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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 11, 2026

Comparing the Frequency Effect Between the Lexical Decision and Naming Tasks in Chinese

Comparing the Frequency Effect Between the Lexical Decision and Naming Tasks in Chinese

Published on: April 1, 2016

Narrative discourse in bilingual children: language and task effects.

Christine E Fiestas¹, Elizabeth D Peña

¹Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Texas at Austin, 78712-1089, USA. christine_fiestas@juno.com

Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools

|June 12, 2004

Summary

Language and narrative task type significantly impact story production in bilingual children. Eliciting narratives requires careful consideration of both factors for accurate assessment.

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Last Updated: Jul 11, 2026

Comparing the Frequency Effect Between the Lexical Decision and Naming Tasks in Chinese

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Published on: April 1, 2016

Examining Bilingual Language Control Using the Stroop Task

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Published on: February 26, 2020

Measuring Statistical Learning Across Modalities and Domains in School-Aged Children Via an Online Platform and Neuroimaging Techniques

Measuring Statistical Learning Across Modalities and Domains in School-Aged Children Via an Online Platform and Neuroimaging Techniques

Published on: June 30, 2020

Area of Science:

Linguistics
Developmental Psychology
Bilingualism

Background:

Bilingual children's language development is complex.
Assessing narrative skills in bilingual children requires understanding language-specific influences.

Purpose of the Study:

Investigate how language and elicitation method affect narrative production in Spanish-English bilingual children.
Compare narrative complexity and productivity across languages and tasks.

Main Methods:

Twelve Spanish-English bilingual children (4-7 years) produced narratives using a wordless picture book and a static picture, in both languages.
Analyzed story grammar, narrative elements, productivity, grammaticality, and cross-linguistic influence.

Main Results:

Narrative complexity was similar across languages for the book task.
Spanish narratives had more attempts/initiating events; English had more consequences.
Bilingual children showed language-influenced utterances, particularly in the book task.

Conclusions:

Language and narrative task type are crucial for eliciting complex and productive narratives from bilingual children.
Findings highlight the need to consider linguistic context in narrative assessment.