Narrative language
Last updated
Narrative language is the ability to tell or retell stories and events in an organized way, with characters, setting, problem and resolution.
Topic: Speech and language
In plain terms
Narratives are a bridge between talking and reading or writing. Strong narratives include story grammar elements, sequence words, causes and feelings. Personal narratives, like telling what happened at recess, matter for friendships and for reporting problems to adults. Many students with language disorders tell stories that are short or hard to follow.
How it shows up in an IEP
Goals target including story elements or using sequence and causal words, scored with a story grammar checklist or rubric from retells or personal stories.
Example
After hearing a short story, a student retells it including character, setting, problem, two events and the ending, scoring 5 of 6 on the story grammar checklist.
Related terms
- Expressive languageExpressive language is the ability to put thoughts into words and sentences to communicate, through speech, sign, writing or AAC.
- Language sampleA language sample is a recording of a student's natural talk, transcribed and analyzed to measure everyday language skills.
- Reading comprehensionReading comprehension is understanding and making meaning from text, by combining word reading, language knowledge and thinking skills.
- RubricA rubric is a scoring guide that describes several levels of quality for each part of a task, so work can be scored consistently.
On IEP Atlas
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