Narrative Comprehension and Language Skills in Chilean Children with Specific Language Impairment

Abstract

Background and rationale. Children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) experience grammatical, phonological and semantic difficulties in oral production. Moreover, their narrative skills may also be affected. Narrative skills are relevant to study in children with SLI as they are tightly linked to reading comprehension. As for comprehension, theoretical models emphasize the importance of vocabulary and grammar, thus these components may affect narrative comprehension in children with SLI. This chapter addresses the following research questions: (a) Are there differences in the narrative comprehension in children with SLI when compared to a control group? (b) Do difficulties in narrative comprehension coexist with lexical and grammatical problems in children with SLI?

Method. A total of 13 children with SLI and 13 children with typical development participated in the study. The participants were enrolled in first grade of primary school (mean age = 6.9) and their hearing and non-verbal cognitive skills were found to be within typical ranges.

Narrative comprehension was measured using the test “Prueba para evaluar la comprensión del discurso narrativo”, EDNA method (3 questionnaires with literal and inferential questions about 3 stories presented orally).

Vocabulary was measured using the test “Vocabulario sobre dibujos”, section “Language Survey –Revised” (Spanish version). Grammatical was assessed by analyzing the complexity of sentences after retelling 3 stories.

Results. No significant differences were found when the scores in the comprehension test were compared (mean SLI = 22,9 (6.1); mean typical development = 26,4 (6.0), t 1.48). Significant differences were found, in the second story, when scores were compared (mean SLI = 6,5 (2.8); mean typical development = 9,5 (2.1); t 2,5, p 0.002). The significant difference was observed in the inferential questions (mean SLI = 1,7 (1.8); mean typical development = 4,0 (1.7), t 2.6, p 0.01). 69% of children with SLI and 38% of children with typical development showed difficulties in comprehending narratives. We found that difficulties in narrative comprehension in children with SLI do not coexist with lexical problems but with grammatical complexity. Few children showed lexical difficulties (15% SLI and 8% typical development). All children with SLI who had lexical difficulties showed poor performance in comprehension and grammatical complexity.

Discussion. Results indicated that narrative comprehension is affected in most children with SLI and suggest that difficulties in comprehending narratives are linked to inferential processing. Furthermore, it was also observed that difficulties, on narrative comprehension coexist with difficulties on grammatical complexity. This situation changes when children with SLI have lexical difficulties. This profile was not observed in children with typical development.

This research was conducted with funding from the regular FONDECYT Project, 2013, No 1130201.

Appendix

1.1 La Ardillita Glotona

Había una vez una ardillita que vivía en el bosque y era muy glotona. Todos los días la ardillita iba y les robaba la comida a todos sus amigos del bosque.

Los animalitos le quisieron dar una lección para que la ardillita no les comiera más su comida. Se les ocurrió hacerle una casa bien chiquitita, con ventanas y puertas chiquititas y adentro de la casa le dejaron: nueces, chocolates, miel, dulces, tortas y helados. La ardillita estaba tan contenta que entró en su casa y se comió toda la comida y se puso gorda, gorda.

Entonces vinieron sus amiguitos para invitarla a jugar, y como ella estaba tan gorda no pudo salir ni por la puerta ni por las ventanas porque éstas eran muy pequeñas.

Entonces la pobre ardillita, como no pudo salir de su casa, se puso muy triste porque no podía ir a jugar con sus amiguitos, sólo podía mirarlos por la ventana.

Entonces, prometió que nunca más iba a comer tanto, y que nunca más les iba a quitar la comida porque así ella podría salir de su casa y jugar con ellos.

1.2 El Sapito Saltarín

Había una vez un sapito que vivía en una laguna y que era muy saltarín. Al sapito le gustaba saltar de noche y saltaba tanto que no dejaba dormir a los otros animalitos de la laguna.

Un día los animalitos estaban tan cansados por no poder dormir que decidieron ponerle una trampa al sapito. Construyeron una red y la ocultaron entre las flores de la laguna. Entonces, cuando el sapito salió por la noche, en uno de sus saltos morstorys se enredó en la trampa y se quebró una patita.

Entonces el sapito ya no podía saltar y además por el dolor que sentía en su patita quebrada lloraba de día y de noche. Los animalitos sintieron pena por lo que habían hecho y se dieron cuenta de que así tampoco podrían dormir, así que decidieron curarle la patita al sapito y, además, le construyeron un gimnasio para que pudiera saltar a su gusto. Con el tiempo, el sapito mejoró y al ver el regalo que le habían hecho sus amigos se puso muy feliz.

El sapito en agradecimiento prometió no saltar nunca más de noche para que todos pudieran descansar.

1.3 El Lobo Friolento

Había una vez un lobo que era muy friolento y pasaba todos los días muerto de frío. Cuando llegó el invierno, el lobo casi no podía caminar, ni podía comer, ni podía hablar de tanto frío que tenía. Entonces decidió hacer algo. Salió de su cueva y vio que los conejitos que vivían al lado de él tenían una estufa. Entró calladito y se la robó.

Los conejitos lo vieron y comenzaron a gritar «¡Socorro! ¡Socorro! ¡El lobo nos robó la estufa!». El lobo se fue corriendo rápidamente para que los conejitos no lo alcanzaran y se encerró en su casa con la estufa. Después de un rato se quedó dormido, pero como estaba tan cerca de la estufa se le empezó a quemar la cola y se despertó muy asustado gritando: « ¡Socorro! ¡Sálvenme! ¡Se me quema la cola!»

Los conejitos lo escucharon y fueron a ayudarlo y le tiraron agua para apagarle la cola, pero como hacía mucho frío el agua se convirtió en hielo y el lobo quedó encerrado en un cubo de hielo. Pero a los conejitos les dio pena dejarlo así y le pusieron la estufa para que se derritiera el hielo.

Cuando el lobo estaba bien, se dio cuenta de que los conejitos eran muy buenos y prometió que nunca más robaría nada a nadie. Los conejitos lo invitaron a quedarse en su casa y así el lobo nunca más sintió frío.

1.4 The Greedy Squirrel

Once upon a time, there was a squirrel that lived in the woods and that was very greedy. Every day the squirrel stole the food from his friends in the forest.

The animals wanted to give the squirrel a lesson so that he would not eat their food ever again. It occurred to them to build him a tiny house with tiny windows and doors and left nuts, chocolates, honey, candy, cakes and ice cream inside. The squirrel was so happy that it entered the house and ate all the food and became really fat.

Then his friends came to invite him to play outside and, as he was so fat, he could not go out through the door or the windows because they were too small.

Then the poor squirrel was very sad because he could not leave his house and could not go out to play with his friends, and could only look at them through the window.

Then he promised that would never eat as much and that he was never going to take their food away because that way he would be able to get out of his house and play with them.

1.5 The Jumping Frog

Once upon a time there was a frog that lived in a pond and that really liked to jump. The frog liked to jump at night and he jumped so much that he did not let the other animals of the pond get their sleep.

One day the animals were so tired from not sleeping that they decided to put a trap for the frog. They built a net and hid it in the flowers of the pond. Then, when the frog came out at night, in one of his somersaults he got caught in the trap and one of his legs was broken.

Therefore, the frog could not jump anymore and, furthermore, because of the pain in his broken leg, he cried day and night. The animals felt sorry for what they had done and realized that this way it would be impossible as well for them to sleep, so they decided to heal the frog’s leg and, besides, they built a gym so that he could jump to his liking. After some time, the frog got better and when he saw the gift his friends had made him he was very happy.

In gratitude, the frog promised never to jump at night again, so that everyone could have his rest.

1.6 The Chilly Wolf

Once upon a time there was a wolf that got cold easily and was everyday frozen to death. When the winter came, the wolf felt so cold that he could hardly walk, could hardly eat, and could hardly speak. He decided to do something. He left his cave and realized that the bunnies living next to him had a stove. He entered their house very quietly and stole it.

The bunnies saw him and screamed “Help! Help! The wolf stole our stove!”. The wolf ran quickly so that the bunnies could not reach him and locked himself in his house with the stove. After a while, he fell asleep, but as he was so close to the stove, his tail started burning and he woke up very scared shouting: “Help! Save me! My tail is burning!”

The bunnies heard his screaming and went to help him and poured water to put out the burning tail, but as it was very cold, the water turned to ice and the wolf was trapped in an ice cube. But the bunnies felt sorry for him and did not want to leave him like that, so they put the stove next to him to melt the ice.

When the wolf recovered, he realized that the bunnies were very kind and promised not to steal anything from anybody ever again. The bunnies invited him to stay with them at home and so the wolf never felt cold again.

PRUEBA PARA EVALUAR COMPRENSIÓN DE DISCURSO NARRATIVO TEST TO EVALUATE NARRATIVE DISCOURSE COMPREHENSION
NOMBRE: _______________________	EDAD: ________	SEXO:____________
NAME: __________________________	AGE: _________	SEX:_____________
LA ARDILLITA GLOTONA
THE GREEDY SQUIRREL
1. ¿De qué animalito se habla en el cuento?		1 point
What animal is the story about? (Literal)
2. Se habla de una ardillita. ¿Qué les hace la ardillita a los amigos?		1 point
It is about a squirrel. What does the squirrel do to his friends? (Literal)
3. Les robaba la comida. ¿Qué sentían los animalitos entonces?		2 points
He stole their food. What did the animals feel then? (Inferential)
4. ¿Y qué hicieron los amiguitos?		1 point
What did his friends do? (Literal)
5. Le hicieron una casa chiquitita. ¿Qué hizo la ardillita en la casa chiquitita?		1 point
They built a tiny house for him. What did the squirrel do in the tiny house? (Literal)
6. ¿Por qué le dejan tanta comida en la casa?		2 points
Why did they leave a lot of food for him in the house? (Inferential)
7. ¿Qué problema tuvo?		1 point
What problem did he have? (Literal)
8. ¿Qué pasó al final?		1 point
What happened in the end? (Literal)
9. ¿Por qué prometió que nunca más iba a comer tanto?		2 points
Why did he promise not to eat so much ever again? (Inferential)

EL SAPITO SALTARÍN
THE JUMPING FROG
1. ¿De qué animalito se habla en el cuento?	1 point
What animal is the story about? (Literal)
2. Se habla de un sapito. ¿Qué les hace el sapito a los otros animalitos?	1 point
It is about a frog. What does the frog do to the other animals? (Literal)
3. Por qué cuando el sapito saltaba no los dejaba dormir?	2 points
Why could they not sleep when the frog jumped? (Inferential)
4. ¿Qué hicieron los animalitos?	1 point
What did the animals do? (Literal)
5. Le pusieron una trampa. ¿Qué le pasó al sapito en la trampa que le pusieron?	1 point
They put a trap for him. What happened to the frog in the trap? (Literal)
6. ¿Por qué escondieron la trampa?	2 points
Why did they hide the trap? (Inferential)
7. El sapito se quebró la patita ¿Qué les pasó después a los animalitos?	1 point
The frog broke his leg. What happened to the animals afterwards? (Literal)
8. ¿Qué le regalaron al sapito?	1 point
What did they build for the frog? (Literal)
9. ¿Le regalaron un gimnasio. ¿Por qué se puso feliz con el regalo?	2 points
They built a gym for him. Why was he so happy with the present? (Inferential)
10. ¿Qué pasó al final?	1 point
What happened in the end? (Literal)

EL LOBO FRIOLENTO
THE CHILLY WOLF
1. ¿De qué animalito se habla en el cuento?	1 point
What animal is the story about? (Literal)
2. Se habla de un lobo. ¿Qué le pasa al lobo?	1 point
It is about a wolf. What happens to the wolf? (Literal)
3. ¿Qué les hizo el lobo a los conejitos?	1 points
What did he do to the bunnies? (Literal)
4. El lobo les robó la estufa. ¿Qué le pasó al lobo en su casa?	1 point
He stole them the stove. What happened to the wolf at home? (Literal)
5. ¿Para qué les robó la estufa?	2 points
What did he steal the stove for? (Inferential)
6. ¿Qué sintieron los conejitos cuando el lobo les robó la estufa?	2 points
What did the bunnies feel when the wolf stole their stove? (Inferential)
7. El lobo se quemó la cola. ¿Qué le pasó al lobo después?	1 point
The wolf’s tail got burnt. What happened to the wolf afterwards? (Literal)
8. El lobo quedó encerrado en un hielo. ¿Qué le pasó después?	1 point
The wolf was trapped in an ice cube. What happened to him afterwards? (Literal)
9. ¿Qué pasó al final?	1 point
What happened in the end? (Literal)
10. ¿Por qué el lobo se dio cuenta de que los conejitos eran buenos?	2 points
Why did the wolf realize that the bunnies were kind? (Inferential)