Reading and narrative performance in students with Specific Language Impairment

Abstract

The aims of this research are to know the reading and narrative performance of students with SLI and to study the possible relationships between narrative performance and reading achievement in these subjects. We worked with 31 students (12 students with SLI and grammatical deficit and 19 students without language problems). All the students coursed their 1st grade in primary schools with integration projects. Their narrative discourse, decoding and reading comprehension was assessed. The results showed that school children with SLI have problems, as a group, in reading (comprehension and decoding) although their reading performances are variable. Furthermore, they show a similar narrative performance to students without language problems. Finally, there was no relationship between reading performance and oral narrative skills in both groups.