Research article summary (published 29 Jun 2004):

African American and Caucasian preschoolers' use of decontextualized language: literate language features in oral narratives.

Full Abstract

PURPOSE: Low-income preschoolers' use of literate language features in oral narratives across three age groups (3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds) and two ethnic groups (Caucasian and African American) was examined. METHOD: Sixty-seven preschoolers generated a story using a wordless picture book. The literate language features examined were simple and complex elaborated noun phrases, adverbs, conjunctions, and mental/linguistic verbs. RESULTS: Literate language features occurred at measurable rates for 3- to 5-year-old children. Conjunction use was positively associated with the use of complex elaborated noun phrases and adverbs, and the use of complex and simple elaborated noun phrases was inversely related. There were no differences between African American and Caucasian children's usage rates. Age-related differences were observed in the use of mental/linguistic verbs and conjunctions. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: The importance of supporting decontextualized language skills during the preschool period is discussed.

Author information

Author/s: Curenton, Stephanie M (SM); Justice, Laura M (LM);

Affiliation: Society for Research in Child Development, Washington, DC, USA. smcurenton(-atsign-)rcn.com

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Language, speech, and hearing services in schools (Lang Speech Hear Serv Sch), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2004-Jul; vol 35 (issue 3) : pp 240-53

Dates: Created 2004/07/13; Completed 2004/10/26; Revised 2006/11/15;

PMID: 15248794, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article
(including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.

MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

African Americans Age Factors Analysis of Variance Child, Preschool Cross-Cultural Comparison European Continental Ancestry Group Female Humans

Humans Language Development Male Narration Observer Variation Poverty Reproducibility of Results Verbal Behavior

Related articles

These are the highest related articles currently in the database:

• English language narratives of Filipino children. 30 Dec 2005
• The development of expressive elaboration in fictional narratives. 29 Nov 2005
• Linguistic indicators of inter-genre differentiation in later language development. 29 Apr 2004
• What we remember and what we tell: the effects of culture and self-priming on memory representations and narratives. 30 Jul 2005
• Noun phrase elaboration in children's spoken stories. 30 Mar 2008
• The role of discourse context in developing word form representations: a paradoxical relation between reading and learning. 2 Apr 2006
• The emergence of the ability to track a character's mental perspective in narrative. 29 Jun 2007
• Mother-child conversations about pictures and objects: referring to categories and individuals. 30 Oct 2005
• The effectiveness of social stories on decreasing disruptive behaviors of children with autism: three case studies. 27 Mar 2008
• Assessing the microstructure of written language using a retelling paradigm. 29 Apr 2008

See 100+ related articles.

Related Article Map

Legend: - FREE Full text Article. - Abstract only. - Title only. More help.

See a large map of 100+ related articles.