scholarly journals Narrative assessments with first grade Spanish-English emergent bilinguals

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 137-156
Author(s):  
Audrey Lucero ◽  
Yuuko Uchikoshi

Abstract This study used qualitative analyses to investigate similarities and differences in narrative production across two task conditions for four first grade Spanish-English emergent bilingual children. Task conditions were spontaneous story generation and retelling using the same story. Spanish stories from two children were compared on the basis of similarity in vocabulary, while English stories from two children were compared on the basis of similarity in overall discourse skills. Results show that when the total number of words used was similar across Spanish narratives, the retell included more different words and higher quality story structure than the spontaneous story. When overall discourse scores in the English examples were similar, the spontaneous story required more words than the retell, but also included more central events and greater detail. Yet, the retell included more advanced narrative components. This study contributes to our understanding of narrative skills in young Spanish-English bilinguals across task conditions.

2015 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
İLKNUR MAVIŞ ◽  
MÜGE TUNÇER ◽  
NATALIA GAGARINA

ABSTRACTTwo studies examined the effects of age, gender, and task on Turkish narrative skills of Turkish–German bilingual children. In Study 1, 36 children (2 years, 11 months [2;11]–7;11) told stories in two conditions (“tell-after model” and “tell-no model”) and answered comprehension questions. In Study 2, 13 children (5;5–7;11) participated in two conditions (“tell-no model” and “retell”) and were compared to Study 1 participants’ on tell tasks. The studies showed significant age effects on story complexity and comprehension, but not story structure and internal state terms. There were no significant effects for gender. Comprehension was significantly better in the “tell-after model” than in the “tell-no model” condition (Study 1). For production (storytelling), a trend favoring retell over tell was found (Study 2).


2018 ◽  
Vol 61 (6) ◽  
pp. 1381-1392 ◽  
Author(s):  
Todd A. Gibson ◽  
Elizabeth D. Peña ◽  
Lisa M. Bedore

Purpose First, we sought to extend our knowledge of second language (L2) receptive compared to expressive narrative skills in bilingual children with and without primary language impairment (PLI). Second, we sought to explore whether narrative receptive and expressive performance in bilingual children's L2 differed based on the type of contextual support. Method In a longitudinal group study, 20 Spanish–English bilingual children with PLI were matched by sex, age, nonverbal IQ score, and language exposure to 20 bilingual peers with typical development and administered the Test of Narrative Language (Gillam & Pearson, 2004) in English (their L2) at kindergarten and first grade. Results Standard scores were significantly lower for bilingual children with PLI than those without PLI. An L2 receptive–expressive gap existed for bilingual children with PLI at kindergarten but dissipated by first grade. Using single pictures during narrative generation compared to multiple pictures during narrative generation or no pictures during narrative retell appeared to minimize the presence of a receptive–expressive gap. Conclusions In early stages of L2 learning, bilingual children with PLI have an L2 receptive–expressive gap, but their typical development peers do not. Using a single picture during narrative generation might be advantageous for this population because it minimizes a receptive–expressive gap.


2015 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
NATALIA GAGARINA

ABSTRACTThe goal of this study was to trace the dual language development of the narrative macrostructure in three age groups of Russian–German bilingual children and to compare the performance of simultaneous and sequential bilinguals. Fine-grained analyses of macrostructure included three components: story structure, story complexity, and internal state terms. Oral narratives were elicited via the Multilingual Assessment Instrument for Narratives. Fifty-eight Russian–German speaking bilingual children from three age groups participated: preschoolers (mean age = 45 months) and elementary school pupils (mean age first grade = 84 months, mean age third grade = 111 months); and there were 34 simultaneous and 24 sequential bilinguals. The results showed significant improvement for all three components of macrostructure between the preschool and first-grade period. Additional significant development from first to third graders was found only for story complexity in Russian. This is explained by the Russian curriculum explicitly teaching narrative skills during early literacy training. In the two older groups, simultaneous bilinguals showed advantages over sequential bilinguals, for story complexity only. This finding suggests considering bilingual type when evaluating narrative skills of bilinguals. The results indicate cross-language association of only some components of narrative score across languages. The findings support the examination of various constituents of macrostructure when evaluating its development as well as the progression of narrative skills.


Author(s):  
Cynthia Villarreal Cantu

This autoethnography was conducted at an elementary school not far from the South Texas border. I documented how my journey as a kindergarten, first-grade, and second-grade student has impacted me to become a better educator. Through this qualitative study, I planned to determine if my childhood experiences as an emergent bilingual learner have made an impact in my teaching and the connections I have formed with my students. I analyzed observations of my current teaching practices and my elementary report cards and test scores. After observing my students’ interactions among their peers and my reaction towards their conversations, I found that emergent bilinguals can reach academic achievement, and their learning can be enhanced. Embracing more than one language can be a powerful resource that binds students to a variety of cultures.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 233-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carina Marie Wehmeier

Abstract. This article compares the development of macrostructural narrative skills of monolingual and simultaneously bilingual preschoolers in telling a picture story. It also addresses the connections between macrostructural narrative skills, receptive and productive language skills (LiSe DaZ), and auditory perception and processing skills (HASE). The narrative skills were collected using the Baby Birds picture story of the Multilingual Assessment Instrument for Narratives (LITMUS-MAIN) and analyzed regarding the macrostructural components of story structure, story complexity, and story comprehension. This contribution includes data from 229 monolingual and 76 simultaneously bilingual children. The comparison of the three age groups (4;6 – 4;11, 5;0 – 5;5, 5;6 – 5;11 years) indicates significant developmental increases in the performance of monolingual children regarding story structure, story complexity, and story comprehension, while no clear age trends are apparent for the simultaneously bilingual children. Correlations are found for the story structure and story comprehension of monolingual and simultaneously bilingual children with individual receptive language skills and language-processing skills.


2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 102-114
Author(s):  
Le Thi Bich Thuy

Sharing the sources of Southeast Asian folklore and folk literature, magical fairy tales of Vietnam and Laos have many similarities in a motif of building orphan characters. Applying structural theory in fairy tales with immutability and changes, the structure of the story is described by a series of events “signs help to make a schematic comparison of the structure of various tales,” (Propp, 1968, p.25) the article studies the magical fairy tale Tam and Cam of Vietnam and the Golden Turtle of Laos to see the similarities and differences in the motif of building orphan characters. The similarities in the motif of building orphan characters such as: story structure, character system, incarnation motif, unique object motif, magical force motif show the common cultural space of the region. However, the difference in the situation of the story and the use of magical forces and elements in the story show the customs, belief characteristics, artistic tastes and cultural identity of each nation.


Author(s):  
Elena Tribushinina ◽  
Mila Irmawati ◽  
Pim Mak

Abstract There is no agreement regarding the relationship between narrative abilities in the two languages of a bilingual child. In this paper, we test the hypothesis that such cross-language relationships depend on age and language exposure by studying the narrative skills of 32 Indonesian-Dutch bilinguals (mean age: 8;5, range: 5;0–11;9). The narratives were elicited by means of the Multilingual Assessment Instrument for Narratives (MAIN) and analysed for story structure, episodic complexity and use of internal state terms (ISTs) in the home language (Indonesian) and majority language (Dutch). The results demonstrate that story structure scores in the home language (but not in the majority language) were positively related to age. Exposure measures (current Dutch/Indonesian input, current richness of Dutch/Indonesian input, and length of exposure to Dutch) did not predict the macrostructure scores. There was a significant positive cross-language relationship in story structure and episodic complexity, and this relationship became stronger as a function of length of exposure to Dutch. There was also a positive cross-lingual relation in IST use, but it became weaker with age. The results support the idea that narrative skills are transferable between languages and suggest that cross-language relationships may interact with age and exposure factors in differential ways.


Author(s):  
David B. Yaden ◽  
Mileidis Gort ◽  
Camille C. Martínez ◽  
Robert Rueda

2010 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 570-578 ◽  
Author(s):  
LIANG CHEN ◽  
RUIXIA YAN

This study compares the development and use of evaluative expressions in the English narratives elicited from 80 Chinese–English bilinguals and 80 American monolingual peers at four ages – five, eight, ten, and young adults – using the wordless picture book Frog, where are you? (Mayer, 1969). Results revealed both similarities and differences between monolingual and bilingual groups. On the one hand, regardless of bilingual status, there is a clear age-related growth in the development and use of evaluative expressions. On the other hand, bilingual children in our study differed from monolingual children in the quantity and quality of evaluative clauses used. The results are discussed with respect to linguistic and cultural differences between English and Chinese.


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