Japanese Preschool Children's and Adults' Narrative Discourse Competence and Narrative Structure

1996 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 349-373 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masahiko Minami
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Personal Narratives ◽  
Narrative Structure ◽  
Narrative Discourse ◽  
Narrative Development ◽  
Final Phase ◽  
High Point ◽  
Children's Narratives ◽  
Point Analysis ◽  
Discourse Competence

Abstract This study presents empirical evidence o f Japanese preschool children's (a) narrative discourse competence and narrative structure and (b) rhetorical/expressive flexibility, compared to adults. With data on oral personal narratives told by Japanese preschoolers and adults, and with verse/stanza analysis (Gee, 1985; Hymes, 1981) and high point analysis based on the Labovian approach (Labov, 1972; Peterson & McCabe, 1983), it was discovered that children's and adults' narratives are similar in terms o f structure in that they both tend to have three verses per stanza, and that children and adults tend to tell about multiple experiences. By contrast, there are some clear differences in terms o f content and delivery. Whereas children tend to tell their stories in a sequential style, adults emphasize nonsequential information. Specifically, compared to children's narratives, adults' narratives place considerably more weight on feelings and emotions. The findings of this study strongly suggest that oral personal narratives told by Japanese preschoolers do not represent the final phase o f development. Rather, they still have a long way to go. (Narrative Development; Narrative Structure)

Connecting L1 and L2 acquisition: From the perspective of macro and micro narrative structure

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 143-164
Author(s):  
Masahiko Minami
Keyword(s):  
Narrative Analysis ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Personal Narratives ◽  
Narrative Structure ◽  
Narrative Discourse ◽  
Organizational Strategies ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Related Quality ◽  
L1 And L2

Abstract The studies presented in this paper connect the story-related quality and the language-related quality of narrative discourse. The term “coherence” refers to whether or not a text makes sense at a global level, whereas “cohesion” describes the linguistic relationships among clauses in a narrative, such as how the surface linguistic elements of a text are linked to one another at a local level. Using a content-based narrative analysis, a trilogy – a set of three independent but interrelated studies – introduced in this paper quantitatively analyze oral personal narratives through three lenses. As examples of devices for cohesion, the paper qualitatively examines the use of two linguistic devices, tense (past and non-past) and voice (active and passive), and tries to show how narrators deploy organizational strategies in the use of these linguistic forms. The paper (1) examines varied topics in different narrative contexts (genre, topic, oral or written), (2) reveals how both coherence and cohesion serve as the twin engines of narrative, and (3) emphasizes the significance of paying attention not only to the narrative content/structure but also to the appropriate use of linguistic devices so that we can fully grasp language-specific ways of expressing affective elements in narrative.

Politeness Markers and Psychological Complements

1998 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 351-371 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masahiko Minami
Keyword(s):  
Effective Means ◽  
Personal Narratives ◽  
Narrative Structure ◽  
Discourse Markers ◽  
Narrative Discourse ◽  
Japanese Adult ◽  
General Belief ◽  
Multiple Functions ◽  
Linguistic Markers ◽  
Class Room

Frames are not only universal cognitive categories to explain the narrator's consciousness, they are also a socioculturally determined concept. Using verse/stanza analysis, which is widely accepted as an effective means of analyzing narrative structure, this study examines how narrative discourse markers and linguistic strategies contribute to the culturally specific framing of Japanese oral personal narratives. Japanese adult narrators were found to employ particular linguistic markers: (1) the formal verb-ending patterns that are often pointed out as politeness markers indicating the insider-outsider distinction, and (2) psychological complements that are generally assumed to express a greater degree of hesitation and softness. It was found, however, that in narrative contexts, these two markers are more likely to appear at the end of a stanza than in any other position. In other words, in contrast to the general belief that these markers serve as devices to show politeness, when investigated from the viewpoint of narrative discourse, they have turned out to possess multiple functions, such as a psychologically effective means for cultural and contextual framing. These findings also call for an awareness on the part of Japanese language instructors to emphasize such multiple functions in the class-room, so that they may help prevent learners from making subtle but potentially critical mistakes.

The narrative structure of stressful interpersonal events

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Ivy K. Ho ◽  
Tamara L. Newton ◽  
Allyssa McCabe
Keyword(s):  
Narrative Structure ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Middle Aged ◽  
High Point ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Point Analysis ◽  
Personal Experiences ◽  
Stressful Experiences ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Shed Light

Abstract Narrating personal experiences helps people make sense of them and contributes to improved well-being. However, little is known about how people recount stressful experiences that are interpersonal in nature. In this study, middle-aged North American women (N = 36), with lifetime histories of victimization, provided accounts of a recent stressful interpersonal event. High Point Analysis was applied to analyze the narratives. The majority (55%) of narratives were characterized by extensive evaluative content, categorized as End at High Point. The next most common (38%) category of responses were Emotional Narratives, characterized by a concentration of evaluative statements with little or no complicating action. Thus, participants’ memories of their stressful interpersonal events were caught in an unresolved, emotionally charged, limbo. Results reveal a novel approach to analyzing narratives of interpersonal stressors, and shed light on the relationship between victimization histories and narration of interpersonal experiences.

Effects of age and language on co-speech gesture production: an investigation of French, American, and Italian children's narratives

2014 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 122-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
JEAN-MARC COLLETTA ◽  
MICHÈLE GUIDETTI ◽  
OLGA CAPIRCI ◽  
CARLA CRISTILLI ◽  
OZLEM ECE DEMIR ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Narrative Structure ◽  
Developmental Trend ◽  
Narrative Development ◽  
Older Children ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
Children's Narratives ◽  
Tentative Model ◽  
Linguistic Groups

ABSTRACTThe aim of this paper is to compare speech and co-speech gestures observed during a narrative retelling task in five- and ten-year-old children from three different linguistic groups, French, American, and Italian, in order to better understand the role of age and language in the development of multimodal monologue discourse abilities. We asked 98 five- and ten-year-old children to narrate a short, wordless cartoon. Results showed a common developmental trend as well as linguistic and gesture differences between the three language groups. In all three languages, older children were found to give more detailed narratives, to insert more comments, and to gesture more and use different gestures – specifically gestures that contribute to the narrative structure – than their younger counterparts. Taken together, these findings allow a tentative model of multimodal narrative development in which major changes in later language acquisition occur despite language and culture differences.

Children's narratives of sexual abuse

2005 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 377-404 ◽  
Author(s):  
Svein Mossige ◽  
Tine K. Jensen ◽  
Wenke Gulbrandsen ◽  
Sissel Reichelt ◽  
Odd Arne Tjersland
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Sexually Abused ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Personal Narratives ◽  
Narrative Structure ◽  
Stressful Events ◽  
Stressful Event ◽  
Narrative Perspective ◽  
Children's Narratives ◽  
Causal Connections

Personal narratives from ten children who all claimed to have been sexually abused were analyzed and compared to narratives of stressful events the children produced in therapy sessions. The narratives were compared to each other along the following dimensions: level of elaboration, narrative structure, contextual embeddedness, and causal coherence. Each child's attempt to find purpose and resolution was also analyzed. The stressful event narratives were generally more elaborate, more structured, and more contextually embedded and coherent than the sexual abuse narratives. Very few of the sexual abuse narratives contained resolutions or causal connections that are considered important for contributing to meaning- making. It is suggested that in order to understand the difficulties children face, a narrative perspective needs to include the emotional significance of the events to be narrated, and a trauma perspective must include the cultural impact of the event. A theory that intends to understand children's narration difficulties should encompass both these perspectives. (Narratives, Child sexual abuse, Traumas)

High Point Analysis

1983 ◽  
pp. 29-47
Author(s):  
Carole Peterson ◽  
Allyssa McCabe
Keyword(s):  
High Point ◽  
Point Analysis

scholarly journals Fern von Aleppo: Narrative Themenentfaltung im interkulturellen Kontext

2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 108-129
Author(s):  
Eman Mohamed Abdelfattah Said
Keyword(s):  
Intercultural Communication ◽  
Present Article ◽  
Narrative Structure ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Narrative Text ◽  
Narrative Development ◽  
Analysis Model ◽  
Communicative Function ◽  
Communicative Functions ◽  
German Reader

Abstract In “Fern von Aleppo”, the Syrian author Faisal Hamdo, who left his home in 2014 and sought refuge in Germany, tells of his very personal integration experiences. The book represents a kind of intercultural communication. In his book, Faisal Hamdo, who sees himself as a “mediator between the worlds”, tries to give the German reader answers to many questions regarding Syrian culture. From a text linguistic point of view, this book identifies the narrative development that seems to be tailored to the intercultural context. Accordingly, the present article raises the following questions: Does the structure of classic narration differ from the structure of narration in an intercultural context? Which intercultural information units are presented in the text? How are they embedded in the narrative text? Which constituents of the narrative structure are suitable for realizing intercultural communication? Which communicative functions do the constituents of the narrative structure fulfill in an intercultural context? The contribution sets itself the goal of analyzing the narrative structure to investigate how intercultural communication comes about through narration, how the intercultural information units are integrated into the constituents of the classic narrative structure so that they fulfill their communicative function, and to developa suitable analysis model.

Contentious Storytelling Online: Articulating Activism through Negotiation of Metanarratives

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
pp. 589-607
Author(s):  
Victoria Gonzalez
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
American Dream ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Narrative Structure ◽  
Occupy Wall Street ◽  
Narrative Development ◽  
Wall Street ◽  
Dominant Strategies

Narratives are one of the primary ways that activists communicate online and as this study shows, they also prove to be a major source of contention. Analysis of two digital social justice campaigns—the #Wearethe99% narratives (associated with the Occupy Wall Street Movement) and the #BelieveinSwanQueen narratives (associated with the Swan Queen Movement)—suggests that strategies of contentious narrative development online largely involve the negotiation of metanarratives. The online narratives appear to rely upon metanarratives as a foundation for expressing broad societal grievances and personal opinions and struggles. The two dominant strategies for expressing grievances throughout the discourses are the (1) reclaiming and (2) rejecting of “The American Dream” (#Wearethe99%) and “Once Upon a Time” (#BelieveinSwanQueen) metanarratives. The negotiation of these metanarratives has led to the development of an alternative “anti-story,” which serves as narrative structure to navigate both personal and social issues.

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