Emergent Bilingual Preschooler’s Narrative Discourse and Transmodal Practices in Spanish and English Story Retells

• In Event: Strengths-Based Approaches for Examining and Supporting Narrative Development in Young Children

Abstract

Investigations into young emergent bilingual (EB) children’s narrative development reveal relations between narrative macro- and microstructural features across their two languages and ways these skills develop over time and age (e.g., Bitetti et al., 2019; Bohnacker, 2015; Roch et al, 2016; Washington et al., 2021). Fewer studies consider how EBs draw on multimodal resources beyond language to support the construction and development of their story narratives over time (Laurent et al., 2013). This study aims to extend current understandings by investigating how three preschool-aged EBs engage their transmodal repertoires to retell narratives from English and Spanish read aloud stories over the course of an academic year, looking specifically at children’s narrative discourse patterns and transmodal practices.
The study is framed by a transmodality lens (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2001; Bengochea et al., 2018), acknowledging the verbal, visual, and/or actional modalities that children integrate to support and express their developing literacy learning in preschool settings. We also employed Halliday’s (1985) systemic functional linguistics (SFL) theory as guide to understanding how students expressed their ideas, negotiated their relationship as storyteller, and meaningfully organized their retells according to the narrative genre (Halliday, 1978).
Over a nine-month period, authors collected weekly video recordings of emergent bilingual preschool children performing scaffolded retells of stories recently read aloud by their teacher in one multi-age, Spanish/English dual language classroom. Employing an SFL approach, we analyzed macro- and microstructures of children’s retells for evidence of how children expressed information, negotiated their relationship as storytellers, and meaningfully organized their message according to the narrative genre (Halliday, 1985). Conducting a transmodal analysis, we coded for how children constructed their narratives using visual, verbal, and actional modes to retell the stories.
Our analyses revealed shifts in EBs’ (a) narrative discourse patterns and (b) resourceful retelling practices over the course of the academic year. Whereas children’s early narratives showed similarities in macrostructures (e.g., sequence of story elements) and microstructures (e.g., verb choice, connecting words, and referents), over time, children integrated a diverse array of strategies to communicate their messages (e.g., role playing, repeating for emphasis, incorporating speech from characters) and showcased more linguistic elaboration of their narratives (e.g., lengthier prepositional phrases, larger range of verbs, increased use of relational processes, conjunctions, mood structures [questions, statements], modals, and sequencing adverbs). EBs engaged transmodal practices to expand on their retells such as to dramatize their story, appropriate book and researcher retell prompts, employ read-aloud books as props, and reference book pictures. These practices shifted throughout the academic year and across English- and Spanish-language retells. For example, children showing English preference relied less on picture referencing and books as props when conducting English vs. Spanish retells. However, these practices diminished for all children over time. With dramatization, the manner and frequency of its use varied across children, occurred more often during retells in EBs’ preferred language, and continued throughout the year for dramatization-inclined children. Findings inform our understanding of narrative development for emergent bilingual children with varying language experiences.

Authors

• Sabrina Sembiante, Florida Atlantic University
  Presenting Author

• Alain Bengochea, University of Nevada Las Vegas