Narrative development in late talkers: early school age
R Paul1, R Hernandez, L Taylor
1Portland State University, OR, USA. rhea@nh1.nh.pdx.edu
Journal of Speech and Hearing Research
|December 1, 1996
Summary
Children with slow expressive language development (SELD) showed initial language delays. However, most children with a history of expressive language delay (HELD) caught up by second grade, unlike those with ongoing expressive language delay (ELD).
Area of Science:
- Child development
- Linguistics
- Speech-language pathology
Background:
- Slow expressive language development (SELD) in toddlers can impact later academic performance.
- Understanding the long-term trajectory of SELD is crucial for early intervention.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the narrative skills of children with SELD compared to typically developing peers.
- To differentiate between children who outgrow SELD and those with persistent delays.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal study tracking children from toddlerhood to second grade.
- Narrative generation task administered in kindergarten, first, and second grade.
- Analysis of linguistic features including MLU, lexical diversity, cohesive ties, and narrative maturity.
Main Results:
- In kindergarten, children with normal language history outperformed HELD and ELD groups in lexical diversity and narrative stage.
- By first grade, normal language history group showed superior narrative maturity compared to HELD and ELD groups.
- No significant differences in narrative skills were observed among the groups by second grade.
Conclusions:
- Children with a history of expressive language delay (HELD) demonstrate significant catch-up in narrative skills by early school age.
- Persistent expressive language delay (ELD) may require continued monitoring and support.
- Early language development trajectories can normalize over time, highlighting the importance of longitudinal assessment.
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