The relationship between narrative microstructure and macrostructure: Differences between six- and eight-year-olds

The current study aimed to investigate age-related differences in narrative abilities at the macrostructural and microstructural levels and to examine which microstructural aspects explain narrative macrostructure at ages six and eight. Oral narratives were elicited from 89 Croatian monolingual chil...

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Main Authors: Košutar Sara, Kramarić Matea, Hržica Gordana
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Sciendo 2022-01-01
Series:Psychology of Language and Communication
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.2478/plc-2022-0007
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author Košutar Sara
Kramarić Matea
Hržica Gordana
author_facet Košutar Sara
Kramarić Matea
Hržica Gordana
author_sort Košutar Sara
collection DOAJ
description The current study aimed to investigate age-related differences in narrative abilities at the macrostructural and microstructural levels and to examine which microstructural aspects explain narrative macrostructure at ages six and eight. Oral narratives were elicited from 89 Croatian monolingual children using the Multilingual Assessment Instrument for Narratives (MAIN). At the microstructural level, the measure of lexical diversity D, clausal density, and mean length of clause were assessed. Macrostructure was assessed using the standardized MAIN scoring procedure. We found differences between the two age groups in lexical diversity, clausal density, and macrostructure, with eight-year-olds scoring higher on all measures. Variance in the macrostructure was explained to a significant extent by lexical diversity in the case of six-year-olds, and by both lexical diversity and clausal density in the case of eight-year-olds. Our results suggest that six-year-olds rely mostly on lexical abilities when telling a story, while eight-year-olds also draw on syntactic abilities.
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spelling doaj.art-68a1f048f8cb4b4da5cbfd1c29f49ad82023-01-19T13:13:51ZengSciendoPsychology of Language and Communication2083-85062022-01-0126112615310.2478/plc-2022-0007The relationship between narrative microstructure and macrostructure: Differences between six- and eight-year-oldsKošutar Sara0Kramarić Matea1Hržica Gordana2Department of Speech and Language Pathology, Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation Sciences University of Zagreb, CroatiaDepartment of Speech and Language Pathology, Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation Sciences University of Zagreb, CroatiaDepartment of Speech and Language Pathology, Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation Sciences University of Zagreb, CroatiaThe current study aimed to investigate age-related differences in narrative abilities at the macrostructural and microstructural levels and to examine which microstructural aspects explain narrative macrostructure at ages six and eight. Oral narratives were elicited from 89 Croatian monolingual children using the Multilingual Assessment Instrument for Narratives (MAIN). At the microstructural level, the measure of lexical diversity D, clausal density, and mean length of clause were assessed. Macrostructure was assessed using the standardized MAIN scoring procedure. We found differences between the two age groups in lexical diversity, clausal density, and macrostructure, with eight-year-olds scoring higher on all measures. Variance in the macrostructure was explained to a significant extent by lexical diversity in the case of six-year-olds, and by both lexical diversity and clausal density in the case of eight-year-olds. Our results suggest that six-year-olds rely mostly on lexical abilities when telling a story, while eight-year-olds also draw on syntactic abilities.https://doi.org/10.2478/plc-2022-0007microstructuremacrostructurenarrative analysischildrenage-related differences
spellingShingle Košutar Sara
Kramarić Matea
Hržica Gordana
The relationship between narrative microstructure and macrostructure: Differences between six- and eight-year-olds
Psychology of Language and Communication
microstructure
macrostructure
narrative analysis
children
age-related differences
title The relationship between narrative microstructure and macrostructure: Differences between six- and eight-year-olds
title_full The relationship between narrative microstructure and macrostructure: Differences between six- and eight-year-olds
title_fullStr The relationship between narrative microstructure and macrostructure: Differences between six- and eight-year-olds
title_full_unstemmed The relationship between narrative microstructure and macrostructure: Differences between six- and eight-year-olds
title_short The relationship between narrative microstructure and macrostructure: Differences between six- and eight-year-olds
title_sort relationship between narrative microstructure and macrostructure differences between six and eight year olds
topic microstructure
macrostructure
narrative analysis
children
age-related differences
url https://doi.org/10.2478/plc-2022-0007
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