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Article
The Effect of Narrative Intervention on Story Retelling and Personal Story Generation Skills of Preschoolers with Risk Factors and Narrative Language Delays
Journal of Early Intervention (2010)
  • T. D. Spencer
  • Tim A. Slocum, Utah State University
Abstract

Narration, or storytelling, is an important aspect of language. Narrative skills have academic and social importance. This study evaluated the effects of a narrative intervention on story retelling and personal story generation skills of preschoolers with risk factors and narrative language delays. Narrative intervention was delivered in a small group arrangement, and materials, activities, and assistance were systematically adjusted within sessions to facilitate increasingly independent practice of oral narration. Participants were 5 preschoolers enrolled in a Head Start classroom who performed below average on two narrative language tasks. Participants made substantial gains in narrative retelling, demonstrated improved preintervention to postintervention scores for personal story generations, and maintained improvements when assessed following a 2-week break. These results have several implications for practice, including narrative intervention’s versatility with a range of children from diverse backgrounds and its use of economic and efficient classroom-based small group formats for intervention.

Keywords
  • Narrative Intervention,
  • Story Retelling,
  • Generation Skills,
  • Preschoolers,
  • Risk Factors,
  • Language Delays
Disciplines
Publication Date
June 1, 2010
Citation Information
Spencer, T. D., & Slocum, T. A. (2010). The effect of a narrative intervention on story retelling and personal story generation skills of preschoolers with risk factors and narrative language delays. Journal of Early Intervention. 32(3), 178-199.