A comparison of oral narratives in children with specific language and non-specific language impairment

Abstract

This research investigated whether children with specific language impairment (SLI) and non-specific language impairment (NLI) could be differentiated by their oral narrative characteristics. Oral narrative samples were collected from 69 children and comparisons were made among four groups of participants. The two language impairment groups (SLI and NLI), aged 4;11-6;03, were matched for age and their linguistics skills. Their oral narratives were compared between these diagnostic groups and with age-matched and language-matched control groups. Measures of narrative structure, cohesion, and information did not significantly differentiate the SLI and NLI groups, suggesting that the influence of their similar linguistic skills on oral narrative measures was stronger than the influence of their differing non-verbal cognition. The SLI group produced significantly more complex and informative oral narratives than the language-matched group, while the NLI group differed from the language-matched group on fewer measures. Interactions among linguistic, cognitive, maturational, and task factors are discussed.

Discurso narrativo en escolares de 1° básico con Trastorno Específico del Lenguaje (TEL)

“…Como se mencionó en el marco teórico la limitación de los sujetos con TEL para estructurar se ha corroborado previamente tanto en preescolares como en escolares (Botting, 2002;Schneider et al, 2006;Ukrainetz & Gillam, 2009;Pearce et al, 2010).…”

“…La estructura narrativa es uno de los focos problemáticos en estos menores, sin embargo, las investigaciones no siempre obtienen resultados que confirmen dicha dificultad (Pearce, James & McCormack, 2010).…”

“…Este fenómeno también se advirtió en los controles lingüísticos, en cambio, los niños de edad similar organizaban sus narraciones con dos o más episodios. Estos datos constataron que los sujetos con TEL presentaban dificultades en sus narraciones ya que su desempeño era similar al de los niños más pequeños (Pearce et al, 2010).…”

“…Igualmente son focos conflictivos las relaciones de coherencia y sus respectivos mecanismos de cohesión (Pearce et al, 2010). Al respecto, se ha observado que niños con TEL entre 5 y 12 años narran sin mantener adecuadamente la coherencia y sin utilizar apropiadamente los conectores (Buiza et al, 2004).…”

Parental attachment and children's memory for attachment-relevant stories

“…Children also completed the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (Dunn & Dunn, 1997), a measure of receptive vocabulary, to control for potential effects of verbal ability on their story cohesiveness (Kulkofsky & Klemfuss, 2008; Pearce, James, & McCormack, 2010) and their memory and suggestibility (Bruck & Melnyk, 2004; Clarke-Stewart, Malloy, & Allhusen, 2004). Children’s physiological responses were also monitored during the memory interview to evaluate whether children were differentially aroused as a function of whether the interviewer was supportive versus non-supportive.…”