An approach to the teaching of inference-making to junior high school literature readers

• Main Author: Thornburg, Joan Mae
• Other Authors: Ransom, Peggy E.
• Format: Others
• Published: 2011
• Subjects: Inference.; Reading (Secondary)
• Online Access: http://cardinalscholar.bsu.edu/handle/handle/181416; http://liblink.bsu.edu/uhtbin/catkey/251886

This study was designed to determine the effect of written and oral guidance to drawing inferences related to a short story upon performance on an instrument constructed to assess inference-making ability of eighth grade students. The sample consisted of 194 subjects--members of nine English classes in three rural Indiana schools. Students who scored more than two years above or below grade level in reading achievement tests were not included in the sample.The reading material consisted of a short story selection from a literature anthology, a guide to inferences in the story, and a ten-item multiple-choice inference test. The inference guide and test were constructed specifically for use in this study.Three null hypotheses were tested for significance at the .01 level of confidence to ascertain the effect of a pre-reading guide on inferential reading comprehension, and accepted:1. There is no significant difference in inference making achievement between students having a pre-reading oral guide read by the teacher and students having no guidance in inferencing2. There is no significant difference in inference making achievement between students having a pre-reading oral guide read by the teacher and a pre-reading written guide read silently by students3. There is no significant difference in inference making ability between students having a pre-reading written guide to read silently and students having no guidance in inferencingAll hypotheses were accepted at the .01 level; however, significance was indicated at the .05 level when a comparison was made among the schools, and at the .001 level among teachers. It was concluded from the results of analysis of variance that the pre-reading techniques utilized in this study had no statistically significant effect on the performance score on a measure on inferential reading comprehension of the eighth grade students. Further analysis of data supported the educational principles that the teacher, administrator, and school reading program exert important influences on student achievement in reading and comprehension.