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Different Tales: The Role of Gender in the Oral Narrative–Reading Link Among African American Children
Author(s) -
GardnerNeblett Nicole,
Sideris John
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/cdev.12803
Subject(s) - narrative , psychology , reading (process) , developmental psychology , african american , linguistics , sociology , anthropology , philosophy
Evidence suggests that oral narrative skills are a linguistic strength for African American children, yet few studies have examined how these skills are associated with reading for African American boys and girls. The current study uses longitudinal data of a sample of 72 African American 4‐year‐olds to examine how preschool oral narrative skills predict reading from first through sixth grades and explores differences by gender. Findings indicate that although girls demonstrated stronger narrative skills, their narrative skills did not moderate change in reading. For boys, narrative skills moderated change in reading over time such that as preschool narrative skills increased, their reading scores showed greater change over time. Educational implications and directions for future research are discussed.