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Using the Multilingual Assessment Instrument for Narratives for Evaluating Language Skills in Mandarin-Speaking Children at Early School Ages: Initial Validity

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Title: Using the Multilingual Assessment Instrument for Narratives for Evaluating Language Skills in Mandarin-Speaking Children at Early School Ages: Initial Validity
Language: English
Authors: Huei-Mei Liu, Chia-Yun Hsu, Chung-Lun Tsai, Linda Spencer, Brian Weiler, Ling-Yu Guo (ORCID 0000-0002-9143-3383)
Source: Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools. 2025 56(4):1011-1028.
Availability: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. 2200 Research Blvd #250, Rockville, MD 20850. Tel: 301-296-5700; Fax: 301-296-8580; e-mail: lshss@asha.org; Web site: http://lshss.pubs.asha.org
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 18
Publication Date: 2025
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education
Early Childhood Education
Kindergarten
Primary Education
Grade 1
Grade 2
Descriptors: Elementary School Students, Mandarin Chinese, Language Skills, Story Telling, Test Validity, Language Tests, Kindergarten, Grade 1, Grade 2, Language Impairments, Developmental Disabilities, Foreign Countries
Geographic Terms: Taiwan
Assessment and Survey Identifiers: Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children
DOI: 10.1044/2025_LSHSS-24-00150
ISSN: 0161-1461
1558-9129
Abstract: Purpose: Using a longitudinal design, the present study evaluated the utility of the picture sequences in the Multilingual Assessment Instrument for Narratives (MAIN) for assessing Mandarin-speaking children's narrative skills from kindergarten through Grade 2 in Taiwan. Method: Participants were 27 children with typical language (TL) and 22 with developmental language disorder (DLD) from Taiwan. They were followed up from kindergarten through Grade 2 in approximately 12-month intervals. At each time point, children were administered a norm-referenced, standardized language test and completed both story retell and story generation tasks based on two picture sequences from MAIN. Performance on the narrative tasks was assessed using measures of macrostructure (i.e., story structure complexity) and microstructure (i.e., number of different words, mean length of communication units [C-units], percent grammatical C-units). Results: All target measures showed significant developmental changes and differences between the TL and DLD groups. Correlations between the story retell and generation tasks on each measure were significant across grade levels. In addition, correlations between the target narrative measures and language scores from the tests were mostly significant in both elicitation methods at kindergarten and Grade 1, although the correlations were less robust at Grade 2. Conclusions: Narrative measures derived from the MAIN picture sequences, using story retell and generation tasks, may effectively reflect language skills of Mandarin-speaking children in Taiwan from kindergarten to Grade 2. However, caution is warranted when interpreting results at Grade 2 due to reduced correlations between narrative measures and standardized test language scores.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2025
Accession Number: EJ1486619
Database: ERIC
FullText Links:
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  Data: Using the Multilingual Assessment Instrument for Narratives for Evaluating Language Skills in Mandarin-Speaking Children at Early School Ages: Initial Validity
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  Data: English
– Name: Author
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  Group: Au
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Huei-Mei+Liu%22">Huei-Mei Liu</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Chia-Yun+Hsu%22">Chia-Yun Hsu</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Chung-Lun+Tsai%22">Chung-Lun Tsai</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Linda+Spencer%22">Linda Spencer</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Brian+Weiler%22">Brian Weiler</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Ling-Yu+Guo%22">Ling-Yu Guo</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9143-3383">0000-0002-9143-3383</externalLink>)
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="SO" term="%22Language%2C+Speech%2C+and+Hearing+Services+in+Schools%22"><i>Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools</i></searchLink>. 2025 56(4):1011-1028.
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  Data: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. 2200 Research Blvd #250, Rockville, MD 20850. Tel: 301-296-5700; Fax: 301-296-8580; e-mail: lshss@asha.org; Web site: http://lshss.pubs.asha.org
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  Label: Peer Reviewed
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  Data: Y
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  Data: 18
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  Label: Publication Date
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  Data: 2025
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  Data: Journal Articles<br />Reports - Research
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Elementary+Education%22">Elementary Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Early+Childhood+Education%22">Early Childhood Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Kindergarten%22">Kindergarten</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Primary+Education%22">Primary Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Grade+1%22">Grade 1</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Grade+2%22">Grade 2</searchLink>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Elementary+School+Students%22">Elementary School Students</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Mandarin+Chinese%22">Mandarin Chinese</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Language+Skills%22">Language Skills</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Story+Telling%22">Story Telling</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Test+Validity%22">Test Validity</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Language+Tests%22">Language Tests</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Kindergarten%22">Kindergarten</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Grade+1%22">Grade 1</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Grade+2%22">Grade 2</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Language+Impairments%22">Language Impairments</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Developmental+Disabilities%22">Developmental Disabilities</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Foreign+Countries%22">Foreign Countries</searchLink>
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  Label: Geographic Terms
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Taiwan%22">Taiwan</searchLink>
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  Label: Assessment and Survey Identifiers
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="SU" term="%22Wechsler+Intelligence+Scale+for+Children%22">Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children</searchLink>
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  Data: 10.1044/2025_LSHSS-24-00150
– Name: ISSN
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  Data: 0161-1461<br />1558-9129
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
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  Data: Purpose: Using a longitudinal design, the present study evaluated the utility of the picture sequences in the Multilingual Assessment Instrument for Narratives (MAIN) for assessing Mandarin-speaking children's narrative skills from kindergarten through Grade 2 in Taiwan. Method: Participants were 27 children with typical language (TL) and 22 with developmental language disorder (DLD) from Taiwan. They were followed up from kindergarten through Grade 2 in approximately 12-month intervals. At each time point, children were administered a norm-referenced, standardized language test and completed both story retell and story generation tasks based on two picture sequences from MAIN. Performance on the narrative tasks was assessed using measures of macrostructure (i.e., story structure complexity) and microstructure (i.e., number of different words, mean length of communication units [C-units], percent grammatical C-units). Results: All target measures showed significant developmental changes and differences between the TL and DLD groups. Correlations between the story retell and generation tasks on each measure were significant across grade levels. In addition, correlations between the target narrative measures and language scores from the tests were mostly significant in both elicitation methods at kindergarten and Grade 1, although the correlations were less robust at Grade 2. Conclusions: Narrative measures derived from the MAIN picture sequences, using story retell and generation tasks, may effectively reflect language skills of Mandarin-speaking children in Taiwan from kindergarten to Grade 2. However, caution is warranted when interpreting results at Grade 2 due to reduced correlations between narrative measures and standardized test language scores.
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  Data: As Provided
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        Value: 10.1044/2025_LSHSS-24-00150
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      – Text: English
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    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Elementary School Students
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Mandarin Chinese
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Language Skills
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Story Telling
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Test Validity
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      – SubjectFull: Language Tests
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      – SubjectFull: Kindergarten
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      – SubjectFull: Grade 1
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      – SubjectFull: Taiwan
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      – SubjectFull: Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children
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      – TitleFull: Using the Multilingual Assessment Instrument for Narratives for Evaluating Language Skills in Mandarin-Speaking Children at Early School Ages: Initial Validity
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