Development of Narrative Abilities in (Re)telling a Story in Typically Developing Dutch School-Aged Children

The primary goal of this study was to examine the normal development of narrative abilities in children aged 4-9 years and to provide normative data for two (re)telling tasks.

We included 420 typically developing Dutch-speaking children aged 4-9 years. They completed tasks for story generation (Frog Story Test) and story retelling (Bus Story Test). Narrative samples were analyzed to calculate outcome measures on micro- and macrostructure. Age-related development was examined by linear regression analyses. To examine the effect of elicitation method (i.e., story generation vs. story retelling) on outcome measures, we used repeated-measures linear mixed-model analyses. The relation between micro- and macrostructure measures was examined by multivariable regression analyses.

A significant relation between all outcome measures of story (re)telling and age was found. Normative data for children aged 4-9 years were provided. There was no main effect of elicitation method on children's performance in (re)telling. However, there was an interaction between age and elicitation method for complex sentences and plot elements. Analysis showed a correlation between microstructure measures and plot structure in story (re)telling, with a stronger correlation for story retelling and in the younger half of the group.

Between 4 and 9 years of age, there is a significant relation between all (re)telling measures and age. As children grow older, they benefit more from the provided model story in the retelling condition, leading to higher scores on complex sentences and plot structure. Scores on plot structure are correlated with microstructural outcome measures concerning syntactic complexity and grammatical accuracy, especially at younger ages.