Mental Processes in Reading and Writing: A Critical Look at Self-Reports as Supportive Data

The purpose of the study was to investigate whether instruction aimed to heighten awareness of narrative structure would enhance fifth-grade children's use of story elements, as one strategy, during comprehension and composition. Evidence on experimental and and control group strategy use was obtained by using dependent measures plus introspective means. No significant differences were found between the groups on any of the multiple dependent measures following five weeks of instruction. The results of the selfreports confirmed that instructional elements (e.g., self-questioning, monologuing) common to both treatment groups may have been key contributors to the no significant difference findings. Self-reports, however, provided further evidence that children use similar strategies in the reading and writing processes.