Examining the Impact of Peer Groups on Children’s Narrative Development: Indexing the Creation of a Story-Sharing Community

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

Abstract

Much of the prior literature investigating predictors of language and narrative acquisition has focused on child-level factors, such as initial vocabulary skills, working memory and inhibitory control (de Abreu et al., 2011; Gathercole, 2006; Khan, 2013; Khan et al., 2021; Lepola et al., 2020; Newbury et al., 2016). While sociocultural and interactionist accounts of narrative development acknowledge the importance of social scaffolding, and there is extensive literature on the quality of language interactions in the mother-child dyad (e.g., Bird & Reese, 2006; Fivush et al., 2003; Nelson, 2010), less is known about how group dynamics and processes operate to create powerful learning environments in classrooms. Some theoretical and empirical work by Barbara Rogoff has focused on collaborative group engagement as an important cultural tool supporting learning practices, particularly in Indigenous-Heritage communities of Central and North America (Rogoff, 2003, 2007). Similarly, theoretical and empirical work by Ageliki Nicolopoulou has described the impact of engaging with peer groups in dramatic play contexts on children’s narrative and language skills (Nicolopoulou 2014, 2017). However, no prior study to our knowledge has investigated how peer group-level factors help explain which children make progress in language and narrative. The present study examined how peer group-level factors, specifically group laughter and peer-peer interactions, differed in story-sharing circles consisting of a higher versus lower proportion of children making significant gains in their narrative abilities. Over the course of a four-week summer kindergarten readiness program, 20 children (M = 62.35 months, SD = 4.57; 7 boys, 13 girls) from predominantly low-income families participated in 12 story-sharing circles. Each circle was comprised of approximately five children and was led by two undergraduate research assistants who served as facilitators. Children were prompted to take turns sharing stories about negative emotional experiences (such as a time they felt sad/ frustrated/ someone was mean to them). Sophistication of character representation in children’s narratives was coded on an 8-point scale (see Table 1) with high inter-rater agreement (.8 to 1.0). Children showing gains in character representation clustered together in two of the four story-sharing circles; with 80% of the children showing gains across the sessions in these circles, compared to only 20% showing gains in the other two circles. No significant differences were observed on average age, gender composition, teacher assessments of child extroversion, behavior regulation, or pre-test measures of narrative comprehension across the circles containing a higher versus lower proportion of children making gains in narrative skills. Video data (N=43) was coded for the number of instances of group laughter (more than two children laughing in unison) and peer-peer interactions (verbal exchanges between peers) by two independent coders. Preliminary results indicate that the story-sharing circles with a higher proportion of children making narrative gains had higher frequencies of group laughter (nearly twice as many instances) and group engagement (approximately 2.5 times more instances of peer-peer talk). Findings suggest that children’s narrative skills were especially scaffolded in story circles with higher peer engagement, indicating a potential group-level effect of peer contexts on narrative development.

Authors

• Kiren S Khan, Rhodes College
  Presenting Author

• Abby Hultquist, Rhodes College

• Ava Dempsey, Rhodes College