Comparison of personal narrative telling and fiction retelling in pre-school children using story grammar analysis

Abstract

Aim: This study compared the fiction retelling and personal narrative telling in assessing pre-school children’s narrative skills in term of macrostructure. Method: A total of 90 Cantonese-speaking pre-school children aged 3;0 to 6;0 were recruited. Fiction narratives were elicited through retelling with a wordless story book after listened to a model story. Personal narratives were prompted by conversational techniques. Samples were analyzed by story grammar analysis. Results: Fiction retelling scores showed better age differentiation in the number of story grammar elements, higher reliability and stronger correlation with age and another language measure. The development of story grammar elements was also described. Conclusions: Fiction retelling was the more sensitive and reliable way to assess Cantonese-speaking pre-school children’s narrative skills. With the standardized procedures developed in this study, it is feasible to norm the materials and procedures onto a large group of children for developing a standardized assessment for clinical use.