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Virginia Tech

Emerging Readers and Inferential Comprehension with Wordless Narrative Picturebooks: An intervention study

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

Inference generation is a process that is key to successful reading (e.g., Bowyer- Crane and Snowling, 2005; Oakhill and Cain, 2012) and that begins to develop early in the reading acquisition process, through listening comprehension (e.g., Kendeou et al., 2009). Despite being able to generate inferences, such as cause and effect, as early as four years old (Lynch and van den Broek, 2007) inference generation is a skill not explicitly taught to many emergent readers. This study looked at wordless picturebooks and how they could be used with linguistic prompting to develop inferential thinking in young readers, building on the work of Grolig et al. (2020). The study involved a a quasi-experimental, 2-between subjects (wordless/worded picturebooks) and 2-within subjects (pre/post-assessment) design examining the impact of a reading intervention on emergent readers' inferential narrative comprehension. One group's intervention utilized wordless picturebooks, while the second group used a worded picturebook. The gains from pre- to post-assessment suggested that wordless picturebooks, alongside the planned prompts, did have an impact on the inferential narrative comprehension of the students (t (35) = 4.99, d = 1.63, p<.001) and that the intervention as a whole positively impacts members of both groups.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Doctor of Philosophy
Level thesis:degree_level
doctoral
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Curriculum and Instruction
Department dc:contributor.department
Education, Vocational-Technical
Grantor dc:publisher
Virginia Tech
Year dc:date.issued
2023

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Kambach, Anna Elizabeth
Chair dc:contributor.committeechair
  • Doolittle, Peter E.
Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember
  • Bradley, Nancy Ann
  • Fortune, Donna J.
  • Mesmer, Heidi Anne Edelblute

Subjects

dc:subject × 5

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • In Copyright
Language dc:language.iso
en

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Dc Identifier Other
vt_gsexam:37650
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/115231

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Virginia Tech
Base URL
vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Kambach, Anna Elizabeth. Emerging Readers and Inferential Comprehension with Wordless Narrative Picturebooks: An intervention study. doctoral thesis, Virginia Tech, 2023. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/115231