Telling Stories

Dr. Jervay-Pendergrass' research shows young children's narratives provide informtiaon about their oral language and emergent literacy skills.

Don't tell stories...advice we all received from our mothers. But according to Dr. Debra Jervay-Pendergrass, telling stories is an important component of literacy development.

During her presentation at the McKay School's latest Brown Bag Lecture in April, Dr. Jervay-Pendergrass described her research that led to this conclusion. Her background includes co-directing the STORIES project as well as a founding the Early Reading First project. She is currently an adjunct professor at Howard University and owner of Storytellers 123.

Dr. Jervay-Pendergrass explained that making experiences meaningful involves interpreting and narrating those experiences, and as a result, children begin to create their own autobiographies very early. "We know that when children enter school their cultural norms and their narrative styles are developed," she said, adding that research shows that narrative abilities are the "gateway to reading and writing."

The data from Jervay-Pendergrass' research study titled, "From Practice to Research to Practice" shows young children's narratives provide a wealth of information about their oral language and emergent literacy skills. The study was conducted in 12 classrooms, using ethnographic investigation methods. Spontaneous conversations and naturalistic day-to-day interaction in childcare settings were filmed in 30-minute video segments. This footage, explained Jervay-Pendergrass, captured a variety of everyday contexts while considering that children have observers' paradox; meaning that video equipment is new to them and they will be affected by it.

The result was thousands of pages of transcribed data containing what Dr. Jervay-Pendergrass called "conversational pre-narratives." In more simple form, the data included child-initiated interactions that contained narrations. Each child tried to communicate his or her views of how "something happened."

Dr. Jervay-Pendergrass explained that in the final analysis the children used up to 15 distinct linguistic structures in genuine attempts on the part of young children to tell a story. Analysis showed children commenting on the "here and now," protesting, requesting, and narrating. "We have overlooked this in the first three years of life. Babies, little people, are telling stories. Language and literacy begin at birth," she concluded.

17 April 2008