Narrative Skills of Dual Language Learners: Acquisition and Peer-Assisted Support in Early Childhood Education and Care

239 Pages·2016·3.45 MB·English

by  Ulla Licandro (auth.)

Diversität in Kommunikation und Sprache / Diversity
in Communication and Language
Ulla Licandro
Narrative Skills of
Dual Language
Learners
Acquisition and Peer-Assisted
Support in Early Childhood
Education and Care
Diversität in Kommunikation und
Sprache / Diversity in Communication
and Language
Herausgegeben von/Edited by
Ulrike M. Lüdtke, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Deutschland
Die zunehmende nationale und internationale gesellschaftliche Heterogenität
bringt entscheidende Herausforderungen für die Sprachpädagogik, Sprach-
therapie und Sprachdidaktik mit sich, die sich in vielfältigen Forschungsfragen
zur kommunikativen und sprachlichen Diversität von Personen in der gesa-
mten Lebensspanne widerspiegeln. In der Reihe “Diversität in Kommunikation
und Sprache” werden hierzu bereits bestehende theoretische und empirische
Zugänge durch innovative und interdisziplinäre Forschungsperspektiven erweit-
ert. Dabei werden beispielsweise Fragestellungen des Erwerbs, der Beeinträch-
tigung und des Verlustes der Sprach- und Kommunikationskompetenz sowie
Aspekte ihrer institutionellen Förderung im Kontext verschiedenster Professionen
beleuchtet und durch international vergleichende Studien ergänzt. Mit Arbeiten
des wissenschaftlichen Nachwuchses sowie Studien, Monografien und Sammel-
bänden etablierter Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler wird die Reihe mit
Veröffentlichungen in deutscher und englischer Sprache einen wichtigen und
zukunftsweisenden Beitrag zur Weiterentwicklung dieser vielfältigen und span-
nenden Forschungslandschaft leisten.
The increasing national and international social heterogeneity creates crucial
challenges for speech-language pedagogy, speech-language therapy, and language
didactics, which reflect in numerous research questions targeting communicative
and linguistic diversity throughout the lifespan. The publication series "Diver-
sity in Communication and Language" was created to extend existing theoreti-
cal and empirical approaches through innovative and interdisciplinary research
perspectives. This includes, for example, questions concerning the acquisition,
the impairment, and the loss of language and communication skills as well as
aspects concerning their institutional support, which will take into account vari-
ous professions and international comparative research. The series will include
works of young researchers as well as studies, monographs and anthologies of
established scholars in both, German and English, and will make important and
pioneering contributions to the development of this diverse and exciting research
environment.
Ulla Licandro
Narrative Skills of
Dual Language
Learners
Acquisition and Peer-Assisted
Support in Early Childhood
Education and Care
With a foreword by Prof. Dr. habil. Ulrike M. Lüdtke
Ulla Licandro
Leibniz Universität Hannover, Deutschland
Diversität in Kommunikation und Sprache / Diversity in Communication and Language
ISBN 978-3-658-14672-6 ISBN 978-3-658-14673-3 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-658-14673-3
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016943851
Springer VS
© Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden 2016
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Foreword
„With a Little Help from My Friends” – my former Ph.D. student Ulla Licandro and I used
the title of this famous Beatles song when we published our first article which looked at the
role of peers in speech-language support and therapy with bilingual children. And had this
book you are holding in your hands not been an excellent dissertation, this metaphoric title
would have been a perfect fit once again, as it summarizes some of the research findings re-
sulting from Ulla’s vigorous theoretical and empirical work.
The two presented studies, which were conducted in the early childhood education and care
(ECEC) environment, had differing, yet complementing aims. The first was to gain insight
into oral narrative skills of preschool-age Turkish-German dual language learners (DLLs), a
currently understudied population. On the basis of theoretical explications and empirical evi-
dence focusing on the role of peers as developmentally and emotionally attuned interaction
partners, the aim of the second study was to explore the effects of a peer-assisted intervention
approach on DLLs’ narrative skills. Considering DLLs being disproportionately at risk for
later academic language problems and academic delays, gaining insight into the development
and the support of their narrative skills is ultimately important. The presented studies, includ-
ing their in-depth discussion, allow us to deepen our understanding of the influence of dual
language learning on fictional narrative production, as well as produce emerging evidence for
the efficacy of the inclusion of peers as intervention agents in language support.
As the head of the Department of Speech-Language Pedagogy and Therapy, I can strongly
recommend this book to all researchers, practitioners, and students. It is one of the first works
that includes a peer-based approach in the ECEC environment and thus, is path breaking not
only for Germany, but also internationally. Furthermore, this monograph convinces through
integrity of content and style, which originates, in my opinion, from Ulla Licandro not only
researching bilingualism, multiculturalism, and cooperativeness with her peers, but also living
it in her daily life.
In this sense, I wish everybody picking up this volume an inspiring and elucidating read. I
would also like to extend my best wishes and thanks to Prof. Laura Justice from the Ohio
State University who served as Ulla’s second advisor and whose tremendous expertise sup-
ported her to accomplish this work in the best possible way.
To Ulla and her research team, I wish many creative research ideas, successful pro-jects, and
always enough funds to continue pursuing work in this field in the future. It will be important
V
to gather further insights into early narrative skills and peer-assisted support of language de-
velopment in ECEC contexts – not only for speakers of Turkish and German, but also for
children from many other cultural and linguistic backgrounds. This is especially true consid-
ering the growing numbers of refugees and migrants in Europe and the rest of the world.
These insights may confirm another song title: “That´s What Friends Are For”!

Hannover, May 2016
Prof. Dr. Ulrike M. Lüdtke
Department of Speech-Language Pedagogy and Therapy
Institute of Special Education
Leibniz University Hannover
VI
Thank you
Numerous people and networks have supported me along my journey towards this dis-
sertation in many ways. I would especially like to thank some of them here:
- My advisor, Prof. Dr. habil. Ulrike M. Lüdtke, for bringing me into her team and
for our fruitful working relationship. Through her suggestions and encouragement,
she has supported me in completing this doctoral dissertation and much more. I
would also like to thank my second advisor, Prof. Laura M. Justice, Ph.D., for
warmly welcoming and guiding me during my research stay in Columbus as well
as for her ongoing support;
- All of my wonderful colleagues at Leibniz University Hannover, especially Chris-
tine Beckerle and Ulrich Stitzinger, for their open ears and encouraging conversa-
tions; the doctoral colloquium of the Department of Speech-Language Pedagogy
and Therapy as well as the Research Network Early Childhood Education and De-
velopment for giving me the opportunity to discuss my work in progress and to
develop it further;
- The whole research team STEPs, especially Dr. Nicole Mühlpforte and Ayda
Candan, and the student assistants for their dedicated cooperation;
- Prof. Karla McGregor, Ph.D., for stimulating my interest in pursuing a career in
child language research and providing her intervention materials for the prepara-
tion of one of the studies;
- The Robert Bosch Foundation’s Research and Study Program on Education in
Early Childhood for their financial and inspirational support;
- All children, families, and ECEC institutions, whose willingness to participate
made this work possible to begin with;
- Most importantly, I would like to thank my little and big family, who have given
me the curiosity, strength, and joy to tackle all adventures, academic and other-
wise.

Hannover, May 2016 Ulla Licandro
VII
Table of Contents
List of Figures ................................................................................................................................................... XIII
List of Tables ...................................................................................................................................................... XV
1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................... 1
2 A Contemporary Perspective on the Developmental Continuum of Fictional Narrative Skills
in DLLs over the Preschool Period ................................................................................................................ 7
2.1 Theoretical Underpinnings of Narrative Production in Child Language ................................................. 8
2.1.1 Viewpoints on Narrative in Child Development ........................................................................... 8
2.1.2 The Emergence and Development of Narrative in a Socio-Emotional Context .......................... 14
2.1.3 On the Importance of Fictional Narrative Production in Early Childhood .................................. 18
2.2 Emerging Fictional Narrative Skills in Child Language Development: From Decontextualized
Language Use to Academic Language Skills ........................................................................................ 21
3 Fictional Narratives in Preschool-Aged DLLs – Collection, Analysis, and Current
State of Research ........................................................................................................................................... 25
3.1 Narrative Sample Collection.................................................................................................................. 26
3.2 The Development of Fictional Narratives Produced in Response to a Picture-Based Storybook .......... 27
3.3 Foundations of a Comprehensive Framework for Analyzing Fictional Narrative Productions ............. 29
3.4 Narrative Skills in Preschool-Age Dual Language Learners ................................................................. 36
3.5 Chapter Summary and Consequences for Future Research – Study I ................................................... 46
Emerging Narrative Skills of Preschool-Age Turkish-German DLLs :
A Multidimensional Approach (Study I) ..................................................................................................... 51
4 Methods Study I............................................................................................................................................. 53
4.1 Participants ............................................................................................................................................ 53
4.2 General Procedure and Test Instruments ............................................................................................... 58
4.3 Narrative Sample Collection, Transcription, Coding, and Scoring ....................................................... 60
4.4 Analytical Framework for Narrative Measures ..................................................................................... 65
4.4.1 Microstructural Measures of Narrative Performance .................................................................. 65
4.4.2 Composite Measures of Narrative Complexity ........................................................................... 67
4.4.3 Reliability for Transcription and Narrative Measures ................................................................. 72
4.5 Analytic Strategy ................................................................................................................................... 73
5 Results Study I ............................................................................................................................................... 75
5.1 Preliminary Analysis for Sex Differences ............................................................................................. 75
5.2 Narrative Characteristics in Generations of German Fictional Narratives by Turkish-German
Preschool-Age DLLs ............................................................................................................................. 76
5.2.1 Descriptive Statistics for Microstructural Measures ................................................................... 77
5.2.2 Descriptive Statistics for Narrative Complexity Measures ......................................................... 77
IX
5.3 Correlational Analyses .......................................................................................................................... 83
5.3.1 Correlational Patterns Between Narrative Measures ................................................................... 83
5.3.2 Correlational Patterns Between Narrative Measures and Further Child Data ............................. 84
5.4 Regression Analysis .............................................................................................................................. 87
6 Discussion Study I ......................................................................................................................................... 91
6.1 Turkish-German DLLs’ Fictional Narrative Productions ...................................................................... 91
6.1.1 Characteristics of DLLs’ Fictional Narrative Productions .......................................................... 92
6.1.2 Relations between Narrative Performance, Language Skills, and Measures of the Home
Language Environment ............................................................................................................... 98
6.1.3 Predicting Factors of Narrative Complexity .............................................................................. 103
6.2 Study Limitations and Considerations for Future Research ................................................................ 107
6.3 Conclusions Study I ............................................................................................................................. 110
7 Theoretical and Empirical Underpinnings for the Role of Peer Interactions in Language
Learning and a Conceptualization of Peer-Assisted Learning in Early Childhood Education
and Care ....................................................................................................................................................... 113
7.1 Exploring the Nature of Peer Interactions in ECEC ............................................................................ 115
7.1.1 Delineation of a Working Definition Peers in ECEC ................................................................ 115
7.1.2 Peer Interactions and Peer Relationships in Early Childhood ................................................... 116
7.1.3 Historical Outline of Research on Peer Interactions in Preschool-Age Children ...................... 118
7.2 On the Role and Scope of Peers in Language Acquisition in Early Childhood Education and Care –
A Social-Interactionist Perspective ...................................................................................................... 122
7.2.1 Observational Studies Targeting Language Behavior in Peer Interactions ............................... 127
7.2.2 Longitudinal Evidence for Peer Effects in Language Learning ................................................ 129
7.2.3 The Special Role of Peers in Dual Language Learning in ECEC ............................................. 131
7.2.4 Matthew Effects in Preschool Peer Interactions ........................................................................ 134
7.2.5 Subsummary: Peers and Language Learning in ECEC ............................................................. 136
7.3 Theoretical Underpinnings and the Application of Peer-Assisted Language Learning to the ECEC
Context ................................................................................................................................................ 136
7.3.1 Delineation of a Working Definition of Peer-Assisted Learning in ECEC ............................... 137
7.3.2 A Theoretical Approach to Peer-Assisted Learning on the Backdrop of the ’Relational
Didactics’ Framework ............................................................................................................... 139
7.3.3 State of the Art/ Research on Peer-Assisted Language and Literacy Learning in ECEC .......... 141
7.4 Chapter Summary and Consequences for Future Research – Study II ................................................ 144
Support of Emerging Fictional Narrative Skills through Peer-Assisted Intervention:
An Exploratory Study (Study II) ............................................................................................................... 147
8 Methods Study II ......................................................................................................................................... 149
8.1 Participants .......................................................................................................................................... 149
8.2 Materials .............................................................................................................................................. 150
X