The Effectiveness of a Visual-Verbal Literacy Technique on Certain Targeted Comprehension Skills of Seventh Grade Students

Abstract

Forty seventh grade students from a rural community participated in a picture comprehension treatment program. The program was designed to determine if a visual-verbal literacy technique was effective in significantly increasing the inferential comprehension scores of the participants. Materials included a written comprehension test in two forms, one serving as a pretest, the other a posttest. Also included was a packet of 40 simple line drawings and a test measuring picture comprehension. For ten consecutive days, those students showing a deficiency on the pretest were exposed to a visual-verbal literacy technique. This technique consisted of a discussion of the simple line drawings with regard to the four targeted skills: (1) main idea, (2) cause and effect, (3) comparing and contrasting, and (4) predicting outcomes. Students were then tested on these four skills with a written posttest and a test measuring picture comprehension. Results indicated that students were able to significantly increase their inferential comprehension scores following the treatment program. These students were also able to master these targeted skills on a test of picture comprehension, indicating that they were able to derive meaning from pictures without text accompaniment.