n c l u d i n g r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g , and t h e i r a s s u m p t i o n of i n t e r r e l a t i o n s b e t ween t h e s e p r o c e s s e s . O t h e r r e s e a r c h e r s have o b s e r v e d r e c i p r o c i t y d u r i n g r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g as o l d e r c h i l d r e n d e v e l o p a s w r i t e r s . L u c y C a l k i n s (1983) commented t h a t c h i l d r e n who a r e p r o f i c i e n t w r i t e r s use t h e i r k n o w l e d g e a b o u t r e a d i n g as t h e y compose. I n o t h e r w o r d s , a c c o r d i n g t o C a l k i n s , t h e y c a p i t a l i z e on c o n n e c t i o n s between r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g as t h e y d e v e l o p p r o f i c i e n c y . J a n e t Emig i n h e r 1971 s t u d y on s t u d e n t w r i t e r s i n g r a d e t w e l v e , d e s c r i b e d w r i t i n g as a r e c u r s i v e p r o c e s s where r e v i s i o n i n v o l v e s t h e w r i t e r m o n i t o r i n g h i s work i n t h e r o l e o f ' a u d i e n c e ' , i n o t h e r w o r d s , i n t h e r o l e o f r e a d e r . Emig's e a r l y (1969) t h e o r i e s a b o u t w r i t i n g , p u b l i s h e d i n an a r t i c l e on t h e d e v e l o p m e n t of r h e t o r i c ( 1 9 8 3 ) , a r e s u b s t a n t i a t e d by l a t e r r e s e a r c h w h i c h has c o n f i r m e d t h e e v o l u t i o n o f w r i t i n g as a n a t u r a l , d e v e l o p m e n t a l phenomena i n w h i c h t h e w r i t e r c a l l s on h i s r e s o u r c e s d e v e l o p e d t h r o u g h r e a d i n g ( H a r s t e e t a l , 1984 ) . These and o t h e r t h e o r i e s a b o u t t h e h o l i s t i c n a t u r e o f l a n g u a g e p r o c e s s i n g have had r e c e n t i m p a c t on e d u c a t i o n . They have g r a d u a l l y i n f l u e n c e d e d u c a t o r s ' p e r c e p t i o n s o f r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g . T h e r e has been a marked s h i f t away f r o m t h e commonly, h e l d v i e w o f r e a d i n g as r e c e p t i o n and w r i t i n g a s p r o d u c t i o n . T r a d i t i o n a l v i e w s p e r c e i v e r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g a s d i s c r e t e e n t i t i e s and n a t u r a l o p p o s i t e s o r m i r r o r - i m a g e s o f one a n o t h e r 5 7 w h o s e s k i l l s n e e d t o b e t a u g h t s e q u e n t i a l l y a n d i n d e p e n d e n t l y . U n t i l r e c e n t l y , s c h o o l c u r r i c u l a s e e m t o h a v e o p e r a t e d o n a k i n d o f s e q u e n t i a l t h e o r y i n w h i c h o r a l l a n g u a g e i n f l u e n c e s r e a d i n g d e v e l o p m e n t a n d r e a d i n g i s i n t u r n a f o u n d a t i o n f o r w r i t i n g ( T i e r n e y , 1 9 8 5 ; T w a y , 1 9 8 6 ) . C u r r e n t t h e o r i s t s h a v e d e s c r i b e d t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p s b e t w e e n t h e l a n g u a g e p r o c e s s e s a s i n t e r a c t i v e r a t h e r t h a n l i n e a r -s e q u e n t i a l . F o r e x a m p l e , D o n a l d G r a v e s ( 1 9 8 2 ) , p i o n e e r r e s e a r c h e r o f t h e w r i t i n g p r o c e s s , e x p l o d e d c o n v e n t i o n a l w i s d o m w h i c h h e l d r e a d i n g a s a p r e c u r s o r f o r w r i t i n g d e v e l o p m e n t w h e n h e o b s e r v e d t h a t t h e o p p o s i t e w a s a l s o t r u e i n t h a t c h i l d r e n l e a r n e d m o r e a b o u t r e a d i n g t h r o u g h t h e i r w r i t i n g . He a l s o n o t e d t h a t c h i l d r e n w h o w r i t e f o r o t h e r s a c h i e v e m o r e e a s i l y t h e o b j e c t i v i t y n e c e s s a r y f o r r e a d i n g t h e w o r k o f o t h e r s . T h e p r e m i s e o f t h e s e t h e o r i e s a b o u t r e a d i n g a n d w r i t i n g d e v e l o p m e n t i s t h a t r e a d i n g a n d w r i t i n g a r e s i m i l a r a n d t h a t t h e y i n t e r a c t i n a m u t u a l l y s u p p o r t i v e w a y s o t h a t t h e l e a r n e r i s a b l e t o e n h a n c e t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f r e a d i n g a b i l i t y t h r o u g h w r i t i n g a n d v i c e v e r s a . C o r r e s p o n d i n g t h e o r i e s a b o u t t h e f u n c t i o n o f l a n g u a g e p r o c e s s e s a l s o h a v e e m p h a s i z e d t h e p r e s e n c e o f s i m i l a r i t i e s . T h e o r i s t s h a v e r e c e n t l y r e c o g n i z e d t h e e x i s t e n c e o f a n a l o g o u s p r o p e r t i e s a n d h a v e p o s t u l a t e d s p e c i f i c r e l a t e d c o m p o n e n t s w i t h i n t h e s e l a n g u a g e p r o c e s s e s . T i e r n e y a n d P e a r s o n ( 1 9 8 3 ) f o r e x a m p l e , s t a t e t h a t r e a d i n g a n d w r i t i n g a r e s i m i l a r p r o c e s s e s b e c a u s e t h e y b o t h i n v o l v e ' a c t s o f c o m p o s i n g ' . T h e y a r g u e t h a t r e a d e r s ' c o m p o s e m e a n i n g ' f o r t h e m s e l v e s a s t h e y r e a d . T o s u p p o r t t h e i r 5 8 a r g u m e n t , t h e y d e s c r i b e t h e c o m p o s i n g p r o c e s s a n d p o i n t o u t s i m i l a r i t i e s b e t w e e n t h e a c t o f c o m p o s i t i o n f o r r e a d e r s a s w e l l a s w r i t e r s . T h e s e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f c o m p o s i n g a r e : p l a n n i n g , d r a f t i n g , a l i g n i n g , r e v i s i n g , a n d m o n i t o r i n g . P e a r s o n a n d T i e r n e y s t a t e t h a t r e a d e r s a n d w r i t e r s n e g o t i a t e m e a n i n g a n d t h a t t h e y a r e e a c h t a c i t l y a w a r e o f t h e o t h e r a s t h e y a t t e m p t s e p a r a t e l y t o a l i g n t h e i r p e r c e p t i o n s t o g e t a t o r t o c o n v e y m e a n i n g , t h e p r i m a r y f u n c t i o n o f e a c h p r o c e s s . W i t t r o c k ( 1 9 8 3 ) a l s o d e s c r i b e s s i m i l a r i t i e s b e t w e e n t h e f u n c t i o n o f l a n g u a g e p r o c e s s e s . He a r g u e s a g a i n s t a v i e w t h a t i m p l i e s t h a t r e a d i n g i s e s s e n t i a l l y a ' r e p r o d u c t i v e s k i l l ' a n d w r i t i n g i s c o n v e r s e l y a ' c o n s t r u c t i v e ' o r ' g e n e r a t i v e ' s k i l l . I n W i t t r o c k ' s m o d e l o f g e n e r a t i v e c o m p r e h e n s i o n , r e a d i n g s h a r e s i m p o r t a n t c o g n i t i v e p r o c e s s e s w i t h w r i t i n g . He s t a t e s t h a t ' g o o d ' r e a d i n g i n v o l v e s \" g e n e r a t i v e c o g n i t i v e p r o c e s s e s \" a s d o e s e f f e c t i v e w r i t i n g b e c a u s e r e a d e r s \" g e n e r a t e \" m e a n i n g a s t h e y r e a d . A c c o r d i n g t o W i t t r o c k , r e a d e r s g e n e r a t e m e a n i n g b y r e l a t i n g p a r t s o f t h e t e x t t o o n e a n o t h e r a n d t o t h e i r p r i o r k n o w l e d g e a b o u t t e x t s t r u c t u r e . O t h e r t h e o r i s t s a g r e e w i t h W i t t r o c k a b o u t t h e i m p o r t a n c e o f p r i o r k n o w l e d g e , p a r t i c u l a r l y k n o w l e d g e o f t e x t a n d s t o r y . S q u i r e ( 1 9 8 3 ) s t a t e s t h a t p r i o r k n o w l e d g e i n c l u d i n g s t o r y k n o w l e d g e i s a n e s s e n t i a l e l e m e n t i n b o t h c o m p o s i n g a n d c o m p r e h e n d i n g . I n S q u i r e ' s v i e w , f o r m a t i o n o f p r i o r k n o w l e d g e i s c r i t i c a l i n t h a t i t f u e l s t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f b o t h c o m p o s i n g a n d c o m p r e h e n d i n g . He v i e w s t h r e e a s p e c t s o f p r i o r k n o w l e d g e a s i m p o r t a n t : g e n e r a l 59 b a c k g r o u n d k n o w l e d g e and e x p e r i e n c e ; k n o w l e d g e o f s t r a t e g i e s f o r r e l a t i n g new i n f o r m a t i o n t o p r i o r i n f o r m a t i o n ; and kno w l e d g e a b o u t schema and r h e t o r i c a l s t r u c t u r e s . Adams and B r u c e (1982) s t a t e t h a t l a n g u a g e \" i s a means f o r d i r e c t i n g o t h e r s t o c o n s t r u c t s i m i l a r t h o u g h t s f r o m t h e i r own p r i o r k n o w l e d g e \" ( p . 3 ) . They c l a i m t h a t t e x t c o m p r e h e n s i o n r e s u l t s when t h e r e i s a match between t h e a u t h o r ' s a s s u m p t i o n o f t h e r e a d e r s ' p r i o r k n o w l e d g e and t h e a c t u a l k n o w l e d g e t h a t t h e r e a d e r p o s s e s s e s , and t h e r e a d e r ' s a s s u m p t i o n o f t h e a u t h o r ' s i n t e n t . A c c o r d i n g t o Adams and B r u c e , b a c k g r o u n d k n o w l e d g e has ' c o n c e p t u a l \" , ' s o c i a l ' and ' s t o r y ' components w h i c h a r e e n h a n c e d as t h e i n d i v i d u a l u s e s p r i o r k n o w l e d g e t o c r e a t e new k n o w l e d g e i n t h e a c t o f c o m p r e h e n s i o n . T h i s c o n s t r u c t i v i s t v i e w o f r e a d i n g encompasses a p e r c e p t i o n o f r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g as a n a l o g o u s i n f u n c t i on. Adams and B r u c e , S q u i r e ( 1 9 8 3 ) , and W i t t r o c k (1983) have r e c o g n i z e d p r i o r s t o r y k n o w l e d g e as an i m p o r t a n t f a c e t o f r e a d i n g / w r i t i n g f u n c t i o n i n g . They do n o t however t h e o r i z e a b o u t how s t o r y k n o w l e d g e d e v e l o p s and what r o l e i t p l a y s i n t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g . I n summary, i n v e s t i g a t o r s have e m p h a s i z e d c o g n i t i v e and l i n g u i s t i c s i m i l a r i t i e s b e t w een d e v e l o p m e n t and f u n c t i o n o f l a n g u a g e p r o c e s s e s and have g e n e r a t e d t h e o r i e s a b o u t t h e h o l i s t i c n a t u r e o f l a n g u a g e p r o c e s s i n g . These t h e o r i e s have p r o v i d e d t h e c o n c e p t u a l framework f o r e x p l o r i n g and u n d e r s t a n d i n g r e a d i n g / w r i t i n g c o n n e c t i o n s . 60 The D e v e l o p m e n t o f S t o r y Knowledge and R e a d i n g \" . . . p e o p l e n o t o n l y l e a r n t o r e a d by r e a d i n g and w r i t e by w r i t i n g b u t t h e y a l s o l e a r n t o r e a d by w r i t i n g and w r i t e by r e a d i n g . \" (Goodman and Goodman ( 1 9 8 3 ) , p. 592.) The p r e m i s e of h o l i s t i c p e r s p e c t i v e s on l a n g u a g e d e v e l o p m e n t i s t h a t t h e d e v e l o p m e n t and f u n c t i o n of one l a n g u a g e p r o c e s s i m p a c t s on t h e d e v e l o p m e n t and f u n c t i o n o f a n o t h e r l a n g u a g e p r o c e s s . I n t h i s v i e w , r e a d i n g d e v e l o p m e n t i n f l u e n c e s w r i t i n g d e v e l o p m e n t and v i c e v e r s a . W i t h i n t h i s c o n c e p t u a l f r a m e w o r k , i t i s t h e t h e o r y o f a s p e c i f i c r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t ween s t o r y d e v e l o p m e n t i n w r i t i n g and r e a d i n g a b i l i t y t h a t i s t o be e x a m i n e d by t h e n e x t s e c t i o n o f t h e r e v i e w . R e s e a r c h i n t o t h e o r i g i n s o f s t o r y k n o w l e d g e has c o n t r i b u t e d t o u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f r e a d i n g / w r i t i n g c o n n e c t i o n s . A number o f t h e o r i e s have emerged t o d e s c r i b e t h e e v o l u t i o n of t h e c o n c e p t of s t o r y and s t o r y i n g a b i l i t y i n c h i l d r e n and t h e c o n n e c t i o n t o r e a d i n g . To c o n t i n u e t h e a n a l o g y w i t h o r a l l a n g u a g e d e v e l o p m e n t where c h i l d r e n a r e d e p i c t e d as a c t i v e l e a r n e r s , g e n e r a t i n g and t e s t i n g r u l e s a b o u t l a n g u a g e s t r u c t u r e and f u n c t i o n , t h e o r i s t s have assumed t h a t d e v e l o p i n g r e a d e r s g e n e r a t e and t e s t r u l e s a b o u t s t o r i e s and s t o r y i n g u n c o n s c i o u s l y a s t h e y r e a d o r a r e r e a d t o by a d u l t s ( K i n g and R e n t e l , 1 9 8 3 ) . I n t h e o r y , j u s t as a c h i l d i n t e r n a l i s e s p a t t e r n s and r u l e s o f o r a l l a n g u a g e and u s e s t h a t p a t t e r n t o c r e a t e e a c h o f h i s u t t e r a n c e s , t h e c h i l d i n t e r n a l i s e s a schema f o r s t o r i e s w h i c h g u i d e s h i s p r o d u c t i o n of s t o r i e s . V y g o t s k y (1962) b e l i e v e d t h a t l a n g u a g e d e v e l o p m e n t i s n o t t a u g h t b u t r a t h e r l e a r n e d t h r o u g h e x p o s u r e and e x p e r i e n c e . He 61 s t a t e d that language i s mastered c o n s c i o u s l y only a f t e r i t i s used and p r a c t i c e d unconsciously, although he s t a t e d that the process of conscious mastery could be a c c e l e r a t e d by c o l l a b o r a t i o n with a d u l t s . More r e c e n t l y , t h e o r i s t s have postulated that m o b i l i z a t i o n of s t o r y knowledge i s a l s o , at l e a s t i n i t i a l l y , an unconscious c o g n i t i v e process developed through experience with s t o r i e s . Much of the e a r l y research i n t o the development of n a r r a t i v e a b i l i t y in o r a l and w r i t t e n language explored connections with general c o g n i t i v e or l i n g u i s t i c development. For example, a study of c h i l d r e n ' s w r i t i n g development by Wilkinson, Barnsley, Hanna, and Swan (1980, 1983) was p r e d i c a t e d on the theory that there are l i n g u i s t i c c o r r e l a t e s to stages of c o g n i t i v e development. They reported on an extensive l o n g i t u d i n a l study of the w r i t i n g development of c h i l d r e n at ages 7, 10, and 13 which hypothesized a r e l a t i o n s h i p between c o g n i t i v e maturation and growth in w r i t i n g . Wilkinson et a l observed increases i n the complexity of compositions as the c h i l d r e n aged. Their r e s u l t s seem to corroborate l a t e r t h e o r i e s about the developmental nature of w r i t i n g . Brian Sutton-Smith along with G. Botvin (1977) a l s o probed the developmental nature of s t o r y i n g although they examined o r a l s t o r i e s r ather than w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e s . They examined s t o r i e s of c h i l d r e n , ages three to twelve, and found that the s t r u c t u r a l complexity of the s t o r i e s increased with age. They discovered a h i e r a r c h i c a l developmental sequence of s t o r y i n g a b i l i t y i n which 62 c o m p l e x i t y and f o c u s o f o r a l n a r r a t i v e s were t h e k e y e l e m e n t s . The a u t h o r s t h e o r i z e d t h a t t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f n a r r a t i v e s t r u c t u r e s i s a n a l o g o u s t o t h e a c q u i s i t i o n o f o t h e r l i n g u i s t i c s t r u c t u r e s . They s u r m i s e d t h a t t h e r e i s e v i d e n c e t h a t c h i l d r e n a t t e m p t t o i m i t a t e a v a i l a b l e m o d e l s i n t h e i r s t o r y i n g a l t h o u g h t h e y d i d n o t i n v e s t i g a t e t h e r e a d i n g / w r i t i n g c o n n e c t i o n . A r t h u r A p p l e b e e ' s (1978) r e s e a r c h on c h i l d r e n ' s s t o r i e s l e d him t o c o n c l u d e t h a t c h i l d r e n i n t e r n a l i z e a c o n c e p t o f s t o r y t h r o u g h e x p o s u r e t o s t o r i e s as t h e y r e a d , o r a r e r e a d t o by a d u l t s . He a l s o c o n c l u d e d t h a t t h i s c o n c e p t of s t o r y i s d e v e l o p m e n t a l . A p p l e b e e a n a l y z e d c h i l d r e n ' s o r a l s t o r i e s f o r f o r m a l s t o r y c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s and f o u n d t h a t e v e n t h e s t o r i e s o f two and o n e - h a l f y e a r - o l d s had e v i d e n c e of s t o r y f o r m . He d e s c r i b e d t h e i r e x p e c t a t i o n s a b o u t s t o r y c h a r a c t e r s , use of n a r r a t i v e l i n g u i s t i c s t r u c t u r e s , and f o r m a l s t o r y o p e n i n g s and c l o s i n g s . He d i s c o v e r e d an i n c r e a s e d i n c i d e n c e of f o r m a l s t o r y c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s i n t h e s t o r i e s o f o l d e r c h i l d r e n and c o n c l u d e d f r o m h i s a n a l y s e s t h a t what he c a l l e d a ' c o n c e p t o f s t o r y ' was d e v e l o p m e n t a l i n n a t u r e . A p p l e b e e d e s c r i b e d s i x d e v e l o p m e n t a l s t a g e s o f c o m p l e x i t y i n t h e c h i l d r e n ' s s t o r i e s . These c a t e g o r i e s a r e s i m i l a r t o B o t v i n and S u t t o n - S m i t h ' s (1977) c a t e g o r i e s i n t h a t t h e y a l s o d e s c r i b e i n c r e a s i n g l e v e l s o f s t r u c t u r a l c o m p l e x i t y and f o c u s i n n a r r a t i v e s . The i m p o r t a n t c h a r a c t e r i s t i c o f d e v e l o p m e n t i n A p p l e b e e ' s h i e r a r c h y i s t h e c h i l d r e n ' s a b i l i t y t o c e n t r e a n a r r a t i v e . F o r e x a m p l e , t h e most p r i m i t i v e s t o r i e s , t o l d by t h e 63 youngest c h i l d r e n , were c h a r a c t e r i z e d as \"heaps\" of unrelated events or d e s c r i p t i o n s . The s t o r i e s increased i n complexity and focus i n older c h i l d r e n - progressing from \"heaps\", \"sequences\", \"unfocussed\" and \"focussed chains\", to the highest stage of centered n a r r a t i v e . Although Applebee t h e o r i z e d that development of a concept of s t o r y was r e l a t e d to exposure to s t o r i e s through reading, h i s research d i d not e x p l i c i t l y explore the r e l a t i o n s h i p of the s t r u c t u r a l complexity of s t o r i e s to reading a b i l i t y , q u a l i t y and q u a n t i t y of exposure to s t o r i e s or any other aspect of reading experience. T h e o r i s t s have continued to explore ideas about the m o b i l i z a t i o n of s t o r y knowledge as an unconscious c o g n i t i v e process which i s developed through experience with s t o r i e s . Marie Clay(1983) f o r example, s t a t e d that \"experience with w r i t t e n d i a l e c t \" (p.269) through hearing s t o r i e s , acquaints c h i l d r e n with the forms of language used, character types, and the ways i n which s t o r i e s are w r i t t e n . She defined t h i s developing schema for s t o r i e s as a plan which guides and c o n t r o l s the s e r i a l o r d e r i n g of ideas i n w r i t i n g . Clay's assumption that reading input i n f l u e n c e s the development of s t o r y schema, lead her to advocate exposure to l i t e r a t u r e i n the home and classroom. James B r i t t o n (1983) noted a developing sense of s t o r y i n h i s own g r a n d c h i l d which he assumed came from her exposure to s t o r i e s . He d e s c r i b e d the c h i l d ' s a n t i c i p a t i o n of events i n s t o r i e s as she was being read to and her i n c o r p o r a t i o n of 64 i n c i d e n t s from p a r t i c u l a r s t o r i e s i n her own imaginative play. B r i t t o n t h e o r i z e d about a r e c i p r o c a l arrangement, between the c h i l d ' s s t o r y world and the r e a l world, which c o n t r i b u t e d to a growing p e r c e p t i o n of n a r r a t i v e form. In other words,in B r i t t o n ' s view, a c h i l d begins to form a s e r i e s of expectations about s t o r y s t r u c t u r e from an e a r l y age. Encounters with w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e s are an i n t e g r a l part of t h i s formation i n that i t i s through exposure to s t o r y books by l i s t e n i n g and reading that the c h i l d begins to i n t e r n a l i z e s t o r y form and the s t r u c t u r e of w r i t t e n language, according to B r i t t o n . The s h a r i n g of s t o r i e s was found to be the most important f a c t o r i n homes of pre-school c h i l d r e n who experienced l a t e r success in school in the B r i s t o l Study conducted by Gordon Wells (1985). The r e s u l t s of t h i s f i f t e e n - y e a r l o n g i t u d i n a l study of c h i l d language development were c o n c l u s i v e in regards to the i n f l u e n c e of reading and w r i t i n g a c t i v i t i e s i n the l i t e r a t e f a m i l y environment. Wells t h e o r i z e d that the i n f l u e n c e of s t o r y -reading went beyond l e a r n i n g to read and had impact on the c o g n i t i v e development of the c h i l d . He argued that a sense of s t o r y evolves n a t u r a l l y as c h i l d r e n encounter the n a r r a t i v e s of everyday i n t e r a c t i o n , i n c l u d i n g conversations, personal s t o r i e s , and dramatic play. This inner sense of story,. s t a t e s Wells, i s shaped as c h i l d r e n attempt to i n t e g r a t e information and make sense of the world around them. Through l i s t e n i n g to s t o r i e s c h i l d r e n extend t h e i r experience and \"begin to a s s i m i l a t e the more powerful and more a b s t r a c t mode of r e p r e s e n t i n g experience 65 t h a t i s made a v a i l a b l e by w r i t t e n l a n g u a g e ( p . 7 ) \" . S t o r i e s a r e t h e l i n k b etween r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g and t h e k e y t o m a k i n g m e a n i n g , i n W e l l s ' v i e w . I n summary, r e s e a r c h e r s who have e x a m i n e d s t o r y i n g a b i l i t y i n c h i l d r e n have s u r m i s e d t h a t t h i s a b i l i t y i s d e v e l o p m e n t a l i n n a t u r e and t h a t i t s e v o l u t i o n may be a s s i s t e d by e x p o s u r e t o s t o r i e s d u r i n g s t o r y - r e a d i n g e x p e r i e n c e s . B o t v i n and S u t t o n -S m i t h ( 1 9 7 7 ) , A p p l e b e e ( 1 9 7 8 ) , B r i t t o n (1983) and W e l l s (1985) a l l f o u n d e v i d e n c e o f s t o r y e l e m e n t s i n t h e c h i l d r e n ' s s t o r i e s . T h e i r t h e o r i e s a b o u t t h e i n f l u e n c e of s t o r y - r e a d i n g e x p e r i e n c e s on t h e d e v e l o p m e n t of s t o r y i n g a b i l i t y seem t o i n t e r f a c e w e l l w i t h p r e v i o u s l y m e n t i o n e d t h e o r i e s a b o u t t h e h o l i s t i c , i n t e r a c t i v e n a t u r e o f l i n g u i s t i c p r o c e s s i n g where l i n g u i s t i c i n p u t f r o m one s o u r c e i n f l u e n c e s t h e d e v e l o p m e n t of a n o t h e r l a n g u a g e p e r f o r m a n c e . N a r r a t i v e Schema D e v e l o p m e n t : R e l a t e d R e s e a r c h I n t r o d u c t i o n The i n t e n t i o n o f t h i s s e c t i o n o f t h e r e v i e w i s t o p r o v i d e b a c k g r o u n d t h e o r y and r e s e a r c h w h i c h i s p a r t i c u l a r l y r e l e v a n t t o t h e p r e s e n t i n v e s t i g a t i o n . A d e s c r i p t i o n o f s t o r y schema t h e o r y and s t o r y grammars w i l l be p r e s e n t e d a l o n g w i t h a r e v i e w o f r e s e a r c h w h i c h has e x a m i n e d s t o r y schema and r e a d i n g a b i l i t y . Those few s t u d i e s w h i c h have p r e v i o u s l y i n v e s t i g a t e d t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f s t o r y s t r u c t u r e i n o r i g i n a l w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e s and 66 i t s r e l a t i o n s h i p to reading a b i l i t y w i l l be examined i n more d e t a i l . The Development of Nar r a t i v e Schema A n a r r a t i v e or s t o r y schema i s defined as the conceptual mechanism or framework for s t o r y knowledge that guides an i n d i v i d u a l ' s comprehension and r e t r i e v a l of s t o r i e s . Theories about a schema for s t o r i e s have been explored by the f i e l d s of psychology, a r t i f i c i a l i n t e l l i g e n c e , and more r e c e n t l y , educat ion. B a r t l e t t (1932) o r i g i n a t e d the concept of schema to define the mental processes used during encoding and r e t r i e v a l of s t o r y events. He argued that r e c a l l i s not an exact reproduction of input but a syn t h e s i s of information constructed during encoding. He concluded that memory for s t o r i e s i s c o n s t r u c t i v e and the product of i n t e r a c t i o n between incoming information and e x i s t i n g mental c o n s t r u c t s or schema. Story schema t h e o r i s t s i n the 1970's examined B a r t l e t t ' s notion of schema and r e l a t e d i t to n a r r a t i v e s t r u c t u r e of simple s t o r i e s . E a r l y research examined the e v o l u t i o n of n a r r a t i v e s t r u c t u r e s i n memory through a n a l y z i n g o r a l r e c a l l of s t o r i e s which were read or l i s t e n e d to by ad u l t s u b j e c t s . The fundamental premise to a l l schema theory research i s that i n d i v i d u a l s t e l l or r e t e l l a s t o r y by u t i l i z i n g an i d e a l i n t e r n a l i z e d schema for s t o r i e s . This premise i s analogous to th e o r i e s about the development of s t o r y concepts as described by 6 7 A p p l e b e e ( 1 9 7 8 ) . S c h e m a t h e o r i s t s o r i g i n a l l y f o c u s s e d o n g e n e r i c n a r r a t i v e s t r u c t u r e s e n c o m p a s s i n g a l l t e m p o r a l l y o r d e r e d e v e n t s i n c l u d i n g s i m p l e s t o r i e s . L a t e r , r e s e a r c h e m e r g e d w h i c h e x p l o r e d t h e s p e c i f i c c o n n e c t i o n b e t w e e n s t o r y - r e a d i n g , c o m p r e h e n s i o n a n d t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f s t o r y s c h e m a ( W h a l e y , 1 9 8 1 ) . T h e c o n s i s t e n t r e s u l t s o f e x p e r i m e n t s i n v o l v i n g s t o r y r e c a l l l e a d t h e o r i s t s t o c o n c l u d e t h a t t h e c o n c e p t o f s t o r y s c h e m a h a s p s y c h o l o g i c a l v a l i d i t y a n d t h a t s t o r y s c h e m a d e s c r i p t i o n s a r e v a l i d r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s o f t h e p s y c h o l o g i c a l o r c o n c e p t u a l m e c h a n i s m s w h i c h g u i d e c o m p r e h e n s i o n a n d r e t r i e v a l o f s i m p l e s t o r i e s i n m e m o r y ( B l a c k a n d B o w e r , 1 9 8 0 ; J o h n s o n a n d M a n d l e r , 1 9 8 0 ; L i c h t e n s t e i n a n d B r e w e r , 1 9 8 0 ; R a n d , 1 9 8 4 ) . B r i e f l y , s t o r y s c h e m a r e s e a r c h e r s h a v e r e a c h e d t h e f o l l o w i n g i m p o r t a n t c o n c l u s i o n s a b o u t s t o r y s c h e m a a n d r e c a l l : - m e m o r y f o r s t o r i e s i s o r g a n i z e d a c c o r d i n g t o a n i d e a l i z e d s t o r y s c h e m a ( B a r t l e t t , 1 9 3 2 , M a n d l e r a n d J o h n s o n , 1 9 7 7 ; R u m e l h a r t , 1 9 7 7 ) . - t h e m o r e a s t o r y c o n f o r m s t o a n i d e a l s t r u c t u r e o r s c h e m a , t h e b e t t e r t h e r e c a l l ( M a n d l e r a n d J o h n s o n , 1 9 7 7 ) . - b a s i c s t r u c t u r a l e l e m e n t s a r e e x p e c t e d a n d a r e r e c a l l e d m o r e e a s i l y : s e t t i n g , i n i t i a t i n g e v e n t , c o n s e q u e n c e s , g o a l s ( B o w e r , 1 9 7 6 ; R u m e l h a r t , 1 9 7 7 ; T h o r n d y k e , 1 9 7 7 ; K i n t s c h a n d V a n D i j k , 1 9 7 8 ; S t e i n a n d G l e n n , 1 9 7 9 ; L i c h t e n s t e i n a n d B r e w e r , 1 9 8 0 , G l e n n , 1 9 8 0 ; N e z w o r s k i , S t e i n a n d T r a b a s s o , 1 9 8 2 ; G o l d , 1 9 8 3 ) . - a s c h e m a f o r s t o r i e s d e v e l o p s w i t h a g e ( M a n d l e r , 1 9 7 8 ; 68 S t e i n and Glenn, 1979; McClure, Mason, B a r n i t z , 1979; Poulson, Kint s c h , K i n t s c h , and Premack, 1979). - s t o r i e s that are non-conforming are encoded in memory and r e c a l l e d from memory according to an i d e a l i z e d s t o r y schema (Mandler and Johnson, 1977). - s t o r i e s that are presented i n scrambled order are l e s s well r e c a l l e d than those presented i n expected order (Thorndyke, 1977; Kin t s c h and Van D i j k , 1978; Hoover, 1982). N a r r a t i v e S c h e m a a n d C o m p r e h e n s i o n The concept of n a r r a t i v e schema as a s t r u c t u r e i n memory which f a c i l i t a t e s encoding and r e t r i e v a l of s t o r i e s has been broadened to include s t o r y comprehension. Researchers s t a t e that readers appear to mobilize schema during comprehension. Research has discovered that reading m a t e r i a l that follows expected s t o r y form i s comprehended or p r e d i c t e d more e a s i l y ( S t e i n and Glenn, 1979; Bruce, 1980; Whaley, 1981; McConaughy, 1982; McGee, 1982; S t e i n and Trabasso, 1982; F i t z g e r a l d , 1984). A s s e r t i o n s that a schema for s t o r i e s guides comprehension appear to support th e o r i e s about p r i o r s t o r y knowledge and i t s e s s e n t i a l r o l e i n reading comprehension (Adams and Bruce, 1982; Squire, 1983; Wittrock, 1983). In theory, prose comprehension re q u i r e s p r i o r knowledge of s t o r y s t r u c t u r e as well as p r i o r knowledge of human a c t i o n and behaviours (Glenn, 1980). Researchers examined the comprehension of s t o r i e s and postulated that a schema for s t o r i e s develops through exposure to 69 s t o r i e s (Whaley, 1981). A number of s t u d i e s discovered a r e l a t i o n s h i p between age and expectations for s t o r y s t r u c t u r e s i n n a r r a t i v e s . Adults were found to have more we 11-developed s t o r y schemas than were c h i l d r e n , and older c h i l d r e n were found to be more adept at r e c o g n i z i n g and reproducing s t o r y s t r u c t u r e than were younger c h i l d r e n (Brown, 1977; Poulson, K i n t s c h , Kintsch and Premack, 1979; McGee, 1982; McConaughy, Fitzhenry-Coor and Howell, 1983). These r e s u l t s support theory that s t o r y schema i s developmental and may r e s u l t from i n c i d e n t a l l e a r n i n g through repeated exposures to n a r r a t i v e s t r u c t u r e s i n c l u d i n g both o r a l and w r i t t e n s t o r i e s . Researchers observed d i f f e r e n c e s between age groups and use of s t o r y schema during r e c a l l and comprehension (Mandler and Johnson, 1977; S t e i n and Glenn, 1979). D i f f e r e n c e s were explained as immature manifestations of an i d e a l i z e d n a r r a t i v e schema. C h i l d r e n demonstrated the same general p r o f i l e of s t r u c t u r e s i n t h e i r schema but the pattern of emphasis d i f f e r e d from a d u l t s ( S t e i n , 1982). McConaughy, Fitzhenry-Coor, and Howell (1983) expanded upon research which described developmental d i f f e r e n c e s i n schema. The authors proposed a novel i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of v a r i a t i o n i n s t o r y schema. They suggested that a d u l t s and c h i l d r e n employ q u a l i t a t i v e l y d i f f e r e n t types of s t o r y schemata during comprehens ion. McConaughy et a l described two l e v e l s of schema q u a l i t y designated as 'causal inference schema' and ' s o c i a l inference 70 s c h e m a ' . C a u s a l i n f e r e n c e schema i s d e f i n e d as r e p r e s e n t i n g a l e s s m a t u r e l e v e l o f c o m p r e h e n s i o n w h i c h e m p h a s i z e s p h y s i c a l c a u s a l i t y i n s t o r i e s . C a t e g o r i e s o f i n f o r m a t i o n t h a t a r e most i m p o r t a n t a t t h i s l e v e l a r e d e s c r i p t i o n s o f e v e n t s , a c t i o n s and o u t c o m e s . T h i s schema o r g a n i z a t i o n seems t o c o r r e s p o n d w i t h A p p l e b e e ' s ' u n f o c u s s e d c h a i n ' ( 1 9 7 8 ) . I n o t h e r w o r d s , i t d e s c r i b e s a n a r r a t i v e t h a t c o n s i s t s o f a s e r i e s o f e v e n t s t e m p o r a l l y c o n n e c t e d t o e a c h o t h e r b u t w i t h o u t a common f o c u s . S o c i a l i n f e r e n c e schema i s d e f i n e d as r e p r e s e n t i n g a more mature l e v e l o f c o m p r e h e n s i o n . A t t h i s l e v e l , i n d i v i d u a l s a r e s a i d t o f o c u s on c h a r a c t e r m o t i v a t i o n . I n o t h e r w o r d s , s o c i a l i n f e r e n c e schema i n c o r p o r a t e s e x p e c t a t i o n s f o r p s y c h o l o g i c a l c a u s a l i t y i n t o i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s o f s t o r y i n f o r m a t i o n . C a t e g o r i e s of i n f o r m a t i o n t h a t a r e most i m p o r t a n t a t t h i s l e v e l i n c l u d e t h e m a j o r g o a l o f t h e c h a r a c t e r , h e r i n t e r n a l r e s p o n s e s o r s u b - g o a l s , as w e l l as outcomes and r e s o l u t i o n o f t h e g o a l . T h i s schema d e s c r i p t i o n seems t o c o r r e s p o n d t o A p p l e b e e ' s ' f o c u s s e d n a r r a t i v e ' ( 1 9 7 8 ) . The e v e n t s i n t h i s schema a r e c o n n e c t e d t h r o u g h t h e c e n t r a l f o c u s o f t h e main g o a l s t a t e m e n t . The e m p h a s i s on t h e g o a l as t h e c e n t r a l e l e m e n t o f a s t o r y a l s o c o n c u r s w i t h r e s e a r c h w h i c h has r e c o g n i z e d t h e i m p o r t a n c e o f g o a l s and p l a n s i n r e c a l l and c o m p r e h e n s i o n s c h e m a t a ( L i c h t e n s t e i n and B r e w e r , 1980; F i t z g e r a l d and S p i e g e l , 1 9 8 3 ) . McConaughy e t a l h y p o t h e s i z e d t h a t y o u n g e r c h i l d r e n and l e s s m a t u r e r e a d e r s w o u l d d e m o n s t r a t e a c a u s a l i n f e r e n c e schema whereas a d u l t s and more mature r e a d e r s w o u l d d e m o n s t r a t e s o c i a l 71 inference schema. Story summaries were c o l l e c t e d from grade f i v e and c o l l e g e students and compared according to s t r u c t u r a l c a t e g o r i e s . The main hypothesis was confirmed by r e s u l t s which showed that a d u l t summaries emphasized character motivation while c h i l d r e n de-emphasized motivation and placed more emphasis on a c t i o n s and events i n the s t o r i e s . The authors i n t e r p r e t e d t h e i r f i n d i n g s as support for the d i s t i n c t i o n between schema for a d u l t s and c h i l d r e n . Research a l s o has examined the r e l a t i o n s h i p between reading a b i l i t y and n a r r a t i v e schema development. Given that t h e o r e t i c a l l y a schema for s t o r i e s develops at l e a s t p a r t l y through exposure to s t o r i e s through reading, a small number of s t u d i e s i n v e s t i g a t e d the r e l a t i o n s h i p s between reading a b i l i t y and the a b i l i t y to comprehend, r e c a l l , or reorder s t r u c t u r a l aspects of t r a d i t i o n a l n a r r a t i v e s (McClure et a l , 1979; F i t z g e r a l d Whaley, 1981; Hoover, 1982; F i t z g e r a l d , 1984; McConaughy, 1985a). O v e r a l l , f i n d i n g s from t h i s research tend to i n d i c a t e that b e t t e r readers may have a more well-developed schema for s t o r i e s than poorer readers. However, the s t u d i e s were not unanimous i n t h e i r c o n c l u s i o n s and f u r t h e r research i s needed before d e f i n i t i v e statements can be made. These s t u d i e s d i d not attempt to access m o b i l i z a t i o n of schema during o r i g i n a l production of s t o r i e s but r e l i e d on r e c a l l , summary and r e o r d e r i n g tasks. In summary, research has concluded that i n d i v i d u a l s possess a schema for s t o r i e s which guides memory and f a c i l i t a t e s 72 comprehension. Researchers agree that an i n d i v i d u a l ' s i n t e r n a l i z e d r e p r e s e n t a t i o n of a s t o r y aids l i s t e n i n g and reading comprehension, allows p r e d i c t i o n s about meaning, and enables r e t e l l i n g or c r e a t i o n of s t o r i e s . This theory concurs with that of researchers who have examined the e v o l u t i o n of s t o r y concepts i n young c h i l d r e n (Applebee, 1978). Story schema research seems to confirm t h e o r i e s that knowledge about s t o r i e s develops through experience with events in the world and through exposure to n a r r a t i v e s t r u c t u r e s in s t o r i e s (Wells, 1985). There a l s o appears to be agreement between concepts of what c h a r a c t e r i z e s a more mature s t r u c t u r a l o r g a n i z a t i o n . A s s e r t i o n s of s t o r y schema t h e o r i s t s that a well-formed s t o r y i s focussed around a goal and that goals and statements that are r e l a t e d to goals are s a l i e n t i n r e c a l l , (Rumelhart, 1977; L i c h t e n s t e i n and Brewer, 1980; and McConaughy et a l , 1983), seem to concur with f i n d i n g s of Applebee (1978) and Sutton-Smith (1981) that the most mature l e v e l of s t o r y s t r u c t u r e i s a focussed or centered n a r r a t i v e . S i m i l a r observations about s t o r y concept development and s t o r y schema theory s a n c t i o n fundamental t h e o r i e s about how an i n d i v i d u a l processes and produces s t o r i e s . Further research c o r r o b o r a t i o n i s needed. Story Grammars Story schema research has provided a v i a b l e t o o l i n s t o r y grammars for a s s e s s i n g s t r u c t u r a l schema i n n a r r a t i v e s . Story 7 3 g r a m m a r s a r e e m p l o y e d i n r e c a l l a n d c o m p r e h e n s i o n r e s e a r c h t o e n c o d e t h e m a c r o s t r u c t u r e o f a n i d e a l i z e d s t o r y s c h e m a . A b r i e f e x p l a n a t i o n o f s t o r y g r a m m a r s i s p r o v i d e d h e r e a s a p r e f a c e t o t h a t r e s e a r c h w h i c h h a s p r e v i o u s l y u s e d s t o r y g r a m m a r s t o i n v e s t i g a t e t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n r e a d i n g a b i l i t y a n d s t o r y s c h e m a d e v e l o p m e n t i n c o m p r e h e n s i o n a n d p r o d u c t i o n o f s t o r i e s . S u p e r f i c i a l l y s i m i l a r t o s e n t e n c e g r a m m a r s , s t o r y g r a m m a r s c o n s i s t o f a s e t o f g r a m m a t i c a l c a t e g o r i e s a n d r e w r i t e r u l e s w h i c h d e s c r i b e r e l a t i o n s b e t w e e n t h e c a t e g o r i e s . A t y p i c a l s t o r y g r a m m a r i s a s f o l l o w s : S t o r y \u00E2\u0080\u0094 - - > s e t t i n g + t h e m e + p l o t + r e s o l u t i o n S e t t i n g > c h a r a c t e r s + l o c a t i o n + t i m e T h e m e > e v e n t + g o a l P l o t > e p i s o d e E p i s o d e > s u b g o a l + a t t e m p t + o u t c o m e A t t e m p t > e v e n t + e p i s o d e ( T h o r n d y k e , 1 9 7 7 ) S t o r y g r a m m a r s w h i c h d e f i n e a w e l l - f o r m e d s i m p l e s t o r y w e r e d e v i s e d f o r p u r p o s e s o f r e c a l l a n d c o m p r e h e n s i o n r e s e a r c h ( R u m e l h a r t , 1 9 7 7 ; T h o r n d y k e , 1 9 7 7 ; M a n d l e r a n d J o h n s o n , 1 9 7 7 ; S t e i n a n d G l e n n ; 1 9 7 9 ) . T h e c o n c e p t t h a t s i m p l e s t o r i e s h a v e s t r u c t u r a l r e g u l a r i t i e s w a s b a s e d o n P r o p p ' s i m p o r t a n t r e s e a r c h o n f o l k s t o r i e s ( 1 9 6 8 ) . P r o p p o b s e r v e d r e o c c u r r e n c e o f c e r t a i n f o r m s a n d o r g a n i z a t i o n a l t e n d e n c i e s i n s t o r i e s a n d c o n c l u d e d t h a t 74 s t r u c t u r a l a t t r i b u t e s of simple n a r r a t i v e s were s t a b l e . Simple s t o r i e s were c o n s i s t e n t l y constructed around a c e n t r a l goal of a main character or group of c h a r a c t e r s . T y p i c a l l y , something happens i n i t i a l l y so that the p r o t a g o n i s t ( s ) e s t a b l i s h e s a goal and the s t o r y d i r e c t l y or i n d i r e c t l y d e s c r i b e s r e l a t e d attempts to accomplish the goal and r e s o l v e the c e n t r a l problem. Story grammar a n a l y s i s provides a framework for d e s c r i b i n g s t r u c t u r a l patterns i n simple n a r r a t i v e s . Each s t o r y grammar includes these recognized a t t r i b u t e s of a simple, w e l l -formed n a r r a t i v e although there are d i f f e r e n c e s i n d e s c r i p t i o n s of r e l a t i o n s between c a t e g o r i e s . I t should be noted that s t o r y grammars have been c r i t i c i z e d because they can d i s t o r t or ignore semantic content in c e r t a i n a p p l i c a t i o n s ; n e v e r t h e l e s s , i t i s accepted that they do d e s c r i b e the fundamental elements necessary to s t o r y s t r u c t u r e and are acceptable as d e s c r i p t i o n s of a schema for simple s t o r i e s (Black and Bower, 1980; Mandler, 1982; Thorndyke and Yekovich, 1980). N a r r a t i v e Schema Development and Reading A b i l i t y McClure, Mason and B a r n i t z (1979) i n v e s t i g a t e d the r e l a t i o n s h i p between s t o r y s t r u c t u r e and the a b i l i t y to sequence s t o r i e s . Three c l a s s e s each of grades three, s i x and nine were given three v e r s i o n s of scrambled s t o r i e s i n c l u d i n g one v e r s i o n which contained s t r u c t u r a l c a t e g o r i e s p r e d i c t e d by a s t o r y grammar. Reading a b i l i t y was assessed by the comprehension s e c t i o n of the Gates M a c G i n i t i e reading t e s t . The task was to 75 r e o r d e r t h e s t o r i e s . Of t h e t h r e e s t o r i e s , t h e s t o r y grammar v e r s i o n s were o r d e r e d most e a s i l y f o r a l l g r o u p s . D e v e l o p m e n t a l e f f e c t s were f o u n d f o r t h e t a s k s as c o r r e c t n e s s was o b s e r v e d t o i n c r e a s e w i t h age. S u b j e c t s were o b s e r v e d t o use t h e i r k n o w l e d g e o f a s t o r y ' s deep s t r u c t u r e t o r e o r d e r s e n t e n c e s . I t was c o n c l u d e d t h a t i n d i v i d u a l s were a b l e t o i g n o r e s u r f a c e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f a s t o r y t e x t and a t t e n d t o t h e p r o p o s i t i o n a l c o n t e n t and u n d e r l y i n g s t r u c t u r e . An e x c e p t i o n t o t h i s was a few o f t h e y o u n g e s t s u b j e c t s who r e o r d e r e d s t o r i e s u s i n g c o h e s i v e l e x i c a l t i e s t o j o i n s e n t e n c e s i n l o g i c a l p a i r s , i g n o r i n g t h e s t r u c t u r a l s e n s e o f t h e s t o r y . S i g n i f i c a n t c o r r e l a t i o n s between r e a d i n g a b i l i t y and a b i l i t y t o o r d e r s t o r i e s , were f o u n d a t a l l t h r e e g r a d e l e v e l s . The c o m b i n e d c o r r e l a t i o n f o r r e a d i n g a b i l i t y and s t o r y o r d e r i n g was .72. A m a j o r a s s e r t i o n o f t h e s t u d y by M c C l u r e e t a l (1979) was t h a t s p e c i f i c t y p e s o f e v e n t s e q u e n c e s a r e e x p e c t e d t o o c c u r i n s t o r i e s and t h a t i f t h e s e do n o t o c c u r , t h e n r e o r d e r i n g s w i l l c o n f o r m t o t h e e x p e c t e d norm. T h e i r f i n d i n g s c o n f i r m e d memory r e s e a r c h i n w h i c h s t o r i e s p r e s e n t e d i n s c r a m b l e d f o r m were r e o r d e r e d i n memory t o c o n f o r m t o t h a t s t r u c t u r e p r e d i c t e d by a s t o r y grammar ( M a n d l e r and J o h n s o n , 1977; S t e i n and G l e n n , 1 9 7 9 ) . E x p e c t a t i o n s f o r s t o r y s t r u c t u r e were a s s e s s e d more d i r e c t l y i n a l a t e r s t u d y by F i t z g e r a l d W h aley ( 1 9 8 1 ) . One h u n d r e d f i f t y -t h r e e good and a v e r a g e r e a d e r s i n g r a d e s t h r e e , s i x and e l e v e n , were a s k e d t o p r e d i c t e n d i n g s a f t e r r e a d i n g u n f i n i s h e d s t o r i e s . 76 The s t o r i e s were d i f f e r e n t i a l l y organized according to s t r u c t u r a l emphasis. In a second task, designated 'macro-cloze', subjects were asked to f i l l in missing text i n s t o r i e s . D e l e t i o n s were from s t r u c t u r a l c a t e g o r i e s based on a s t o r y grammar. Oral p r o t o c o l s were t r a n s c r i b e d and scored according to s t o r y grammar c a t e g o r i e s . I t was hypothesized that readers would expect s t r u c t u r e s d e f i n e d by s t o r y grammar c a t e g o r i e s . Data a n a l y s i s confirmed the hypothesis that readers expect s t r u c t u r e s d e s c r i b e d by a s t o r y grammar although grade three s u b j e c t s gave responses that matched the grammar l e s s f r e q u e n t l y than d i d the older s u b j e c t s . Increased experience with s t o r i e s or with s o c i a l s i t u a t i o n s that are incorporated i n s t o r i e s , was given as a p o s s i b l e e x p l a n a t i o n for a g e - r e l a t e d d i f f e r e n c e s . There were no d i f f e r e n c e s i n the s t r u c t u r a l p a t t e r n of expectations for grades s i x and eleven, l e a d i n g the researcher to conclude that readers of average and above a b i l i t y employ the same schema during comprehension. F i t z g e r a l d continued research on expectations for s t o r y s t r u c t u r e s with a second study (1984). This i n v e s t i g a t i o n examined the r e l a t i o n s h i p between reading a b i l i t y and the a b i l i t y to a n t i c i p a t e n a r r a t i v e t e x t s t r u c t u r e s d u r i n g reading. E s s e n t i a l l y the same tasks were employed as i n the previous study except that i n t h i s study the s u b j e c t s d i f f e r e d i n reading a b i l i t y . N i n e t y - s i x grade four and seventy grade s i x s u b j e c t s read two s t o r i e s and were asked to o r a l l y supply the missing 77 i n f o r m a t i o n . The s t r u c t u r a l c a t e g o r i e s of t h e o r a l p r o t o c o l s were a s s e s s e d a c c o r d i n g t o a s t o r y grammar. R e s u l t s d e m o n s t r a t e d a s i g n i f i c a n t r e l a t i o n s h i p between r e a d i n g a b i l i t y and s t o r y e x p e c t a t i o n s . A l t h o u g h t h e p a t t e r n of c a t e g o r i e s was t h e same f o r b o t h g r a d e g r o u p s , t h e t e n d e n c y was f o r b e t t e r r e a d e r s i n b o t h g r a d e s t o e x p e c t s t r u c t u r a l c a t e g o r i e s more o f t e n t h a n p o o r e r r e a d e r s . F i t z g e r a l d s u g g e s t e d t h a t b e t t e r r e a d e r s t e n d e d t o be more s e n s i t i v e t o n a r r a t i v e s t r u c t u r e t h a n p o o r e r r e a d e r s . I n a s t u d y of y o u n g e r c h i l d r e n , Hoover (1982) a l s o c o n c l u d e d t h a t b e t t e r r e a d e r s were s e n s i t i v e t o t e x t s t r u c t u r e . The s t u d y e x a m i n e d 112 s u b j e c t s i n k i n d e r g a r t e n and g r a d e one. The a b i l i t y t o d i s t i n g u i s h n o r m a l f r o m i n c o h e r e n t s t o r i e s by l i s t e n i n g was p r e d i c t i v e o f s u b s e q u e n t r e a d i n g a c h i e v e m e n t f o r s u b j e c t s i n t h i s s t u d y and i t was s u g g e s t e d t h a t s t o r y schema d e v e l o p m e n t was a s i g n i f i c a n t i n f l u e n c e on t h e a b i l i t y t o m o n i t o r n a r r a t i v e s f o r i n c o h e r e n c e . The s t u d i e s by M c C l u r e e t a l ( 1 9 7 9 ) , Hoover ( 1 9 8 2 ) , and F i t z g e r a l d (1984) f o u n d r e l a t i o n s h i p s between r e a d i n g a b i l i t y and m o b i l i z a t i o n o f s t o r y schema d u r i n g c o m p r e h e n s i o n . I t w o u l d seem f r o m t h i s r e s e a r c h t h a t t h e r e i s a r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t ween r e a d i n g a b i l i t y and e x p e c t a t i o n s f o r s t r u c t u r a l s e n s e and c o h e r e n c e i n a s t o r y . R e a d e r s seem t o e x p e c t c e r t a i n s t r u c t u r e s i n a s t o r y and e m p l o y t h e i r schema f o r s t o r i e s i n o r d e r t o comprehend d u r i n g r e a d i n g o r l i s t e n i n g . A l a t e r s t u d y e x a m i n e d t h e o r a l and w r i t t e n r e c a l l p r o t o c o l s o f good and p o o r r e a d e r s (McConaughy, 1 9 8 5 a ) . Twenty-one good and 7 8 t w e n t y - o n e p o o r g r a d e s i x r e a d e r s r e a d o r l i s t e n e d t o f o u r s t o r i e s and s u m m a r i z e d them o r a l l y or i n w r i t i n g . R e c a l l s ummaries were p a r s e d i n t o p r o p o s i t i o n s and p r e s e n t e d f o r b l i n d s c o r i n g . R a t e r s c a t e g o r i z e d e a c h p r o p o s i t i o n a c c o r d i n g t o a s t o r y grammar. The p r o t o c o l s were a n a l y z e d f o r p r o p o r t i o n of s t a t e m e n t s r e l a t e d t o o r i g i n a l s t o r y p r o p o s i t i o n s ; p r o p o r t i o n of s t a t e m e n t s i n e i g h t s t o r y grammar c a t e g o r i e s ; and t h e h i e r a r c h y o f e v e n t s and p r o p o s i t i o n s i n t h e s u m m a r i e s . I t was h y p o t h e s i z e d t h a t good r e a d e r s w o u l d show a h i g h e r l e v e l o f schema q u a l i t y , s i m i l a r t o a d u l t o r g a n i z a t i o n , under b o t h m o d a l i t y c o n d i t i o n s . P o o r e r r e a d e r s were e x p e c t e d t o e m p l o y h i g h e r l e v e l schema o r g a n i z a t i o n d u r i n g l i s t e n i n g and o r a l r e c a l l b u t t h e i r schema q u a l i t y was h y p o t h e s i z e d t o become l e s s c o m p l e x d u r i n g r e a d i n g and w r i t t e n r e c a l l t a s k s . A n a l y s i s o f v a r i a n c e r e v e a l e d t h a t good r e a d e r s on a v e r a g e p r o d u c e d l o n g e r summaries and r e c a l l e d more s t o r y p r o p o s i t i o n s t h a n poor r e a d e r s . B o t h g r o u p s p r o d u c e d l o n g e r o r a l summaries t h a n w r i t t e n . T h e r e were no s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e s b e t ween t h e m o d a l i t i e s of p r e s e n t a t i o n , l i s t e n i n g and r e a d i n g , f o r e i t h e r g r o u p . No s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e s were f o u n d f o r t h e p r e s e n c e of s y n t a c t i c c a t e g o r i e s or e v i d e n c e o f a p p r o p r i a t e h i e r a r c h y of p r o p o s i t i o n s d e f i n i n g schema q u a l i t y . A l t h o u g h p o o r r e a d e r s r e c a l l e d s l i g h t l y f e w e r p r o p o s i t i o n s i n e a c h c a t e g o r y , t h e p a t t e r n of c a t e g o r y r e c a l l was t h e same f o r b o t h g r o u p s and s i m i l a r t o r e c a l l p r o f i l e s i n p r e v i o u s r e s e a r c h . D u r i n g r e c a l l o f e x p l i c i t t e x t s t r u c t u r e s , b o t h r e a d i n g 79 groups d i s p l a y e d the expected s t o r y c a t e g o r i e s that r e f l e c t e d ' the more complex l e v e l of schema q u a l i t y and matched the h i e r a r c h i c a l l e v e l s of i d e a l s t r u c t u r e generated by the s t o r y grammar. It was found however that both groups were l e s s able to deal with te x t s that contained implied s t r u c t u r e s such as i m p l i c i t sub-goals or i n t e r n a l responses. McConaughy suggested that s u b j e c t s at the grade s i x l e v e l may not yet have developed s u f f i c i e n t s t a b i l i t y i n t h e i r schema development to be able to employ complex schema when higher l e v e l c a t e g o r i e s were l e s s obvious in t e x t . McConaughy concluded that poor readers were not d e f i c i e n t i n t h e i r b a s i c schema o r g a n i z a t i o n when compared to good readers on r e c a l l t a s k s . I m p l i c a t i o n s of using a simple n a r r a t i v e s t i m u l i were d i s c u s s e d . It was implied that poor readers may be capable of higher l e v e l comprehension when the reading m a t e r i a l i s presented i n a f a m i l i a r form with a p r e d i c t a b l e s t r u c t u r e . McConaughy cautioned that the r e s u l t of using more complex s t i m u l i could be quite d i f f e r e n t . In summary, research i n t o the r e l a t i o n s h i p between reading and n a r r a t i v e schema has had d i f f e r e n t i a l r e s u l t s . While i t appears from research that good readers may employ a schema in t h e i r expectations of a well-ordered s t o r y which conforms to c e r t a i n s t o r y schemata, i t cannot be s t a t e d that poor readers conversely lack a schema for s t o r i e s . F i t z g e r a l d ' s (1984) f i n d i n g that the p a t t e r n of expectations was the same for good and poor readers, and McConaughy's f i n d i n g of no d i f f e r e n c e i n schema employed i n r e c a l l , tempers any g e n e r a l i z a t i o n about schema 80 d i f f e r e n c e s and r e a d i n g a b i l i t y . However, a l t h o u g h b o t h g r o u p s o f r e a d e r s may p o s s e s s and e m p l o y a schema f o r s t o r i e s , d i f f e r e n c e s may l i e i n t h e d e g r e e t o w h i c h a p o o r e r r e a d e r i s a b l e t o m o b i l i z e schema i n s i t u a t i o n s o t h e r t h a n r e c a l l and c o m p l e t i o n t a s k s . One way o f i n v e s t i g a t i n g t h e employment o f schema w o u l d be a n a l y s i s o f o r i g i n a l s t o r y p r o d u c t i o n s e i t h e r w r i t t e n or o r a l . O r a l s t o r y i n g a b i l i t y has been e x p l o r e d by o t h e r r e s e a r c h . B o t h B o t v i n and S u t t o n - S m i t h (1977) and A p p l e b e e (1978) d e s c r i b e d a g e -r e l a t e d d i f f e r e n c e s i n t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f s t r u c t u r a l c o m p l e x i t y o f n a r r a t i v e s . However, t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t ween s t r u c t u r a l c o m p l e x i t y i n o r a l s t o r i e s and r e a d i n g a b i l i t y r e m a i n s a s u b j e c t f o r f u t u r e r e s e a r c h . R e a d i n g A b i l i t y and S t o r y Schema D e v e l o p m e n t i n W r i t t e n N a r r a t i v e s T h r e e s t u d i e s were f o u n d w h i c h had r e c e n t l y e x a m i n e d w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e s and l o o k e d f o r a r e l a t i o n s h i p w i t h r e a d i n g a b i l i t y . Hansche and G o r d o n (1983) a n a l y z e d t h e o r i g i n a l w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e s o f good and p o o r r e a d e r s a c c o r d i n g t o a s t o r y grammar. S i x t e e n good and p o o r r e a d e r s i n g r a d e s one, f o u r , e i g h t , and t e n were t o l d t o w r i t e a s t o r y on a t o p i c o f t h e i r c h o i c e . The s t o r i e s were s c o r e d f o r t h e p r e s e n c e o f s i x s t o r y c a t e g o r i e s : S e t t i n g , I n i t i a t i n g E v e n t , R e s p o n s e , A t t e m p t , C o n s e q u e n c e and R e a c t i o n . I t was h y p o t h e s i z e d t h a t g r a d e one s t o r i e s w o u l d 81 c o n t a i n f e w e r e l e m e n t s t h a n t h o s e of g r a d e f o u r and t h a t t h e g r a d e e i g h t and t e n s t o r i e s w o u l d c o n t a i n a l l s i x s t o r y e l e m e n t s . D i f f e r e n c e s between t h e s t o r i e s f o r good and p o o r r e a d e r s were f o u n d o n l y a t t h e g r a d e one and t e n l e v e l s . I t was c o n c l u d e d t h a t t h e e x t e n t of d i f f e r e n c e s between s t o r y schema d e v e l o p m e n t i n t h e w r i t i n g o f good and p o o r r e a d e r s c o u l d n o t be d e t e r m i n e d by t h i s i n s t r u m e n t a l o n e . The r e s u l t s o f t h e Hansche and Gordon s t u d y were c o n f o u n d e d by t h e f a c t t h a t s t u d e n t s c o u l d c h o o s e t h e i r own t o p i c . A l t h o u g h t h i s i s s u e was n o t a d d r e s s e d by t h e r e s e a r c h e r s , i t w o u l d seem t h a t some s t u d e n t s d i d n o t w r i t e n a r r a t i v e s when t o l d t o w r i t e a s t o r y . I t was r e p o r t e d t h a t t h e s t o r i e s o f t h e g r a d e f o u r and e i g h t s t u d e n t s were f a i r y t a l e s and g h o s t s t o r i e s whereas some g r a d e t e n s t u d e n t s w r o t e n o n - f i c t i o n a c c o u n t s o f p e r s o n a l e x p e r i e n c e s . G i v e n t h a t s t o r y grammars were d e s i g n e d t o d e s c r i b e n a r r a t i v e s t r u c t u r e s , and t h a t n o t a l l s t u d e n t s w r o t e a n a r r a t i v e , i t i s n o t s u r p r i s i n g t h a t t h e r e s e a r c h e r s c o n c l u d e d t h a t t h e i r i n s t r u m e n t was n o t e f f e c t i v e a t a l l g r a d e l e v e l s . T i m o t h y Shanahan (1984) c o n d u c t e d an e x p l o r a t o r y m u l t i -v a r i a t e a n a l y s i s t h a t e x a m i n e d t h e r e a d i n g - w r i t i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p f r o m a number o f a s p e c t s . M u l t i p l e r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g m e a s u res were a d m i n i s t e r e d t o 256 g r a d e two and 251 g r a d e f i v e s u b j e c t s . R e a d i n g was measured by a number o f s t a n d a r d i z e d t e s t s and two o r i g i n a l w r i t i n g s a m p l e s were c o l l e c t e d f r o m e a c h s u b j e c t . W r i t i n g a n a l y s e s c o n s i s t e d o f mean t - u n i t l e n g t h , v o c a b u l a r y d i v e r s i t y , and s t o r y grammar a n a l y s i s i n c l u d i n g : number o f s t o r y 82 grammar c a t e g o r i e s , number of e p i s o d e s , and number of i n f o r m a t i o n u n i t s . A s p e l l i n g t e s t was a l s o a d m i n i s t e r e d . R e s u l t s i n d i c a t e d t h a t r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g were s i g n i f i c a n t l y r e l a t e d a t b o t h grade l e v e l s . However, n e i t h e r r e a d i n g nor w r i t i n g were s u f f i c i e n t t o a c c o u n t f o r more than 43% of the v a r i a n c e . Shanahan o b s e r v e d t h a t as s t u d e n t s became more p r o f i c i e n t , t h e n a t u r e of the r e l a t i o n s h i p between r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g a l s o changed. F o r b e g i n n i n g r e a d e r s , p h o n i c s and s p e l l i n g were the most i m p o r t a n t v a r i a b l e s , whereas f o r p r o f i c i e n t r e a d e r s v o c a b u l a r y and s t o r y s t r u c t u r e became most i m p o r t a n t i n the r e a d i n g / w r i t i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p . Low s i g n i f i c a n t c o r r e l a t i o n s were computed f o r r e a d i n g c o m p r e h e n s i o n and s t o r y grammar a n a l y s e s a t b o t h g r ade l e v e l s . The c o r r e l a t i o n s r e p o r t e d f o r number of p r o p o s i t i o n s and r e a d i n g c o m p r e h e n s i o n were .33 f o r grade two and .22 f o r grade f i v e . F o r the number of d i f f e r e n t s t r u c t u r a l c a t e g o r i e s w i t h r e a d i n g c o m p r e h e n s i o n , the c o r r e l a t i o n s were .34 f o r grade two and .27 f o r grade f i v e ( p . 4 7 0 ) . C o r r e l a t i o n s of .20 f o r grade two and .21 f o r grade f i v e were r e p o r t e d f o r number of e p i s o d e s w i t h r e a d i n g a b i l i t y . Shanahan d i v i d e d b o t h grade g r o u p s i n t o two r e a d i n g a b i l i t y g r o u p s d e s i g n a t e d ' b e g i n n i n g ' and ' p r o f i c i e n t * r e a d e r s . F o r b e g i n n i n g r e a d e r s , t h e t h r e e s t o r y grammar v a r i a b l e s were found t o c o n t r i b u t e e q u a l l y whereas f o r p r o f i c i e n t r e a d e r s , the number of d i f f e r e n t c a t e g o r i e s was found t o be s l i g h t l y more i m p o r t a n t t h a n the o t h e r two v a r i a b l e s . Shanahan s u g g e s t e d t h a t as r e a d e r s 83 mature, the v a r i e t y of information becomes more important to the r e a d i n g / w r i t i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p than the q u a n t i t y of information. The c o r r e l a t i o n s for a l l the s t o r y grammar analyses were among the lowest i n the m u l t i v a r i a t e r e a d i n g / w r i t i n g a n a l y s i s . It was not known i f Shanahan encountered a problem s i m i l a r to that of the Hansche and Gordon study of t r y i n g to measure non-s t o r i e s with n a r r a t i v e schema a n a l y s i s . The p i c t u r e s t i m u l i used by Shanahan were not i n h e r e n t l y n a r r a t i v e i n nature and so i t i s p o s s i b l e that c h i l d r e n may have w r i t t e n mere d e s c r i p t i o n s of the scene. In t h i s case, analyses may have been a f f e c t e d i n that d e s c r i p t i v e compositions may not manifest many of the s t r u c t u r a l c a t e g o r i e s which a s t o r y grammar de s c r i b e s f o r a true n a r r a t i v e (Mandler, 1980). The f i n a l study which examined evidence of n a r r a t i v e schema in w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e s , was a small e x p l o r a t o r y study (McConaughy, 1985b). The study u t i l i z e d a s t o r y stimulus with an inherent n a r r a t i v e s t r u c t u r e i n a. t h r e e - p i c t u r e sequence. The stimulus was d e r i v e d from the Test of Written Language, a standardized w r i t i n g measure. Story p r o t o c o l s from a small group of d i s a b l e d readers aged 9 to 11 were analyzed according to a s t o r y grammar and scored on a nine-point r a t i n g s c a l e f o r schema q u a l i t y . As i n a l l research i n v o l v i n g s t o r y grammar a n a l y s i s , the n a r r a t i v e s were f i r s t parsed i n t o s t o r y p r o p o s i t i o n s and assigned to s t r u c t u r a l c a t e g o r i e s of the grammar. The grammar used in t h i s study was adapted by McConaughy from those of Rumelhart (1977) and Thorndyke (1977). Each parsed n a r r a t i v e was then assessed 84 according to a set of c r i t e r i a for q u a l i t y of s t o r y schema measured by a score on the Schema Q u a l i t y Rating Scale (McConaughy, 1985b). The Schema Q u a l i t y Rating Scale was devised by McConaughy, a researcher i n the Department of P s y c h i a t r y at the U n i v e r s i t y of Vermont. I t evolved from t h e o r i e s of a developmental s t o r y schema for s t o r y comprehension (McConaughy et a l , 1983) and from previous s t o r y schema research. From f i n d i n g s that c e r t a i n s t r u c t u r e s assumed more importance i n memory, the concept of a h i e r a r c h i c a l arrangement of s t r u c t u r a l c a t e g o r i e s i n s t o r y schema was formed and subsequently corroborated by comprehension research (Whaley, 1981). Research f i n d i n g s about s t o r y s t r u c t u r e e s t a b l i s h e d the presence of i n i t i a t i n g events, r e s o l u t i o n s , episodes, and goals as most important of s t o r y s t r u c t u r e c a t e g o r i e s (Rumelhart, 1977). Number of episodes was found to be r e l a t e d to s t r u c t u r a l development (Mandler and Johnson, 1977). The i n t e n t i o n of the Schema Q u a l i t y Rating Scale was t o i n t e r p r e t these previous f i n d i n g s about s t o r y s t r u c t u r e and c h a r a c t e r i z e the q u a l i t y of a s t o r y s t r u c t u r e , an i n t e r p r e t i v e aspect of schema not d e p i c t e d by the s t r u c t u r a l c a t e g o r i e s alone. McConaughy a l s o incorporated research^ f i n d i n g s which had concluded that c h i l d r e n and a d u l t s demonstrated d i f f e r e n t i a l schema q u a l i t y ( S t e i n and Glenn, 1979; McConaughy et a l ; 1983). The main d i s t i n c t i o n s between designations of schema q u a l i t y were the emphasis of goal statements and i n t e r n a l responses. B r i e f l y , s t o r i e s which contained goal statements and i n t e r n a l responses of 85 c h a r a c t e r s were s a i d t o i n c o r p o r a t e p s y c h o l o g i c a l c a u s a l i t y and c h a r a c t e r m o t i v a t i o n , and t h e r e f o r e , a c c o r d i n g t o McConaughy, d e m o n s t r a t e d a more mature l e v e l o f schema - S o c i a l I n f e r e n c e Schema. C a u s a l I n f e r e n c e Schema was d e s c r i b e d as l e s s m ature b e c a u s e o f e m p h a s i s on p h y s i c a l c a u s a l i t y and t e m p o r a l d e s c r i p t i o n o f a c t i o n s . Those s t o r i e s w h i c h were c h a r a c t e r i z e d as a s t r i n g o f c a u s a l l y r e l a t e d a c t i o n s and d e s c r i p t i o n s w i t h o u t a c e n t r a l f o c u s s i n g g o a l were d e s c r i b e d as l e s s m ature i n schema q u a l i t y . McConaughy f o u n d t h a t a n a l y s i s of schema q u a l i t y h i g h l i g h t e d o r g a n i z a t i o n a l p r o b l e m s n o t d e s c r i b e d by c o n v e n t i o n a l a n a l y s e s . T h i s was a s m a l l e x p l o r a t o r y s t u d y w h i c h p r o p o s e d a p r o m i s i n g a n a l y s i s o f s t r u c t u r a l a s p e c t s of w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e s . To c o n c l u d e , e v i d e n c e f r o m t h e t h r e e s t u d i e s w h i c h e x a m i n e d s t o r y s t r u c t u r e i n o r i g i n a l n a r r a t i v e s i s n o t d e c i s i v e and f u r t h e r r e s e a r c h i s n e e d e d . Low p o s i t i v e r e l a t i o n s h i p s were o b s e r v e d f o r t h e p r e s e n c e and number of s t r u c t u r e s i n t h e s t o r i e s o f r e a d e r s o f d i f f e r i n g a b i l i t y l e v e l s b u t t h e s e were n o t s t r o n g enough t o be p r e d i c t i v e o f r e a d i n g a b i l i t y . A n a l y s i s o f s t o r y s t r u c t u r e i n w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e s was n o t c o n c l u s i v e . L a c k o f c o n t r o l l e d w r i t i n g s t i m u l u s meant p r o d u c t i o n o f c o m p o s i t i o n s i n a p p r o p r i a t e f o r a s s e s s m e n t by a grammar o f d e f i n e d n a r r a t i v e s t r u c t u r e s . T h i s f a c t o r may have i n t e r f e r e d w i t h t h e r e s u l t s . 86 C o n c l u s i o n Few c o n c l u s i v e s t a t e m e n t s c a n be made a b o u t t h e r e a d i n g / w r i t i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p b a s e d on a s u r v e y o f t h e r e s e a r c h and t h e o r e t i c a l l i t e r a t u r e t o d a t e . A h o l i s t i c p e r s p e c t i v e o f i n t e r r e l a t e d l a n g u a g e d e v e l o p m e n t c o n s i d e r s r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g as m u t u a l l y i n t e r a c t i v e i n f u n c t i o n and d e v e l o p m e n t . T h e o r i e s a b o u t t h e o r i g i n s o f s t o r y c o n c e p t s and schema have assumed c o n n e c t i o n s b e t ween r e l a t e d l a n g u a g e p r o c e s s e s . Y e t , many t h e o r e t i c a l a s s u m p t i o n s r e m a i n u n t e s t e d by s u b s e q u e n t r e s e a r c h . R e s e a r c h has been r e l a t i v e l y i s o l a t e d , w i t h l i t t l e c o n n e c t i o n t o p r e v i o u s work. R e s e a r c h e r s f r o m t h e f i e l d s o f l i n g u i s t i c s , p s y c h o l o g y and e d u c a t i o n do n o t seem t o have e x p l o r e d o r e x t e n d e d e a c h o t h e r ' s i n v e s t i g a t i o n s , b u t have o f t e n p u r s u e d r a t h e r i d i o s y n c r a t i c p a t h s o f i n q u i r y . The e v i d e n c e p r o d u c e d f r o m t h e s e i n d e p e n d e n t and v a r i a n t s o u r c e s i s n o t e a s i l y s y n t h e s i z e d t o f o r m a c l e a r p i c t u r e o f t h e n a t u r e o f t h e r e a d i n g / w r i t i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p . W h i l e t h e r e i s e v i d e n c e i n t h e l i t e r a t u r e t h a t t h e two p r o c e s s e s a r e r e l a t e d , t h e n a t u r e o f t h a t r e l a t i o n s h i p r e m a i n s u n c l e a r . The r e l a t i o n s h i p a p p e a r s t o be m u l t i - f a c e t e d and c o m p l e x . R e s e a r c h w h i c h has i n v e s t i g a t e d r e l a t i o n s h i p s b e t ween s p e c i f i c f a c e t s o f t h e two p r o c e s s e s has p r o d u c e d t h e most p r o m i s i n g r e s u l t s , b u t f u r t h e r a n a l y s i s i s needed. I f r e s e a r c h on t h e r e a d i n g / w r i t i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p i s t o i n f o r m p r a c t i c e , i t needs t o p r o v i d e i n f o r m a t i o n on how t h e s e p r o c e s s e s a r e r e l a t e d , so t h a t c l a s s r o o m t e a c h e r s may b e s t c a p i t a l i z e on t h e c o n n e c t i o n s . 87 CHAPTER THREE M e t h o d o l o g y R e s e a r c h D e s i g n A c o r r e l a t i o n a l s t u d y was c o n d u c t e d i n w h i c h r e a d i n g c o m p r e h e n s i o n s c o r e s were c o r r e l a t e d w i t h r a t i n g s o f schema q u a l i t y , f o r w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e s . S u b j e c t s S u b j e c t s were g r a d e e i g h t s t u d e n t s i n a s e c o n d a r y s c h o o l i n V a n c o u v e r , B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a . The s c h o o l i s l o c a t e d on t h e e a s t s i d e o f t h e c i t y i n a n e i g h b o u r h o o d t h a t t e n d s t o w a r d l o w e r -m i d d l e o r w o r k i n g c l a s s s o c i o - e c o n o m i c s t a t u s and i s of mix e d e t h n i c and r a c i a l b a c k g r o u n d . The s t u d e n t s r e p r e s e n t e d t h e e n t i r e g r a d e e i g h t p o p u l a t i o n o f t h e s c h o o l w i t h t h e e x c e p t i o n o f t h o s e g r a d e e i g h t s t u d e n t s i n a l e a r n i n g s k i l l s c l a s s and i n a c l a s s i n w h i c h E n g l i s h was t a u g h t as a s e c o n d l a n g u a g e . The s u b j e c t s were i n f i v e E n g l i s h c l a s s e s t a u g h t by two d i f f e r e n t t e a c h e r s . T h r e e o f t h e c l a s s e s were t a u g h t b y one t e a c h e r and two by t h e o t h e r . The s t u d e n t s were s e l e c t e d r a n d o m l y f o r p l a c e m e n t i n c l a s s e s by t h e a d m i n i s t r a t i v e c o m p u t e r w h i c h g e n e r a t e d s t u d e n t t i m e t a b l e s . The o r i g i n a l g r o u p o f s u b j e c t s c o n s i s t e d o f one h u n d r e d 88 t w e n t y - s i x s t u d e n t s who were g i v e n a s t a n d a r d i z e d r e a d i n g t e s t . A t t r i t i o n due t o i l l n e s s meant t h a t one h u n d r e d f i f t e e n s t u d e n t s p a r t i c i p a t e d i n t h e w r i t i n g p o r t i o n o f t h e s t u d y . Two s t u d e n t s who were r e p e a t i n g g r a d e e i g h t were d r o p p e d f r o m t h e s t u d y l e a v i n g t h e f i n a l s a m ple of one h u n d r e d t h i r t e e n s u b j e c t s . The median age of t h e g r o u p was 13 y e a r s 4 months. T h e r e were f i f t y -f i v e g i r l s and f i f t y - e i g h t b o y s . D a t a C o l l e c t i o n The s t u d e n t s were g i v e n t h e G a t e s - M a c G i n i t i e R e a d i n g T e s t (1980) as p a r t o f t h e r e g u l a r f a l l a s s e s s m e n t programme of t h e s c h o o l . S u b - t e s t s were a d m i n i s t e r e d o v e r two E n g l i s h p e r i o d s d u r i n g two weeks i n e a r l y O c t o b e r . About two weeks l a t e r , a f t e r t h e a d m i n i s t r a t i o n of t h e r e a d i n g t e s t s was c o m p l e t e d , t h e w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e s were c o l l e c t e d d u r i n g a n o t h e r E n g l i s h c l a s s . S t u d e n t s were g i v e n a s t o r y s t i m u l u s and t o l d t o w r i t e t h e b e s t s t o r y t h e y c o u l d u s i n g a l l t h r e e p i c t u r e s . Time a l l o w e d f o r w r i t i n g was f o r t y - f i v e m i n u t e s . E a c h c l a s s was g i v e n i d e n t i c a l i n s t r u c t i o n s and a l l o t m e n t o f t i m e and t h e r e s e a r c h e r a d m i n i s t e r e d a l l t h e t e s t s . The r e s e a r c h e r was a f a m i l i a r f i g u r e t o t h e s t u d e n t s as a t e a c h e r i n t h e s c h o o l , a l t h o u g h none o f t h e s t u d e n t s were i n t h e r e s e a r c h e r ' s own c l a s s . E a c h s t u d e n t was i d e n t i f i e d by a number w h i c h e n c o d e d h e r c l a s s and p l a c e m e n t on a l p h a b e t i z e d c l a s s l i s t s . These number 89 codes vere used to ensure subject anonymity when reading t e s t s and w r i t i n g samples were being scored and a l s o for purposes of e n t e r i n g the data for computerized data a n a l y s i s . Data from the reading assessment was not a v a i l a b l e during the s c o r i n g of the w r i t i n g samples and v i c e versa so. that b l i n d s c o r i n g was employed. Measurement Reading A b i l i t y Reading a b i l i t y was assessed by the comprehension s e c t i o n of the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test (1980), Level E, Form 1. This t e s t i s a widely-used standardized reading survey t e s t which measures a general l e v e l of reading comprehension a b i l i t y . The t e s t c o n s i s t s of a vocabulary t e s t and a comprehension t e s t . Both of these sub-tests were administered to the students but only the r e s u l t s of the comprehension t e s t were used i n the data a n a l y s i s . The s e l e c t i o n of the comprehension s e c t i o n i s considered j u s t i f i e d because t h i s t e s t measures the a b i l i t y of the reader to decode and comprehend connected dis c o u r s e at both l i t e r a l and i n f e r e n t i a l l e v e l s ( M i t c h e l l , 1985). It i s t h i s a b i l i t y which i s most r e l e v a n t to s t o r y reading and the purpose of t h i s study. The Gates-MacGinitie Test was standardized according to norms developed from the r e s u l t s of t e s t i n g 46,000 Canadian students. A s t r a t i f i e d sampling procedure was used to ensure proportionate r e p r e s e n t a t i o n . R e l i a b i l i t y c o e f f i c i e n t s of .87 90 are reported for the sub-tests (Kuder-Richardson formula) (MacGinitie et a l , 1980). Scoring Procedure fo r Reading Tests The reading t e s t s were hand-scored and tabul a t e d twice; once by the l e a r n i n g a s s i s t a n c e teacher i n the sch o o l , and once by the researcher. The raw scores for the comprehension p o r t i o n of the t e s t were computed and stanines and grade e q u i v a l e n t scores were tabulated from the ta b l e s of norms i n the t e s t manual. Form E, Level 1 of the Gates-MacGinitie t e s t i s designed for use at the beginning high school l e v e l ( M a c G i n i t i e , 1980). Subjects were e n t e r i n g high school i n grade ei g h t f o r the f i r s t time and there was no p o s s i b i l i t y that any of the students had wri t t e n the t e s t p r e v i o u s l y . N a r r a t i v e Stimulus The p i c t u r e stimulus of the Test of Written Language or TOWL (Hammill and Larsen, 1985) was used to generate the n a r r a t i v e samples (Appendix A). The TOWL p i c t u r e stimulus was designed by the authors to e l i c i t s t o r y samples from students. The TOWL has been widely used in a t e s t of w r i t t e n language for the past ten years and i s one of the few normed and standardized measures which uses a s t o r y sample for a n a l y s i s ( M i t c h e l l , 1985). Only the p i c t u r e stimulus from the TOWL was used as the other sub-tests were not r e l e v a n t to the purposes of t h i s study. The TOWL stimulus was used because i t contains an inherent 91 s t r u c t u r e which s t r o n g l y suggests a s t o r y . This enabled the development of a set of s p e c i f i c s t r u c t u r a l e x p e c t a t i o n s . The i n t e n t i o n was to el i m i n a t e the problem of s t o r y p r o t o c o l s which e l i c i t e d composition which were more d e s c r i p t i v e or anecdotal than n a r r a t i v e . Previous a n a l y s i s by the researcher of another set of TOWL samples i n d i c a t e d that the p i c t u r e stimulus prompted students to write n a r r a t i v e s . The stimulus c o n s i s t s of three adjacent pen-and-ink p i c t u r e s presenting a space s t o r y . In the f i r s t p i c t u r e , c o n d i t i o n s on one planet are d e t e r i o r a t i n g , l e a d i n g to an exodus of space v e h i c l e s i n the second p i c t u r e , and subsequent settlement on a new planet i n the f i n a l p i c t u r e . None of the p a r t i c i p a n t s i n the study had previous experience with the TOWL w r i t i n g stimulus. The TOWL i s time-consuming to score and th e r e f o r e most of t e n used i n s p e c i a l i z e d one-on-one s i t u a t i o n s c h a r a c t e r i s t i c of l e a r n i n g a s s i s t a n c e and s k i l l s development centres i n elementary and secondary s c h o o l s . Therefore, i t was h i g h l y u n l i k e l y that any of the students had an opportunity to view the stimulus beforehand. A n a l y s i s o f W r i t t e n N a r r a t i v e s O r g a n i z a t i o n a l s t r u c t u r e of the n a r r a t i v e s was f i r s t assessed fo r the presence of t h i r t e e n p o s s i b l e s t o r y s t r u c t u r e c a t e g o r i e s . These c a t e g o r i e s were adapted by McConaughy (1985b) from those i n s t o r y grammars p r e v i o u s l y devised by Rummelhart (1975) and Thorndyke (1977). The ca t e g o r i e s were: s e t t i n g , 92 i n i t i a t i n g e v e n t , i n t e r n a l r e s p o n s e , d e s c r i p t i o n , g o a l , a t t e m p t , outcome, r e a c t i o n , r e s o l u t i o n , m o r a l , d i s p o s i t i o n , c o m m e n t a r i e s , and u n c l a s s i f i e d , ( s e e A p p e n d i x B f o r d e f i n i t i o n s ) A f t e r t h e s t r u c t u r a l c a t e g o r i e s o f t h e n a r r a t i v e s were r e c o r d e d , a f u r t h e r a n a l y s i s was p e r f o r m e d i n o r d e r t o a s s i g n e a c h n a r r a t i v e a r a t i n g f o r g u a l i t y o f s t o r y schema. S c o r i n g P r o c e d u r e f o r t h e W r i t t e n N a r r a t i v e s The s t o r i e s were p a r s e d i n t o s t o r y p r o p o s i t i o n s f o r b l i n d s c o r i n g . The c r i t e r i o n f o r a p r o p o s i t i o n i s d e f i n e d a s a u n i t o f p r o s e w h i c h e x p r e s s e s an i d e a , e m o t i o n o r a c t i o n . A n a l y s e s were r e c o r d e d f o r e a c h s t o r y on a s e p a r a t e s c o r e s h e e t w h i c h was e n c o d e d w i t h t h e s t u d e n t ' s i d e n t i f i c a t i o n number. N o t h i n g was e l i m i n a t e d f r o m t h e s t o r i e s and no a t t e m p t s were made t o change a n y t h i n g a b o u t t h e s t o r i e s d u r i n g t h e p a r s i n g p r o c e s s e x c e p t s p e l l i n g m i s t a k e s . A r a t i o n a l e f o r c o r r e c t i n g s p e l l i n g e r r o r s was d e s c r i b e d by McConaughy (1985a) as p r e v e n t i n g p o s s i b l e b i a s a g a i n s t w r i t e r s w i t h p o o r w r i t t e n l a n g u a g e s k i l l . As t h e p u r p o s e o f t h e s t u d y was t o a n a l y z e s t o r y s t r u c t u r e , i t was d e c i d e d t o r e d u c e i n t e r f e r e n c e f r o m a n y o t h e r c u e s t h a t c o u l d s u b c o n s c i o u s l y i n t e r f e r e w i t h t h e r a t i n g p r o c e s s . P a r s i n g t h e s t o r i e s e n s u r e d t h a t e a c h s t o r y t o o k on t h e same a p p e a r a n c e t h e r e b y r e d u c i n g t h e t e n d e n c y t o i n f e r w r i t i n g o r r e a d i n g a b i l i t i e s b a s e d on e v i d e n c e f r o m a p p e a r a n c e , m e c h a n i c s , s p e l l i n g or h a n d w r i t i n g . The p a r s i n g t a s k p r o v e d t o be r e l a t i v e l y s t r a i g h t f o r w a r d . E a c h s t o r y was r e w r i t t e n by t h e r e s e a r c h e r as a l i s t o f numbered 93 p r o p o s i t i o n s . A f t e r the n a r r a t i v e s were parsed into p r o p o s i t i o n s , the f o l l o w i n g analyses were performed: (see Appendix D) Presence and number of s t o r y s t r u c t u r e c a t e g o r i e s . Each p r o p o s i t i o n i n each s t o r y was analyzed and assigned by the researcher to a s t o r y s t r u c t u r e category. Parsed s t o r i e s were each read twice with the a n a l y s i s t a k i n g place during the second reading. A frequency count of p r o p o s i t i o n s was tabul a t e d for each s t r u c t u r a l category. A p r o f i l e of s t r u c t u r a l c a t e g o r i e s was developed f o r the f i n a l a n a l y s i s of schema q u a l i t y . The number of d i f f e r e n t s t o r y s t r u c t u r e c a t e g o r i e s was counted for each n a r r a t i v e . Previous research found a p o s i t i v e r e l a t i o n s h i p between reading a b i l i t y and the number of d i f f e r e n t s t r u c t u r a l c a t e g o r i e s present i n o r i g i n a l n a r r a t i v e s (Hansche and Gordon,1983; Shanahan, 1984). The count of s t r u c t u r a l c a t e g o r i e s was used as a measure of s t r u c t u r a l v a r i e t y i n those s t u d i e s . It was f e l t that the measure could be u s e f u l i n the present study because i t provides a recognized a n a l y s i s of s t r u c t u r e that i s separate from the a n a l y s i s of schema q u a l i t y . Eleven of the t h i r t e e n s t r u c t u r a l c a t e g o r i e s were used f o r t h i s a n a l y s i s . The ca t e g o r i e s of commentary and u n c l a s s i f i e d were el i m i n a t e d because they are not part of the s t o r y grammar. Number of episodes. The p r o f i l e of s t o r y s t r u c t u r e c a t e g o r i e s i n each n a r r a t i v e was analyzed f o r the presence of complete episodes. An episode c o n s i s t s of a go a l , i n t e r n a l response or sub-goal of a character or c h a r a c t e r s ; an attempt or s e r i e s of attempts to act on that 94 g o a l o r r e s p o n s e ; and an outcome o r r e s o l u t i o n l e a d i n g d i r e c t l y f r o m t h o s e a t t e m p t s . The number o f e p i s o d e s was r e c o r d e d as an i n d e x o f c o m p l e x i t y . T h i s f o l l o w s r e s e a r c h o f schema t h e o r i s t s who d e s c r i b e d e p i s o d e s as a s p e c t s o f p l o t d e v e l o p m e n t ( T h o r n d y k e , 1977) and d e s c r i b e d t h e number o f e p i s o d e s as i n d i c a t i o n s o f s t r u c t u r a l c o m p l e x i t y . The number o f e p i s o d e s was i n c l u d e d w i t h t h e s t r u c t u r a l a n a l y s i s i n t h e a s s e s s m e n t o f schema g u a l i t y . Number o f e p i s o d e s has been u s e d i n p r e v i o u s r e s e a r c h as a d i s c r e t e measure o f s t o r y s t r u c t u r e ( S h a n a h a n , 1 9 8 4 ) . However, a s e p a r a t e a n a l y s i s o f number o f e p i s o d e s w o u l d have been t a u t o l o g i c a l i n t h e p r e s e n t s t u d y b e c a u s e t h e measure was i n c l u d e d i n r a t i n g t h e schema q u a l i t y o f t h e n a r r a t i v e s . N u m b e r o f p r o p o s i t i o n s . T o t a l number o f p r o p o s i t i o n s i n e a c h s t o r y was r e c o r d e d as a measure o f n a r r a t i v e l e n g t h . The number o f p r o p o s i t i o n a l s t a t e m e n t s has been a s i g n i f i c a n t c o r r e l a t e i n p r e v i o u s s t o r y schema r e s e a r c h w h i c h showed r e l a t i o n s h i p s b e t ween l e n g t h of summaries and r e a d i n g a b i l i t y (McConaughy, 1 9 8 5 a ) . The number of p r o p o s i t i o n s c o u l d be an i m p o r t a n t f a c t o r s h o u l d a r e l a t i o n s h i p b e tween schema q u a l i t y and n a r r a t i v e l e n g t h a p p e a r s a l i e n t . I t seemed i m p o r t a n t t o e s t a b l i s h t h a t measures o f schema q u a l i t y were n o t d e p e n d e n t on t h e l e n g t h o f t h e c o m p o s i t i o n . S t o r y s c h e m a q u a l i t y . F o l l o w i n g t h e p r o c e d u r e s o f McConaughy's s t u d i e s , p r o f i l e s o f s t r u c t u r a l c a t e g o r i e s f o r e a c h p a r s e d n a r r a t i v e were a s s e s s e d a c c o r d i n g t o a s e t o f c r i t e r i a f o r q u a l i t y o f s t o r y schema 95 contained i n the Schema Q u a l i t y Rating Scale (McConaughy, 1 9 8 5 b ; see Appendix C). The Schema Q u a l i t y Rating Scale was devised by McConaughy, a researcher i n the Department of P s y c h i a t r y i t the U n i v e r s i t y of Vermont, based on her t h e o r i e s of a developmental s t o r y schema for s t o r y comprehension ( 1 9 8 3 ) . A f t e r p r o p o s i t i o n s of the parsed s t o r i e s were assigned to s t r u c t u r a l c a t e g o r i e s , the number of episodes was counted, and a s t r u c t u r a l p r o f i l e was d e s c r i b e d . The s t r u c t u r a l p r o f i l e of each n a r r a t i v e was assigned a r a t i n g f o r schema q u a l i t y from 0 to 9 according to the l e v e l s of the s c a l e . The McConaughy s c a l e i s h i e r a r c h i c a l : a r a t i n g of 0 i n d i c a t e s no schema, and a r a t i n g of 9 i n d i c a t e s a complex, mature schema. A n a r r a t i v e which r e c e i v e d a r a t i n g 0 for 'no schema' was judged as missing most of the important s t r u c t u r a l c a t e g o r i e s , whereas a n a r r a t i v e which r e c e i v e d a 9 had two or more goals, an i n i t i a t i n g event, r e s o l u t i o n , and one or more complete episodes for each goal or group of c h a r a c t e r s . A f u l l d e s c r i p t i o n of each l e v e l of the s c a l e appears i n Appendix C. P i l o t Studies P r i o r to conducting the main study, the researcher conducted two p i l o t s t u d i e s using the TOWL stimulus and the McConaughy Schema Q u a l i t y Rating S c a l e . These were undertaken i n order to e s t a b l i s h the usefulness of the measures. The f i r s t study 96 c o n s i s t e d of one grade ei g h t c l a s s of 21 students who had been judged by t h e i r previous year's teacher as having poor s k i l l s in language a r t s . The Test of Written Language was administered and scored as part of an assessment of the students' reading and w r i t i n g a b i l i t i e s . In a t r i a l run for the present i n v e s t i g a t i o n , f i v e s t o r i e s were chosen randomly from the sample of t e s t s , and parsed and rated according to McConaughy's procedures. From t h i s p r e l i m i n a r y a n a l y s i s , i t was found that Schema a n a l y s i s y i e l d e d information about o r g a n i z a t i o n not generated by the r e s t of the TOWL s u b - t e s t s . A second p i l o t study was conducted using a d u l t s u b j e c t s . The 17 s u b j e c t s were in a t h i r d year undergraduate u n i v e r s i t y c l a s s in developmental reading. This a n a l y s i s was undertaken to see i f McConaughy's (1983) conten t i o n that a d u l t s employ the more advanced S o c i a l Inference Schema would hold f o r a d u l t w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e production. The secondary purpose of t h i s small study was to t e s t f u r t h e r the u t i l i t y of the measure. I t was found that a l l of the a d u l t n a r r a t i v e s demonstrated the S o c i a l Inference Schema (Appendix E ) . I t was concluded by the researcher that the analyses c o n s t i t u t e d a v a l i d and u s e f u l measure of schema q u a l i t y i n w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e s . 97 I n t e r r a t e r R e l i a b i l i t y A s e c o n d r a t e r was t r a i n e d t o p a r s e s t o r i e s , t o use s t o r y s t r u c t u r e c a t e g o r i e s , and t o a n a l y z e s t o r i e s f o r schema q u a l i t y a c c o r d i n g t o t h e McConaughy Schema Q u a l i t y R a t i n g S c a l e . T r a i n i n g s e s s i o n s u t i l i z e d a s e c o n d s e t o f TOWL s t o r i e s c o l l e c t e d p r e v i o u s l y i n a s m a l l p i l o t s t u d y c o n d u c t e d by t h e r e s e a r c h e r . The s e c o n d r a t e r a n a l y z e d a random 25% o f t h e t o t a l s a mple and r e c o r d e d s c o r e s on s e p a r a t e s c o r e s h e e t s . The p e r c e n t a g e of a g r e e m e n t y i e l d e d an o v e r a l l i n t e r r a t e r r e l i a b i l i t y o f .91 ( B o r g and G a l l , 1 9 7 9 ) . Those d i f f e r e n c e s i n s c o r e s were d i s c u s s e d and a g r e e m e n t was r e a c h e d on a f i n a l s c o r e f o r schema q u a l i t y o f e a c h n a r r a t i v e . D a t a P r e s e n t a t i o n A f t e r t h e o r i g i n a l 113 n a r r a t i v e s were s c o r e d , 10 of them were e l i m i n a t e d f r o m t h e d a t a a n a l y s i s b e c a u s e t h e y were n o t c o m p l e t e d w i t h i n t h e t e s t i n g p e r i o d . These s t o r i e s t e n d e d t o be l o n g and q u i t e c o m p l e x i n s t r u c t u r e , b u t b e c a u s e t h e y were u n f i n i s h e d t h e y l a c k e d a R e s o l u t i o n s t a t e m e n t . The a b s e n c e of t h i s i m p o r t a n t c a t e g o r y w o u l d have meant a much l o w e r r a t i n g t h a n t h e y w o u l d o t h e r w i s e have r e c e i v e d . I t was f e l t t h a t an u n f i n i s h e d s t o r y s h o u l d n o t be j u d g e d by t h e same c r i t e r i a as a f i n i s h e d s t o r y and so t h e s e s u b j e c t s were e l i m i n a t e d f r o m t h e 98 f i n a l a n a l y s i s . One more s t o r y was d e l e t e d f r o m t h e a n a l y s i s b e c a u s e t h e s u b j e c t c h o s e t o i g n o r e t h e p i c t u r e s t i m u l u s and w r o t e a b o u t a f a m i l y who t o o k a p i c n i c by b o a t t o a t r o p i c a l i s l a n d . The f i n a l number of s t o r y p r o t o c o l s was 102. P e a r s o n product-moment c o r r e l a t i o n s were computed u s i n g r e a d i n g a b i l i t y raw s c o r e s on t h e G a t e s - M a c G i n i t i e c o m p r e h e n s i o n t e s t w i t h schema g u a l i t y r a t i n g s , number of p r o p o s i t i o n s , and number of c a t e g o r i e s d e r i v e d f r o m t h e n a r r a t i v e a n a l y s i s . 99 CHAPTER FOUR Results I n t r o d u c t i o n Results are organized f o r p r e s e n t a t i o n i n t o three s e c t i o n s . The f i r s t s e c t i o n presents the f i n d i n g s from the p r e l i m i n a r y analyses i n c l u d i n g compilation of normative data for r e s u l t s of the measures and separate analyses of gender f a c t o r s . The second s e c t i o n presents those f i n d i n g s p e r t a i n i n g to the three hypotheses which formed the bas i s f o r t h i s i n v e s t i g a t i o n . The f i n a l s e c t i o n presents f u r t h e r f i n d i n g s r e l e v a n t to the r e l a t i o n s h i p between reading a b i l i t y and s t o r y schema q u a l i t y i n o r i g i n a l w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e s . I t includes a d e s c r i p t i v e a n a l y s i s of the frequency of use of s t o r y s t r u c t u r e c a t e g o r i e s in the n a r r a t i v e s and a c r o s s t a b u l a t i o n of schema r a t i n g s with three reading a b i l i t y groups. P r e l i m i n a r y Analyses Means and Standard Deviations of V a r i a b l e s Means and standard d e v i a t i o n s were c a l c u l a t e d f o r reading raw scores, schema q u a l i t y r a t i n g s , number of c a t e g o r i e s and number of p r o p o s i t i o n s (Table 1). 100 T a b l e 1 Means and S t a n d a r d D e v i a t i o n s f o r A l l V a r i a b l e s Var i a b l e s Mean S t a n d a r d D e v i a t i o n R e a d i n g A b i l i t y Raw S c o r e s 28 .28 6. 77 Schema Q u a l i t y R a t i n g s 4 .97 2. 83 Number o f P r o p o s i t i o n s 28 . 36 12. 71 Number of C a t e g o r i e s 7 .53 1. 36 R e a d i n g A b i l i t y The r e a d i n g raw s c o r e mean o f 28.28 was c o n v e r t e d t o a mean g r a d e e q u i v a l e n t of 8.0 f o r t h e g r o u p a c c o r d i n g t o t h e n o r m i n g t a b l e c o n t a i n e d i n t h e G a t e s - M a c G i n i t i e t e s t m a n u a l . T h i s mean c o n f o r m s t o t h e e x p e c t e d mean s c o r e f o r a g r o u p o f b e g i n n i n g g r a d e e i g h t s t u d e n t s on t h e G a t e s - M a c G i n i t i e R e a d i n g T e s t (1980, p . 4 1 ) . Raw s c o r e s were a l s o c o n v e r t e d t o s t a n i n e s a c c o r d i n g t o t h e s t a n d a r d i z a t i o n t a b l e s i n t h e G a t e s M a c G i n i t i e m a n u a l . I n o r d e r t o p r o f i l e t h e a b i l i t i e s o f t h e g r o u p , t h o s e who r e c e i v e d s t a n i n e s i n t h e 4-6 r a n g e were c l a s s i f i e d as a v e r a g e r e a d e r s and t h o s e who s c o r e d b e l o w s t a n i n e 4 o r above 6 were c l a s s i f i e d as b e l o w and a b o v e - a v e r a g e r e a d e r s r e s p e c t i v e l y . The r e a d i n g s c o r e d i s t r i b u t i o n o f t h e 102 s u b j e c t s i s d e p i c t e d i n T a b l e 2. 1 0 1 T a b l e 2 P r o f i l e o f S u b j e c t s A c c o r d i n g t o R e a d i n g A b i l i t y R e a d i n g A b i l i t y A b o v e - A v e r a g e A v e r a g e B e l o w - A v e r a g e T o t a l # o f S u b j e c t s 23 58 2 1 1 0 2 P e r c e n t a g e 2 2 . 5 % 5 7 % 2 0 . 5 % 1 0 0 % G e n d e r D i f f e r e n c e s I n o r d e r t o d i s c o v e r a n y g e n d e r d i f f e r e n c e s f o r t h e v a r i a b l e s , a n u m b e r o f s e p a r a t e a n a l y s e s w e r e p e r f o r m e d f o r m a l e s a n d f e m a l e s . T h e r e w e r e 5 0 f e m a l e a n d 52 m a l e s u b j e c t s . S e p a r a t e m e a n s a n d s t a n d a r d d e v i a t i o n s w e r e c a l c u l a t e d f o r m a l e s a n d f e m a l e s f o r r e a d i n g r a w s c o r e s , s c h e m a g u a l i t y r a t i n g s , n u m b e r o f p r o p o s i t i o n s a n d n u m b e r o f s t o r y s t r u c t u r e c a t e g o r i e s T h e m e a n s w e r e s i m i l a r f o r m a l e s a n d f e m a l e s f o r n u m b e r o f c a t e g o r i e s , r e a d i n g a b i l i t y , a n d s c h e m a g u a l i t y r a t i n g s . P o o l e d v a r i a n c e e s t i m a t e s i n d i c a t e d t h a t m a l e s a n d f e m a l e s o n l y d i f f e r e d s i g n i f i c a n t l y f o r n u m b e r o f p r o p o s i t i o n s ( T a b l e 3 ) . 102 Table 3 Pooled Variance Estimates for Males and Females for A l l V a r i a b l e s (Females: n=50. Males: n = 52 ) Var i a b l e Mean Pooled Variance Estimate Standard D e v i a t i o n T Value Readinq A b i l i t y Females 28 .64 7. 32 0. ,53 Males 27 .92 6. 26 Schema Q u a l i t y Females 5. 04 2 . 95 0 . 24 Males 4. 90 2 . 78 Number of Cateqor ies Females 7. 70 1. 45 1. .25 Males 7. 37 1. 25 Number of P r o p o s i t i o n s Females 32 .74 15 . 45 3. ,61* Males 24 .15 7 .32 *p<0.001 103 Point b i s e r i a l c o r r e l a t i o n s were c a l c u l a t e d f o r gender and reading a b i l i t y , schema q u a l i t y , number of p r o p o s i t i o n s , and number of c a t e g o r i e s . Negative c o e f f i c i e n t s were found for a l l the v a r i a b l e s although the only s i g n i f i c a n t c o r r e l a t i o n was for gender and number of p r o p o s i t i o n s . There was no s t a t i s t i c a l l y s i g n i f i c a n t i n t e r a c t i o n between gender and any of the other v a r i a b l e s i n the study (Table 4). Table 4 P o i n t B i s e r i a l C o r r e l a t i o n s f o r Gender and A l l V a r i a b l e s Var i a b l e C o r r e l a t i o n C o e f f i c i e n t Reading A b i l i t y -.05 Schema Q u a l i t y -.02 Number of P r o p o s i t i o n s -.34 * Number of Categories -.12 *p<.0001 In order to compare the r e l a t i o n s h i p between reading a b i l i t y and number of p r o p o s i t i o n s for males and females s e p a r a t e l y , a t e s t of independent c o r r e l a t i o n s was computed (Table 5). 104 T a b l e 5 I n d e p e n d e n t C o e f f i c i e n t s f o r R e a d i n q A b i l i t y a n d Number o f P r o p o s i t i o n s f o r M a l e s a n d F e m a l e s G e n d e r C o e f f i c i e n t M a l e s . 0 2 * F e m a l e s . 4 7 * * * p < . 4 3 5 * * p < . 0 0 0 1 To c o m p a r e t h e m a g n i t u d e o f t h e c o r r e l a t i o n s b e t w e e n r e a d i n g a b i l i t y a n d number o f p r o p o s i t i o n s , a o n e - t a i l e d t e s t o f s i g n i f i c a n c e was p e r f o r m e d a t t h e . 0 5 l e v e l . The a p p r o p r i a t e v a l u e , ( z = 2 . 3 5 9 ) was s i g n i f i c a n t l y g r e a t e r t h a n t h e c r i t i c a l t a b l e d v a l u e ( z = 1 . 6 4 5 ) . I t was c o n c l u d e d t h a t t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n r e a d i n g s c o r e s a n d number o f p r o p o s i t i o n s i s s i g n i f i c a n t l y d i f f e r e n t f o r f e m a l e s t h a n i t i s f o r m a l e s i n t h i s s a m p l e . F o r f e m a l e s t u d e n t s i n t h i s s a m p l e , r e a d i n g i s r e l a t e d t o number o f p r o p o s i t i o n s . F o r m a l e s t h e r e i s no s t a t i s t i c a l l y s i g n i f i c a n t r e l a t i o n s h i p . 105 Main A n a l y s i s I n t r o d u c t i o n Three hypotheses were examined: HI: There w i l l be no s t a t i s t i c a l l y s i g n i f i c a n t r e l a t i o n s h i p between reading a b i l i t y scores and the frequency of d i f f e r e n t s t o r y s t r u c t u r e c a t e g o r i e s i n adolescent w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e s . H2: There w i l l be no s t a t i s t i c a l l y s i g n i f i c a n t r e l a t i o n s h i p between reading a b i l i t y scores and the number of p r o p o s i t i o n s i n adolescent w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e s . H3: There w i l l be no s t a t i s t i c a l l y s i g n i f i c a n t r e l a t i o n s h i p between reading a b i l i t y scores and a r a t i n g of s t o r y schema q u a l i t y i n adolescent w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e s . In order to t e s t the hypotheses, Pearson product-moment c o r r e l a t i o n s were conducted for reading comprehension raw scores on the Gates Ma c G i n i t i e with schema q u a l i t y . s c ores, number of s t o r y p r o p o s i t i o n s , and number of s t o r y c a t e g o r i e s (Table 6 ) . There were moderate to low s i g n i f i c a n t p o s i t i v e c o r r e l a t i o n s between reading a b i l i t y and the three w r i t i n g v a r i a b l e s . 106 Table 6 Pearson C o r r e l a t i o n s Between Reading A b i l i t y Scores and W r i t i n g V a r i a b l e s W r i t i n g V a r i a b l e C o r r e l a t i o n s with Reading A b i l i t y Schema Q u a l i t y .45 ** Number of P r o p o s i t i o n s .32 ** Number of Categories .24 * *p<.01 **p<.001 Reading A b i l i t y and Number of Story S t r u c t u r e Categories Hypothesis one addressed the r e l a t i o n s h i p between reading a b i l i t y scores and number of s t o r y s t r u c t u r e c a t e g o r i e s i n adolescent w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e s . A s i g n i f i c a n t c o r r e l a t i o n was observed and the n u l l hypothesis was r e j e c t e d . Reading A b i l i t y and Number of P r o p o s i t i o n s Hypothesis two addressed the r e l a t i o n s h i p between reading a b i l i t y scores and the number of p r o p o s i t i o n s i n adolescent n a r r a t i v e s . A s i g n i f i c a n t c o r r e l a t i o n was found and the n u l l hypothesis was r e j e c t e d . 107 R e a d i n g A b i l i t y and Schema Q u a l i t y R a t i n g s H y p o t h e s i s t h r e e a d d r e s s e d t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t ween r e a d i n g a b i l i t y s c o r e s and a r a t i n g o f s t o r y schema q u a l i t y i n a d o l e s c e n t w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e s . A s i g n i f i c a n t c o r r e l a t i o n was f o u n d and t h e n u l l h y p o t h e s i s was r e j e c t e d . F u r t h e r A n a l y s e s Number o f S t r u c t u r a l C a t e g o r i e s i n N a r r a t i v e s A f u r t h e r a n a l y s i s o f t h e number o f c a t e g o r i e s r e v e a l e d t h a t t h e m a j o r i t y o f t h e p r o p o s i t i o n s i n t h e n a r r a t i v e s c o l l e c t e d i n t h i s s t u d y c o u l d be a s s i g n e d t o one of t h e s t r u c t u r a l c a t e g o r i e s d e f i n e d by t h e s t o r y grammar. Out o f t h e 102 n a r r a t i v e s t h a t were p a r s e d , o n l y 3 p r o p o s i t i o n s were a s s i g n e d t o t h e u n c l a s s i f i e d c a t e g o r y and 25 were c l a s s i f i e d as b e i n g Commentary. However, t h e m a j o r i t y (17) o f t h e Commentary s t a t e m e n t s were a c c o u n t e d f o r by two s t o r i e s w h i c h c o n t a i n e d a number o f p e r s o n a l comments n o t d i r e c t l y r e l a t e d t o t h e n a r r a t i v e . Out of o v e r 3000 p r o p o s i t i o n s , o n l y 28 c o u l d n o t be a c c o u n t e d f o r by t h e grammar. The t o t a l number o f c a t e g o r i e s u s e d i n e a c h n a r r a t i v e r a n g e d f r o m a low o f 5 t o a h i g h o f 10 o u t o f a p o s s i b l e 1 1. A f r e q u e n c y c o u n t p r e s e n t s t h e p a t t e r n o f use f o r c a t e g o r i e s i n a l l t h e n a r r a t i v e s . T a b l e 7 shows t h e p e r c e n t a g e o f n a r r a t i v e s c o n t a i n i n g e a c h s t r u c t u r a l c a t e g o r y . 108 T a b l e 7 Use o f D i f f e r e n t S t r u c t u r a l C a t e g o r i e s i n T o t a l N a r r a t i v e Sample C a t e g o r y % o f N a r r a t i v e s 1. A t t e m p t 100 2. D e s c r i p t i o n 99 3. I n i t i a t i n g E v e n t 95 4. Outcome 96 5. I n t e r n a l R e s p o n s e 85 6. R e s o l u t i o n 79 7. G o a l 74 8. S e t t i n g 72 9. R e a c t i o n 33 10. D i s p o s i t i o n 16 11. M o r a l 1 Schema Q u a l i t y R a t i n g s o f N a r r a t i v e s A S o c i a l I n f e r e n c e Schema was c h a r a c t e r i z e d as' a n a r r a t i v e f o c u s s e d a r o u n d t h e p s y c h o l o g i c a l m o t i v a t i o n o f t h e c e n t r a l c h a r a c t e r ( s ) . A r a t i n g of 5 t o 9 was c l a s s i f i e d as S o c i a l I n f e r e n c e . C a u s a l I n f e r e n c e Schema i n c l u d e d t h o s e n a r r a t i v e s w h i c h l a c k e d a c l e a r c h a r a c t e r m o t i v a t i o n b u t c o n t a i n e d a s e r i e s o f c a u s a l l y o r t e m p o r a l l y r e l a t e d a c t i o n s and e v e n t s w h i c h were r e s o l v e d i n t h e end o f t h e s t o r y . The s a l i e n t f e a t u r e o f t h e s e n a r r a t i v e s was t h e a b s e n c e o f a g o a l s t a t e m e n t . A schema r a t i n g o f 2 t o 4 was c l a s s i f i e d as C a u s a l I n f e r e n c e . A S i m p l e D e s c r i p t i o n schema c o n t a i n e d d e s c r i p t i o n s o f e v e n t s and a c t i o n s . These n a r r a t i v e s may have i n c l u d e d a g o a l s t a t e m e n t 109 but lacked one or more of the other important structural categories. A schema rating of 1 was c l a s s i f i e d as Simple Description. Narratives c l a s s i f i e d as No Schema lacked most of the reguisite elements of narrative structure. Of the 102 narratives in this study, the majority (60%) were rated as demonstrating Social Inference Schema. Twenty-two percent of narratives were rated Simple Description Schema, followed by Causal Inference Schema (16%), and No Schema (3%). Table 8 i l l u s t r a t e s the frequency of schema guality ratings from most to least complex for the t o t a l group of narratives. 110 Table 8 Frequency of Schema Q u a l i t y R a t i n g s Schema Q u a l i t y R a t i n g Number of N a r r a t i v e s 9 6 S o c i a l I n f e r e n c e 8 12 Schema 7 26 6 16 5 1 Caus a l I n f e r e n c e 4 7 Schema 3 6 2 3 Simple D e s c r i p t i o n 1 22 No Schema 0 3 TOTAL 102 Reading A b i l i t y and Schema Q u a l i t y i n N a r r a t i v e s U s i n g the p r o f i l e of r e a d i n g a b i l i t y developed a t the o u t s e t of the data a n a l y s i s , i t was p o s s i b l e to examine the r e l a t i o n s h i p between r e a d i n g a b i l i t y and schema q u a l i t y more c l o s e l y . The c h i -square t e s t of a s s o c i a t i o n was used i n order to e s t a b l i s h whether I l l t h e o b s e r v e d d i f f e r e n c e s i n t h e schema q u a l i t y r a t i n g s o f t h e t h r e e r e a d i n g g r o u p s was due t o s a m p l i n g e r r o r . A s i g n i f i c a n t c h i - s q u a r e o f 12.59 ( d f : 6 ) was f o u n d , e l i m i n a t i n g t h e p o s s i b i l i t y t h a t t h e o b s e r v e d d i f f e r e n c e s between t h e r e a d i n g g r o u p s were due t o c h a n c e . A c r o s s t a b u l a t i o n o f t h e d i s t r i b u t i o n o f t h e schema q u a l i t y o f n a r r a t i v e s w r i t t e n by e a c h r e a d i n g a b i l i t y g r o u p i s i l l u s t r a t e d by T a b l e 9. None o f t h e n a r r a t i v e s w r i t t e n by b e l o w - a v e r a g e r e a d e r s were r a t e d by a s t h e most a d v a n c e d Complex S o c i a l I n f e r e n c e Schema, 39% o f t h e n a r r a t i v e s by a b o v e - a v e r a g e r e a d e r s , r e c e i v e d t h i s r a t i n g . S i x t e e n p e r c e n t o f t h e n a r r a t i v e s by a v e r a g e r e a d e r s a l s o were r a t e d as Complex S o c i a l I n f e r e n c e . E i g h t y - s e v e n p e r c e n t o f t h e n a r r a t i v e s by a b o v e - a v e r a g e r e a d e r s were c l a s s i f i e d a s a l e v e l o f S o c i a l I n f e r e n c e Schema. S i x t y p e r c e n t o f t h e n a r r a t i v e s by a v e r a g e r e a d e r s and 29% o f t h e n a r r a t i v e s by b e l o w - a v e r a g e r e a d e r s were c l a s s i f i e d as S o c i a l I n f e r e n c e Schema. Of t h o s e n a r r a t i v e s c l a s s i f i e d as b e i n g C a u s a l I n f e r e n c e Schema, t h e m a j o r i t y were by e i t h e r a v e r a g e o r b e l o w - a v e r a g e r e a d e r s . A l l o f t h o s e n a r r a t i v e s c l a s s i f i e d a s h a v i n g No Schema were by a v e r a g e o r b e l o w - a v e r a g e r e a d e r s . 112 Table 9 C r o s s t a b u l a t i o n of Reading A b i l i t y by Schema Q u a l i t y Schema Q u a l i t y Reading A b i l i t y + Average Average -Average Number of N a r r a t i v e s Complex S o c i a l Inference II 4 2 -Complex S o c i a l Inference I 5 7 -S o c i a l Inference III 8 16 2 S o c i a l Inference II 3 9 4 S o c i a l Inference I - 1 -S u b - t o t a l s 20 35 6 (61) S o c i a l Inference Schema III 1 4 2 Causa l Inference 11 - 3 3 Causa l Inference I - 1 2 S u b - t o t a I s 1 8 7 (16) Simple D e s c r i p t i o n Schema 2 14 6 (22) No Schema - 1 2 (3) TOTALS 23 58 21 102 113 CHAPTER FIVE Di s c u s s i o n and Recommendations S u m m a r y The present study was designed to i n v e s t i g a t e the r e l a t i o n s h i p between reading a b i l i t y and s t o r y schema development i n adolescent student n a r r a t i v e s . The study examined o r i g i n a l w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e s by p a r s i n g them i n t o p r o p o s i t i o n s and a n a l y z i n g them for schema q u a l i t y . This a n a l y s i s involved a s s i g n i n g p r o p o s i t i o n s to s t r u c t u r a l c a t e g o r i e s , determining the number of episodes present, and combining these assessments i n t o a r a t i n g f o r schema q u a l i t y according to a h i e r a r c h i c a l s c a l e . The study sought answers to the questions of whether there would be a r e l a t i o n s h i p between reading a b i l i t y and c e r t a i n p r o p e r t i e s of w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e s . S t r u c t u r a l a n a l y s i s involved a s s e s s i n g the number of p r o p o s i t i o n s and freguency of s t o r y s t r u c t u r e c a t e g o r i e s used i n the n a r r a t i v e s . Schema q u a l i t y a n a l y s i s involved d e s c r i b i n g the p a t t e r n of c a t e g o r i e s and episodes employed i n the n a r r a t i v e s and a s s i g n i n g a r a t i n g of schema q u a l i t y to each n a r r a t i v e . The previous chapter presented the r e s u l t s of the study. C o r r e l a t i o n a l analyses revealed moderate c o r r e l a t i o n s between reading a b i l i t y and the three w r i t i n g analyses and the n u l l hypotheses were r e j e c t e d . An i n t e r e s t i n g r e s u l t was found for the 114 number o f p r o p o s i t i o n s i n t h e n a r r a t i v e s i n t h a t t h e r e was a c o r r e l a t i o n w i t h r e a d i n g a b i l i t y f o r f e m a l e s o n l y . D e s c r i p t i v e a n a l y s e s were e m p l o y e d t o d i s c u s s t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p s i n more d e t a i l . F u r t h e r a n a l y s e s i n c l u d e d f r e g u e n c y p r o f i l e s o f s t r u c t u r a l c a t e g o r i e s and schema r a t i n g s , and a c r o s s t a b u l a t i o n o f r e a d i n g a b i l i t y by schema g u a l i t y . The p r e s e n t c h a p t e r i n t e r p r e t s t h e s e f i n d i n g s and p r e s e n t s a d i s c u s s i o n of t h e i r i m p l i c a t i o n f o r t h e r e a d i n g / w r i t i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p . I t c o n c l u d e s w i t h r e c o m m e n d a t i o n s f o r f u r t h e r r e s e a r c h . D i s c u s s i o n o f R e s u l t s R e a d i n g A b i l i t y and Number o f S t r u c t u r a l C a t e g o r i e s The l o w c o r r e l a t i o n f o u n d ( r =.24) b e t ween number o f c a t e g o r i e s and r e a d i n g a b i l i t y i n t h i s i n v e s t i g a t i o n i s s i m i l a r t o t h o s e f o u n d by Shanahan (1984) i n h i s s t u d y of g r a d e twos and f i v e s . The r e s u l t s u g g e s t s t h a t t h e number o f d i f f e r e n t s t r u c t u r a l c a t e g o r i e s e m p l o y e d i n w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e s i s r e l a t i v e l y s i m i l a r f o r a d o l e s c e n t s t u d e n t s o f v a r y i n g r e a d i n g a b i l i t i e s . T h i s f i n d i n g c o n c u r s w i t h r e c a l l and c o m p r e h e n s i o n r e s e a r c h w h i c h s u g g e s t e d t h a t c a t e g o r y r e c a l l was s i m i l a r f o r good and p o o r r e a d e r s (McConaughy, 1 9 8 5 a ) . I t seems t h a t s t u d e n t s a t t h e g r a d e e i g h t l e v e l have s u f f i c i e n t l y d e v e l o p e d t h e i r k n o w l e d g e and e x p e c t a t i o n s o f n a r r a t i v e s t o u t i l i z e a v a r i e t y o f s t r u c t u r e s i n t h e i r own w r i t i n g . Any d i f f e r e n c e s seem t o l i e i n 115 the p a t t e r n of emphasis of those s t r u c t u r a l c a t e g o r i e s which are more s a l i e n t i n the h i e r a r c h y . A f u r t h e r a n a l y s i s of the s t r u c t u r a l c a t e g o r i e s was undertaken to examine the p a t t e r n of s t r u c t u r a l p r o p e r t i e s of the n a r r a t i v e s i n the study. From most to l e a s t frequent, the p r o f i l e of c a t e g o r i e s i n the n a r r a t i v e s was: Attempts, D e s c r i p t i o n s , I n i t i a t i n g Events, Outcomes, I n t e r n a l Responses, Re s o l u t i o n s , Goals, S e t t i n g s , Reactions, D i s p o s i t i o n s , Morals. The p a t t e r n of frequency of s t r u c t u r a l c a t e g o r i e s found i n n a r r a t i v e s i n t h i s study d i f f e r s from r e c a l l research which found that subjects r e c a l l e d S e t t i n g s most f r e q u e n t l y and r e c a l l e d I n t e r n a l Responses l e a s t f r e q u e n t l y ( S t e i n and Glenn, 1979). However, the f a c t that 85% of the w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e s i n the study contained I n t e r n a l Responses i s c o n s i s t e n t with research which noted that older students and a d u l t s tended to emphasize m o t i v a t i o n a l aspects of c h a r a c t e r s i n r e c a l l summaries (McConaughy et a l , 1983). The f i n d i n g f o r w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e s i n t h i s i n v e s t i g a t i o n suggests that adolescents are s u f f i c i e n t l y aware of the importance of i n t e n t i o n a l i t y i n character development i n s t o r i e s to include an I n t e r n a l Response. The s t r u c t u r a l p a t t e r n of the n a r r a t i v e s i n t h i s study resembles that of r e c a l l s t u d i e s for three other c a t e g o r i e s . I n i t i a t i n g Events and Consequences (Outcome and Resolution) f r e q u e n t l y appeared i n the w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e s and were f r e q u e n t l y r e c a l l e d a f t e r l i s t e n i n g and reading i n previous research. S i m i l a r l y , the frequency of Reactions i n the w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e s 116 was c o n s i s t e n t with r e c a l l and comprehension r e s e a r c h . Reactions were c o n s i s t e n t l y among those p r o p o s i t i o n s l e a s t f r e q u e n t l y r e c a l l e d i n memory r e s e a r c h , and were present in only 33% of the w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e s i n the present i n v e s t i g a t i o n . O v e r a l l , the c o n s i s t e n c y of the r e s u l t s suggests that the s t o r y grammar was able to d e s c r i b e adeguately those s t r u c t u r e s contained i n the n a r r a t i v e samples c o l l e c t e d i n t h i s i n v e s t i g a t i o n . The f i n d i n g s are c o n s i s t e n t o v e r a l l with comprehension and r e c a l l research suggesting that i n d i v i d u a l s employ s i m i l a r s t r u c t u r a l schema during production of simple n a r r a t i v e s as they do when a s s i m i l a t i n g n a r r a t i v e i n p u t . The p r o f i l e of category use i m p l i e s that i f adolescent students understand that the task i s to write a n a r r a t i v e i n the t r a d i t i o n a l sense, then they are capable of producing a composition which matches those patterns of n a r r a t i v e s t r u c t u r e s described by a s t o r y grammar. A question of paramount concern to t h i s i n v e s t i g a t i o n was whether in f a c t a s t o r y grammar could be employed to analyze a w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e . It was argued that the choice of stimulus i s a l l - i m p o r t a n t to generating the type of simple n a r r a t i v e that can best be assessed by a s t o r y grammar. P r e l i m i n a r y r e s u l t s with another c l a s s of students along with an a d u l t sample led the researcher to assume that i n f a c t a s t o r y grammar could be used to assess w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e s . The r e s u l t s of t h i s study confirm t h i s assumption. I t appears that a s t o r y grammar i s able to describe the 117 d i f f e r e n t s t r u c t u r e s i n n a r r a t i v e c o m p o s i t i o n s . T h i s c o n c u r s w i t h p r e v i o u s c o m p r e h e n s i o n s t u d i e s w h i c h f o u n d t h a t s t u d e n t s s u p p l i e d s t r u c t u r e s e x p e c t e d by s t o r y grammars when c o m p l e t i n g s t o r i e s ( F i t z g e r a l d , 1 9 8 4 ) . The f i n d i n g s f r o m t h e p r e s e n t s t u d y d i f f e r f r o m t h o s e o f Hansche and G o r d o n (1983) and K r o l l and Anson (1984) who c o n c l u d e d t h a t s t o r y grammars were n o t s e n s i t i v e enough t o p r e d i c t a l l s t r u c t u r a l c a t e g o r i e s i n o r i g i n a l w r i t t e n c o m p o s i t i o n s . P e r h a p s t h e r e a s o n f o r t h i s d i f f e r e n c e l i e s i n t h e c h o i c e of w r i t i n g s t i m u l u s . I t seems t h a t when c h i l d r e n a r e p r o v i d e d w i t h an open-ended s t i m u l u s and t o l d t o w r i t e a s t o r y , t h e i r c o m p o s i t i o n s c a n assume a w i d e v a r i e t y o f s t y l e s i n c l u d i n g d e s c r i p t i o n s , p e r s o n a l a n e c d o t e s e t c . , w h i c h c a n be c a l l e d n a r r a t i v e s i n t h e b r o a d e s t s e n s e o f t h e w o r d . A s t o r y grammar i s i n t e n d e d t o d e f i n e t h e s t r u c t u r e o f a w e l l - f o r m e d , s i m p l e n a r r a t i v e and as s u c h i s p r o b a b l y n o t o f much v a l u e i n a s s e s s i n g t h e b r o a d s p e c t r u m o f c h i l d r e n ' s c o m p o s i t i o n s . However, i t was assumed i n t h i s s t u d y , b a s e d on r e s e a r c h , t h a t i n d i v i d u a l s do have a schema f o r s t o r i e s and t h a t t h e w r i t t e n m a n i f e s t a t i o n of t h i s s t o r y schema c a n be e n c o d e d by a s t o r y grammar. The i n t e n t i o n o f t h e p r e s e n t i n v e s t i g a t i o n was t o examine w h e t h e r t h e r e was a r e l a t i o n s h i p b e tween r e a d i n g a b i l i t y and t h e a b i l i t y t o e m p l o y i n w r i t i n g t h o s e s t r u c t u r a l and s e m a n t i c c a t e g o r i e s p r e d i c t e d f r o m p r e v i o u s schema t h e o r y . T h e r e f o r e , i n o r d e r t o e l i m i n a t e t h e p r o b l e m of a s s e s s i n g n o n - n a r r a t i v e s w i t h a s t r u c t u r a l s y s t e m d e s i g n e d t o measure t r a d i t i o n a l n a r r a t i v e s , t h e s u b j e c t s were p r e s e n t e d w i t h 118 a s t i m u l u s w i t h an i n h e r e n t n a r r a t i v e s t r u c t u r e . The r e s u l t s s u g g e s t t h a t when s t u d e n t s u n d e r s t a n d t h a t t h e y a r e t o w r i t e a s i m p l e n a r r a t i v e , t h e n t h e y a r e a b l e t o do j u s t t h a t and hence a s t o r y grammar i s a b l e t o a c c o u n t f o r t h e s t r u c t u r e s e m p l o y e d . H a v i n g s t a t e d t h a t t h e grammar was a b l e t o a c c o u n t f o r t h e s t r u c t u r e s i n t h e n a r r a t i v e s , i t i s n e c e s s a r y t o r e s t a t e t h a t t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p f o u n d b e tween t h e f r e q u e n c y o f d i f f e r e n t s t o r y s t r u c t u r e c a t e g o r i e s and r e a d i n g a b i l i t y s c o r e s o f t h i s s a m p l e was n o t p a r t i c u l a r l y s t r o n g . W h i l e t h e low p o s i t i v e c o r r e l a t i o n does i n d i c a t e a t e n d e n c y f o r b e t t e r r e a d e r s t o e m p l o y more o f t h e s t r u c t u r a l c a t e g o r i e s i n t h e i r n a r r a t i v e s , i t w o u l d seem t h a t t h e use o f d i f f e r e n t s t o r y s t r u c t u r e c a t e g o r i e s i n w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e s was f a i r l y s i m i l a r f o r r e a d e r s o f d i f f e r e n t a b i l i t i e s . I t r e m a i n s f o r a n a l y s i s o f t h e schema g u a l i t y r a t i n g s t o e s t a b l i s h d i f f e r e n t p a t t e r n s o f e m p h a s i s f o r c e r t a i n c a t e g o r i e s and t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p o f t h e s e p a t t e r n s t o r e a d i n g a b i l i t y . R e a d i n g A b i l i t y and Number o f P r o p o s i t i o n s i n N a r r a t i v e s A s i g n i f i c a n t c o r r e l a t i o n ( r =.32) was f o u n d between t h e number o f p r o p o s i t i o n s and r e a d i n g a b i l i t y . The p r e l i m i n a r y a n a l y s e s o f g e n d e r d i f f e r e n c e s r e v e a l e d p e r t i n e n t i n f o r m a t i o n w h i c h f o c u s s e s t h i s r e s u l t . A c o m p a r i s o n o f i n d e p e n d e n t c o r r e l a t i o n s f o r m a l e s and f e m a l e s l e d t o t h e c o n c l u s i o n t h a t t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t ween r e a d i n g s c o r e s and number o f p r o p o s i t i o n s was s i g n i f i c a n t l y d i f f e r e n t f o r f e m a l e s t h a n i t was f o r m a l e s i n t h i s s t u d y . The l a r g e r c o e f f i c i e n t o b s e r v e d f o r f e m a l e s w o u l d 119 seem t o a c c o u n t f o r most o f t h e o b s e r v e d r e l a t i o n s h i p between t h e v a r i a b l e s . The s i g n i f i c a n t g e n d e r d i f f e r e n c e f o r t h i s r e l a t i o n s h i p m o d i f i e s i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of t h e s i g n i f i c a n c e o f t h e o v e r a l l c o r r e l a t i o n between t h e s e two v a r i a b l e s . The d i f f e r e n c e i n i n t e r a c t i o n between number o f p r o p o s i t i o n s and r e a d i n g a b i l i t y f o r g i r l s and boys i s somewhat p u z z l i n g i n l i g h t o f t h e p r e l i m i n a r y a n a l y s i s w h i c h a l s o e s t a b l i s h e d t h a t t h e r e was no d i f f e r e n c e i n r e a d i n g a b i l i t y b e t w e e n t h e s e x e s . The l a c k o f r e l a t i o n s h i p f o r bo y s p r e c l u d e s a n y i m p l i c a t i o n t h a t number o f p r o p o s i t i o n s i s r e l a t e d t o r e a d i n g a b i l i t y f o r t h e wh o l e g r o u p . One c a n o n l y s p e c u l a t e t h a t a p o s s i b l e r e a s o n f o r t h e o b s e r v e d d i f f e r e n c e between males, and f e m a l e s f o r number o f p r o p o s i t i o n s i n n a r r a t i v e s may l i e i n t h e mode o f p r e s e n t a t i o n f o r t h e n a r r a t i v e t a s k i n t h i s s t u d y . P r e v i o u s r e s e a r c h u s i n g o r a l n a r r a t i v e s r a t h e r t h a n w r i t t e n f o u n d no d i f f e r e n c e between t h e c o m p a r a b l e 'number o f n a r r a t i v e u n i t s ' p r o d u c e d by g i r l s and boys ( B o t v i n and S u t t o n - S m i t h , 1 9 7 7 ) . I n t h a t s t u d y , boys and g i r l s t o l d f a n t a s y s t o r i e s o f s i m i l a r l e n g t h and p r o p o s i t i o n a l c o n t e n t . P e r h a p s when a s k e d t o t e l l a s t o r y , boys a r e more l i k e l y t o p r o d u c e a l o n g e r c o m p o s i t i o n t h a n when a s k e d t o w r i t e a s t o r y . I t i s a l s o p o s s i b l e t h a t g i r l s who a r e l e s s p r o f i c i e n t r e a d e r s t e n d t o p r o d u c e w r i t t e n s t o r i e s w i t h f e w e r p r o p o s i t i o n s . No f i r m c o n c l u s i o n s c a n be made f r o m t h e r e s u l t s o f t h i s i n v e s t i g a t i o n . 120 Reading A b i l i t y and Schema Q u a l i t y Ratings of Written N a r r a t i v e s The p o s i t i v e c o r r e l a t i o n between measures of reading comprehension and schema q u a l i t y suggests a moderate r e l a t i o n s h i p between these two v a r i a b l e s (r =.45). From a c o r r e l a t i o n of t h i s magnitude, i t i s not p o s s i b l e to s t a t e with c e r t a i n t y that reading a b i l i t y i s able to p r e d i c t the q u a l i t y of schema r a t i n g . However, i t does suggest that there i s a tendency for schema g u a l i t y r a t i n g s of n a r r a t i v e s i n t h i s study to be r e l a t e d to reading comprehension scores. A p o s i t i v e r e l a t i o n s h i p implies that b e t t e r readers may employ a more advanced s t o r y schema in t h e i r w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e s . Using the p r o f i l e of reading a b i l i t y groups developed at the outset of the data a n a l y s i s , i t was p o s s i b l e to examine the r e l a t i o n s h i p between reading a b i l i t y and s t o r y schema development more c l o s e l y . The subjects were c l a s s i f i e d according to three reading a b i l i t y l e v e l s and the n a r r a t i v e s of each group were compared. A c r o s s t a b u l a t i o n demonstrated that the m a j o r i t y of those readers designated as above-average i n t h i s study wrote n a r r a t i v e s which were c l a s s i f i e d as r e p r e s e n t i n g l e v e l s of S o c i a l Inference Schema (see t a b l e 9). To r e c a p i t u l a t e , the S o c i a l Inference Schema d e s i g n a t i o n was designed by McConaughy (1983) to d e s c r i b e more mature l e v e l s of schema approximating an i d e a l i z e d a d u l t model. This d e s i g n a t i o n acknowledges previous theory which po s t u l a t e d that i n an i d e a l i z e d schema, the goal and i n t e r n a l response c a t e g o r i e s are the most important f o r r e c a l l . The S o c i a l Inference Schema a l s o 121 incorporates r e s u l t s of r e c a l l research which s u b s t a n t i a t e d an e a r l y a s s e r t i o n of Rumelhart's (1977) that those p r o p o s i t i o n s r e l a t e d to the formulation or r e s o l u t i o n of the goal are most important fo r comprehension (Nezworski, S t e i n and Trabasso,1982). These p r o p o s i t i o n s included I n i t i a t i n g Events, and Consequences. N a r r a t i v e s rated as S o c i a l Inference Schema incorporated these important s t r u c t u r a l c a t e g o r i e s and i t s episodes were focussed around the goals and i n t e r n a l responses of a c e n t r a l character or group of c h a r a c t e r s . The m a j o r i t y of above-average readers i n t h i s study manifested S o c i a l Inference Schema in t h e i r n a r r a t i v e s . This f a c t seems to i n d i c a t e that b e t t e r readers have i m p l i c i t knowledge of the importance of both s t r u c t u r a l and semantic aspects of n a r r a t i v e s . I t i s a l s o important to note that many of the average readers a l s o d i s p l a y e d S o c i a l Inference Schema i n t h e i r n a r r a t i v e s . I t would seem that p r o f i c i e n t adolescent readers are able to employ expected n a r r a t i v e s t r u c t u r e s i n t h e i r w r i t i n g and include p s y c h o l o g i c a l c a u s a l i t y to develop character motivation. Very few n a r r a t i v e s of above-average readers were rated as employing Causal Inference Schema. The d e s i g n a t i o n of Causal Inference Schema included those n a r r a t i v e s which were organized around p h y s i c a l c a u s a t i o n . T y p i c a l l y , these included a s t r i n g of p r o p o s i t i o n s c l a s s i f i e d as Attempts, D e s c r i p t i o n s , and Outcomes. The most s a l i e n t feature of these n a r r a t i v e s was that they lacked a c e n t r a l goal or focus to the a c t i o n . Previous research has shown that t h i s less-mature l e v e l of 122 schema i s m a n i f e s t e d i n r e c a l l and c o m p r e h e n s i o n by c h i l d r e n b u t n o t by a d u l t s (McConaughy e t a l , 1 9 8 3 ) . T h i s f i n d i n g was s u p p o r t e d f o r w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e s by t h e p i l o t s t u d y w h i c h f o u n d t h a t none o f t h e s m a l l s a mple of a d u l t s e m p l o y e d t h e C a u s a l I n f e r e n c e Schema. One t h i r d o f t h e p o o r e r r e a d e r s i n t h e p r e s e n t s t u d y d i s p l a y e d t h i s schema i n t h e i r n a r r a t i v e s . T h i s f a c t s u g g e s t s a t e n d e n c y f o r p o o r e r r e a d e r s t o have l e s s c o n t r o l and p u r p o s e i n t h e i r w r i t i n g . The s e c o n d most f r e q u e n t c l a s s i f i c a t i o n o f n a r r a t i v e s was S i m p l e D e s c r i p t i o n . T h i s c l a s s i f i c a t i o n i s an i n t e r e s t i n g one b e c a u s e i t e m p l o y s many o f t h e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f t h e more w e l l -d e v e l o p e d S o c i a l I n f e r e n c e Schema. However, by d e f i n i t i o n , i t w o u l d seem t h a t t h e s e n a r r a t i v e s were d e f i c i e n t i n o r g a n i z a t i o n . N a r r a t i v e s r a t e d ' a s s i m p l e d e s c r i p t i o n may have had a c e n t r a l g o a l b u t l a c k e d s t r u c t u r e s w h i c h r e l a t e d t o t h e g o a l . They o f t e n were m i s s i n g an I n i t i a t i n g E v e n t and a c l e a r r e s o l u t i o n . C o n s i d e r i n g t h a t t h r e e - f o u r t h s o f t h e n a r r a t i v e s c o n t a i n e d at l e a s t one G o a l s t a t e m e n t , i t seems c l e a r t h a t many s t u d e n t s u n d e r s t a n d t h e i m p o r t a n c e o f a c e n t r a l f o c u s s i n g e l e m e n t i n a s t o r y . However, some s t u d e n t s l a c k t h e a b i l i t y t o s t r u c t u r e t h e i r w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e s more e f f e c t i v e l y a r o u n d t h e G o a l as d e m o n s t r a t e d by t h e d e s i g n a t i o n o f S i m p l e D e s c r i p t i o n schema. T h i s o r g a n i z a t i o n a l d e f i c i t seemed t o be r e l a t e d t o r e a d i n g a b i l i t y i n t h a t most of t h e n a r r a t i v e s r a t e d as S i m p l e D e s c r i p t i o n were w r i t t e n by a v e r a g e or b e l o w - a v e r a g e r e a d e r s . The r e s u l t s o f t h e a n a l y s e s s u g g e s t t h a t a d o l e s c e n t r e a d e r s 123 o f d i f f e r i n g r e a d i n g a b i l i t y were a b l e t o f o c u s a w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e b u t some may l a c k t h e s k i l l s t o o r g a n i z e t h e i r n a r r a t i v e o v e r a l l . The r e s u l t s a l s o i n d i c a t e t h a t b e t t e r r e a d e r s do seem t o use more w e l l - d e v e l o p e d schema i n w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e p r o d u c t i o n . D e s p i t e t h e s e i n d i c a t i o n s , no f i r m c o n c l u s i o n s c a n be made f r o m t h e m o d e r a t e o v e r a l l c o r r e l a t i o n . The d i s t r i b u t i o n o f t h e r e a d i n g a b i l i t y g r o u p s needs t o be c o n s i d e r e d . Of t h e 102 s u b j e c t s i n t h e s t u d y , a p p r o x i m a t e l y 25% were above or b e l o w -a v e r a g e i n r e a d i n g a b i l i t y w h i l e 60% were o f a v e r a g e a b i l i t y . T h i s l a r g e m i d d l e g r o u p p r o b a b l y had a m o d e r a t i n g e f f e c t on t h e o v e r a l l c o r r e l a t i o n . The s m a l l s i z e o f t h e above and b e l o w -a v e r a g e r e a d i n g g r o u p s s u g g e s t c a u t i o n i n t h e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n and g e n e r a l i z a t i o n o f t h e f i n d i n g s . I n summary, t h e c o r r e l a t i o n a l d a t a g e n e r a t e d by t h i s i n v e s t i g a t i o n i n d i c a t e d a r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t ween r e a d i n g a b i l i t y and schema d e v e l o p m e n t i n t h e w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e s o f a d o l e s c e n t s . F u r t h e r a n a l y s i s o f t h e r e a d i n g a b i l i t y s u b - g r o u p s c l a r i f i e d t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p and p r o v i d e d a d d i t i o n a l e v i d e n c e of t e n d e n c i e s f o r r e a d e r s o f d i f f e r i n g a b i l i t y t o s t r u c t u r e t h e i r n a r r a t i v e s d i f f e r e n t l y . The t e n d e n c y o f b e t t e r r e a d e r s t o m a n i f e s t a more a d u l t - l i k e schema i n t h e i r s t o r i e s was a p p a r e n t f r o m t h e d e s c r i p t i v e a n a l y s i s . A d o l e s c e n t s t u d e n t s o f a v e r a g e a b i l i t y a l s o seemed t o have t h e c a p a b i l i t y o f e m p l o y i n g t h o s e s t r u c t u r e s d e s c r i b e d as r e q u i s i t e f o r a w e l l - d e v e l o p e d s i m p l e n a r r a t i v e . O n l y t h e w e a k e s t r e a d e r s were n o t a b l e t o o r g a n i z e t h e i r n a r r a t i v e s a c c o r d i n g t o e x p e c t e d s t r u c t u r a l p a t t e r n s . 124 The s t o r y grammar, s t r u c t u r a l c a t e g o r i e s , and a r a t i n g s c a l e f o r n a r r a t i v e a n a l y s i s , e n a b l e d t h e r e s e a r c h e r t o a n a l y z e t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p b etween r e a d i n g a b i l i t y and s t o r y schema d e v e l o p m e n t i n w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e s . The r e s u l t s of t h e s t u d y i n d i c a t e t h e p r e s e n c e o f a r e l a t i o n s h i p between t h e s e two a s p e c t s o f t h e r e a d i n g / w r i t i n g c o n n e c t i o n . F u r t h e r r e s e a r c h i s needed i n o r d e r t o e x p l o r e t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p more f u l l y . I m p l i c a t i o n s : The R e a d i n g / W r i t i n g R e l a t i o n s h i p The f i n d i n g s o f t h i s s t u d y have i n t e r e s t i n g i m p l i c a t i o n s f o r t h e t h e o r e t i c a l a s s u m p t i o n s a b o u t t h e r e a d i n g / w r i t i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p . E v i d e n c e o f a r e l a t i o n s h i p between r e a d i n g a b i l i t y and schema d e v e l o p m e n t i n n a r r a t i v e s l e a d s one t o s p e c u l a t e a b o u t t h e n a t u r e o f t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p between r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g . The p r e s e n t s t u d y was u n d e r t a k e n w i t h i n a t h e o r e t i c a l framework o f h o l i s t i c l a n g u a g e p r o c e s s i n g w h i c h assumes t h a t i n p u t f r o m one l a n g u a g e p r o c e s s i n f l u e n c e s o u t p u t o f a n o t h e r l a n g u a g e p r o c e s s . The r a t i o n a l e a l s o i n c l u d e d r e f e r e n c e t o t h e o r i e s a b o u t t h e o r i g i n o f k n o w l e d g e o f s t o r y c o n c e p t s and n a r r a t i v e s t r u c t u r e i n c l u d i n g t h e n o t i o n t h a t s t o r y k n o w l e d g e i s d e v e l o p e d t h r o u g h e x p o s u r e t o s t o r i e s t h r o u g h r e a d i n g and l i s t e n i n g . I t was d i s c u s s e d t h a t a l o g i c a l c o r o l l a r y o f t h i s t h e o r y c o u l d be t h a t r e a d i n g n a r r a t i v e s i n f l u e n c e s t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f w r i t i n g n a r r a t i v e s and t h a t , p o s s i b l y , b e t t e r r e a d e r s w o u l d have a more d e v e l o p e d s e n s e o f s t o r y and be a b l e t o m a n i f e s t t h a t k n o w l e d g e i n t h e i r w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e s . 125 Reasons f o r the o b s e r v e d t e n d e n c y of r e a d i n g a b i l i t y t o be r e l a t e d t o n a r r a t i v e schema development r e m a i n i n t h e r e a l m of s p e c u l a t i o n . However, t h e o r i e s about n a r r a t i v e schema and c o g n i t i o n do p r o v i d e some f o o d f o r t h o u g h t . I t would seem from t h e o r y , t h a t c h i l d r e n d e v e l o p a s e n s e of n a r r a t i v e from t h e w o r l d a r o u n d them and t h a t t h i s n a r r a t i v e s e n s e i s d e v e l o p e d and enhanced t h r o u g h e x p o s u r e t o l i t e r a t u r e . The e x a c t dynamics of th e i n t e r a c t i o n c a n n o t be d e s c r i b e d , but i t i s p o s s i b l e t h a t t h e f u n d a m e n t a l c o n n e c t i o n between r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g development may be the i n h e r e n t n a r r a t i v e a b i l i t i e s t h a t t h e c h i l d b r i n g s to t h e t a s k of l i t e r a c y . A c t i v a t i o n and c o n t r o l of t h i s i n n a t e o r g a n i z a t i o n a l s t r u c t u r e c o u l d be t h e key t o t h e i n t e r a c t i v e d e v e l opment o f p r o f i c i e n c y i n r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g . N a r r a t i v e has been c a l l e d a ' p r i m a r y a c t of mind' (Hardy,1977). I t has been d e s c r i b e d , by o t h e r s as an e s s e n t i a l component t o our c o g n i t i v e make-up (Rosen, 1984). I t has also been a r g u e d t h a t we make s e n s e of t h e w o r l d a r o u n d us by c r e a t i n g a m e n t a l r e p r e s e n t a t i o n of e x p e r i e n c e which r e s e m b l e s a s o r t of 'mind s t o r y ' ( W e 1 I s , 1986). From t h i s g l o b a l p o i n t of view, n a r r a t i v e seems t o permeate our v e r y e x i s t e n c e . I t seems e s s e n t i a l t o our u n d e r s t a n d i n g of the w o r l d t h a t we a r e a b l e to u n d e r s t a n d a n o t h e r ' s m o t i v a t i o n or t o d e s c r i b e our own g o a l s . It i s l o g i c a l t h e r e f o r e t h a t a c h i l d comes t o the t a s k of r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g w i t h a s e t of e x p e c t a t i o n s a b o u t n a r r a t i v e s t r u c t u r e t h a t a r e i n p l a c e t h r o u g h i n t e r a c t i o n w i t h the w o r l d a r o u n d her ( W e l l s , 1986). 126 C e r t a i n l y a w e l l - d e v e l o p e d s e n s e o f n a r r a t i v e s t r u c t u r e w o u l d a s s i s t i m m e a s u r a b l y i n s c h o o l - b a s e d t a s k s f r o m r e s p o n d i n g t o h i s t o r y l e s s o n s , t o w r i t i n g s t o r i e s , o r e v e n u n d e r s t a n d i n g s o c i a l s i t u a t i o n s i n one's p e e r g r o u p . As was d i s c u s s e d e a r l i e r , t h e most i m p o r t a n t f e a t u r e o f a w e l l - d e v e l o p e d s t o r y was a c e n t r a l f o c u s s i n g e l e m e n t . I n s t o r y grammar a n a l y s i s , t h a t e l e m e n t was a p r o t a g o n i s t ' s g o a l . I n r e a d i n g c o m p r e h e n s i o n e x e r c i s e s , t h a t e l e m e n t becomes t h e main i d e a . The main i d e a c a n be s e e n as t h e g o a l o f t h e w r i t e r t h a t t h e r e a d e r must i d e n t i f y . I n o r d e r t o f i n d t h e c e n t r a l p o i n t i n a p a s s a g e o f p r o s e or non-f i c t i o n o r t o w r i t e a c o h e r e n t p a r a g r a p h t h a t s t i c k s t o a t o p i c , s t u d e n t s need c o n t r o l o v e r s t r u c t u r a l a s p e c t s o f n a r r a t i v e . T h e o r i s t s have d e s c r i b e d t h i s c o n t r o l as a r e s u l t o f t h e a b i l i t y o f t h e i n d i v i d u a l t o a r t i c u l a t e an a w a r e n e s s o f t h e i r own t h i n k i n g ( D o n a l d s o n , 1 9 7 8 ) . P s y c h o l o g i s t M a r g a r e t D o n a l d s o n (1978) a r g u e s t h a t what i s e s s e n t i a l t o s c h o o l s u c c e s s i s t h e d e v e l o p m e n t of what she c a l l s ' disembedded t h i n k i n g ' - t h e a b i l i t y t o remove o n e s e l f f r o m t h e i m m e d i a t e c o n t e x t , t o a n a l y z e , t o g e n e r a l i z e , and t o c o n s c i o u s l y a p p l y g e n e r a l i z a t i o n s t o new s i t u a t i o n s . To f o l l o w h e r l o g i c , i t c a n be s e e n t h a t what may be n e c e s s a r y f o r s c h o o l - b a s e d s u c c e s s i n r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g i s f o r c h i l d r e n t o become c o n s c i o u s o f t h e i r i n h e r e n t u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f n a r r a t i v e s t r u c t u r e i n t h e w o r l d a r o u n d and i n t h e s t o r i e s t h e y r e a d and w r i t e ; t o g e n e r a l i z e , and t o a p p l y t h i s u n d e r s t a n d i n g t o r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g i n new s i t u a t i o n s . I f i n f a c t a schema f o r n a r r a t i v e s t r u c t u r e i s 127 i n h e r e n t t o t h e c o g n i t i v e f a b r i c o f an i n d i v i d u a l , t h e n an i m p o r t a n t r o l e o f e d u c a t i o n s h o u l d be t o d e v e l o p an a w a r e n e s s of n a r r a t i v e s t r u c t u r e - t o p r o v i d e o p p o r t u n i t i e s f o r s t u d e n t s t o e x t r a p o l a t e f r o m t h e i r i m m e d i a t e p e r s o n a l c o n t e x t , i n o r d e r t o u n d e r s t a n d t h e power o f t h e i r own u n d e r s t a n d i n g . I n t h e c o n t e x t o f t h e r e a d i n g / w r i t i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p , i t c a n be s e e n t h a t a m e t a - t e x t u a l a w a r e n e s s o f t h e s t r u c t u r e of n a r r a t i v e may be an i m p o r t a n t k e y t o r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g d e v e l o p m e n t . P e r h a p s t h o s e s t u d e n t s who have been a b l e t o d e v e l o p t h a t a w a r e n e s s a r e t h o s e t h a t w i l l be most s u c c e s s f u l a t r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g t a s k s . The r e s u l t s of t h e p r e s e n t i n v e s t i g a t i o n s u g g e s t t h a t t h i s may be t h e c a s e i n t h a t t h e m a j o r i t y of t h e s m a l l g r o u p o f a b o v e - a v e r a g e r e a d e r s d e m o n s t r a t e d c o n t r o l o v e r n a r r a t i v e s t r u c t u r e by e m p l o y i n g a p p r o p r i a t e s t r u c t u r e s i n t h e i r wr i t i n g . I n t h e p r e s e n t s t u d y , t h e n a r r a t i v e s w i t h t h e w e a k e s t s t r u c t u r e were n o t w r i t t e n by a b o v e - a v e r a g e r e a d e r s . The b e l o w -a v e r a g e r e a d e r s p r o d u c e d t h e n a r r a t i v e s w i t h p o o r e r schema q u a l i t y r a t i n g s - t h o s e n a r r a t i v e s w h i c h o f t e n l a c k e d a c e n t r e or were weak i n n a r r a t i v e s t r u c t u r e . A number o f o t h e r s t u d i e s have o b s e r v e d t h a t weaker w r i t e r s d i d n o t seem t o p l a n o r be aware of t h e g l o b a l o r g a n i z a t i o n a l f e a t u r e s o f t h e i r w r i t t e n work ( G o l i n k o f f , 1976; P i a n k o , 1 9 7 9 ; A t w e l l , 1 9 8 2 ) . R a t h e r , t h e y r e v i s e d a g a i n and a g a i n a t t h e s u r f a c e l e v e l , c o n c e n t r a t i n g on t h e m e c h a n i c s , s p e l l i n g and h a n d w r i t i n g o f t h e i r p i e c e . Brown (1980) o b s e r v e d t h a t p o o r w r i t e r s had d i f f i c u l t y m a k i n g use o f 128 l a n g u a g e i n t h e r o l e o f t h e s p e c t a t o r . I n o t h e r w o r d s , t h e y were n o t a b l e t o d i s e m b e d f r o m t h e s u r f a c e - s t r u c t u r e c o n c e r n s and a t t e n d t o t h e deep s t r u c t u r e o f t h e i r n a r r a t i v e . I t i s r a t h e r e a s y t o s p e c u l a t e as t o who i s r e s p o n s i b l e f o r t h e p e r s e v e r a t i o n o f p o o r w r i t e r s w i t h r e g a r d t o t h e m e c h a n i c s o f w r i t i n g . A s t u d y o f c h i l d r e n ' s c o n c e p t s a b o u t w r i t i n g i n s c h o o l showed t h a t c h i l d r e n p e r c e i v e w r i t i n g as a f o r m - o r i e n t e d p r o c e s s , w i t h e m p h a s i s on c o r r e c t h a n d w r i t i n g , s p e l l i n g , p u n c t u a t i o n , grammar ( B l a c k and M a r t i n , 1 9 8 2 ) . S c h o o l s have t r a d i t i o n a l l y e m p h a s i z e d t h e i m p o r t a n c e o f c o r r e c t n e s s , b u t r e s e a r c h has f o u n d t h a t t h i s has a l s o been r e i n f o r c e d i n t h e s t u d e n t s ' homes. G r a v e s (1984) o b s e r v e d t h a t p a r e n t s f e l t t h a t i t was t h e t e a c h e r ' s r e s p o n s i b i l i t y t o p r o o f r e a d c h i l d r e n ' s w r i t t e n work. I t i s c e r t a i n t h a t t h e s e p r a c t i c e s and e x p e c t a t i o n s e x i s t t o d a y . Y e t , a r e s p e c t e d g r o u p o f r e s e a r c h e r s have recommended f o r a number o f y e a r s t h a t i f c h i l d r e n a r e g i v e n t h e o p p o r t u n i t y to w r i t e , t h e c o n v e n t i o n s w i l l come a l o n g n a t u r a l l y ( G r a v e s , 1975, 1982; B i s s e x , 1980; and H a r s t e , B u r k e , and Woodward, 1 9 8 2 ) . I t c a n be a r g u e d however, t h a t mere e x p e r i e n c e i s n o t enough. F e u e r s t e i n ( 1 9 8 0 ) , an I s r a e l i p s y c h o l o g i s t c a l l s upon t e a c h e r s t o p r o v i d e s t u d e n t s w i t h ' m e d i a t e d l e a r n i n g ' e x p e r i e n c e s . P e r h a p s t h e m e d i a t i o n t h a t i s needed i n o r d e r f o r s t u d e n t s t o make t h e c o n n e c t i o n s between r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g i s t o make c o n s c i o u s t h e s t r u c t u r a l and s e m a n t i c a s p e c t s o f n a r r a t i v e . To f o l l o w a model p r o p o s e d by A p p l e b e e and L a n g e r f o r i n s t r u c t i o n a l s c a f f o l d i n g ( 1 9 8 3 , 1 9 8 6 ) , s t r u c t u r e s i n r e a d i n g and 129 w r i t i n g w o u l d be made c o n s c i o u s f o r t h e l e a r n e r t h r o u g h t e a c h e r q u e s t i o n i n g and m o d e l l i n g . I t w o u l d seem t h a t a l o g i c a l p l a c e t o b e g i n t h e s c a f f o l d w o u l d be w i t h t h e c h i l d ' s i n h e r e n t schema f o r n a r r a t i v e . The i d e a l m odels w o u l d c e r t a i n l y l i e i n c h i l d r e n ' s l i t e r a t u r e ( B e t t e l h e i m , 1975, 1 9 8 2 ) . The k e y i n g r e d i e n t i n t h e p r o c e s s w o u l d be t h e c a r e f u l l y c o n s t r u c t e d m e d i a t i o n between t h e l i t e r a c y e x p e r i e n c e and t h e l e a r n e r . L e a r n i n g e x p e r i e n c e s w o u l d be d e s i g n e d by t h e t e a c h e r t o b u i l d t h a t m e t a - a w a r e n e s s , t h a t d i s e m b e d d e d t h i n k i n g t h a t a l l o w s t h e c h i l d t o r e a l i z e and e x t e n d f r o m h e r own e x p e r i e n c e w i t h n a r r a t i v e . T h r o u g h t h i s p r o c e s s of i n c r e a s i n g a w a r e n e s s and t h e r e s u l t i n g c o n t r o l , c h i l d r e n may be a b l e t o c a p i t a l i z e on an i m p o r t a n t component f o r b o t h r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g - n a r r a t i v e schema. S u g g e s t i o n s f o r F u r t h e r R e s e a r c h G i v e n r e s u l t s i n d i c a t i n g a m o d e r a t e r e l a t i o n s h i p between t h e m e a s u r es o f s t o r y schema d e v e l o p m e n t and r e a d i n g a b i l i t y , and c o n s i d e r i n g t h e l i m i t a t i o n s o f t h i s s t u d y , i t w o u l d seem t h a t a c l a r i f i c a t i o n o f t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p c o u l d be p o s s i b l e w i t h some ch a n g e s t o t h e r e s e a r c h d e s i g n . I n o r d e r t o e x p l o r e t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p f u r t h e r , more t h a n one w r i t i n g s a m p l e c o u l d be a n a l y z e d t o e s t a b l i s h t h e v e r a c i t y of t h e f i n d i n g s of t h e p r e s e n t s t u d y . I t w o u l d be n e c e s s a r y t o d e v e l o p a t l e a s t one o t h e r p i c t u r e s t i m u l u s w i t h an i n h e r e n t n a r r a t i v e s t r u c t u r e . W i t h more t h a n one s t i m u l u s i t w o u l d be 130 p o s s i b l e t o l i m i t the p o t e n t i a l l y s t i f l i n g e f f e c t s of a s t u d e n t ' s d i s l i k e of t h e t o p i c . A f u t u r e i n v e s t i g a t i o n a l s o c o u l d use a l a r g e r sample of s t u d e n t s i n o r d e r t o d e f i n e more b a l a n c e d s u b - g r o u p s of r e a d e r s and p r o d u c e a more c o m p a r a t i v e a n a l y s i s . I f d i f f e r e n c e s between r e a d i n g a b i l i t y g r o u p s a r e t o be c o n f i r m e d , i t w i l l be n e c e s s a r y t o a n a l y z e l a r g e r r e a d i n g a b i l i t y g r o u p s of e q u a l numbers. Whi l e the p r e s e n t f i n d i n g s do s u g g e s t a t e n d e n c y f o r r e a d i n g a b i l i t y t o be r e l a t e d t o n a r r a t i v e schema d e v e l o p m e n t , t h e moderate c o r r e l a t i o n does not a l l o w c l e a r p r e d i c t i o n of schema q u a l i t y i n w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e s from r e a d i n g a b i l i t y l e v e l s or v i c e v e r s a . L a r g e r g r o u p s of good and poor r e a d e r s would be needed i n o r d e r t o g e n e r a t e more c o n c l u s i v e d a t a . In o r d e r t o s h a r p e n an a n a l y s i s o f t h e r o l e of n a r r a t i v e schema d e v e l o p m e n t i n r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g i t would be u s e f u l t o employ a r e a d i n g t e s t which measures n a r r a t i v e r e a d i n g a b i l i t y . A t e s t of n a r r a t i v e c o m p r e h e n s i o n a b i l i t y would f o c u s a n a l y s i s on the r e l a t i o n s h i p between the a b i l i t y t o u t i l i z e n a r r a t i v e schema i n c o m p r e h e n s i o n and p r o d u c t i o n of n a r r a t i v e s . I n c l u s i o n of o r a l as w e l l as w r i t t e n n a r r a t i v e p r o d u c t i o n would a l s o p r o v i d e i n s i g h t i n t o t h e r o l e of n a r r a t i v e schema d e v e l o p m e n t i n r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g . I t would be i n t e r e s t i n g t o examine whether c h i l d r e n t e l l s t o r i e s ' o r a l l y t h e same way t h e y w r i t e them and what th e r e l a t i o n s h i p i s between t h e i r o r a l and w r i t t e n s t o r y - p r o d u c t i o n and t h e i r n a r r a t i v e r e a d i n g a b i l i t y . S i m i l a r methods t o the p r e s e n t i n v e s t i g a t i o n c o u l d be used t o e s t a b l i s h t h e n a t u r e and 1 3 1 q u a l i t y o f t h e s t o r y schema e m p l o y e d by r e a d e r s o f d i f f e r i n g a b i l i t i e s d u r i n g b o t h o r a l and w r i t t e n c o m p o s i t i o n . The r e s u l t s o f s u c h a s t u d y w o u l d e x t e n d t h e p r e s e n t f i n d i n g s and c o n t r i b u t e t o a g r e a t e r u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f t h e r e a d i n g / w r i t i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p . REFERENCES Adams, M. and Bruce, B.(1980). Background knowledge and reading comprehension. In J . Langer, M. Smith-Burke, ( E d i t o r s ) , Reading Meets Author/Bridging The Gap. Newark, Delaware: I n t e r n a t i o n a l Reading A s s o c i a t i o n Inc.. Applebee, A.N. (1978). The C h i l d ' s Concept of Story: Ages Two to Seventeen. Chicago: U n i v e r s i t y of Chicago Press. Applebee, A.N. (1977). W r i t i n g and reading. Journal of Reading, 20, 534-537. Applebee, A.N. and Langer, J.A. (1983). I n s t r u c t i o n a l S caffolding:Reading and Wr i t i n g as Natural Language A c t i v i t i e s . Language A r t s , 60.( 2), 168-175. Applebee, A., Lehr, F., and A u s t i n , A. (1980). A Study of Wr i t i n g i n the Secondary S c h o o l , ( F i n a l Research Report to the Department of Education). Washington D.C.:National I n s t i t u t e of Education. A t w e l l , N. (1982) The author as reader:a comparison of p r o f i c i e n t and l e s s p r o f i c i e n t c o l l e g e w r i t e r s . T h i r t y - f i r s t Yearbook of the N a t i o n a l Reading Conference(pp.287-293). Rochester, New York: N a t i o n a l Reading Conference Inc.. A t w e l l , N. (1983). Reading, w r i t i n g , speaking, l i s t e n i n g : language i n response to context. In U. Hardt (Ed.). Teaching Reading With the Other Language A r t s . Newark, Delaware: I n t e r n a t i o n a l Reading A s s o c i a t i o n , Inc.. B e r e i t e r , C , and Scardamalia, M. ( 1982 ). From conversation to composition. In Robert Glaser (Ed.). Advances in I n s t r u c t i o n a l Psychology Volume Two (pp.4-48). New Jersey: Erlbaum A s s o c i a t e s . B a r t l e t t , F. (1932). Remembering. Cambridge:Cambridge Press. Bettelheim, B. (1975). The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of F a i r y T a l e s . New York: A l f r e d A. Knopf. Bettelheim, B. (1982). On Learning to Read. New York: A l f r e d A.Knopf. Birnbaum, J . (1982) The reading and composing behaviour of s e l e c t e d f o u r t h and seventh grade students. Research in the Teaching of E n g l i s h , 16.( 3), 241-260. Bissex, G. (1980) Gnys at Wrk: A C h i l d Learns to Read and Write. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard U n i v e r s i t y Press. 133 Bissex, G. (1984). The c h i l d as teacher. In H. Goelman, Oberg,A., and Smith, F., ( E d i t o r s ) . Awakening to L i t e r a c y . London: Heinemann E d u c a t i o n a l Books. Black and Bower, (1980). Story understanding as problem s o l v i n g . P o e t i c s , 9_, 223-250 . Black and Martin, (1982). C h i l d r e n ' s concepts about w r i t i n g a t home and s c h o o l . T h i r t y - f i r s t Yearbook of the N a t i o n a l Reading Conference.. (pp. 300-304 ) . Rochester, New York: N.R.C. Inc.. Botvin, G.J. and Sutton-Smith, B.(1977). The development of-s t r u c t u r a l complexity i n c h i l d r e n ' s fantasy n a r r a t i v e s . Developmental Psychology, 13, 377-388. Boutwell, M.(1983). Reading and w r i t i n g process: a r e c i p r o c a l agreement. Language A r t s . 60, 723-730. Bower, (1976). Experiments on s t o r y understanding and r e c a l l . Q u a r t e r l y Journal of Experimental Psychology,28, 511-534. B r i t t o n , J.(1970). Language and Learning. Middlesex, England: P e l i c a n Books. B r i t t o n , J . (1977).Language and the nature of l e a r n i n g : an i n d i v i d u a l p e r s p e c t i v e . In The Teaching of E n g l i s h ( S e v e n t y -s i x t h Yearbook for the Study of E d u c a t i o n ) . C h i c a g o : U n i v e r s i t y of Chicago Press. B r i t t o n , J . (1983). W r i t i n g and the s t o r y world. In K r o l l , B. and Wells, G. (Eds.). E x p l o r a t i o n s in the Development of Writing:Theory, Research and P r a c t i c e ( p p . 3 - 4 2 ) . C h i c h e s t e r : John Wiley and Sons. B r i t t o n , J . , Burgess, T., Martin, N., McLeod, A., Rosen H. (1975). The Development of W r i t i n g A b i l i t i e s (11 - 8). London: MacMillan and Company. Brown, G. (1977) Development of s t o r y i n c h i l d r e n ' s reading and w r i t i n g . Theory Into P r a c t i c e , 16.( 5), 357-362. Bruce, B.(1980). Understanding of s t o r y s t r u c t u r e . P o e t i c s , 9 / 295-311. C a l k i n s , L. (1983) Lessons from a C h i l d : On The Teaching and Learning of W r i t i n g . London: Heinemann Ed u c a t i o n a l Books. C h a l l , J . , and Jacobs V. (1984). W r i t i n g and reading i n the elementary grades developmental trends among low s . e . s . c h i l d r e n . In J.Jensen,(Ed.). Composing and Comprehending. Nat i o n a l Conference of Research i n E n g l i s h , ERIC. 134 Chomsky, C. (1979) Approaching reading through invented s p e l l i n g . In L. Resnick, and Weaver, P., (Eds.). Theory and P r a c t i c e of E a r l y Reading, Volume 2. H i l l s d a l e , New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum A s s o c i a t e s . Clay, M. (1983). G e t t i n g at a theory of w r i t i n g . In K r o l l , B. and Wells, G. (Eds.). E x p l o r a t i o n s in the Development of W r i t i n g . London:John Wiley & Sons L t d . . C o l l i n s , C. (1985). The power of expressive w r i t i n g i n reading comprehension. Language A r t s . 62.(1), 48-54. Dobson, L. (1985). Learning to read by w r i t i n g : a p r a c t i c a l program for r e l u c t a n t readers. Teaching E x c e p t i o n a l C h i l d r e n . F a l l Issue. Donaldson, M. (1978) Chi l d r e n ' s Minds. London: Fontana. Donelson, K. (1967) V a r i a b l e s d i s t i n g u i s h i n g between e f f e c t i v e and i n e f f e c t i v e w r i t e r s at the tenth grade. Journal of Experimental Education. 35, 37-41. Eckhoff, B. (1984). How reading a f f e c t s c h i l d r e n ' s w r i t i n g . In J . Jensen (Ed.). Composing and Comprehending, (pp.105-114). Na t i o n a l Conference of Research i n E n g l i s h , Urbana, I l l i n o i s : ERIC. Emig, J . (1983). Developmental view of r h e t o r i c . In The Web of Meaning:Essays on W r i t i n g , Teaching, Learning, and Thinking. New Jersey: Boynton/Cook P u b l i s h e r s , Inc.. Evanechko P., O l l i l a , L., and Armstrong, R. (1974). An i n v e s t i g a t i o n of the r e l a t i o n s h i p between c h i l d r e n s ' performance in w r i t t e n language and t h e i r reading a b i l i t y . Research i n the Teaching of E n g l i s h . 13, 129-136. Evans, M., T a y l o r , N. and Blum, I. (1979). C h i l d r e n ' s w r i t t e n language awareness and i t s r e l a t i o n to reading a c q u i s i t i o n . Journal of Reading Behaviour, 11 (1), 7-19. F e u r e s t e i n , R. (1980). Teacher's Guide to the F e u r e s t e i n Instrumental Enr ichment Program . Washington, D.C: Curriculum Development A s s o c i a t e s . F i t z g e r a l d , J . (1984). The r e l a t i o n s h i p between reading a b i l i t y and expectations for s t o r y s t r u c t u r e s . Discourse Processes. 7, 21-41. F i t z g e r a l d Whaley, J . (1981). Story grammars and reading i n s t r u c t i o n . Reading Teacher. 34., 762-771. 1 3 5 F i t z g e r a l d Whaley, J . (1981). Readers' expectations for s t o r y s t r u c t u r e s . Reading Research Q u a r t e r l y . 17 (1), 90-114. F i t z g e r a l d , J . , and S p i e g e l , D.L. (1983). The development of knowledge of s o c i a l i n t e n t i o n s , plans, and r e s o l u t i o n s as r e f l e c t e d i n s t o r y productions and r e c a l l of scrambled s t o r ies.32nd Yearbook of the National Reading Conference, (pp.192-198). Rochester, New York: N a t i o n a l Reading Conference Inc.. Flower, L. and Hayes, J . (1981). A c o g n i t i v e process theory of w r i t i n g . College Composition and Communication. 32, 365-387 . Glenn, C. (1980). R e l a t i o n s h i p between s t o r y content and s t r u c t u r e . Journal of Ed u c a t i o n a l Psychology. 72 (4), 550-560. Gold, R. (1983). R e c a l l of s t o r y schema c a t e g o r i e s by reading d i s a b l e d a d u l t s : e f f e e t of mode of p r e s e n t a t i o n . Perceptua1 and Motor S k i l l s . 56, 387-396. G o l i n k o f f , R.M. (1976). A comparison of reading comprehension processes i n good and poor comprehenders. Reading Research Q u a r t e r l y . XI (4), 623-659. Goodman, K. (1986). What's Whole i n Whole Language. Richmond H i l l , O ntario: Scholastic-TAB p u b l i c a t i o n s . Goodman, K. (Ed.) (1968). The P s y c h o l i n g u i s t i c Nature of the Reading Process. D e t r o i t : Wayne State U n i v e r s i t y Press. Goodman, K., Goodman,Y.(1983). Reading and w r i t i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p s : pragmatic f u n c t i o n s . In Language A r t s , 60 (5), 590-599. Goodman, Y. (1980). The roots of l i t e r a c y . Claremont Conference Yearbook. Gough, P. (1972) One second of reading. In Kavanagh,K. and Ma t t i n g l y , I.G. (Eds.), Language by Ear and by Eye. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press. Graves, D. (1975). An examination of the w r i t i n g processes of seven year old c h i l d r e n . Research i n the Teaching of E n g l i s h , 9, 227-241. Graves, D. (1982). Patterns of c h i l d c o n t r o l of the w r i t i n g process. In Walshe, R.D., (Ed.), Donald Graves i n A u s t r a l i a . Exeter, N.H.: Heinemann Educat i o n a l Books. 136 Graves, D. (1984). Balance the b a s i c s : l e t them w r i t e . In Graves, D. A Researcher Learns to Write, (pp.61-78). Exeter, New Hampshire: Heinemann Ed u c a t i o n a l Books. Grobe, S.F. and Grobe, C H . (1977 ). Reading s k i l l s as a c o r r e l a t e of w r i t i n g a b i l i t y i n c o l l e g e freshmen. Reading World, Oct.,50-54. H a l l i d a y , M. ((1975).Learning how to mean. In Lenenberg and Lenenberg (Eds.), Foundations of Language Development, Vol.1. New York: Academic Press. Hammill, D. and Larsen, S. (1985). Test of Written Language. A u s t i n , Texas: Pro-Ed.. Hansche, L. and Gordon, B. (1983). An i n v e s t i g a t i o n of the r e l a t i o n s h i p of s t o r y schema to reading a b i l i t y and grade l e v e l . In N i l e s , J . and H a r r i s , L.(Eds.). Searching for Meaning i n Reading, Language Processing and I n s t r u c t i o n . Rochester, New York: N a t i o n a l Reading Conference, Inc.. Hardy, Barbara (1977). N a r r a t i v e as the primary act of mind, In M.Meek, A.Barlow, and G.Barton, (Eds.) The Cool Web: The Pa t t e r n of C h i l d r e n ' s Reading. London:Bodley Head. Harste, J . , Burke, C , Woodward, V.( 1982 ). C h i l d r e n ' s language and w o r I d : i n i t i a l encounters with p r i n t . In J . Langer, M. Smith-Burke (Eds.) B r i d g i n g the Gap:Reader Meets Author. Delaware: I n t e r n a t i o n a l Reading A s s o c i a t i o n . Harste, J . , Burke, C , Woodward,V. (1984 ). Language S t o r i e s and L i t e r a c y Lessons\u00E2\u0080\u00A2 New Hampshire: Heinemann Educati o n a l Books . Hayes, J . and Flower, L. (1980). I d e n t i f y i n g the o r g a n i z a t i o n of w r i t i n g processes, i n Gregg,L. and Steinberg, E. Cogn i t i ve Processes i n W r i t i n g, (pp.3-30). H i l l s d a l e , N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum A s s o c i a t e s . Heys, F. (1962). The theme-a-week assumption: a r e p o r t of an experiment. E n g l i s h Journal,51, 320-322. Hofman, Richard J . , and Kerek, A. (1983). Reading comprehension as a p r e d i c t o r of growth i n s y n t a c t i c maturity and w r i t i n g q u a l i t y i n the f i r s t two and one-half years of undergraduate study. Perceptual and Motor S k i l l s , 5 6 , 595-600. Hoover, N.L. (1982). Young c h i l d r e n ' s d e t e c t i o n of incoherence i n n a r r a t i v e s . T h i r t y - f i r s t Yearbook of the N a t i o n a l Reading Conference. Rochester, New York: National Reading Conference Inc. . 137 Johnson, N.A. (1976). Questions, i n t e r r e l a t i o n s , and a p p l i c a t i o n s : a general i n t r o d u c t i o n . In Johnson, N.A. (Ed.),Current Topics in Language, (pp.2-12).Cambridge, Mass.: Winthrop P u b l i s h e r s . Johnson, N.S. and Mandler, J.M.(1980). A t a l e of two s t r u c t u r e s : u n derlying and surface forms i n s t o r i e s . Poet i c s , 9_,51-86. King, M. and Rentel, (1983). Present at the beginning. In Mosenthal, P., Tamor, L., Walmsley, S. (Eds.), Research on W r i t i n g P r i n c i p l e s and Methods. Ki n t s c h , W. and Van Dijk (1978). Toward a model of text comprehension. P s y c h o l o g i c a l Review, 85, 363-394. K r o l l , B. and Wells, G. (Eds.) (1983). E x p l o r a t i o n s i n the Development of W r i t i n g . New York: John Wiley and Sons. K r o l l , B. and Anson, CM. (1984 ). Analyzing s t r u c t u r e s in c h i l d r e n ' s f i c t i o n a l n a r r a t i v e s . In Cowie, H. (Ed.), The Development of Ch i l d r e n ' s Imaginative W r i t i n g , (pp.153-183). London:Croom Helm. Langer, J . and Applebee, A. (1986). Reading and w r i t i n g i n s t r u c t i o n : toward a theory of teaching and l e a r n i n g . In Review of Research i n Education,13, Chapter F i v e , (pp.177-196). American Education Research A s s o c i a t i o n . L i c h t e n s t e i n , E. and Brewer, W. (1980). Memory for g o a l - d i r e c t e d events. C o g n i t i v e Psychology,12,412-445. Loban, W. (1963). The language of elementary school c h i l d r e n . In Research Report No. 1. Urbana, I l l i n o i s : NCTE. Loban, W. (1976). Language development: kindergarten through grade twelve. Urbana, I l l i n o i s : NCTE. Mandler, Jean (1978). A code i n the node: the use of a s t o r y schema in r e t r i e v a l . Discourse Processes, 1_, 14-35. Mandler, Jean. (1982). Some uses \"and abuses of a s t o r y grammar. Discourse Processes, 5_, 305-318. Mandler, J . and Johnson, N.S. (1977). Remembrance of things parsed: s t o r y s t r u c t u r e and r e c a l l . C o g n i t i v e Psychology, 9,11-151. Matthews, E., Larsen, R., and B u t l e r , G, (1945). Experimental i n v e s t i g a t i o n of the r e l a t i o n between reading t r a i n i n g and achievement i n c o l l e g e composition c l a s s e s . Journal of E d u c a t i o n a l Research, 38, 499-505. 138 M i t c h e l l , J.V. ( E d i t o r ) (1985). The Ninth Mental Measurements Yearbook. U n i v e r s i t y of Nebraska Press. M a c G i n i t i e , W., Kamons, J . , Kowalski, R., MacGinite, R., and Mackay, T. (1930).Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests,(Canadian E d i t i o n ) . Nelson Canada L i m i t e d . McClure, E., Mason, J . , and B a r n i t z , J . (1979). An e x p l o r a t o r y study of s t o r y s t r u c t u r e and age e f f e c t s on c h i l d r e n ' s a b i l i t y to sequence s t o r i e s . Discourse Processes, 2_, 213-249 . McConaughy, S.(1980). Using s t o r y s t r u c t u r e i n the classroom. Language A r t s , 87, 157-150. McConaughy, S. (1982). Developmental changes in s t o r y comprehension and l e v e l s of q u e s t i o n i n g . Language A r t s , 59, 580-589. McConaughy, S. (1985a). Good and poor readers'comprehension of s t o r y s t r u c t u r e across d i f f e r e n t input and output m o d a l i t i e s . Reading Research Q u a r t e r l y , 20.(2), 219-231. McConaughy, S. (1985b). Diagnosing w r i t i n g problems: a c a l l for a schema-based approach. Paper presented at the National Reading Conference, (December 3-7), San Diego, C a l i f o r n i a . McConaughy S., Fitzhenry-Coor, I., and Howell, D.C. (1983). Developmental d i f f e r e n c e s i n schemata for s t o r y comprehension. In Nelson, K. (Ed.), C h i l d r e n ' s Language (pp.385-421). H i l l s d a l e , New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum. McGee, Lea (1982). Awareness of tex t s t r u c t u r e : e f f e c t s on c h i l d r e n ' s r e c a l l of e x p o s i t o r y t e x t . Reading Research Q u a r t e r l y , 4 ( 7 ) , 581-590. Newman, J . (1983) (Ed.) The Development of L i t e r a c y : A Whole Language P e r s p e c t i v e . (Monographs on Learning and Teaching No.2). H a l i f a x , N.S.: Dalhousie U n i v e r s i t y . Nezworski, T., S t e i n , N., Trabasso, T., (1982). Story s t r u c t u r e vs. content i n c h i l d r e n ' s r e c a l l . Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behaviour, 21, 19 6-206. Piaget, J . (1955). The Language and Thought of the C h i l d . New York: World P u b l i s h i n g . Pianko, S. (1979). A d e s c r i p t i o n of the composing process of c o l l e g e freshmen w r i t e r s . Research i n the Teaching of E n g l i s h , 13(1), 5-22. 139 P i e x o t t o , H. (1946). The r e l a t i o n s h i p of c o l l e g e board examination scores and reading scores for c o l l e g e freshmen. Journal of Applied Psychology, 30, 4 06-411. Pouslon, D., K i n t s c h , E., K i n t s c h , W., and Premack, D. (1979). C h i l d r e n ' s comprehension and memory for s t o r i e s . Journal of Experimental C h i l d Psychology, 28., 3 79-403. Propp, V. (1968). The Morphology of the F o l k t a l e . A u s t i n , Texas: U n i v e r s i t y of Texas Press. Rand, M. (1984). Story schema: theory, research and p r a c t i c e . Reading Teacher, 37 (94), 377-382. Rosen, H. (1984). The nurture of n a r r a t i v e . In S t o r i e s and Meanings. London: NATE. Rosen, H. (1984). Narratology and the teacher. In S t o r i e s and Meanings, (pp.22-40). London: NATE. Rumelhart, D. (1977). Understanding and summarizing b r i e f s t o r i e s . In LaBerge,D. and Samuels, S. (Eds.), Bas i c Processes in Reading: Perception and Comprehension. H i l l s d a l e , New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum. Rumelhart, D. (1985). Toward an i n t e r a c t i v e model of reading. In Singer, H. and Ruddell, R. (Eds.), T h e o r e t i c a l Models and Processes of Reading. Newark, Delaware: I n t e r n a t i o n a l Reading A s s o c i a t i o n . Shanahan, T., (1984). Nature of t h e \u00E2\u0080\u00A2 r e a d i n g - w r i t i n g r e l a t i o n : an e x p l o r a t o r y m u l t i v a r i a t e a n a l y s i s . Journal of E d u c a t i o n a l Psychology. 76.(3), 466-477. Shaughnessy, M. (1977). E r r o r s and Expectations: A Guide for the Teacher of Basic W r i t i n g . New York: Oxford U n i v e r s i t y Press. Shuy, R. (1981). A h o l i s t i c view of language. Research i n the Teaching of E n g l i s h . 15, 101-111. Smith, F. (1982). Wr i t i n g and the Writer. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. Smith, R., Jensen, K., and D i 1 1 i n g o f s k i , M. (1971). The e f f e c t s of i n t e g r a t i n g reading and w r i t i n g on four v a r i a b l e s . Research in the Teaching of E n g l i s h . 5, 179-189. Squire, J . (1983). Composing and comprehending: two s i d e s of the same ba s i c process. Language A r t s , 6_0_(5), 581-589. 140 S t a l l a r d , C. (1974). An a n a l y s i s of the w r i t i n g behaviour of good student w r i t e r s . Research i n the Teaching of E n g l i s h , 8_, 20S- 218. S t e i n , N. (1982). What's in a s t o r y : i n t e r p r e t i n g , the i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s . Discourse Processes, 5., 30-335. S t e i n , N. (1983). On the goals, functions and knowledge of reading and w r i t i n g . Contemporary E d u c a t i o n a l Psychology, 8_, 261-292 . S t e i n N., and Glenn, C.(1979). An a n a l y s i s of s t o r y composition i n elementary school c h i l d r e n . In F r e e d l e , R. (Ed.), New D i r e c t i o n s i n Discourse Processes. New Jersey: Ablex. S t e i n N., and Trabasso, T. (1982). What's i n a s t o r y : c r i t i c a l i ssues i n s t o r y comprehension. In Glaser, R. (Ed.), Advances i n I n s t r u c t i o n a l Psychology (pp.213-254). H i l l s d a l e , New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum. Straw, S., and Schreiner, R. (1982). The e f f e c t of sentence manipulation on subsequent measures of reading and l i s t e n i n g comprehension. Reading Research Q u a r t e r l y , 17, 339-352. Sutton-Smith, B. (1981). The F o l k s t o r i e s of C h i l d r e n . P h i l a d e l p h i a : U n i v e r s i t y of Pennsylvania Press. Tay l o r , B., and Beach, R.W., (1984). The e f f e c t s of text s t r u c t u r e i n s t r u c t i o n on . middle-grade students' comprehension and production of e x p o s i t o r y t e x t . Read i ng Research Q u a r t e r l y , 19 (2), 134-146. Thorndyke, P. (1977). Cognitive s t r u c t u r e s i n comprehension and memory of n a r r a t i v e d i s c o u r s e . C o g n i t i v e Psychology, 9_, 77 -110. Thorndyke, P. and Yekovich, F. (1980). A c r i t i q u e of schema-based t h e o r i e s of human s t o r y memory. P o e t i c s , 9_, 23-49. Tierney, R. and Pearson, D. (1983). Toward a composing model of reading. Language A r t s . 6_0(5), 568-580. Tierney, R. (1985). Reading-writing r e l a t i o n s h i p s : a glimpse at some f a c e t s . Reading Canada Lecture, 3. (2), 109-116. Tway, E. (1986). Wr i t i n g i s Reading: 26 Ways to Connect. N.C.T.E.,ERIC P u b l i c a t i o n s . Vygotsky, L. (1962). Thought and Language. Cambridge, Massachusetts: M.I.T. Press. 141 Wells, G. (1985). The Meaning Makers. London: Oxford U n i v e r s i t y Press. Wilkinson, A., Barnsley, G., Hanna, P., and Swan, M. (1980). Assessing Language Development. London: Oxford U n i v e r s i t y Press . Wilkinson, A., Barnsley, G., Hanna, P., and Swan, M., (1983). Towards a comprehensive model of w r i t i n g development. In K r o l l , B. and Wells, G. (Eds.) E x p l o r a t i o n i n the Development of W r i t i n g : Theory, Research and P r a c t i c e , (pp.43-68). Ch i c h e s t e r : John Wiley and Sons. Wittrock, M. (1983). W r i t i n g and the teaching of reading. Language A r t s , 60 (5), 600-606. Woodfin, M. (1968). C o r r e l a t i o n s among c e r t a i n f a c t o r s and the wr i t t e n expression of t h i r d grade c h i l d r e n . Educational and P s y c h o l o g i c a l Measurement. 28, 1237-1242. Woodward, J . and P h i l l i p s , A. (1967). P r o f i l e of the poor w r i t e r -the r e l a t i o n s h i p of s e l e c t e d c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s to poor w r i t i n g i n c o l l e g e . Research i n the Teaching of E n g l i s h , 1., 41-53. Zeman, S. (1969). Reading comprehension and w r i t i n g of second and t h i r d graders. Reading Teacher, 23, 144-150. STORY APPENDIX A 142 Instructions: Look at the three pictures above and make up a good story to go with them. Take about five minutes to think about your story. Be sure to write a complete story using all three pictures. It is best to plan a whole story before you begin to write. (0) APPENDIX B D e f i n i t i o n s o f S t o r y S t r u c t u r e C a t e g o r i e s 143 A t t e m p t C o m m e n t a r i e s (A) (C) D e s c r i p t i o n D i s p o s i t i o n ( D E S ) ( D I S P ) A n a c t i o n e n g a g e d i n b y a n a n i m a t e b e i n g o r c h a r a c t e r d i r e c t e d t o w a r d s a t i s f y i n g a s u b - g o a l , c r e a t i n g a n e w s u b g o a l , o r e m e r g i n g f r o m a t h o u g h t o r f e e l i n g . C o m m e n t s b y t h e a u t h o r w h i c h a r e n o t a p a r t o f t h e s t o r y i t s e l f , s u c h a s a n i n t r o d u c t i o n t o t h e a u d i e n c e o r c o m m e n t s o n t h e e p i s o d e s o r r e s o l u t i o n o f t h e s t o r y . A n a c c o u n t o f p h y s i c a l , t e m p o r a l o r e n v i r o n m e n t a l s t a t e s o r e v e n t s w h i c h a r e n o t a c t i o n s o f t h e c h a r a c t e r s o r o u t c o m e s o f t h e i r a c t i o n s . A n a c c o u n t o f a p e r s o n a l i t y o r c h a r a c t e r t r a i t o f a c h a r a c t e r w h i c h e x p l a i n s t h e g e n e r a l m o t i v a t i o n f o r h i s a t t e m p t s o r a c t i o n s . G o a l (G) I n i t i a t i n g E v e n t I n t e r n a l R e s p o n s e ( I E ) ( I R ) A m a j o r o r o v e r r i d i n g d e s i r e o r p r o b l e m o f t h e m a i n c h a r a c t e r w h i c h a r i s e s f r o m t h e i n i t i a t i n g e v e n t o f t h e s t o r y a n d e v e n t u a l l y l e a d s t o , o r i s r e l a t e d t o , t h e f i n a l r e s o l u t i o n . T h e g o a l m a y b e e x p r e s s e d i n t e r m s o f a d e s i r e , a d e c i s i o n t o t a k e a c t i o n , o r a g e n e r a l s t a t e m e n t a b o u t \" t r y i n g \" o r \" a t t e m p t i n g \" t o a c h i e v e a g o a l . A n e v e n t , s t a t e o r a c t i o n w h i c h l e a d s a m a i n c h a r a c t e r t o f o r m u l a t e h i s m a j o r g o a l . A m e n t a l r e s p o n s e o f a c h a r a c t e r t o a n e x t e r n a l e v e n t w h i c h c a n b e e i t h e r a s u b g o a l , a t h o u g h t , o r a f e e l i n g r w h i c h l e a d s t o s u b s e q u e n t a t t e m p t s o r a c t i o n s o f t h e c h a r a c t e r . M o r a l (M) A l e s s o n o r p r i n c i p l e o f r i g h t b e h a v i o r w h i c h c a n b e d e r i v e d f r o m t h e p l o t a n d r e s o l u t i o n o f a s t o r y . O u t c o m e (0) A n e v e n t o r s t a t e p r o d u c e d b y a p r i o r a t t e m p t o r a c t i o n o f a c h a r a c t e r . A P P E N D I X B C o n t i n u e d D e f i n i t i o n s o f S t o r y S t r u c t u r e C a t e g o r i e s - 2 144 R e a c t i o n ( R E A ) A t h o u g h t o r f e e l i n g o f a c h a r a c t e r i n r e s p o n s e t o a n o u t c o m e o r t h e f i n a l r e s o l u t i o n o f t h e p l o t , w h i c h d o e s n o t d i r e c t l y l e a d t o a n e w a t t e m p t o r a c t i o n . R e s o l u t i o n ( R E S ) S e t t i n g ( S ) U n c l a s s i f i e d (N) T h e f i n a l o u t c o m e o r c o n s e q u e n c e o f t h e s t o r y w h i c h i s a s u c c e s s f u l o r u n s u c c e s s f u l a t t a i n m e n t o f t h e m a j o r g o a l o f t h e m a i n c h a r a c t e r o r c h a r a c t e r s . ( A s t a t e m e n t \" T h e y l i v e d h a p p i l y e v e r a f t e r \" i s n o t s u f f i c i e n t u n l e s s i t i s a n o b v i o u s c o n s e q u e n c e r e l a t e d t o t h e m a j o r g o a l . ) T h e i n t r o d u c t i o n o f t h e c h a r a c t e r s , c o n d i t i o n s o f t h e c h a r a c t e r s , a n d t h e t i m e a n d l o c a t i o n o f t h e s t o r y . ( A s t a t e m e n t \" O n c e u p o n a t i m e \" i s n o t s u f f i c i e n t a l o n e , b u t m a y b e p a r t o f a s e t t i n g s t a t e m e n t . ) S t o r y s t a t e m e n t s w h i c h a r e n o t s c o r e a b l e i n a n y o f t h e a b o v e c a t e g o r i e s . A d a p t e d f r o m R u m e l h a r t ( 1 9 7 5 ) a n d T h o r n d y k e ( 1 9 7 7 ) N o t e : D i a l o g b e t w e e n c h a r a c t e r s i s s c o r e d a s o n e o f t h e a b o v e c a t e g o r i e s . A P P E N D I X C S e n e m a R a t i n g S c a l e 145 S c o r e S c h e m a Q u a l i t y 9 C o m p l e x S o c i a l I n f e r e n c e S c h e m a I I Two o r m o r e m a j o r G o a l s a r e s t a t e d . S e p a r a t e g o a l s a r e s t a t e d f o r t w o s e t s o f - c h a r a c t e r s ( e a r t h l i n g s , s p a c e l i n g s o r a d d e d c h a r a c t e r s ) . I n i t i a t i n g E v e n t a n d R e s o l u t i o n a r e p r e s e n t . O n e o r m o r e c o m p l e t e e p i s o d e s * a r e c o n n e c t e d t o g o a l s f o r s e p a r a t e s e t s o f c h a r a c t e r s . T h e r e i s i n t e r a c t i o n o r c o n f l i c t b e t w e e n c h a r a c t e r s . A l l t h r e e p i c t u r e s a r e i n c l u d e d . 8 C o m p l e x S o c i a l I n f e r e n c e S c h e m a I O n e m a j o r G o a l i s s t a t e d . I n i t i a t i n g E v e n t a n d R e s o l u t i o n a r e p r e s e n t . T h e e m p h a s i s i s p r i m a r i l y o n o n e s e t o f c h a r a c t e r s ( e a r t n l i n g s o r s p a c e l i n g s ) . Two o r m o r e c o m p l e t e e p i s o d e s * a r e r e l a t e d t o o n e s e t o f c h a r a c t e r s . A s e c o n d s e t o f c h a r a c t e r ( s ) i s i n t r o d u c e d w i t h o u t d e v e l o p m e n t o f s e p a r a t e G o a l s a n d / o r e p i s o d e s r e l a t e d t o t h e m . A l l t h r e e p i c t u r e s a r e i n c l u d e d . 7 S o c i a l I n f e r e n c e S c h e m a I I I O n e m a j o r G o a l i s s t a t e d . I n i t i a t i n g E v e n t a n d R e s o l u t i o n a r e p r e s e n t . T h e e m p h a s i s i s o n o n e s e t o f c h a r a c t e r s ( e a r t h l i n g s o r s p a c e l i n g s ) . Two o r m o r e c o m p l e t e e p i s o d e s a r e r e l a t e d t o o n e s e t o f c h a r a c t e r s . A l l t h r e e p i c t u r e s a r e i n c l u d e d . 6 S o c i a l Inference Schema II One major Goal i s stated.-I n i t i a t i n g Event and Resolution are present. There i s one complete episode f o r one s e t of characters. A l l three pictures are included. 5 Social Inference Schema I One major Goal is stated. I n i t i a t i n g Event and Resolution are present. Tnere are no complete episodes* or one p i c t u r e i s l e f t out. 146 APPENDIX C Continued S c o r e Schema Q u a l i t y 4 C a u s a l I n f e r e n c e Schema I I I No m a j o r G o a l i s s t a t e d . I n i t i a t i n g E v e n t a n d R e s o l u t i o n a r e p r e s e n t . T h e r e a r e two o r m o r e c o m p l e t e e p i s o d e s * f o r o n e o r more s e t s o f c h a r a c t e r s . T h e e m p h a s i s i s p r i m a r i l y o n a c t i o n s , o u t c o m e s a n d d e s c r i p t i o n s . A l l t h r e e p i c t u r e s a r e i n c l u d e d . C a u s a l I n f e r e n c e S c h e m a I I I No m a j o r G o a l i s s t a t e d . I n i t i a t i n g E v e n t a n d R e s o l u t i o n a r e p r e s e n t . T h e r e i s o n e c o m p l e t e e p i s o d e * f o r o n e s e t o f c h a r a c t e r s . T h e e m p h a s i s i s p r i m a r i l y on a c t i o n s , o u t c o m e s a n d d e s c r i p t i o n s . A l l t h r e e p i c t u r e s a r e i n c l u d e d . C a u s a l I n f e r e n c e Schema I No m a j o r G o a l i s s t a t e d . I n i t i a t i n g E v e n t a n d R e s o l u t i o n a r e p r e s e n t . T h e r e i s o n e c o m p l e t e e p i s o d e * f o r o n e s e t o f c h a r a c t e r s . T h e e m p h a s i s i s p r i m a r i l y on a c t i o n s , o u t c o m e s a n d d e s c r i p t i o n s . x One p i c t u r e i s l e f t o u t . S i m p l e D e s c r i p t i o n Schema T h e m a j o r G o a l may o r may n o t b e m i s s i n g . E i t h e r t h e I n i t i a t i n g E v e n t o r R e s o l u t i o n o r b o t h a r e m i s s i n g . T h e m a j o r e m p h a s i s i s on a c t i o n s , o u t c o m e s a n d d e s c r i p t i o n s . T h e r e a r e some c a u s a l o r t e m p o r a l c o n n e c t i o n s b e t w e e n a t t e m p t s a n d o u t c o a e s . A l l t h r e e p i c t u r e s a r e i n c l u d e d . No Schema T h e m a j o r G o a l may o r may n o t b e m i s s i n g . E i t h e r t h e I n i t i a t i n g E v e n t o r R e s o l u t i o n o r b o t h a r e m i s s i n g . T h e p i c t u r e s a r e d e s c r i b e d s e p a r a t e l y w i t h l i t t l e o r no c a u s a l c o n n e c t i o n s . T h e s e q u e n c e o f e v e n t s i s c o n f u s i n g , f r a g m e n t e d o r r e v e r s e d i n o r d e r . * One o r more p i c t u r e s may be e x c l u d e d . * An e p i s o d e i s c o m p r i s e d o f a ( s u b g o a l , t h o u g h t o r f e e l i n g ) o r a c t i o n s , and t h e s p e c i f i c s t a t e d o r i m p l i e d i n t e r n a l r e s p o n s e o f a c h a r a c t e r , o n e o r m o r e a t t e m p t s o u t c o m e (s) o f t h e a t t e m p t s . 147 A P P E N D I X D S a m p l e S t o r y 1 The year is 2105 and S 2 the earth is about to be disintegrated IE by a solar fla r e from the sun 3 There was only one person ready for this catastrophe S 4 Noah, a farmer working at the Vancouver Game Farm S 5 One day, while sharing some red goo with a man-eating aardvark DES 6 there was an explosion IE 7 the farm shook DES 8 the ground cracked open, and 9 people were running everywhere REA 10 \"Get everybody off the farm,\" yelled Noah IR 11 Immediately, 7 space crafts came out of the ground A 12 Everybody helped put the animals in the ship A 13 Another quake rang out DES 14 \"We've got to get off this planet,\" Noah mumbled to himself GOAL 15 As he entered a ship he found A 16 how crowded i t was, f u l l of animals and people DES 17 The ship blasted off 0 18 As they went higher they saw A 19 Grouse Mountain f a l l i n g apart DES 20 A few minutes later the p i l o t announced A 21 that they were destined to a planet A 22 inhabited with Venusians DES 23 With a horrendous bang DES 24 Earth was no more DES 25 The solar f l a r e ripped through Earth DES 26 As the people landed A 27 they were greeted by many Venusians A 28 who welcomed them to Venus REA 29 and hoped they could unite to one family IR 30 From that day a handful of Earthlings and animals A 31 began a new l i f e RES NUMBER OF CATEGORIES - 9 NUMBER OF PROPOSITIONS - 31 NUMBER OF EPISODES - 2 SCHEMA QUALITY RATING - 8 148 A P P E N D I X E P r e l i m i n a r y A n a l y s i s o f A d u l t S t o r y P r o t o c o l s SCHEMA QUALITY RATING NUMBER OF NARRATIVES 9 1 S o c i a l I n f e r e n c e 8 5 Schema 7 7 6 3 5 1 4 3 2 1 0 TOTAL 17 NOTE: The s a m p l e was c o m p r i s e d o f a s m a l l c l a s s o f s t u d e n t s i n an u n d e r g r a d u a t e c o u r s e on D e v e l o p m e n t a l R e a d i n g a t t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a . "@en . "Thesis/Dissertation"@en . "10.14288/1.0078307"@en . "eng"@en . "Language and Literacy Education"@en . "Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library"@en . "University of British Columbia"@en . "For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use."@en . "Graduate"@en . "An investigation of the relationship between reading ability and the development of story schema in adolescent written narratives"@en . "Text"@en . "http://hdl.handle.net/2429/28236"@en .