Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-v9fdk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T02:26:38.548Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Cognitive, linguistic, and contextual factors in Norwegian second language learner's narrative production

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 November 2015

JANNICKE KARLSEN ,
ESTHER GEVA  and
SOLVEIG-ALMA LYSTER
JANNICKE KARLSEN*
Affiliation:
Østfold University College
ESTHER GEVA
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
SOLVEIG-ALMA LYSTER
Affiliation:
University of Oslo
*
ADDRESS FOR CORRESPONDENCE Jannicke Karlsen, Faculty of Education, Østfold University College, Halden NO-1757, Norway.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The present study investigated the contribution of cognitive, linguistic, and contextual factors to the narrative production of Norwegian second language learners. We assessed cognitive ability and first and second language proficiency in 66 kindergarten children with Urdu/Punjabi as their first language. Number of children's books in the home and time spent in kindergarten were treated as contextual factors. Oral narration was assessed in Grade 1. A series of fixed-order hierarchical regression analyses displayed a complex relationship among cognitive, linguistic, and contextual factors and various facets of narrative production of young second language learners; nonverbal ability and books in the home predicted the mastering of story (macro)structure, while linguistic (vocabulary and grammar) and both contextual variables predicted microaspects of narrative proficiency. The results suggest that combining home book reading practices, kindergarten attendance, and second language interventions might improve language minority children's narrative production and chances of school success.

Type
Articles
Information
Applied Psycholinguistics , Volume 37 , Issue 5 , September 2016 , pp. 1117 - 1145
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Aarsæther, F. (2009). Flerspråklig praksis i det pakistansk–norske miljøet [Multilingualism in the Norwegian–Pakistani society]. In Bull, T. & Lindgren, A.-R. (Eds.), De mange språk i Norge. Flerspråklighet på norsk (pp. 65–84). Oslo: Novus.Google Scholar
August, D., Carlo, M., Dressler, C., & Snow, C. (2005). The critical role of vocabulary development for English language learners. Learning Disabilities Research and Practice, 20, 50–57. doi:10.1111/j.1540-5826.2005.00120.x CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bedore, L. M., Peña, E. D., Gilliam, R. B., & Trung-Han, H. (2010). Language sample measures and language ability in Spanish–English bilingual kindergarteners. Journal of Communication Disorders, 43, 498–510. doi:10.1016/j.jcomdis.2010.05.002 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Berman, R. A. (2009). Trends in research on narrative development. In Foster-Cohen, S. (Ed.), Advances in language acqusition (pp. 294–318). Bastingstoke: Palgrave–Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berman, R. A., & Slobin, D. I. (1994). Relating events in narrative: A crosslinguistic developmental study. Hove: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Bishop, D. (2003). Test for Reception of Grammar II. London: Harcourt Assessment.Google Scholar
Bus, A. G., van IJzendoorn, M. H., & Pellegrini, A. D. (1995). Joint book reading makes for success in learning to read: A meta-analyses on intergenerational transmission of literacy. Review of Educational Research, 65, 1–21. doi:10.3102/00346543065001001 Google Scholar
Cain, K. (2003). Text comprehension and its relation to coherence and cohesion in children's fictional narratives. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 21, 335–351. doi:10.1348/026151003322277739 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carrell, P. L. (1982). Cohesion is not coherence*. TESOL Quarterly, 16, 479–488. doi:10.2307/3586466 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohen, J., Cohen, P., West, S. G., & Aiken, L. S. (2003). Applied multiple regression/correlation analysis for the behavioral sciences. London: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Crosson, A. C., & Lesaux, N. K. (2010). Revisiting assumptions about the relationship of fluent reading to comprehension: Spanish-speakers’ text-reading fluency in English. Reading and Writing, 23, 475–494. doi:10.1007/s11145-009-9168-8 Google Scholar
Cummins, J. (1979). Linguistic interdependence and the educational development of bilingual children. Review of Educational Research, 49, 222–251. doi:10.3102/00346543049002222 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dunn, L., Dunn, L., Whetton, C., & Burley, J. (1997). British Picture Vocabulary Scale—II. Windsor: National Foundation for Educational Research–Nelson.Google Scholar
Evans, M. D. R., Kelley, J., Sikora, J., & Treiman, D. J. (2010) Family scholarly culture and educational success: Books and schooling in 27 nations. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, 28, 171–197. doi:10.1016/j.rssm.2010.01.002 Google Scholar
Farnia, F., & Geva, E. (2013). Growth and predictors of change in English language learners’ reading comprehension. Journal of Research in Reading, 36, 389–421. doi:10.1111/jrir.12003 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feagans, L., & Short, E. J. (1984). Developmental differences in the comprehension and production of narratives by reading-disabled and normally achieving children. Child Development, 55, 1727–1736.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Genesee, F., Geva, E., Dressler, C., & Kamil, M. (2006). Synthesis: Cross-linguistic relationships. In August, D. & Shanahan, T. (Eds.). Developing literacy in second-language learners (pp. 175–184). London: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Geva, E. (2007). Conjunction use in school children's oral language and reading. In Horowitz, R. (Ed.), The evolution of talk about text: Knowing the world through instructional discourse (pp. 271–294). London: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Geva, E. (2014). Introduction: The cross-language transfer journey guide to the perplexed. Written Language & Literacy, 17, 1–15, doi:10.1075/wll.17.1.01gev CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Geva, E., & Olson, D. (1983). Children's story-retelling. First Language, 4, 85–109. doi:10.1177/014272378300401102 Google Scholar
Geva, E., Wade-Woolley, L., & Shany, M. (1997). Development of reading efficiency in first and second language. Scientific Studies of Reading, 1, 119–144. doi:10.1207/s1532799xssr0102_2 Google Scholar
Gorman, B. K., Fiestas, C. E., Peña, E. D., & Reynolds Clark, M. (2011). Creative and stylistic devices employed by children during a storybook narrative task: A cross-cultural study. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 42, 167–181. doi:10.1044/0161-1461(2010/10-0052 Google Scholar
Gutiérrez-Clellen, V. F. (2002). Narratives in two languages: Assessing performance of bilingual children. Linguistics and Education, 13, 175–197. doi:10.1016/s0898-5898(01)00061-4 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Halliday, M. A. K., & Hasan, R. (1995). Cohesion in English: Vol. 14. Impression. London: Longman. (Original work published 1976)Google Scholar
Hickman, M. (2004). Coherence, cohesion and context: Some comparative perspectives in narrative development. In Strömqvist, S. & Verhoeven, L. (Eds.), Relating events in narrative: Typological and contextual perspective. London: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Hipfner-Boucher, K. (2011). A comparative study of ELL and EL1 narrative competence during the kindergarten years. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Toronto.Google Scholar
Hipfner-Boucher, K., Milburn, T., Weitzman, E., Greenberg, J., Pelletier, J., & Girolametto, L. (2015). Narrative abilities in subgroups of English language learners and monolingual peers. International Journal of Bilingualism. Advance online publication. doi:10.1177/1367006914534330 Google Scholar
Høydal, E., & Rustad, Ø. (2009), Befolkningsvekst—men ikke overalt [Population growth—But not everywhere]. Samfunnsspeilet, 5, 6. Retrieved from https://www.ssb.no/befolkning/artikler-og-publikasjoner/befolkningsvekst-men-ikke-overalt Google Scholar
Hunt, K. W. (1970). Syntactic maturity in schoolchildren and adults. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 35, 1–67.Google Scholar
Karlsen, J., Lyster, S. A. H., & Lervåg, A. (2015). Vocabulary development in Norwegian L1 and L2 learners in the kindergarten—School transition. Manuscript submitted for publication.Google Scholar
Landis, J. R., & Koch, G. G. (1977). The measurement of observer agreement for categorical data. Biometrics, 33, 159–174.Google Scholar
Leikin, M., Ibrahim, R., & Eghbaria, H. (2014). The influence of diglossia in Arabic on narrative ability: Evidence from analysis of the linguistic and narrative structure of discourse among pre-school children. Reading and Writing, 27, 733–747. doi:10.1007/s11145-013-9462-3 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lervåg, A., & Aukrust, V. G. (2010). Vocabulary knowledge is a critical determinant of the difference in reading comprehension growth between first and second learners. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 51, 612–620. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2009.02185.x Google Scholar
Leseman, P. P. M., & de Jong, P. F. (1998). Home literacy: Opportunity, instruction cooperation and social–emotional quality predicting early reading achievement. Reading Research Quarterly, 33, 294–318. doi:10.1598/RRQ.33.3.3 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lyster, S.-A. H., Horn, E., & Rygvold, A.-L. (2010). Ordforråd og ordforrådsutvikling hos norske barn og unge. Resultater fra en utprøving av British Picture Vocabulary Scale II [Vocabulary and vocabulary development in Norwegian children and youth: Results from the testing of British Picture Vocabulary Scale II]. Spesialpedagogikk, 9, 35–43.Google Scholar
Mayer, M. (1969). Frog, where are you? New York: Dial Books for Young Readers.Google Scholar
McCabe, A., & Rosenthal Rollins, P. (1994). Assessment of preschool narrative skills. Washington, DC: American Speech–Language–Hearing Association. Retrieved from http://www.slh.org.tw/upload/files/04%20McCabe_Assessment%20of%20preschool%20narrative%20skills.pdf CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Melby-Lervåg, M., & Lervåg, A. (2011). Cross-linguistic transfer of oral language, decoding, phonological awareness and reading comprehension: A meta-analysis of the correlation evidence. Journal of Research in Reading, 34, 114–135. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9817.2010.01477.x CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meyer, P. (1997). Hermetic word frequency counter. Retrieved from http://www.hermetic.ch/wfc/wfc.htm Google Scholar
Miller, J. F., Heilmann, J., Nockerts, A., Iglesias, A., Fabiano, L., & Francis, D. J. (2006). Oral language and reading in bilingual children. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 21, 30–43. doi:10.1111/j.1540-5826.2006.00205.x CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ministry of Education and Research. (2005). Laws for kindergartens. Oslo: Author. Retrieved from http://lovdata.no/dokument/NL/lov/2005-06-17-64 Google Scholar
Ministry of Education and Research. (2011). A framework plan for the content and tasks of kindergartens. Oslo: Author. Retrieved from http://www.regjeringen.no/upload/KD/Vedlegg/Barnehager/engelsk/Framework_Plan_for_the_Content_and_Tasks_of_Kindergartens_2011.pdf Google Scholar
Monsrud, M. B., Bjerkan, K. M, & Thurmann, A. C. (2010). Minoritetsspråklige barns ordforråd og ordforrådsutvikling [Vocabulary and vocabulary development in language minority children]. Spesialpedagogikk, 75, 44–51.Google Scholar
Monsrud, M.-B., Bjerkan, K. M., & Thurman-Moe, A. C. (2011). Minoritetsspråklige barn og unges grammatiske utvikling [Grammatical development in language minority children and youth]. Psykologi i kommunen, 4.Google Scholar
Monsrud, M.-B., Geva, E., & Lyster, S.-A. H. (2015). Conceptual scoring of bilingual students vocabulary skills. Manuscript in preparation.Google Scholar
Montanari, S. (2004). The development of narrative competence in the L1 and L2 of Spanish–English bilingual children. International Journal of Bilingualism, 8, 449–497. doi:10.1177/13670069040080040301 Google Scholar
Ndlovu, K., & Geva, E. (2008). Writing ability in children who speak English as a second language and have a reading disability. In Kormos, J. & Kontra, E. H. (Eds.), Language learners with special needs: An international perspective. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Norbury, C. F., & Bishop, D. V. M. (2003). Narrative skills of children with communication impairments. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, 38, 287–313. doi:10.1080/136820310000108133 Google Scholar
OECD. (2010). Review of migrant education. Closing the gap for immigrant students: Policies, practice and performance. Multilingual summaries. Paris: Author. Retrieved from http://www.oecd.org/education/country-studies/migranteducation-home.htm Google Scholar
OECD. (2012). Better life index. Paris.: Author. Retrieved from http://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/about/better-life-initiative/ Google Scholar
O’Neill, D. K., Pearce, M. J., & Pick, J. L. (2004). Preschool children's narratives and performance on the Peabody Individualized Achievement Test—Revised: Evidence of a realtion between early narrative and later mathematical ability. First Language, 24, 149–183. doi:10.1177/0142723704043529 Google Scholar
Peña, E. D. (2007) Lost in translation: Methodological considerations in cross-cultural research. Child Development, 78, 1255–1264.Google Scholar
Peugh, J. L., & Enders, C.K. (2004). Missing data in educational research: A review of reporting practices and suggestions for improvement. Review of Educational Research, 74, 525–556. doi:10.3102/00346543074004525 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reilly, J., Losh, M., Bellugi, U., & Wulfeck, B. (2004). “Frog, where are you?” Narratives in children with specific language impairment, early focal brain injury, and Williams syndrome. Brain and Language, 88, 229–247. doi:10.1016/s0093-934x(03)00101-9 Google Scholar
Rosselli, M., & Ardila, A. (2003). The impact of culture and education on non-verbal neuropsychological measurements: A critical review. Brain and Cognition, 52, 326–333. doi:10.1016/S0278-2626(03)00170-2 Google Scholar
Rydland, V., Grøver, V., & Lawrence, J. (2014). The second-language vocabulary trajectories of Turkish immigrant children in Norway from ages five to ten: The role of preschool talk exposure, maternal education and co-ethnic concentration in the neighborhood. Journal of Child Language., 41, 352–381. doi:10.1017/S0305000912000712 Google Scholar
Scafer, J. L., & Graham, J. W. (2002). Missing data: Our view of the state of the art. Psychological Methods, 7, 147–177. doi:10.1037//1082-989X.7.2.147 Google Scholar
Scheffner Hammer, C., Komaroff, E., Rodriguez, B. L., Lopez, L. M., Scarpino, S. E., & Goldstein, B. (2012) Predicting Spanish–English bilingual children's language abilities. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Disorders, 55, 1251–1264. doi:10.1044/1092-4388(2012/11-0016 Google Scholar
Schwartz, M., & Shaul, Y. (2013) Narrative development among language-minority children: The role of bilingual versus monolingual preschool education. Language, Culture, and Curriculum, 26, 36–51, doi:10.1080/07908318.2012.760568 Google Scholar
Sènèchal, M., Pagan, S., Lever, R., & Oulette, G. P. (2008). Relations among the frequency of shared reading and 4-year-old childen's vocabulary, morphological and syntactic comprehension and narrative skills. Early Education and Development, 19, 27–44. doi:10.1080/10409280701838710 Google Scholar
Severing, R., & Verhoeven, L. (2001). Narrative development in Papiamento and Dutch. In Verhoeven, L. & Strömqvist, S. (Eds.), Narrative development in a multilingual context (Vol. 23). Amsterdam: John Benjamin.Google Scholar
Shapiro, L. R., & Hudson, J. A. (1991). Tell me a make-believe story: Coherence and cohesion in young children's picture-elicited narratives. Developmental Psychology, 27, 960–974. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.27.6.960 Google Scholar
Simonsen, K., & Solheim, M. (2010) Makstid i barnehagen: Data from the Norwegian mother-child study by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. Retrieved from http://www.barnehageforum.no/ShowArticle.aspx?ArticleID=1786&CategoryID=2&SubCategoryID=4 Google Scholar
Snow, C. E., & Dickinson, D. K. (1990). Social sources of narrative skills at home and at school. First Language, 10, 87–103. doi:10.1177/014272379001002901 Google Scholar
Squires, K. E., Lugo-Neris, M. J., Peña, E. D., Bedore, L. M., Bohman, T. M., & Gillam, R. B. (2014). Story retelling by bilingual children with language impairments and typically developing controls. International Journal of Communication Disorders, 49, 60–74. doi:10.1111/1460-6984.12044 Google Scholar
Stadler, M. A., & Ward, G. C. (2005). Supporting narrative development in young children. Childhood Education Journal, 33. doi:10.1007/s10643-005-0024-4 Google Scholar
Stothard, S. E., Snowling, M. E., Bishop, D. V. M., Chipchase, B. B., & Kaplan, C. A. (1998). Language impaired preschoolers: A follow-up into adolescence. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 41, 407–418.Google Scholar
Strömquist, S., & Verhoeven, L. (2004). Relating events in narrative: Vol. 2. Typological and contextual perspectives. London: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (2007). Using multivariate statistics (5th ed.). London: Pearson Education.Google Scholar
Teale, W. H., & Sulzby, E. (1986). Emergent literacy: Writing and reading. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.Google Scholar
Thiesen, F. (2003). Om språkforholdene i Pakistan II—Pakistans regional- og lokalspråk [About the languages of Pakistan II—The regional and local languages]. Språknytt, 3.Google Scholar
Trabasso, T., Stein, N. L., & Johnson, L. R. (1981). Children's knowledge of events: A causal analysis of story structure. In Bower, G. H. (Ed.), The psychology of learning and motivation (Vol. 15, pp. 237–282). London: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Uccelli, P., & Paez, M. M. (2007). Narrative and vocabulary development in bilingual children from kindergarten to first grade: Developmental changes and associations among English and Spanish skills. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 38, 225–236. doi:0161-1461/07/3803-0225 Google Scholar
Vassenden, A., Thygesen, J., Brosvik Bayer, S., Alvestad, M., & Abrahamsen, G. (2011). Barnehagens organisering og strukturelle faktorers betydning for kvalitet. Rapport IRIS 2011/029. Oslo: Ministry of Education and Research. Retrieved from http://www.udir.no/Upload/barnehage/Forskning_og_statistikk/Rapporter/Strukturelle_faktorers_betydning_for_kvalitet.pdf Google Scholar
Verhoeven, L. (2004). Bilingualism and narrative construction. In Strömquist, S. & Verhoeven, L. (Eds.), Relating events in narrative: Vol. 2. Typological and contextual perspectives. London: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Viberg, Å. (2001). Age- and L2-related features in bilingual narratives in Sweden. In Verhoeven, L. & Strömqvist, S. (Eds.), Narrative development in a multilingual context (Vol. 23). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Wechsler, D. (2002). Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence: Vol. 3. Manual. Stockholm: Harcourt Assessment.Google Scholar