Development and Support of Narratives: A Review

Abstract

Attention has been drawn to narratives as acts of meaning and as the basis for literacy and the understanding of self and other. During childhood, narratives become sophisticated as a result of social input, development of general and social cognition, and pretend play. The narrative performance of children with disabilities is restricted by the characteristics of their specific disability. The present article reviews studies of development, disability, and the educational support of narratives, and suggests that available findings should be integrated so that the points in the developmental process can be identified at which various factors affect each other. Future research should analyze not only the linguistic form of narratives, but also how children use narratives and how narratives work in particular contexts. Adapted from the source document