Text production and text comprehension are usually investigated separately. In this study both abilities are taken in conjunction in order to explore the relationships between them. Sixty 4, 6 and 8-year-old children were asked to produce orally a story about a given topic (production task). They were also asked to retell a story they listened in a tape recorder (comprehension task) which was about the same topic presented in the production task. Though both abilities developed with age, no correlation was found between text production and text comprehension. At the age of 4 years, children were more successful in the production task than in the comprehension task; whereas at the ages of 6 and 8 years children did better in the comprehension task than in the production task. These results are interpreted in a developmental approach. The different ways in which children deal with texts are discussed.
Text production and text comprehension; Development; Children
