Storytelling and retelling in students with hearing loss-A comparison between tasks with special consideration of...

Narratives are a fundamental aspect of human communication and they play a critical role in academic success for school-aged children. This study aims to examine the oral narrative skills of German-speaking students with hearing loss who attend inclusive schools, with a particular focus on comparing their abilities in a storytelling and retelling task. Additionally, the study investigates the use of referential elements and functions, and explores the relationship between spoken narrative skills, receptive vocabulary, and phonological working memory to identify factors associated with oral narrative performance.

The sample consisted of 25 students with hearing loss (M = 11;0 years), who completed a standardized storytelling and retelling task, alongside assessments of receptive vocabulary and phonological working memory. Data were analyzed for both macro- and microstructure, as well as referential elements and functions. Correlational analyses were conducted to examine the relationships between narrative skills, receptive vocabulary, and phonological working memory.

Students performed better on the retelling task compared the storytelling task in both macro- and microstructural elements. In their narratives, students predominantly used indefinite and definite noun phrases for character introductions, pronouns for maintaining references, and definite noun phrases for reintroductions. Receptive vocabulary correlated with comprehension questions in storytelling, but not with other narrative parameters.

Different narrative tasks place distinct linguistic demands on students with hearing loss. Retelling tasks provide a more structured method for assessing narrative skills, while storytelling tasks offer a deeper insight into more complex narrative construction. In addition, receptive vocabulary appears to be relevant for macrostructural skills in the storytelling task.