Retelling Stories in Two Languages: A Macrostructure Analysis

While there is a general consensus regarding poor performance of children with SLI on microstructure measures, results on macrostructure are not straightforward. The present research analyzes narrative abilities of Russian-Hebrew bilingual preschool children with and without language impairment, with a particular focus on macrostructure. Narratives were collected in both languages from 22 typically developing bilinguals (TLD) and 12 children with
Specific Language Impairment (SLI) using a story retelling procedure. Two stories, constructed to be similar in length, microstructure (e.g. verb-based clauses, mental state terms) and macrostructure properties, were retold by participants, one in each language on separate days. Each story contained three episodes, and each episode introduced a different protagonist with
explicitly stated goals, attempts and outcomes.
The present poster focuses on between-group and cross-linguistic differences for a range of macrostructure features. For story organization, the frequency of Goals, Attempts and Outcomes (GAO) was counted for each episode. For causal relations between core macrostructure elements, motivational, psychological, enabling and physical relations were investigated, following Kupersmitt, Yifat, & Blum Kulka (2014); Kupersmitt (2015) and Trabasso & Nickels (1992). Finally, narrative cohesion was assessed via analysis of verbs that encode intentional action via motion of the main protagonists (Kupersmitt et al., 2014). Based on
previous findings, we expect no group or cross language differences for the frequency of GAO.
However, causal relations and cohesion are predicted to differ for children with and without SLI as well as between L1 and L2, depending on the level of proficiency.