Adaptation and validation of MAIN for Ukrainian: Insights into story structure and story complexity in Ukrainian-Russian bilinguals

Abstract

The present paper focuses on the adaptation and validation of the Multilingual Assessment Instrument for Narratives (MAIN) for Ukrainian, drawing on data collected from 18 typically-developing Ukrainian-Russian bilingual children aged six to nine years (mean age = 7;7). Data were collected between August and September 2022, with all participants arriving in Germany after the onset of the full-scale war in Ukraine in February 2022. The paper has two main objectives. First, it outlines the process of adapting MAIN to Ukrainian and, using data from both Ukrainian and Russian, it addresses the systematic challenges encountered during analysis that may also apply to other languages. Second, the paper presents findings related to macrostructure measures—specifically, story structure and story complexity—in the children’s narratives across both languages. Importantly, this study offers valuable insights into the macrostructural skills of the children, considering not only the languages themselves but also the role of language dominance.