Macrostructure components in narrations of Turkish-German bilingual children

Two studies examined the effects of age, gender, and task on Turkish narrative skills of Turkish-German bilingual children. In Study 1, 36 children (2 years, 11 months [2;11]-7;11) told stories in two conditions ("tell-after model" and "tell-no model") and answered comprehension questions. In Study 2, 13 children (5;5-7;11) participated in two conditions ("tell-no model" and "retell") and were compared to Study 1 participants' on tell tasks. The studies showed significant age effects on story complexity and comprehension, but not story structure and internal state terms. There were no significant effects for gender. Comprehension was significantly better in the "tell-after model" than in the "tell-no model" condition (Study 1). For production (storytelling), a trend favoring retell over tell was found (Study 2).