<abstract xml:lang="en" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>The focus of this article is the manner in which 4 to 12 year old children deal with the "evaluative" component of narratives (Labov &amp; Waletsky, 1967). After spontaneously telling their first version of a story of a misunderstanding between two characters, constructed on the basis of a sequence of five images, children participated in a scaffolding procedure during which they were questioned about the reasons for the events. After this non-intrusive, Piagetian-styled clinical interview, children were asked to recount the story a second time. For children's first narratives, our study confirms earlier results by showing that, before 8-9 years, children rarely mention the epistemic states of the characters. The false belief of one of the characters and its rectification are rarely mentioned before 10-11 years and even at that age by few children. Presenting a story based on a misunderstanding does not facilitate this kind of narration. However, in the narrative produced after scaffolding, 6-7 year old children increase considerably their references to the characters' internal states, and from 8-9 years, the expression of false belief and of its rectification. These results call for multiple evaluations in order to best grasp children's narrative competence.</p></abstract>

The focus of this article is the manner in which 4 to 12 year old children deal with the "evaluative" component of narratives (Labov & Waletsky, 1967). After spontaneously telling their first version of a story of a misunderstanding between two characters, constructed on the basis of a sequence of five images, children participated in a scaffolding procedure during which they were questioned about the reasons for the events. After this non-intrusive, Piagetian-styled clinical interview, children were asked to recount the story a second time. For children's first narratives, our study confirms earlier results by showing that, before 8-9 years, children rarely mention the epistemic states of the characters. The false belief of one of the characters and its rectification are rarely mentioned before 10-11 years and even at that age by few children. Presenting a story based on a misunderstanding does not facilitate this kind of narration. However, in the narrative produced after scaffolding, 6-7 year old children increase considerably their references to the characters' internal states, and from 8-9 years, the expression of false belief and of its rectification. These results call for multiple evaluations in order to best grasp children's narrative competence.

Explaining Events in Narratives: The Impact of Scaffolding in 4 To 12 Year Old Children

CNRS, University of Nice Sophia Antipolis

Psychology of Language and Communication

The focus of this article is the manner in which 4 to 12 year old children deal with the "evaluative" component of narratives (Labov & Waletsky, 1967). After...

Explaining Events in Narratives: The Impact of Scaffolding in 4 To 12 Year Old Children

Published Online: Jun 15, 2009

Page range: 3 - 20

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/v10057-009-0001-X

Keywords
children's narratives, development of narrative competence, evaluative component of narratives

This content is open access.

Explaining Events in Narratives: The Impact of Scaffolding in 4 To 12 Year Old Children

Published Online: Jun 15, 2009

Page range: 3 - 20

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/v10057-009-0001-X

Keywordschildren's narratives, development of narrative competence, evaluative component of narratives

This content is open access.

Keywords
children's narratives, development of narrative competence, evaluative component of narratives