ERIC Number: EJ1209531
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2019-Apr
Pages: 24
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0090-6905
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
A Developmental Study of the Narrative Components and Patterns of Chinese Children Aged 3-6 Years
Zhang, Fangfang; McCabe, Allyssa; Ye, Jiaqi; Wang, Yan; Li, Xiaoyan
Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, v48 n2 p477-500 Apr 2019
To investigate the narrative development of Chinese-speaking children aged 3--6 years, 80 children were prompted to tell personal stories. High point analysis was used and both narrative components and overall narrative patterns were analyzed. In terms of narrative components, Chinese children were more skillful in using complicating action, orientation and evaluation than they were in resolution, direct and reported speech. With age, their narratives were longer and richer in content. No gender differences were found in any of the seven narrative components. For narrative patterns, the most frequent was the two-event pattern at age 3 and the chronological pattern from age 4 to age 6. However, the chronological pattern at age 5 and 6 differed from the chronological pattern at age 4. The proportion of leap-frog, two-event and one-event patterns decreased with age, but most Chinese children at age 6 have yet to develop the ability to tell a classic narrative that includes resolution. These findings provided evidence for a developmental pattern of the narrative development in preschool Chinese children and suggested more attention should be paid to improve children's ability to resolve a story, telling listeners how everything worked out in the end.
Descriptors: Chinese, Personal Narratives, Language Patterns, Discourse Analysis, Preschool Children, Gender Differences, Age Differences, Child Development, Psycholinguistics, Skill Development, Language Acquisition, Foreign Countries
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: China
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A