Developing as Storytellers: How African American Children Grow in Oral Narrative Competence

• In Event: Examining the Language Skills of Racially and Linguistically Marginalized Children in Early Childhood

Abstract

Oral narrative, or storytelling, skills are critical for success in school, both academically and socially (e.g., Spencer & Peterson, 2020). For African American children, early storytelling skills manifest as linguistic strengths (e.g., Gardner-Neblett et al., 2012) and are a culturally fair way to assess oral language skills (Mills, 2015). Few studies, however, have examined the developmental trajectory of African American children’s oral narrative competency (e.g., Terry et al., 2013) or the role of gender (e.g., Gardner-Neblett & Sideris, 2018). To address this gap in the literature, the current study examines how African American children’s oral narrative skills develop over a school year.

Hypotheses: (1) children would experience growth in their macrostructural (i.e., structural organization of content) and microstructural (i.e., sentence-level linguistic features) skills over the course of the school year and (2) girls would experience greater growth in their narrative skills than boys.

The study uses secondary data from a longitudinal study of 130 typically-developing African American kindergartners, first and second graders (M = 73.2 months old; SD =8.7 months; 66 girls). Data collection occurred in 3 waves at children’s schools in one year (Fall, Winter, and Spring). Oral narratives were elicited at each wave using 1 of 3 randomly assigned wordless picture books by Mercer Mayer: Frog, where are you? (1969); Frog on his own (1973); and A boy, a dog and a frog (1967). Narratives were audio-recorded, transcribed, and coded for macrostructure using the story grammar approach (Stein & Glenn, 1979; setting, initiating events, internal response/plan; attempts/consequences; resolution; ending). Interrater reliability was .90. Microstructure features included: total number of words (NTW); number of different words (NDW); mean length of communication unit (MLCU); and rate of complex syntax. At time 1, vocabulary was measured using the PPVT-4 (Dunn & Dunn, 2007) and nonverbal cognitive skills were measured using the Nonverbal Index of the KABC-II (Kaufman & Kaufman, 2004).

Linear mixed-effects regression models were conducted to test the effects of time on macrostructural and microstructural skills, controlling for covariates (Table 1). Results showed growth in macrostructure, NTW and NDW over the school year, but not in MLCU or complex syntax. There were interactions between gender and time, with girls, but not boys, experiencing growth in NTW and NDW over time (Figure 1).

African American children experienced growth in their oral narrative skills in structuring their narratives, telling stories of greater length and increasing lexical diversity over the school year. There was no evidence of growth in morphosyntax. Gender differences were also evident in narrative productivity and lexical diversity. Understanding the development of this foundational skill is critical for informing parents, educators and practitioners who support the learning and development of African American children.

Author

• Nicole Gardner-Neblett, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
  Presenting Author