Examining preschool children's memory skills and story comprehension levels in story retellings

This study was conducted to examine the memory skills and story comprehension levels in the story retellings of preschool children. It was carried out during the spring semester of the 2024-2025 academic year with 17 children aged 48–72 months enrolled in a preschool institution in the Birecik district of Şanlıurfa. Quantitative data were collected using the "General Information Form," the "Memory Battery for Preschool Children" (Obalı, 2018), and the "Story Comprehension Tool for Young Children" (Paris & Paris, 2003), while qualitative data were simultaneously collected through audio recordings of the children's story retellings. The illustrated storybook "Dogs Don't Do Ballet" (Anna Kemp, 2010) was used as the data collection tool during sessions with the children. In the analysis of quantitative data, the relationship between memory scores and story comprehension questions was examined using the Spearman-Brown correlation coefficient. Qualitative data were analyzed using descriptive and content analysis. After transcribing the audio recordings, reference points were determined inductively in line with the study's purpose. The collected quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed, and the results from both datasets were integrated to reveal the relationships between them. The findings indicated a significant positive relationship between the children's semantic memory scores, the number of words they used, and their story comprehension scores. As children's semantic memory levels increased, so did the number of words and the accuracy of their responses to story comprehension questions. The qualitative analysis of children's retelling of stories revealed that children retained certain parts of the story that caught their attention more in their memory, and that this frequency decreased in the second session. In retellings conducted one week later, the number of words, details, spatial and emotional expressions decreased, whereas repetitions, off-topic digressions, and creative additions increased. The findings highlight the importance of including activities in preschool education programs that simultaneously enhance both memory and comprehension skills.