The review discusses the importance of narrative structure for cognitive development and psychological health. Narrative structure is regarded as representing and developing internal cognitive structures, known as narrative schemas. The components of narrative schemas and thus the structure of narratives are described as a set of components collectively known as ‘story grammar’. Models of the development of narrative structure are compared and contrasted and discussed in relation to additional cognitive and linguistic components required to produce a narrative. Individual differences in narrative structure are discussed in terms of their social and environmental origins; specifically due to the quality of parental co-constructed narrative conversations and socio-economic status. The relationship between narrative structure and developmental outcomes are then explored; notably reading comprehension and behavioural adjustment. A critical review of school group interventions based on the principles of narrative structure is then provided. Finally, the current literature is summarised, providing suggestions for future research. The empirical paper evaluated the effectiveness of a published oral narrative intervention by Shanks (2001) on measures of Oral Narration and Narrative Comprehension for children aged 6-7 years with poor oral narrative skills. The intervention group (N=12) showed a significant increase in Oral Narration score between pre-test and post-test compared to a wait-list control group (N=11). Between pre-test and follow-up measures that were taken 6 weeks after the end of the intervention, no significant increases in Oral Narration were found between groups. The intervention group also showed no significant increases on Narrative Comprehension between pre-test and post-test or between pre-test and follow-up. The correlation between Oral Narration and behaviour was explored. Significant negative correlations were found between Oral Narration and teacher measures of behaviour at pre-test and follow-up, specifically regarding hyperactivity and inattention. The results question the long-term benefits of the intervention and suggestions for future research are provided.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:588793 |
| Date | January 2012 |
| Creators | Lander, Rachel |
| Contributors | Kreppner, Jana |
| Publisher | University of Southampton |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/359662/ |
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