TELLING STORY AS A NARRATIVE ANALYSIS APPROACH IN ASSESSING CHILDREN’S LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

Dr. Sonnur Isitan

Balıkesir University

Dr. Figen Turan

Hacettepe University

Abstract

Different approaches to assessment of language and speech are used in the literature. There are two basic approaches in the assessment of language development of children in early childhood and school-age years. These approaches include norm referenced and criterion referenced approaches. Also, narrative analysis, a dynamic assessment method, is used in evaluating language development. Other widely employed methods include defining skills or routine cases, narration from wordless picture book and telling personal experience. Story telling supports the development of children’s pragmatic language skills and skills such as remembering details, retelling, and summarizing. Therefore, storytelling skills are essential for pragmatic language. Formal and informal tolls are used for storytelling analysis. Storytelling supports children verbal language and listening skills. These two basic skills are fundamental in supporting the reading and writing skills. Limited research on narrative analysis exists in Turkish literature. It is imperative conducting research studies using narrative analysis method to determine developmental characteristics of children pertaining to language and cognition and to identify developmental needs of children, particularly in early childhood and elementary education stages. This paper discusses the narrative skill development and narrative analysis methods, and emphasizes the importance of narrative analysis from educational point of view.

Keywords

Language development, Narrative analysis, Narrative development, Story generation, Story retelling, Assessment, Dynamic assessment.

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