Child Narrative Development

Narratives have been utilized for centuries to express and communicate events from the past, present, and future. Whether it is from reading books, watching movies, or listening to their parents, children are constantly exposed to narratives. By having this exposure, children are not only learning new events, but are also discovering how to develop and advance their own language skills. This process of narrative development is a vital skill children must acquire in order for them to develop successful language abilities themselves. But how then do children transition from listening to other people’s stories to creating narratives of their very own?

It is important to first address the different types of narratives children use. Around the

age of two, most children are able to refer to real past events, yet they are still too young to be considered stories (Pence & Justice, 2012). However, once a child reaches preschool age, between the ages of three to five, children begin to develop more complex personal narratives. Children between the ages of three and four typically use temporal chains in their narratives that are not thematically motivated (Munoz, Gillam, Pena, & Gulley-Faehule, 2003). For example, a typical story told by a preschooler may look something like this:
“We drove to the park.

And I sat on the swing. Then mom pushed me. And mom gave me juice. We played. We drove home.” While these narratives do contain a beginning and an end, they are only made up of lists of events instead of being a cohesive storyline. This example shows that children during these ages have not yet mastered the ability to disclose important details within their narratives and they lack clear introductions, middles, and endings (Pence & Justice, 2012). By the time they are four, children are able to develop what is referred to as a true narrative, meaning it contains a problem and a solution (Pence & Justice, 2012). As children progress to school age years they start to develop more language skills and their narrative telling abilities mature. Between the ages of five to six, children begin to shift from temporal sequences to more thematically motivated stories that focus on character motives and a detailed plot line (Munoz, Gillam, Pena, & Gulley-Faehule, 2003). Typically there are four different types of narratives children use during these years; recounts, accounts, event casts, and fictionalized stories (Pence & Justice, 2012). Recounts, also known as personal narratives, are narratives that are about real personal experiences or retellings of a story that has been told in the past (Pence & Justice, 2012). For example, a mother might prompt her child to tell a recount when she asks, “Can you remind me what happened in the book we read last night?”

to which the child would respond by restating what the mother read. Another type of personal narrative is accounts. These are spontaneous narratives that the child tells (Pence & Justice, 2012). An example of this would be if a child said, “At soccer I kicked the ball real hard and I ran back to the other side of the field again and again!” These accounts differ from recounts in that the child is not simply restating what they heard, but instead are coming up with the story themselves. Event casts are a third type of narrative that children produce that involves describing a situation that is happening currently (Pence & Justice, 2012). For example, a child would say, “Whoa, do you see the cat climbing that tree? Look he is up there now! He is far up that tree! Do you see him?” The last type of narrative school age children produce is called fictionalized stories and these stories involve a character that is facing a challenge (Pence & Justice, 2012). An example of this would be a child saying, “There was a lion that was chasing me and I ran real fast and he tried to bite me but I hit him in the nose and then he left me alone”. The child presents a problem and tells a story showing how they overcame it.
As children get older they are able to use more difficult concepts in their narratives such as appendages, cues that signal to a listener that a story is about to start.

Other components include using more detail or orientations like specific names and evaluations that convey different character perspectives (Pence & Justice, 2012). Between the ages of five to twelve children use these skills more and as they age their ability to utilize them gets stronger. Five to six year olds tend to only include one episode on their storytelling, where as seven to twelve year olds can have multiple episodes going on in their narratives. It can be seen that compared to seven, eight, and nine year olds, and ten through twelve year olds use much more detail in their stories (Pence & Justice,

2012).
The relationship between language milestones and narrative development in early childhood is one of direct variation. There is a positive correlation between language skills and the development of stories. As language skills increase, so do narrative abilities. Language milestones in phonology, syntax, morphology, semantics, and pragmatics all affect the development and maturation of a child’s narrative abilities. For example, around five and six children master the rules for plural morphemes (/s/) and can blend them together into words (Pence & Justice, 2012). This milestone helps children’s narrative development by allowing them to use more detail in their stories and explain further about a topic. As they progress to ages eleven and twelve, children begin to emphasize words in order to stress their importance and their articulation matures (Pence & Justice, 2012). These phonological advancements help aid in narrative development because children are able to highlight important aspects of their stories.
In terms of syntax and morphology, children begin to use elaborated noun phrases, pronouns to refer to things that are outside of the current sentence, and make use of temporal elements (after, before, when, etc.). For example, instead of overusing “and” to tie sentences together a child may say something like, “After we went to the beach, we took a shower.” As children age, their semantic and pragmatic language abilities advance as well. Children around seven and eight begin to use multiword definitions and once they reach eleven to twelve they are able to expand their vocabulary through reading and comprehension (Pence & Justice, 2012). Children between the ages seven to ten are able to produce narrative plots with a beginning and an end as well as be able to produce all elements of story grammar (mental states, referencing, cohesion, resolution, etc.) (Pence & Justice, 2012). An increase in functional flexibility also helps bolster a child’s ability to tell more compelling and interesting stories that keep the audience’s attention. Each of these language milestones in childhood allows children to progress from short simple word lists to more complex, detailed, and elaborate stories.
When teaching children how to develop narratives it is important to focus on pre-, during, and post- story activities so that children can gain a full understanding of the different components within a story at each phase (Hoggan & Strong, 1994). In a study conducted by Green and Klecan-Aker (2012), twenty-four children attended a twelve-week intervention program that targeted oral narrative skills. The first three weeks focused on teaching children concepts of story grammar (initiating event, action, consequence) that was then followed by fill in the blank and sentence completion story activities. Another aspect of the study involved the children listening to a story and then using a photo to make a story up themselves. This type of intervention utilizes story mapping, which involves teaching children the components of the story and then allowing them to recognize those elements later in a direct application (Hoggan & Strong, 1994). The results of the study showed an overall increase in developmental story levels as well as an increase in children’s ability to recognize story grammar components compared to their pre-test evaluations (Green & Klecan-Aker, 2012).
The use of models can be very helpful while teaching children how to use narratives. Nielson and Friesen (2012) conducted a study looking at the impact of language-focused instruction on narrative development in children. Narrative production and comprehension was displayed in many ways across the study such as the use of story retelling, using charts and puppets, and asking questions based on what was read (Nielson & Friesen, 2012). On the first day the instructor focused on pre-story activities such as reading the title of the book, introducing the setting and characters, and explaining the purpose for listening (Nielson & Friesen, 2012). These pre-story activities are very beneficial for children because they allow the children to begin to connect with the story and make predictions about what they expect to happen which keeps them engaged throughout the entire book. The second stage of the intervention involved the children retelling the story through reenactment that was then followed by the instructor posing specific questions as to what happened in the story (Nielson & Friesen, 2012). Allowing the children to retell the events of the story on their own gives them the opportunity to practice their narrative development as well as begin to express the components of the story that they were able to understand. The results of the study indicated that children were able to produce more complete retellings of stories and increased their vocabulary use as well (Neilson &Friesen, 2012).
In the video provided, I noticed many different features of narrative development. Claire began her story using an appendage, “Once upon a time” which is an advanced skill because most children do not acquire until the age of five (Pence & Justice, 2012). She had a small introduction by describing herself as the character in the story as well as the setting in which the story took place “I was walking in the jungle” although she did not have a clear distinction between the introduction and the initial event which is usually an aspect seen in more advanced children. Claire was able to discriminate between herself “I was walking”, the animals “hungry bears and coyotes”, and her parents “mommy and daddy”, however, she did not mention them in great detail which shows that she has some character development skills but is still lacking in the ability to describe others. In terms of mental states Claire was able to describe the feelings of the animals as “startled” but she failed to discuss her own personal feelings although she implied she was scared by using the phrase, “I ran as fast as I could”. Claire was able to reference in her story by using the pronoun “them” to refer to the bears and coyotes. Her story cohesion was not very advanced in that her transitions were not very smooth, however, she was able to describe the events in logical and temporal order “I was walking in the jungle and then I stopped… and then I double eye poked, and then I ran as fast as I could to my truck.” Claire’s narrative only moved forward in time she never went backward which shows that she is still in a preschool age phase because older kids are able to move forward and backward in time when telling stories (cite book). She also emphasized important events such as “grabbed me” and placed less emphasis on minor events such as “drove home” which showed she was able to be cohesive.
Claire used resolution in her story when she said “I ran to my truck and then I drove home to my mommy and daddy” and she signaled the conclusion of her story by saying, “And the bear and coyote never found me again.” One aspect I noticed during the video was fantasy telling and fictionalized story. Claire stated in her narrative, “I was surrounded with hungry bears and coyotes” and “then got to my truck and drove home”. These statements are obviously not real true events that occurred so she is making up the story and that is a common thing found amongst children her age. However, I would say Claire is highly advanced in other aspects of narrative development features such as her vocabulary by using words like “startled” and “snapping”.
Narrative development is a very important aspect of a child’s language development that allows them to grow, mature, and create. Through explicit instruction, active engagement, and repeated exposure to narratives, children are able to understand and connect with the components that make up advanced and complete narratives, eventually leading them to create their very own. By telling stories children are bridging the gap between literacy and oral communication and are able to engage in multiple aspects of their own cognition.