Investigation of narrative texts used by fourth grade primary school students

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of the research was to determine the use of narrative text elements by the 4th grade primary school students in their narrative texts in compliance with the designated written expression evaluation criteria. Method: In this qualitative research, document analysis was used as the data collection method. The texts of twenty-three pupils attending the 4th grade of a state school affiliated to the Ministry of National Education were examined through easily accessible case sampling method among the purposeful sampling methods. Findings: According to the results of the research, the majority of the students achieved the proper behaviour to leave a gap between the words and lines, paid attention to the page layout, etc., but they did not comply with the rule of first line indent in a paragraph. It was found that students were not having any trouble while deciding on a title for their texts, and these titles conformed to the texts, and that the texts were also organized in a logical order. Participants were found to have problems in dividing the subject into paragraphs and providing meaningful transitions between these paragraphs. Finally, it was observed that the majority of students made mistakes in the use of punctuation marks in compliance with the writing rules in the texts they wrote. Implications for Research and Practice: The results of data indicate that the students have insufficient knowledge of writing narrative. This is evident from the schematic structure and linguistic features of the texts. Students need a lot of writing guidance from the teacher. In addition, an appropriate teaching techniques and approaches should be implemented.