Investigating Cross-Linguistic Transfer of Narrative Macrostructure for Chinese-English and Spanish-English Dual Language Learners

• In Event: Friday Roundtable Session 4:55 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Putting English Language Learners First: Strategies to Bolster Literacy Acquisition (Table 26)

Abstract

Dual language learners (DLLs) learn to tell stories in English and heritage language (HL). Because much of narrative research has examined monolinguals, this study investigated the narratives of DLLs and the language interdependence of their narrative macrostructure in English and HL. Bilingual narratives were collected from 77 Chinese-English and 48 Spanish-English DLLs aged between 36 and 63 months. The descriptive data showed both groups had longer narratives, more words, and more complex macrostructure in English than in HL. Multiple linear regression showed that English macrostructure is associated with HL macrostructure; however, this association disappeared once within-language microstructure was considered for both groups. Strong within-language associations between macrostructure and microstructure suggest that DLLs need adequate vocabulary and grammar to construct narratives.

Author

• Mayu Lindblad, University of California - Davis