This pilot study investigated the impact of an oral narrative intervention program implemented with 24 children who attended a College of Education on campus laboratory school for children with specific language learning difficulties. Oral narratives were elicited before and after treatment and underwent T-unit and story grammar component analyses. The 13 weeks of treatment involved a systematic approach to teaching story grammar components and story organization. Paired sample t-tests were conducted and a significant improvement in number of T-units and use of story grammar components was measured following intervention. These results lend preliminary support to the effectiveness of the narrative intervention implemented in a group setting.
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) (2000) Position Statement: Roles and Responsibilities of Speech/Language Pathologists in Schools. Rockville, MD: Author.
2.
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) (2005) Position Statement: Evidence-based Practice in Communication Disorders. Rockville, MD: Author.
3.
AuKHKawakamiAJ (1985) Research currents: Talk story and learning to read. Language Arts62: 406–411.
4.
BishopDEdmundsonA (1987) Specific language impairment as a maturational lag: Evidence from longitudinal data on language and motor development. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology29: 442–459.
5.
BlissLMcCabeA (2008) The clinical application of personal narratives for children with discourse impairments. Topics in Language Disorders28: 162–177.
6.
BoudreauD (2006) Supporting the development of spoken narrative skills in children with language impairment. In: KamhiAMastersonJApelK (eds) Clinical Decision Making in Developmental Language Disorders. Baltimore, MD: Brookes, pp. 249–266.
7.
CirrinFGillamR (2008) Language intervention practices for school-age children with spoken language disorders: A systematic review. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools39: 110–137.
8.
Compton-HallM (2002) Mentoring in parallel universes. Reading Psychology23: 145–158.
9.
DamicoJ (1988) The lack of efficacy in language therapy: A case study. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools19: 51–66.
10.
ElsterCA (1994) ‘I guess they do listen’: Young children’s emergent readings after adult read-alouds. Young Children49: 27–31.
11.
FangZ (2000) Developing written discourse knowledge in whole language and code emphasis classrooms. British Journal of Educational Psychology70: 317–335.
12.
FeagansL (1982) The development and importance of narratives for school adaption. In: FeagansLFarranD (eds) The Language of Children Reared in Poverty. New York: Academic Press, pp. 95–116.
13.
FeagansLShortEJ (1984) Developmental differences in the comprehension and production of narratives by reading-disabled and normally achieving children. Child Development55: 1727–1736.
14.
FeyMELongSHFinestackLH (2003) Ten principles of grammar facilitation for children with specific language impairments. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology12: 3–15.
15.
GeeJP (1989) Literacy, discourse, and linguistics: Introduction. Journal of Education171: 5–11.
16.
GillamRBPenaEDMillerL (1999) Dynamic assessment of narrative and expository discourse. Topics in Language Disorders20: 33–47.
17.
GreenLCarthewEFlanaganC, et al. (2008) Seven public school narrative intervention case studies: The evidence, please!Poster presented at the American Speech, Language and Hearing Conference, Chicago, IL, USA.
18.
HedbergNWestbyC (1993) Analyzing Storytelling Skills: Theory to Practice. Tucson, AZ: Communication Skill Builders.
19.
JusticeLBowlesRKaderavekJK. (2006) The Index of Narrative Micro-Structure (INMIS): A clinical tool for analyzing school-aged children’s narrative performance. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology15: 1–15.
20.
KaderavekJNSulzbyE (2000) Narrative production by children with and without specific language impairment: Oral narratives. Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research43: 34–49.
21.
Klecan-AkerJSBrueggemanL (1991) The Expression Connection: A Structured Approach to Teaching Storytelling to School-age Children. Vero Beach, FL: Speech Bin.
22.
Klecan-AkerJSGillC (2005) Teaching language organization to a child with pervasive developmental disorder: A case study. Child Language Teaching and Therapy21: 60–74.
23.
Klecan-AkerJSFlahiveGFlemingS (1997) Teaching storytelling to a group of children with learning disabilities: A look at treatment outcomes. Contemporary Issues in Communication Science and Disorders24: 23–32.
24.
LilesBZDuffyRJMerrittDDPurcellSL (1995) Measurement of narrative discourse ability in children with language disorders. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research38: 415–25.
25.
McCabeARollinsPR (1994) Assessment of preschool narrative skills. American Journal of Speech Language Pathology3: 45–56.
26.
MehtaPDFoormanBRBranum-MartinLTaylorWP (2005) Literacy as a unidimensional multilevel construct: Validation, sources of influence, and implications in a longitudinal study in grades 1 to 4. Scientific Studies of Reading9: 85–116.
27.
MelineTParadisoT (2003) Evidence-based practice in schools: Evaluating research and reducing barriers. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools34: 273–283.
28.
MichaelsS (1991) The dismantling of a narrative. In: McCabeAPetersonC (eds) Developing Narrative Structure. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, pp. 303–352.
29.
MontagueMGravesALeavellA (1991) Planning, procedural facilitation, and narrative composition of junior high students with learning disabilities. Learning Disabilities Research and Practice6: 219–224.
30.
PaulR (1995) Language Disorders from Infancy through Adolescence. St. Louis, MO: Mosby.
31.
PaulRHernandezRTaylorLJohnsonK (1996) Narrative development in late talkers: Early school-age. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research39: 1295–1303.
32.
PetersenDGillamSSpencerTGillamR (2010) The effects of literate narrative intervention on children with neurologically based language impairments: An early stage study. Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research53: 961–981.
33.
RothFP (2000) Narrative writing: Development and teaching children with writing difficulties. Topics in Language Disorders20: 15–28.
34.
RothFPSpekmanNJ (1986) Narrative discourse: Spontaneously generated stories of learning-disabled and normally achieving students. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders51: 8–23.
35.
SackettDLRosenbergWMMuir GrayJA. (2000) Evidence-based Medicine: How to Practice and Teach EBM, 2nd edn.Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone.
36.
SillimanER (1989) Narratives: A window on the oral substrate of written language disabilities. Annals of Dyslexia39: 125–139.
37.
SillimanERWilkinsonL (1991) Communicating for Learning: Classroom Observation and Collaboration. Gaithersburg, MD: Aspen.
38.
SwansonLAFeyMEMillsCEHoodLS (2005) Use of narrative-based language intervention with children who have specific language impairment. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology14: 131–143.
39.
UkrainetzT (1998) Stickwriting stories: A quick and easy narrative representation strategy. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools29: 197–206.
40.
UkrainetzTJusticeLMKaderavekJ. (2005) Artful storytelling: The development of expressive elaboration in fictional narratives. Journal of Speech, Language, Hearing Research48: 1363–1377.
41.
WestbyCE (1989) Children learn at home: Why don’t they learn at school?PsycCRITIQUES34: 292.
42.
WiigESemelE (1984) Language Assessment and Intervention for the Learning Disabled. New York: Merrill/Macmillan.
43.
ZippoliRKennedyM (2005) Evidence-based practice among speech-language pathologists: Attitudes, utilization, and barriers. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology14: 208–220.
