Age-Dependent Story Retelling Abilities in Preschoolers

Kim, Kisoon; Shin, Jicheol; Lee, Ki Hak; Pae, Soyeong

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Commun Sci Disord. 2007;12(1): 1-15.

Kisoon Kim^` , Jicheol Shin^` , Ki Hak Lee^` , and Soyeong Pae^`

김기순(Kisoon Kim)| 신지철(Jicheol Shin)| 이기학(Ki Hak Lee)| 배소영(Soyeong Pae)

ABSTRACT

The purpose of the study was to evaluate story retelling abilities of preschool children.
Methods
The participants comprised 60 preschoolers aged 4 to 6 years. Two Korean stories written by Soyeong Pae, “The Swing Story” and “The Ball Story” were used. We showed the story cards to the children, told a story corresponding to the cards, and asked the children to retell the story after removing the cards. The total scores of story grammar, MLC-w(Mean Length of C-units by words), and MLC-m(Mean Length of C-units by morphemes) were compared to determine differences in story retelling performance according to age. Results &
Conclusion
The total scores for story grammar, MLC-w, and MLC-m significantly increased with age. The use of story grammar and MLC are considered effective measure of children’s story intelligibility. Implications for future study were discussed.