Assessing Narrative Microstructure in Mandarin-Speaking School-Age Children

What is it about?

We are curious, for Mandarin-speaking school-age children, how would they tell a story? What's their language preference? What are the characteristics of their language selection? And what are the differences among children of different grades? Therefore, since the assessment of narrative microstructure is critical in language evaluation, and its usage was rare in Mainland China, we aimed to establish a feasible administration procedure and validate various viable measures to facilitate the evaluation of language proficiencies.

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Why is it important?

This research is important because it addresses the need for effective language evaluation tools for Mandarin-speaking school-age children. The study's focus on narrative microstructure assessment is unique and timely, as it provides insights into discourse-level oral competence and overcomes the limitations of norm-referenced tests. The samples analyzed in this study were unique and important because they represent a comprehensive grade-related trajectory of Mandarin-speaking school-age children, a group that has been relatively neglected in previous research. The study's findings can help teachers and researchers in mainland China recognize the uniqueness and importance of oral narratives and extend the applicability of oral narrative assessments to Mandarin-speaking school-age children.

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