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

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?”

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,