The Effects of Pictures on Comprehension Skills of Pre-Schoolers

The effects of pictures in pictures books on pre-schoolers' comprehension skills was investigated by conducting a small scaled case study. For the study, 19 children in two classrooms in a kindergarten in Turkey were participated in total. The children in one of two classrooms were read a picture story book as they were allowed to see the pictures in the book, but the children in the other class were only read the story. Children then were asked to retell the story and draw the scene of they liked the most in the book. Then, each child was interviewed with basic questions about the book which was read and the drawings which the children produced. It was found that the children in picture group remembered much more things than those in no picture group. The children in picture group also produced more detailed drawings compared to the children in no picture group. It was understood from the study that all children participated enjoy listening to stories if they are able to see the pictures in the book. Another result from the study was that there was no big difference between the children's favourite part of the story.