Although narrative competence has long been regarded as an important linguistic skill, little is known about the effect of experimental variations on children's narrative capabilities. This study investigated developmental changes in story-telling ability and how this ability is affected by experimental variations. The performance of 4-, 6-and 8-year-old Italian and English children was compared in four storytelling tasks. In a picture-elicited story production, children were asked to create a story from a drawing (Task 1) and from three cards sequentially arranged (Task 2). In a free story production, children were asked to tell a story (Task 3) and to dictate a story to the experimenter (Task 4). The stories were classified according to levels of narrative competence and compared across ages and samples. The results show that experimental variations have a strong effect on children's story-telling abilities. A similar pattern of development was found in English and Italian children although some differences in performance were noted.The present study focuses on a particular type of narrative: oral stories told by children. Telling stories represents literate school-related genre within the experience of the preschool child (Guttman & Frederiksen, 1985) and it reflects the organization and conventions of written discourse produced at an oral level (Teberosky, 1985). Also, oral stories have been identified as an effective recourse for studying the development of narrative skills (Rego,

The results suggest the importance of practicing oral narrative competence in kindergarten and first grade and the value of composition quality independent of orthographic text accuracy.

The aim of the present study is twofold: (1) contribute to identifying a model for the variables that compose the emergent literacy construct and their relationships; (2) assess the predictive power of the emergent literacy model on early writing abilities in a transparent orthography language.We examined emergent literacy skills in 464 children (mean age 5.5, range: 48-6.1) who were followed longitudinally until entering the 1st grade in primary school. Exploratory and Confirmatory factor analyses were used to address questions on the nature of emergent literacy skills and their possible relationships. Regression analyses were implemented to evaluate the predictive capability of an emergent literacy model on word writing competences. The factor analyses showed three factorial dimensions (phonological, conceptual knowledge on writing system and textual) and their relationship. The regressions showed a significant prediction of conceptual knowledge on writing system and of phonological abilities on early writing abilities.

The strong differences in manifestation, prevalence, and incidence in dyslexia across languages invite studies in specific writing systems. In particular, the question of the role played by emergent literacy in opaque and transparent writing systems remains a fraught one. This research project tested, through a 4-year prospective cohort study, an emergent literacy model for the analysis of the characteristics of future dyslexic children and normally reading peers in Italian, a transparent writing system. A cohort of 450 children was followed from the last year of kindergarten to the third grade in their reading acquisition process. Dyslexic children were individuated (Grade 3), and their performances in kindergarten in textual competence, phonological awareness, and conceptual knowledge of the writing system were compared with a matched group of normally reading peers. Results showed the predictive relevance of the conceptual knowledge of the writing system. The study's implications are discussed.

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Drawing is an invaluable means of expression for children, which has always appealed to psychologists for its direct communicative features, as well as for the possibility of transcending intercultural differences. This volume allows students and researchers to learn a specific methodology of pictorial data analysis. The characteristics of children's drawings of interpersonal relationship, such as friends, siblings, child-parent, are measured by means of six scales: Cohesion, Distancing, Similarity, Value, Emotions and Conflict, which can be used jointly or individually. The method has proven to be highly useful in psychological research on the development of interpersonal relationships.

In the present study, the authors aimed to assess the short- and long-term predictive power of the various components of an emergent literacy model on early writing abilities in a language with a mainly transparent orthography (Italian). Emergent literacy skills were assessed in 72 children (M age = 5.05 years, SD = +/- .03) who were followed longitudinally from preschool to the end of the first grade of primary school. Their early writing abilities (orthographic correctness in writing individual words) and their advanced writing abilities (orthographic correctness in text writing) were tested at the beginning and at the end of the school year. Multiple stepwise and logistic regression analyses were conducted to evaluate the predictive capacities of emergent literacy abilities on early and advanced writing competences. Results show that notational competence is a strong predictor of early writing skills and that phonological competence only has an effect insofar as it is integrated with notational competence. Emergent literacy competences do not significantly predict orthographic errors in advanced text writing. This research allows for reconsideration of the importance of phonological awareness and gives a central role to notational competence in predicting early writing competence.

Narrative competence can be considered an indicator of children's knowledge about other people's minds. The present study investigates the relations between, on the one hand, children's narrative competence and their second order language of mind (comprehension of deception) and, on the other, their developmental trends from kindergarten to primary school. Participants in the study included 142 Italian-speaking children (63 attending their last year in kindergarten and 79 attending first grade in primary school). Children were given a narrative task containing a deception. The ability to detect and comprehend deception increased significantly from kindergarten to primary school. Regression analyses showed that narrative competence influences the comprehension of deception. Findings confirm the importance of narratives as a research tool and the possibility to use mental language to assess different levels of theory of mind mastery.