Lipner, M., Armon-Lotem, S., Fichman, S., Walters, J., & Altman, C.
(2026). Are narrative macrostructure skills shared in bilingual
children’s two languages, and what predicts them? Language,
Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 57, 277–291. https://doi.org/10.1044/2025_LSHSS-25-00049
When we think about how to support bilingual children’s language
development, we often assume that the best approach is to just increase their
exposure to the school or societal language. However, a recent study offers a
more encouraging and practical message for families and educators: reading at
home may be one of the most powerful tools we have. In this study, researchers
worked with 40 English–Hebrew bilingual preschoolers aged 5–6. The children
were individually told short, picture-based stories in each language and were
then asked to retell them. Their stories were carefully analyzed based on key
story elements, such as introducing characters, describing a problem,
expressing emotions, and including goals and outcomes. Parents also completed
questionnaires about their child’s language background, including when the
child was first exposed to Hebrew and how often they read books with their
child in each language.
Overall, children told more detailed and well-organized stories in their home language, English, than in Hebrew. They were more likely to clearly introduce characters, describe emotions, and include important parts of a story. What stood out most, however, was that the strongest predictor of how well children told stories in Hebrew was not how early they were exposed to Hebrew, or even how strong their Hebrew vocabulary was. Instead, it was how often their parents read to them and even more surprising was that the parents read mostly in English. This suggests that shared book reading in the home language can help children develop an understanding of how stories work, and this knowledge can transfer across languages. In other words, learning story structure in one language supports storytelling in another. These findings send an important message to parents about the importance of simply reading together regularly—especially in the language parents feel most comfortable using. These experiences can play a meaningful role in strengthening bilingual children’s language and literacy skills in both languages.
