Page 94 - Second language development of newly arrived migrant kindergarteners - Frederike Groothoff
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94 Chapter 5 5.3.2 Measurement The data for this study on the development of narrative ability was collected using the Multilingual Assessment Instrument for Narratives (MAIN; Gagarina et al., 2012). In the present study a Dutch version of the MAIN13 was used. The MAIN consists of four comparable stories: two for story retelling and two for story generation. In a retelling task the participant looks at the picture sequences while the researcher models the story. After listening to the model story the participant is encouraged to retell the story. In the story generation task the participant has to tell his or her own story based on a new picture sequence. All the stories are controlled for cognitive and linguistic complexity. Furthermore, the stories are parallel in microstructure and macrostructure and the stories are controlled for cultural appropriateness and robustness according to the authors (Gagarina et al., 2012). The different stories of the instrument were created by the authors of the MAIN to be able to test each participant in more than one langue. Since the current study only tested narrative ability in one language, the different versions were used instead to minimize learning effects over the longitudinal study. Each participant saw the stories twice over the period of two-and-a-half years. Figure 5.1 and 5.2 show the two versions of the story generation stories that were used in the current study (the picture sequences of the retell stories are not displayed since they are not the focus of the present study).  13 The Dutch version of MAIM has been translated by Elma Blom and Jan de Jong and is called: MAIN: Nederlandse versie (Meertalig Assessment Instrument voor Narratieven). 


































































































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