An exploratory study of mother-child storytelling in East India and Northeast United States

Harkins, Debra A.; Ray, Sukanya

doi:10.1075/ni.14.2.09har

Article published In: Narrative Inquiry
Vol. 14:2 (2004) ► pp.347–367

Get fulltext from our e-platform

Download PDF

An exploratory study of mother-child storytelling in East India and Northeast United States

Debra A. Harkins | Suffolk University

Sukanya Ray | Suffolk University

Published online: 2 February 2005

https://doi.org/10.1075/ni.14.2.09har

This study examined cultural variations in parental goals of storytelling and story constructions to and with young children. Sixty-five (34 East India; 36 USA) mothers and their four-to-five year old children were audio taped as they read a non-worded picture storybook. East India mothers told longer stories that included more evaluative comments and responses to their child's questions than US mothers. Content and evaluation of character and story action reflected cultural themes of collectivism of India and individualism of USA. Enculturation through storytelling is discussed. (Mother-Child Storytelling, Individualism, Collectivism, Narrative)

Cited by (11)

Cited by 11 other publications

Order by:

Soucie, Kendall, Shawna A. Scott, Ty Partridge, Julie Hakim-Larson, Kimberly A. Babb & Sylvia Voelker

2024. Meta-Emotion and Emotion Socialization by Mothers of Preschoolers During Storytelling Tasks. Journal of Child and Family Studies 33:5 ► pp. 1618 ff.

Chan, Yi-Chih

2023. Language development of Chinese-speaking hearing-impaired children: The roles of home literacy resources and shared book reading. Child Language Teaching and Therapy 39:1 ► pp. 74 ff.

Leyva, Diana, Antje von Suchodoletz, Delshad Shroff, Anna Hinojo & Joscha Kärtner

2021. Maternal book-sharing styles and goals and children’s verbal contributions in three communities. Early Childhood Research Quarterly 54 ► pp. 228 ff.

Quasthoff, Uta & Juliane Stude

2021. Children’s narrative interactions. Narrative Inquiry 31:1 ► pp. 147 ff.

ROCHANAVIBHATA, Sirada & Viorica MARIAN

2021. Cross-cultural differences in mother-preschooler book sharing practices in the United States and Thailand. Journal of Child Language 48:4 ► pp. 834 ff.

Nieto, Ana María, Diana Leyva & Hirokazu Yoshikawa

2019. Guatemalan Mayan book-sharing styles and their relation to parents’ schooling and children’s narrative contributions. Early Childhood Research Quarterly 47 ► pp. 405 ff.

Chou, Hsuan-Yi & Divya Singhal

2017. Nostalgia advertising and young Indian consumers: The power of old songs. Asia Pacific Management Review 22:3 ► pp. 136 ff.

De Fina, Anna

2015. Narrative Analysis. In Research Methods in Intercultural Communication, ► pp. 327 ff.

Demuth, Carolin, Nandita Chaudhary & Heidi Keller

2011. Memories of Me: Comparisons from Osnabrueck (Germany) and Delhi (India) Students and Their Mothers. Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science 45:1 ► pp. 48 ff.

Melzi, Gigliana, Adina R. Schick & Joy L. Kennedy

2011. Narrative Elaboration and Participation: Two Dimensions of Maternal Elicitation Style. Child Development 82:4 ► pp. 1282 ff.

Schick, Adina & Gigliana Melzi

2010. The Development of Children's Oral Narratives Across Contexts. Early Education & Development 21:3 ► pp. 293 ff.

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 27 november 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.