Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T23:13:55.378Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Painting a portrayal of narrators with learning disabilities from two narrative perspectives

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 December 2012

DOROTA CELINSKA
DOROTA CELINSKA*
Affiliation:
Roosevelt University
*
ADDRESS FOR CORRESPONDENCE Dorota Celinska, Roosevelt University College of Education, Room 517, 1400 North Roosevelt Boulevard, Schaumburg, IL 60173. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Two narrative perspectives, high point analysis and episodic analysis, were used to compare the ability of narrators with and without learning disabilities to fulfill the referential and evaluative narrative functions. The participants were 82 students with learning disabilities and their typically achieving peers matched on age, grade, gender, and ethnicity. The participants (48 Caucasian, 34 African American) attended urban and suburban schools (Grades 4–7). Narratives were collected within the context of a naturalistic conversation. The findings across the two narrative perspectives showed areas of incongruence in specific narrative competencies. While these findings expand the portrayal of narrators with learning disabilities, they also imply the impact of using specific narrative analyses and genres for the narrative assessment and intervention outcomes.

Type
Articles
Information
Applied Psycholinguistics , Volume 35 , Issue 4 , July 2014 , pp. 649 - 675
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012 

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

Bamberg, M. (1997). A constructivist approach to narrative development. In Bamberg, M. (Ed.), Narrative development: Six approaches (pp. 89–132). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Banks, J. (2001). Cultural diversity and education: Foundations, curriculum, and teaching. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.Google Scholar
Black, J. B., & Wilensky, R. (1979). An evaluation of story grammars. Cognitive Science, 3, 213–230.Google Scholar
Blank, M. (2002). Classroom discourse: A key to literacy. In Butler, K. G. & Silliman, E. R. (Eds.), Speaking, reading, and writing in children with language learning disabilities: New paradigms in research and practice (pp. 151–173). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Bruner, J. (1986). Actual minds, possible worlds. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Bruner, J. (1990). Acts of meaning. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Bruner, J. (1991). The narrative construction of reality. Critical Inquiry, 18, 1–21.Google Scholar
Cazden, C. B. (1988). Classroom discourse. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.Google Scholar
Celinska, D. K. (2004). Personal narratives of students with and without learning disabilities. Learning Disabilities Research and Practice, 19, 83–98.Google Scholar
Celinska, D. K. (2010). Diverse students with learning disabilities: Building coherence in personal and fictional narratives. Learning Disabilities, 16, 15–21.Google Scholar
Champion, T. B. (2003). Understanding storytelling among African American children: A journey from Africa to America. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Copmann, K. S. P., & Griffith, P. L. (1994). Event and story structure recall by children with specific learning disabilities, language impairments, and normally achieving children. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 23, 231–248.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crais, E. R., & Chapman, R. S. (1987). Story recall and inferencing skills in language/learning disabled and nondisabled children. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, 52, 50–55.Google Scholar
Dolyniuk, C. A. (1999). Using narrative to promote the conceptual development of adolescents with learning disability and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Dissertation Abstracts International: Section A, 59, 3346.Google Scholar
Donahue, M. L. (1994). Differences in classroom discourse styles of students with learning disabilities. In Ripich, D. N. & Creaghead, N. A. (Eds.), School discourse problems (2nd ed., pp. 229–261). San Diego, CA: Singular.Google Scholar
Donahue, M. L. (2002). “Hanging with fiends”: Making sense of research on peer discourse in children with language and learning disabilities. In Butler, K. G. & Silliman, E. R. (Eds.), Speaking, reading, and writing in children with language learning disabilities: New paradigms in research and practice (pp. 239–258). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Dyson, A. H. (1994). “I'm gonna express myself”: The politics of story in the children's worlds. In Dyson, A. H. & Genishi, C. (Eds.), The need for story: Cultural diversity in classroom and community (ERIC Document ED36599, pp. 155–171). Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English.Google Scholar
Dyson, A. H., & Genishi, C. (1994). Introduction: The need for story. In Dyson, A. H. & Genishi, C. (Eds.), The need for story: Cultural diversity in classroom and community (ERIC Document ED36599, pp. 1–7). Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English.Google Scholar
Egan, K. (1999). Children's minds, talking rabbits, and clockwork oranges: Essays on education. New York: Teachers College Press.Google Scholar
Feagans, L., & Appelbaum, M. I. (1986). Validation of language subtypes in learning-disabled children. Journal of Educational Psychology, 78, 358–364.Google 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
Fillmore, C. (1968). The case for case. In Bach, F. & Harms, R. (Eds.), Universals in linguistic theory (pp. 1–90). New York: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston.Google Scholar
Fivush, R., & Haden, C. A. (1997). Narrating and representing experience: Preschoolers’ developing autobiographical accounts. In van, P. W. den Broek, Bauer, P. J., & Bourg, T. (Eds.), Developmental spans in event comprehension and representation: Bridging fictional and actual events (pp. 169–198). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Fivush, R., & Hamond, N. R. (1990). Autobiographic memory across the preschool years: Towards reconceptualizing childhood amnesia. In Fivush, R. & Hudson, J. A. (Eds.), Knowing and remembering in young children (pp. 223–248). New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Friend, J. A. (1976). Traditional grammar: A short summary. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press.Google Scholar
Gardill, M. C., & Jitendra, A. K. (1999). Advanced story map instructions: Effects on the reading comprehension of students with learning disabilities. Journal of Special Education, 33, 2–17.Google Scholar
Garnett, K. (1986). Telling tales: Narratives and learning-disabled children. Topics in Language Disorders, 6, 44–56.Google Scholar
Gay, G. (2000). Culturally responsive teaching. New York: Teachers College Press.Google Scholar
Gee, J. P. (1991). Memory and myth: A perspective on narrative. In McCabe, A. & Peterson, C. (Eds.), Developing narrative structure (pp. 1–25). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Gee, J. P., & Green, J. L. (1998). Discourse analysis, learning, and social practice: A methodological study. Review of Research in Education, 23, 119–169.Google Scholar
Griffith, P. L., Ripich, D. N., & Dastoli, S. L. (1986). Story structure, cohesion, and propositions in story recalls by learning-disabled and nondisabled children. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 15, 539–555.Google Scholar
Gurney, D., Gersten, R., Dimino, J., & Carine, D. (1990). Story grammar: Effective literature instruction for high school students with learning disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 23, 335–342.Google Scholar
Heath, S. B. (1983). Ways with words: Language, life, and work in communities and classrooms. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Heath, S. B. (1986). Taking a cross-cultural look at narratives. Topics in Language Disorders, 7, 84–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hedberg, N. L., & Stoel-Gammon, C. (1986). Narrative analysis: Clinical procedures. Topics in Language Disorders, 7, 58–69.Google Scholar
Hicks, D. (1991). Kinds of narrative: Genre skills among first graders from two communities. In McCabe, A. & Peterson, C. (Eds.), Developing narrative structure (pp. 55–87). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Hicks, D. (1993). Narrative discourse and classroom learning: An essay response to Egan's “Narrative and learning: A voyage of implications.” Linguistics and Education, 5, 127–148.Google Scholar
Hudson, J. A., & Shapiro, L. R. (1991). From knowing to telling: The development of children's scripts, stories, and personal narratives. In McCabe, A. & Peterson, C. (Eds.), Developing narrative structure (pp. 89–136). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Johnson, C. J. (1995). Expanding norms for narration. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 26, 326–341.Google Scholar
Kameenui, E. J., Simmons, D. C., & Craig, B. D. (1987). LD children's comprehension of selected textual features: Effects of proximity of information. Learning Disability Quarterly, 10, 237–248.Google Scholar
Kemper, S. (1984). The development of narrative skills: Explanations and entertainments. In Kuczaj II, S. A. (Ed.), Discourse development: Progress in cognitive development research (pp. 99–124). New York: Springer–Verlag.Google Scholar
Kerman, K. T. (1977). Semantic and expressive elaboration in children's narratives. In Ervin-Tripp, S. & Mitchell-Kernan, C. (Eds.), Child discourse. New York: Academic PressGoogle Scholar
Klekan-Aker, J. S. (1985). A comparison of the oral narrative abilities between normal and learning-disabled middle school children (ERIC Document ED268703). Retrieved from http://www.eric.ed.govGoogle Scholar
Kraker, M. J. (2000). Classroom discourse: Teaching, learning, and learning disabilities. Teaching and Teacher Education, 16, 295–313.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kuldanek, K. (1998). The effects of using a combination of story frames and retelling strategies with learning disabled students to build their comprehension ability (ERIC Document ED416469). Retrieved from http://www.eric.ed.govGoogle Scholar
Labov, W. (1972). Language in the inner city. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.Google Scholar
Labov, W., & Waletzky, J. (1967). Narrative analysis: Oral versions of personal experience. In Helm, J. (Ed.), Essays on the verbal and visual arts (pp. 12–44). Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press.Google Scholar
Lue, M. S., Green, C. E., & Smalley, S. Y. (2002). Communication skills in African American learners with disabilities. In Obiakor, F. E. & Ford, B. A. (Eds.), Creating successful learning environments for African American learners with exceptionalities (pp. 107–117), Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.Google Scholar
Mandler, J. (1978). A code in the node: The use of a story schema in retrieval. Discourse Processes, 1, 14–35.Google Scholar
Mandler, J. (1984). Stories, scripts, and scenes: Aspects of a schema theory. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
McCabe, A. (1997). Developmental and cross-cultural aspects of children's narration. In Bamberg, M. (Ed.), Narrative development: Six approaches (pp. 137–174). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
McCabe, A., & Rollins, P. (1994). Assessment of preschool narrative skills. American Journal of Speech–Language Pathology: A Journal of Clinical Practice, 4, 45–56.Google Scholar
Mening-Peterson, C. L. (1977). Children talk about death. Omega Journal of Death and Dying, 8, 305–317.Google Scholar
Miller, P. J. (1988). Narrative practices: Their role in socialization and self-construction. In Neisser, U. & Fivush, R. (Eds.), The remembering self: Construction and accuracy in the life narrative (pp. 158–179). New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Miller, P., & Sperry, L. (1988). Early talk about the past: The origins of conversational stories of personal experience. Journal of Child Language, 15, 293–315.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Miller, S. M., & Legge, S. (1999). Supporting possible worlds: Transforming literature teaching and learning through conversations in the narrative mode. Research in Teaching of English, 34, 10–64.Google Scholar
Montague, M., & Leavell, A. G. (1994). Improving the narrative writing of students with learning disabilities. Remedial and Special Education, 15, 21–33.Google Scholar
Montague, M., Maddux, C. D., & Dereshiwsky, M. I. (1990). Story grammar and comprehension and production of narrative prose by students with learning disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 23, 190–197.Google Scholar
Moore, P. S. (2004). The use of social stories in a psychology service for children with learning disabilities: A case study of a sleep problem. British Journal of Learning Disabilities, 32, 133–138.Google Scholar
Newcomer, P. L., Barenbaum, E. M., & Nodine, B. I. (1988). Comparison of the story production of LD, normal-achieving, and low-achieving children under two modes of production. Learning Disability Quarterly, 11, 82–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ochs, E. (1997). Narrative. In van Dijk, T. A. (Ed.), Discourse as structure and process (pp. 185–207). London: Sage.Google Scholar
Olson, D. R. (1990). Thinking about narrative. In Britton, B. K. & Pellegrini, A. D. (Eds.), Narrative thought and narrative language (pp. 99–111). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Paul, R., & Smith, R. L. (1993). Narrative skills in 4-year-olds with typical, impaired, and late-developing language. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 36, 592–598.Google Scholar
Pellegrini, A. D. (2001). Some theoretical and methodological considerations in studying literacy in social context. In Neuman, S. B. & Dickinson, D. K. (Eds.), Handbook of early literacy research (pp. 54–65). New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Peterson, C. (1990). The who, when, and where of early narratives. Journal of Child Language, 17, 433–455.Google Scholar
Peterson, C., & McCabe, A. (1983). Developmental psycholinguistics: Three ways of looking at a child's narrative. New York: Plenum Press.Google Scholar
Pradl, G. (1984). Narratology: The study of story structure (ERIC Document ED250698). Retrieved from http://www.eric.ed.govGoogle Scholar
Ripich, D. N., & Griffith, P. L. (1988). Narrative abilities of children with learning disabilities and nondisabled children: Story structure, cohesion, and propositions. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 21, 165–173.Google Scholar
Romine, J. S. (1966). Sentence mastery (2nd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice–Hall.Google Scholar
Roney, R. C. (1996). Storytelling in the classroom: Some theoretical thoughts. Storytelling World, Winter/Spring, 7–9.Google Scholar
Roth, F. P. (2000). Narrative writing: Development and teaching with children with writing difficulties. Topics in Language Disorders, 20, 15–28.Google Scholar
Roth, F. P., Speece, D. L., Cooper, D. H., & De La Paz, S. (1996). Unresolved mysteries: How do metalinguistic and narrative skills connect with early reading? Journal of Special Education, 30, 257–277.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roth, F. P., & Spekman, N. J. (1986). Narrative discourse: Spontaneously generated stories of learning-disabled and normally achieving students. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, 51, 8–23.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rumelhart, D. (1975). Notes on a schema for stories. In Bobrow, D. G. & Collins, A. (Eds.), Representation and understanding: Studies in cognitive science (pp. 211–236). New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Rumelhart, D. E. (1977). Understanding and summarizing brief stories. In LaBerge, D. & Samuels, S. J. (Eds.), Basic processes in reading (pp. 265–303). Hinsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Schneider, P. (1993). Effects of pictures versus orally presented stories on story retellings by children with language impairment. American Journal of Speech–Language Pathology, 5, 86–95.Google Scholar
Semel, E., Wiig, E. H., & Secord, W. A. (1995). Clinical evaluation of language fundamentals (3rd rev.). San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.Google Scholar
Silliman, E. R. (1989). Narratives: A window on the oral substrate of written language disabilities. Annals of Dyslexia, 39, 125–139.Google Scholar
Snow, C. E., & Dickinson, D. K. (1990). Social sources of narrative skills at home and at school. First Language, 10, 87–103.Google Scholar
Stein, N. L. (1988). The development of children's storytelling skills. In Franklin, M. B. & Barten, S. (Eds.), Child language: A reader (pp. 282–279). New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Stein, N. L., & Albro, E. R. (1997). Building complexity and coherence: Children's use of goal-structured knowledge in telling stories. In Bamberg, M. (Ed.), Narrative development: Six approaches (pp. 5–44). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Stein, N. L., & Glenn, C. G. (1979). An analysis of a story comprehension in elementary school children. In Freedle, R. (Ed.), New directions in discourse processing (Vol. 2, pp. 53–120). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.Google Scholar
Stein, N. L., & Glenn, C. G. (1982). Children's concept of time: The development of a story schema. In Friedman, W. (Ed.), The developmental psychology of time (pp. 255–282). New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Stein, N. L., & Policastro, M. (1984). The concept of the story: A comparison between children's and teachers’ perspectives. In Mandel, H., Stein, N. L., & Trabasso, T. (Eds.), Learning and comprehension of text (pp. 113–155). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Stein, N. L., & Trabasso, T. (1982). What's in a story: An approach to comprehension and instruction. In Glaser, R. (Ed.), Advanced instructional psychology (Vol. 2, pp. 213–267). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Sulzby, E., & Zecker, L. B. (1991). The oral monologue as a form of emergent reading. In McCabe, A. & Peterson, C. (Eds.), Developing narrative structure (pp. 175–213). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Trabasso, T., & Stein, N. L. (1997). Narrating, representing, and remembering event sequences. In van den Broek, P. & Bourg, T. (Eds.), Developmental spans in event comprehension and representation: Bridging fictional and actual events (pp. 237–270). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Umiker-Sebeok, D. J. (1979). Preschool children's intraconversational narratives. Journal of Child Language, 6, 91–109.Google Scholar
US Department of Education. (1997). Individuals With Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997 (P.L. 105-17, 111 Stat. 37-157). Washington, DC: Author.Google Scholar
Vitz, P. C. (1990). The use of stories in moral development: New psychological reasons for an old education method. American Psychologist, 45, 709–720.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wiley, T. G. (2005). Literacy and language diversity in the United States (2nd ed.). Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics.Google Scholar
Williams, J. P. (1993). Comprehension of students with and without learning disabilities: Identification of narrative themes and idiosyncratic text representations. Journal of Educational Psychology, 85, 631–641.Google Scholar
Williams, J. P. (2000). Strategic processing of text: Improving reading comprehension of students with learning disabilities (ERIC Document ED449596). Retrieved from http://www.eric.ed.govGoogle Scholar
Worden, P. E., Malmgren, I., & Gabourie, P. (1982). Memory for stories in learning-disabled adults. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 15, 145–152.Google Scholar
Zevenbergen, A. A. (1997). Narrative development in socioeconomically disadvantaged preschoolers. Dissertation Abstracts International: Section B, 57, 7254.Google Scholar
Zigo, D. (1998). Narrative thinking as a strategy among struggling early adolescent readers and writers. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 13, 56–70.Google Scholar
Zigo, D. (2001). From familiar worlds to possible worlds: Using narrative theory to support struggling readers’ engagement with texts. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 45, 62–71.Google Scholar