Date of Award

1-1-1981

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Education, Health & Behavior Studies

Abstract

This study investigated the concept of distancing within the oral stories of 36 children, ages three to five. Distancing was conceptualized, in part, as young children's increasing capacity with age to incorporate fantasy material exceeding the boundaries of their direct experience and to achieve self-other differentiation within the discourse form of stories.The study focused on three research questions: (1) What strategies do young children use to achieve distancing within their oral stories? (2) Do these strategies vary with age? (3) Is the ability to achieve distancing related to other measures of language fluency? The author created a distancing rating scale to answer research questions one and two. Thirteen items comprised the distancing scale. Some items were adapted from the work of other investigators (Applebee 1978; Pitcher & Prelinger 1963; Pulaski 1973; Watson-Gegeo & Boggs 1977; Weisskopf 1950; Willy 1975), while three original items were contributed by the author. To answer research question three, the author administered the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test.Eleven of the 13 distancing strategies were used in one-fourth or more of the children's stories. Total distancing scores correlated with age at a statistically significant level but to a moderate degree. Three of the individual 13 distancing strategies discriminated by age at statistically significant levels. Comparison of mean distancing scores revealed statistically significant differences between the three year olds and all other age groups but failed to discriminate the four year olds from the five year olds. The author speculated that age and experience may contribute more to distancing ability than does innate intelligence. Distancing ability and receptive language fluency correlated at a statistically significant level but to a relatively low degree. Further analysis suggested that these measures may be related largely as a function of chronological age. An incidential finding involved sex differences in the children's stories. Boys and girls differed at statistically significant levels in their use of four distancing strategies. The author suggested that these findings may be related to differing socialization experiences to which young children are subjected.

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