The Effects of Televised versus Aural Stories on Mandarin Children's Narrative Structure in Story Retelling

• Main Authors: Yen-Chia Chiu, 邱妍嘉
• Other Authors: Shin-Mei Kao
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2005
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/97722770774176100569

碩士 === 國立成功大學 === 外國語文學系碩博士班 === 93 === 　The purpose of this study is to investigate the narrative structures in the stories retold by children when they receive the original sources from popular media – television and radio. Stories serve as a major communicative function in the socialization of children’s language. All children are fond of listening to stories. They also like to tell stories vigorously. It is hoped that the outcome of the study provides a deeper understanding about children’s recalling narratives. The eight subjects (four boys and four girls, all third grade students) were divided into two groups. Half of the subjects participated in the television condition, and half participated in the radio condition. After watching the televised story or listening to the story from the radio, the subjects were asked to retell the story without time limits. The data was then analyzed and categorized into Labov’s narrative model (including six elements: abstract, orientation, complicating action, evaluation, resolution, and coda). The results of the study are as follows. First, all subjects told their stories with the chronological sequences as the scenes were originally presented. The progression of storytelling narrated by the subjects is in accordance with the narrative elements developed by Labov. Second, the children in the third grade were not aware of the use and functions of the opening abstract and ending coda. Third, the TV version significantly enhanced the recall of the complicating actions of the original story, whereas the radio version enhanced the recall of evaluation. Fourth, the televised story in general facilitated more recalling words and intonation units in the children’s story retell than the purely aural story did. Last, the gender difference in quality and quantity of narrative elements is not distinctive. What differs between the two genders is that the girls recalled more story content than the boys did.