Research Article

Narrative structure and narrative development in deaf children

  1. Christian Rathmann1,
  2. Wolfgang Mann2,
  3. Gary Morgan3,*

Article first published online: 1 NOV 2007

DOI: 10.1002/dei.228

Issue

Deafness & Education International

Deafness & Education International

Special Issue: Sign Language and Deaf Education

Volume 9, Issue 4, pages 187–196, December 2007

Additional Information

How to Cite

Rathmann, C., Mann, W. and Morgan, G. (2007), Narrative structure and narrative development in deaf children. Deafness & Education International, 9: 187–196. doi: 10.1002/dei.228

Author Information

  1. 1

    Centre for Deaf Studies, University of Bristol, UK

  2. 2

    Deafness Cognition and Language Research Centre, UCL, UK

  3. 3

    Language and Communication Science, City University London, UK

*LCS, City University London, Northampton Square, London EC1V0HB, UK

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 16 NOV 2007
  2. Article first published online: 1 NOV 2007

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Keywords:

  • literacy;
  • metalinguistic awareness;
  • bilinguism;
  • sign language

Abstract

Researchers, the Deaf community, teachers of deaf children and speech and language therapists all share a concern about how to improve deaf children's written language skills. One part of literacy is story writing or narrative. A finding from a small number of studies is that children exposed to sign language from early childhood onwards achieve the highest level of bilingualism and become skilled readers and writers (Hoffmeister, 2000; Morgan, 2005). Potential contributing factors may include first language transfer, meta-linguistic awareness, cognitive readiness, motivation, parental interaction and emotional well-being. This paper reviews the first three contributing factors and outlines the theoretical case for bilingual narrative activities in deaf children. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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