- Library Home /
- Search Collections /
- Open Collections /
- Browse Collections /
- UBC Theses and Dissertations /
- Narratives of young children with language impairment:...
Open Collections
UBC Theses and Dissertations
UBC Theses and Dissertations
Narratives of young children with language impairment: form versus content Oxelgren, Corinne Marilyn
Abstract
It has been proposed that narratives reflect a diverse knowledge base. In the narratives produced by children with normally developing language, it is difficult to tease apart the various knowledge domains. However, for children with specific language impairment (SLI), there is asynchrony in the development of at least two knowledge domains, event knowledge and linguistic knowledge. This asynchrony makes it easier to separately examine these knowledge domains within the narrative context. Narrative event knowledge was the focus of this thesis. In particular, two studies were conducted to examine the narrative content structure abilities of younger children with SLI. In Study One, 10 children with SLI, ranging in age from 4-6 years, were language-matched with 10 normal-language (NL) children, ranging in age from 2-4 years. Two sets of line-drawn picture cards were used to elicit two separate narratives. A developmental narrative stages scheme, based on Trabasso, Stein, Rodkin, Munger and Baughn's (1992) research, was devised to score the data. It was hypothesized that children with SLI would produce narrative content structure in advance of their NL counterparts, given their age advantage and likely accompanying advantage in world experience and cognitive development. Data from the group with a lower language level supported the hypothesis. No strong trends were apparent for the group with a higher language level. Study Two mental age (MA) -matched 8 children with SLI (mean MA, 68 months) with 8 NL children (mean MA, 72 months). It was hypothesized that matching by mental age would hold cognitive abilities constant so therefore the two groups would produce equivalent narrative content structure. Overall findings in Study Two supported the hypothesis. However, data from the higher MA-matched group indicated a trend in which children with SLI produced less advanced narrative content structure than their NL counterparts. The two studies, taken together, suggest that as children develop, language experience plays an increasingly significant role in narrative content production.
Item Metadata
Title |
Narratives of young children with language impairment: form versus content
|
Creator | |
Publisher |
University of British Columbia
|
Date Issued |
1998
|
Description |
It has been proposed that narratives reflect a diverse knowledge base. In the narratives
produced by children with normally developing language, it is difficult to tease apart the
various knowledge domains. However, for children with specific language impairment (SLI),
there is asynchrony in the development of at least two knowledge domains, event
knowledge and linguistic knowledge. This asynchrony makes it easier to separately
examine these knowledge domains within the narrative context. Narrative event knowledge
was the focus of this thesis. In particular, two studies were conducted to examine the
narrative content structure abilities of younger children with SLI. In Study One, 10 children
with SLI, ranging in age from 4-6 years, were language-matched with 10 normal-language
(NL) children, ranging in age from 2-4 years. Two sets of line-drawn picture cards were
used to elicit two separate narratives. A developmental narrative stages scheme, based on
Trabasso, Stein, Rodkin, Munger and Baughn's (1992) research, was devised to score the
data. It was hypothesized that children with SLI would produce narrative content structure in
advance of their NL counterparts, given their age advantage and likely accompanying
advantage in world experience and cognitive development. Data from the group with a
lower language level supported the hypothesis. No strong trends were apparent for the
group with a higher language level. Study Two mental age (MA) -matched 8 children with
SLI (mean MA, 68 months) with 8 NL children (mean MA, 72 months). It was hypothesized
that matching by mental age would hold cognitive abilities constant so therefore the two
groups would produce equivalent narrative content structure. Overall findings in Study Two
supported the hypothesis. However, data from the higher MA-matched group indicated a
trend in which children with SLI produced less advanced narrative content structure than
their NL counterparts. The two studies, taken together, suggest that as children develop,
language experience plays an increasingly significant role in narrative content production.
|
Extent |
6743714 bytes
|
Genre | |
Type | |
File Format |
application/pdf
|
Language |
eng
|
Date Available |
2009-05-26
|
Provider |
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
|
Rights |
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.
|
DOI |
10.14288/1.0088552
|
URI | |
Degree | |
Program | |
Affiliation | |
Degree Grantor |
University of British Columbia
|
Graduation Date |
1998-11
|
Campus | |
Scholarly Level |
Graduate
|
Aggregated Source Repository |
DSpace
|
Item Media
Item Citations and Data
Rights
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.