Are Narrative Macrostructure Skills Shared in Bilingual Children's Two Languages, and What Predicts Them?

Purpose: The current study investigated the contribution of age, age of bilingual
onset (AoB), parental book reading, and language proficiency to the narrative
macrostructure (story structure) skills of bilingual preschool children.
Method: Forty English–Hebrew bilingual kindergarteners (M = 64.88 months) in
Israel participated in the study. Children retold narratives in both the home language
(HL)/English and the societal language (SL)/Hebrew. Data were coded for
macrostructure using seven story grammar (SG) elements (character, problem,
internal response to the problem, goal, attempt, outcome, and internal response
to the outcome). To identify predictors of macrostructure abilities, information
was collected regarding age, oral and written language exposure (AoB and
parental book reading), and language proficiency (standardized test scores and
a receptive vocabulary task) in both languages.
Results: Findings showed superior story structure scores in the HL/English for
the total SG and complete episode scores (goal, attempt, outcome), as well as
more frequent production of character and the internal response to the problem.
Regression analysis indicated that HL/English parental book reading predicted
SL/Hebrew macrostructure performance.
Conclusions: The study demonstrates the importance of HL literacy practices
for SL macrostructure performance. Findings are discussed in light of Cummins’
linguistic interdependence hypothesis.