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Abstract
Storytelling by children in groups has been the topic of study for many researchers. The purpose of this study was to describe and analyze storytelling of a four-year-old male involved in solitary play. The child was video taped a total of 914 minutes while privately engaged in play. The tapes were converted into the transcription of his words, the voices he used in play, and the context in which the words were spoken. The contextualized stories were then analyzed in response to Applebee's stages of narrative development and Willy's conventions of storytelling to assess complexity and sense of story.
The theory that context is essential to assigning likely meaning was reinforced by this study. Audio and video taping were done simultaneously for three sessions. Missing the visual cues, the audio taped information was of little use in converting the language into stories. The child's language lacked formal story grammar and complete sentences. The video was essential in establishing context. Contextual information was essential in creating meaning for the listener. The complexity of the child's stories varied from the least complex level to the most advanced. There were emerging patterns in the child's stories, including the reoccurring story theme of good versus evil, use of conversation to convey the majority of the storyline, change in voice to denote change in character and determining the story theme by the materials available.
The study also included a reference to character and event scripts that the child demonstrated in his stories and alternative possible sources, since his exposure to quality literature was limited.
Implications of this study challenge Applebee's stages of narrative development model and suggest that development may not be consistent between narrative stages and ages, nor may development be a simple progression up the steps of complexity. It may be that at any given age, a child is capable of a contextualized story at any level. There may also be implications in promoting children's literacy development.
