Narrative Abilities in Hearing-Impaired Children: Propositions and Cohesion

• Published in: American annals of the deaf (Washington, D.C. 1886) Vol. 135; no. 1; pp. 14 - 21
• Main Authors: Griffith, Penny L., Ripich, Danielle N., Dastoli, Sondra L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC Conference of Educational Administrators Serving the Deaf 1990; Gallaudet University Press; American Annals of the Deaf; Executive Committee of the Convention of American Instructors of the Deaf
• Subjects: Adolescent; American sign language; Auditory perception; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child, Preschool; Coherence; Communication; Comprehension; Correction of Hearing Impairment; Deafness; Difficulty Level; Ear, auditive nerve, cochleovestibular tract, facial nerve: diseases, semeiology; Elementary Education; Expressive Language; Hearing Impairments; Human error; Humans; Linguistics; Medical sciences; Narration; Narrative devices; Narratives; Non tumoral diseases; Otorhinolaryngology. Stomatology; Patient Education as Topic; Predicates; Pronouns; Recall (Psychology); Referents; Semantics; Sign Language; Story Grammar; Story Telling; Syntactics; Videotape Recording; Human; Learning; Narrative; Oral communication; ENT disease; Child; Hearing loss
• ISSN: 0002-726X; 1543-0375; 1543-0375
• DOI: 10.1353/aad.2012.0424

Two linguistic microstructures, propositions and cohesive devices, were analyzed in story recalls by 11 primary and intermediate level hearing-impaired students. The students were enrolled in total communication, public day classes, and had severe-to-profound hearing losses. Four story conditions were presented: (1) easy structure—T.C.; (2) complex structure—T.C.; (3) complex structure with pictures—T.C.; and (4) create-a-story—pictures. Students watched and then retold or made up a story to a friend. Recalls were videotaped and transcribed by a deaf adult and the first investigator. Recalls of hearing-impaired students were significantly shorter than those found earlier for hearing students. When stories are very simple, hearing-impaired students generate mostly complete propositions, however as complexity increases, semantic errors result in fewer complete propositions.