The Storytelling Study
This PhD study is nested within the Aboriginal Families Study and aims to describe the development and characteristics of Aboriginal children's fictional storytelling (oral narrative productions). The overall objective of the Storytelling Study is to build the knowledge base available to educators and language practitioners (e.g. speech pathologists) about patterns of Aboriginal children's narrative development. The study is supported by the Aboriginal Families Study Aboriginal Governance Group.
What is already known?
Ways of telling stories vary across cultures and languages. Aboriginal children in Australia are linguistically diverse, often growing up listening to different ways of using varieties of English to tell stories. Nonetheless, children are expected to access school curricula based on 'standard' Australian English and, typically, non-Indigenous worldviews.
Assessment of narrative skills is a valuable clinical tool (e.g. in speech pathology practice) used to assess elements of children's cognitive, language and social development. Culturally responsive and linguistically valid assessments are crucial to ensure valid descriptions of children's development and acknowledge linguistic and cultural diversity. Inaccurate descriptions of language development can lead to the under- or over-identification of communication difficulties such as developmental language disorder.
What this study adds
The Storytelling Study provides the first description of fictional oral narrative development in the early years of school (aged 5 to 7 years) for children living in urban, regional and remote communities in South Australia. The study provides evidence to inform educators and clinicians about the different ways Aboriginal children tell stories, developmental patterns, and different ways of using English for picture-book storytelling.
Who was involved in this study?
A team of Aboriginal researchers recruited and visited the 72 children whose recorded stories were included in this study. Petrea Cahir worked closely with this team and the Aboriginal Families Study Aboriginal Governance Group to co-design and implement the storytelling element of the Aboriginal Families Study.
What’s next?
The PhD thesis was completed in July 2023 and conferred in 2024. Petrea is currently working on writing-up the study for publication in scientific journals and sharing findings at international child language conferences.
