Abstract
We examined the concurrent relationship between narrative skills (the Renfrew Bus Story Test) and core language measures (vocabulary, grammar and verbal memory) at age 4 and the longitudinal relationship between core language and listening comprehension skills at age 7 in a sample of 215 children using latent variables and structural equation modelling. Our main purpose was to investigate to what extent narrative retell constitutes a unique influence on later language and listening comprehension skills. The results support a two-factor model of narrative retelling and core language representing different but related constructs at age 4. Narrative retell explained unique variance in later language skills but did not explain additional variance beyond the 58% explained by the age 4 language construct. Similarly, narrative retell predicted unique variance in later listening comprehension, but not beyond what was explained by core language skills at age 4. The strength of the relationship between narrative retelling at age 4 and the age 7 measures was not related to the level of narrative skills. The results indicate that age 4 traditional core language measures capture more of the skills that are important for later language and listening comprehension than narrative skills at the same age.
Highlights
Later language skills but did not explain additional variance beyond the 58% explained by the age 4 language construct
The results indicate that age 4 traditional core language measures capture more of the skills that are important for later language and listening comprehension than narrative skills at the same age
We examine to what extent narrative skills measured using a frequently used narrative retell task relate to and predict other language skills, both concurrently and longitudinally, and whether the ability to retell an orally presented story is a stronger predictor of later language skills in those with weaker language skills than in those with better language skills
Summary
Later language skills but did not explain additional variance beyond the 58% explained by the age 4 language construct. We examine to what extent narrative skills measured using a frequently used narrative retell task (the Bus Story Test) relate to and predict other language skills, both concurrently and longitudinally, and whether the ability to retell an orally presented story is a stronger predictor of later language skills in those with weaker language skills than in those with better language skills Clarifying these issues will offer valuable information about developmental relations between different language skills and shed light on assessment and the structure of language skills in young children, including whether narrative skills overlap with core language skills (i.e. grammar and vocabulary) so that they effectively comprise the same construct. Previous studies have found relationships between various aspects of narrative proficiency and children’s comprehension (Cain, 2003; Kim et al, 2005; Mäkinen et al, 2018), indicating that measures of narrative retell and comprehension capture common discourse-level skills (Kim et al, 2015)
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