Is narrative in printed text “primary” for knowledge-building? An analysis of genre and medium

The purpose of this study was to investigate the materials supports, specifically the effects of genre (narrative and informational) and medium (print and video) on children’s developing knowledge of text. Following pretests, 127 preschoolers were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: informational text (print or screen), or narrative text (print or screen) about insects. Eye-tracking data was collected to measure children’s engagement with the text. After the viewing or reading, children were individually administered a series of comprehension tasks. Results indicated children seemed equally engaged with both genre; however, regardless of medium, children performed better on most measures when given the informational text. These results suggest that informational text in print as well as video may be an ideal source for knowledge-building in the early years.