Narrative performance and parental scaffolding of shy and nonshy children

Abstract

This study examined differences in performance between 20 shy and 20 matched nonshy children on a narrative task and in the way parents scaffolded their narrative performance when reading the wordless book Frog, Where Are You, by Mercer Mayer. Consistent with previous research, results demonstrated that shy children spoke less than their nonshy peers and volunteered less story content. Parents, however, did not differ in how they scaffolded their children's speech turns, nor in the amount of semantic information they provided. Thus, these communicative differences were not accounted for by differential adult scaffolding. Implications for encouraging more verbal behavior from shy children and for the design of wordless storybooks are discussed.

The effect of shyness on children's formation and retention of novel word–object mappings

“…One, known as the “lack of practice” hypothesis (Coplan & Evans, 2009), argues that shy children tend to avoid social situations, and in doing so limit both their exposure to others’ language and an opportunity to practice language while receiving contingent feedback. Empirical support for this hypothesis has been found, for example, in the discovery that shy children speak less than their not-shy peers in experimental settings (Crozier & Perkins, 2002) and at home (Reynolds & Evans, 2009). Again, this explanation draws heavily on language development as measured in terms of vocabulary size, and in light of the present findings, assumes that children's ability to form and retain object–label mappings can be moderated by experience and practice.…”

“…These authors argued that shy children's lower language ability during the second year of life can be explained in terms of a reticence to respond, rather than any difficulty in learning the meaning of words. Shy children's reticence to respond has been demonstrated in home settings (Reynolds & Evans, 2009) and in experimental settings (Crozier & Perkins, 2002), and it is also supported by research in non-Western cultures (Crozier & Badawood, 2009).…”

“…Asendorpf & Meier, 1993). While this and similar research has established a clear link between shyness and language development, the effect of shyness on language has typically been measured relatively late in development, when children are at least four years old (Asendorpf & Meier, 1993; Broberg, Lamb, Hwang & Bookstein, 1990; Coplan & Weeks, 2009; Crozier & Badawood, 2009; Crozier & Perkins, 2002; Evans, 1996; Reynolds & Evans, 2009). Recently, however, interest has turned to the effect of shyness on the critical early stage of language acquisition during the second year of life (Smith Watts et al , 2014).…”

Shyness as a risk factor for second language acquisition of immigrant preschoolers

“…Indeed, previous studies investigating interactional situations revealed that shy children show reduced frequency and duration of talking. Shy children make more speech pauses, produce sentences of lower complexity, and ask fewer questions compared with their non-shy peers (Asendorpf & Meier, 1993;Crozier & Perkins, 2002;Evans, 1987;Reynolds & Evans, 2009;Spere, Evans, Hendry, & Mansell, 2008).…”

Investigative Interviews with Victims of Child Sexual Abuse: The Relationship between Question Type and Investigation Relevant Information

“…Davies et al, (2000) found that whilst open questions were more effective for children aged 12-14 years, younger children provided more information in response to specific, yet not leading or closed questions. One reason for this might be the natural and often unconsciously provided support (or "scaffolding") to a child"s narrative production by an adult (see Reynolds & Evans, 2009 for a review). Young children in their normal day-to-day interaction with adults rely on degrees of "scaffolding" to provide narratives and it can be argued that at some stages of their development, as in the Davies et al study (op.cit), the youngest children may be unable to produce a narrative without appropriate "scaffolding".…”