Understanding the Growth of English Narrative Skills in Bilingual Children

Purpose: This study examined the longitudinal development of English oral narrative macrostructure in bilingual children while controlling for listening comprehension in both their first (Spanish) and second (English) languages. We specifically analyzed growth patterns in narrative macrostructure among children with typical versus low language (LL) skills. Method: This longitudinal study followed 102 Spanish–English bilingual children from prekindergarten through third grade. The Monitoring Indicators of Scholarly Language were used to assess growth trajectories in macrostructure through English narrative retells. Results: Overall, the findings revealed a positive and significant trend in the growth of English narrative macrostructure from preschool through third grade, as observed in individual story elements and the overall score. Generalized additive models revealed distinct growth patterns among macrostructure elements. Conclusions: The developmental trajectories of narrative elements vary over time, which may inform clinicians in identifying treatment targets. Although children with LL skills showed some performance differences, these were not statistically significant. This study underscores the important predictive role of listening comprehension in both the first and second languages for narrative macrostructure development.