Oral language and narrative skills in children with specific language impairment with and without literacy delay: a three-year longitudinal study.
Even SLI children who read on level still need direct work on vocabulary, grammar, and story retelling.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Vandewalle et al. (2012) followed the same kids for three years. All had specific language impairment, or SLI. Half also had trouble learning to read.
Each year the team tested vocabulary, grammar, story retelling, and listening comprehension. They wanted to see which language gaps closed and which stayed open.
What they found
Kids with SLI plus reading delay stayed weak in every area. Their vocabulary, grammar, and story retelling did not catch up.
Kids with SLI but normal reading improved only in listening and storytelling. Vocabulary, grammar, and retelling stayed low. Good reading scores did not fix these gaps.
How this fits with other research
Favart et al. (2016) extends the story. They showed that older SLI students can write cohesive stories when the task forces them to think about the reader. Ellen’s kids were younger and still struggled with oral retelling, so the gap can shrink later if we set the right writing demands.
Baixauli et al. (2016) found similar narrative weaknesses in high-functioning autism. Both groups have trouble with story structure, so the same teaching tools may help across diagnoses.
Patton et al. (2020) gives hope. Their small-group language lessons raised vocabulary and narrative scores in autistic pupils. Ellen’s data say SLI children need the same direct work, because reading practice alone is not enough.
Why it matters
If you work with SLI children, do not trust good reading scores to fix language. Add fast-paced vocabulary drills, morphology games, and story-retell practice every session. Use the same narrative frames that help kids with autism. Check progress each month, not each year.
Want CEUs on This Topic?
The ABA Clubhouse has 60+ free CEUs — live every Wednesday. Ethics, supervision & clinical topics.
Join Free →Pick one story, pre-teach five key words, then have the child retell it with picture supports and grammatical prompts.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
This longitudinal study compared the development of oral language and more specifically narrative skills (storytelling and story retelling) in children with specific language impairment (SLI) with and without literacy delay. Therefore, 18 children with SLI and 18 matched controls with normal literacy were followed from the last year of kindergarten (mean age=5 years 5 months) until the beginning of grade 3 (mean age=8 years 1 month). Oral language tests measuring vocabulary, morphology, sentence and text comprehension and narrative skills were administered yearly. Based on first and third grade reading and spelling achievement, both groups were divided into a group with and a group without literacy problems. Results showed that the children with SLI and literacy delay had persistent oral language problems across all assessed language domains. The children with SLI and normal literacy skills scored also persistently low on vocabulary, morphology and story retelling skills. Only on listening comprehension and storytelling, they evolved towards the level of the control group. In conclusion, oral language skills in children with SLI and normal literacy skills remained in general poor, despite their intact literacy development during the first years of literacy instruction. Only for listening comprehension and storytelling, they improved, probably as a result of more print exposure.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2012 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2012.05.004