How do the narrative performances of pupils with hearing loss differ in storytelling and retelling tasks? This question is explored in a new article by Lara Hardebeck, Ulla Licandro, Paula Bartsch and Esther Ruigendijk in the Journal of Communication Disorders.

Using a systematic comparison of storytelling and retelling tasks, the study examines how pupils with hearing loss cope with narrative demands on different levels. It analyses the use of referential means to introduce, maintain and reintroduce referents, aspects of macrostructure, such as the global organisation and coherence of the narrative, as well as microstructural features, including lexical and morphosyntactic structure. The results show that storytelling tasks place higher demands on planning, structuring and linguistic precision, while retelling tasks offer stronger content and linguistic support due to the predetermined narrative structure.

The results make it clear that the narrative skills of pupils with hearing loss cannot be assessed independently of the respective task format. The article thus provides important impulses for a differentiated language diagnostic assessment as well as for the targeted promotion of narrative skills in the school context.

Hardebeck, L., Licandro, U., Bartsch, P., & Ruigendijk, E. (2026). Storytelling and retelling in students with hearing loss - A comparison between tasks with special consideration of referential elements. Journal of Communication Disorders, 119, 106613. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcomdis.2025.106613