The effects of graphic organizers on 4th grade students' success in analyzing and summarizing exposi̇tory texts

This study aims to determine whether graphic organizers have an effect on 4th grade students' success in analyzing and summarizing expository texts. The study adopted quasi-experimental, pre-test, post-test control group design. It took 11 weeks in total and included pretest, posttest, instruction on graphic organizers and an eight-week practice. During the study, while graphic organizers were used effectively in the experimental group, they were not utilized in the control group at all. Data were gathered via 10 informative texts accompanied by 13 open ended questions that were prepared in accordance with expert opinions. In order to interpret the effects of graphic organizers better, the students in the experimental group were alsoasked whether graphic organizers included any new or different knowledge from what they already had. Data were firstly analyzed based on the rubric prepared by the researcher. Then, pretest, posttest and weekly practice data gathered from both experimental and control groups were analyzed through statistical processes. The results of the study revealed that the students who used graphic organizers significantly differed from the students who did not regarding their successin analyzing and summarizing expository texts. The results also indicated that expository texts provided the students with new but not different knowledge from what they already had. When weekly data were examined, there existed a significant difference in the six week scores of the both groups. However, the experimental group did not differed from the control group in the1st and 4th weeks, which could not be explained by the percentages of the texts in providing new and different information. Keywords: Expository texts, Graphic organizers, Analyzing and Summarizing Text