How Early Childhood Education Relates To Narrative Skills

Abstract

The aim of this study is to compare the narrative skills of first grade elementary students who had early childhood education and the narrative skills of first grade elementary students who did not have early childhood education. In order to achieve this aim, the present study focuses on narratives produced by 28 students who had early childhood education and 28 students who did not have early childhood education using Mercer Mayer's [1] wordless picture-book "Frog, where are you?". This study compares those narratives with special attention to how emergence of story structure, the narrative length and inclusion of evaluative devices differ depending on their educational background in their orally collected narratives. The results of the study indicate that narratives of students who had early childhood education include more structural elements and evaluative devices compared to the narratives of students who did not have early childhood education.