The Type and Frequency of Morphosyntax Errors in Children's Narratives.

• Main Author: Lockhart, Jennifer Lynn
• Format: Others
• Published: Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University 2004
• Subjects: school-aged children; persistence; narratives; morphology; grammar; Communication Sciences and Disorders; Medicine and Health Sciences; Speech and Hearing Science
• Online Access: https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/873; https://dc.etsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2030&context=etd

A subsample of 478 children who originally participated in a larger study (Tomblin et al., 1997) was examined for type and frequency of morphological noun and verb errors in oral and written narratives in 2nd and 4th grade. Each child represented one of four groups: Typical Language, Specific Language Impairment, Nonspecific Language Impairment, and Low Nonverbal IQ. Three MANOVA's and post-hoc comparisons were used to test three predictions: (1) children will have more difficulty with verb than noun morphology; (2) children will make more errors in the written than the spoken narratives; and (3) children whose language impairments persist will produce more morphological errors than children whose language problems appear to resolve. Analyses supported the first two predictions but not the third. Results are discussed in relation to levels of morphological mastery, language development and processing demands. Clinical implications of the study are presented.