Characteristics of Syntactic Complexity in School-Aged Children with Specific Language Impairment: A Comparison of Conversation and Expository Discourses

Lee, Hyun-jung; Kim, Young-Tae; Yun, Hea Ryun

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Commun Sci Disord. 2008;13(1): 103-121.

Hyun-jung Lee^` , Young-Tae Kim^` , and Hea Ryun Yun^`

이현정(Hyun-jung Lee)| 김영태(Young-Tae Kim)| 윤혜련(Hea Ryun Yun)

ABSTRACT

subordinative development and they use various discourse for diverse purpose. Thus various discourse genres need to use in evaluating in early elementary school children with SLI. The purpose of this study was to examine the syntactic complexity of school-aged children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI). Two types of discourses (conversational and expository discourses) were selected because these are frequently used types in school and daily routines.
Methods
The participants were 12 2nd and 3rd grade elementary school children with SLI (SLI group), 12 chronological age matched children (CA group); and 12 language age matched children (LA group). Each participant engaged in two types of discourse (conversation and expository discourse) because these are frequently used discourse types in school and daily routines.
Results
Mean length of C-unit in word (MLC-w), Mean number of clauses per C-unit (MNC), the percentage of C-units containing relative clauses and adverbial clauses were higher in expository discourse than conversational discourse. MNC and nominal clauses in expository discourse were lower in SLI group than in the CA control group. The percentage of syntactic errors per C-unit (both in expository and conversational discourses) was significantly higher in the SLI group than CA and LA control groups.
Discussion & Conclusion
The results of this study indicate that there are significant group and discourse genre effect in syntactic complexity. These results have clinical implications. that different discourse genres could be used in evaluating and correcting language problems in early elementary school children with SLI