Assessing the language skills of primary school students with and without learning disabilities in the context of narration

Abstract

This study aims to examine the language skills of Turkish-speaking primary school students who have learning disabilities (LD) and of their peers with typical development (TD) in comparison, by assessing these skills in the context of narration. For this, a comparative descriptive research model was used in the study. The study participants consisted of a total of 70 primary school students: 35 with LD and 35 with TD. To collect the data, two picture books of similar complexity and a story about one of these books were used. The participants were asked to tell the stories in the contexts of narrative tell and narrative retell. The stories told were analysed and scored according to the language features. The findings have shown that the students with LD exhibited lower language performance than their peers with TD in both narrative tell and narrative retell contexts, and both groups’ performances in the language elements were higher in the context of narrative retell. The findings have been discussed in line with the relevant literature, and suggestions for further research and practice have been presented.

Keywords: Learning disability; language skills; language assessment; narrative