This study examined differences in performance between 20 shy and 20 matched nonshy children on a narrative task and in the way parents scaffolded their narrative performance when reading the wordless book "Frog, Where Are You", by Mercer Mayer. Consistent with previous research, results demonstrated that shy children spoke less than their nonshy…

Compared the oral narrative skills of 31 school-aged children diagnosed at 24 to 31 months with expressive language delay with those of 23 typically-developing peers. Suggests that the use of narrative structure may be a specific area of underachievement for late talkers, in addition to their continuing weakness in syntactic and lexical abilities,…

Compares the narrative abilities of mildly mentally retarded and nonretarded children (20 each). Results show no differences between the groups in narrative length, use of tense and conjunctions, and use of narrative devices. Differences were found in use of reference. Control of reference in narrative is discussed. (45 references) (GLR)

Personal event and fictional narratives are compared across 36 normal children in 2 language-ability (one high, one low) groups using episodic analysis. Findings suggest that narrative structures for personal event narratives and fictional stories may follow different developmental paths, and that differences in productive language abilities…

Analysis of the development of realization of story structure in the written productions of fifth-, eighth-, and twelfth-graders revealed development by age in the degree of realization of an "ideal form" of story schema, with the development rate depending on whether stories are true or invented. (Author/CB)