Properties of the narrative scoring scheme using narrative retells in young school-age children.

PURPOSE To evaluate the clinical utility of the narrative scoring scheme (NSS) as an index of narrative macrostructure for young school-age children. METHOD Oral retells of a wordless picture book were elicited from 129 typically developing children, ages 5-7. A series of correlations and hierarchical regression equations were completed using microstructural measures of vocabulary and grammar to predict NSS scores. RESULTS While the NSS was significantly correlated with age and each of the microstructural measures, the hierarchical regression analyses revealed a unique relationship between vocabulary and narrative macrostructure. CONCLUSION The NSS is an efficient and informative tool for documenting children's development of narrative macrostructure. The relationship between the NSS and microstructural measures demonstrates that it is a robust measure of children's overall oral narrative competence and a powerful tool for clinicians and researchers. The unique relationship between lexical diversity and the NSS confirmed that a special relationship exists between vocabulary and narrative organization skills in young school-age children.