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Jumping around and leaving things out: A profile of the narrative abilities of children with specific language impairment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2008

A. Elisabeth Miranda ,
Allyssa McCabe  and
Lynn S. Bliss
A. Elisabeth Miranda
Affiliation:
Federal University of Cerea
Allyssa McCabe*
Affiliation:
University of Massachusetts, Lowell
Lynn S. Bliss
Affiliation:
University of Houston
*
Allyssa McCabe, Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts-Lowell, One University Avenue, Lowell, MA 01854
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Abstract

This article investigates the discourse coherence of school-aged children with specific language impairment (SLI). The following dimensions of discourse are analyzed: topic maintenance, event sequencing, explicitness (including referencing), conjunctive cohesion, and fluency. The personal narratives of the children in the experimental group were compared with those produced by two groups of children with normal language development, one group matched by chronological age and the other matched by language level. The narratives of the children with SLI were significantly impaired compared with both control groups with respect to all five dimensions of narration, although impairment was far more pronounced for topic maintenance, event sequencing, and implicitness than it was for conjunctive cohesion or fluency. The former serious impairments place a heavy burden on listeners. Theoretical and clinical implications of the results are discussed.

Type
Articles
Information
Applied Psycholinguistics , Volume 19 , Issue 4 , October 1998 , pp. 647 - 667
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1998

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