Promoting narrative competence in kindergarten: An intervention study

• Published in: Early childhood research quarterly 2019-01, Vol.47, p.20-29
• Main Authors: Pinto, Giuliana, Tarchi, Christian, Bigozzi, Lucia
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Coherence; Cohesion; Emergent literacy; Kindergarten; Narrative competence; Structure
• ISSN: 0885-2006; 1873-7706
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ecresq.2018.09.003

•A narrative competence intervention for kindergarten was assessed (NCI).•Emergent literacy scores were included as control variables.•NCI targeted genre awareness, and competence in structure, coherence and cohesion.•The experimental group displayed a higher improvement in narrative competence.•NCI helps children to integrate macro- and micro-structural components of a story. Oral narratives are an early and pervasive aspect of children’s life in both, family and educational contexts, and children’s narrative competence should be recognised as an aspect to be promoted through targeted interventions. This study analyses the efficacy of an original narrative competence intervention for kindergarten children, based on an embedded-explicit approach. The participants in this study were 470 children attending the last year of kindergarten, assigned to two groups. Children’s narrative competence (structure, coherence and cohesion) were assessed twice, at the pre- and post-test stage. Children’s conceptual knowledge of the writing system was also assessed and included as a covariate. The experimental group received a 3-month narrative competence intervention targeting genre awareness, and both macro-structural and micro-structural components of narrative competence. According to the results of the complex samples GLMs conducted on 376 children, the experimental group displayed a higher improvement in narrative competence, in all three components, structure, coherence and cohesion. Overall, the study confirms the beneficial impact of a multi-componential intervention on narrative competence that targets both, macro- and micro-structural components, and improves children's knowledge of the conventional rules that characterise the specific genre.