Characterizing macro- and micro-structures of narrative skills for Mandarin-speaking school-age children with specific language impairment

Introduction: Little is known about the narrative skills of Mandarin-speaking children with specific language impairment (SLI). This study was aimed to capture the features of narratives for school-age Mandarin-speaking children with SLI. Methods: Oral narrative samples by 55 Mandarin-speaking children with SLI [higher grades, recruited from Grade 4–5, n = 26, M_age = 11.00 years, SD = 0.56; lower grades, recruited from Grade 1–3, n = 29, M_age = 8.05 years, SD = 0.89] were compared with typically developing (TD) children on macro- and micro-structures of narratives. Results: The results revealed that across grades, for macrostructure, children with SLI lagged behind TD children in narrative pattern scores. For microstructure, children with SLI were constrained in the total number of words, the total number of different words, and the mean length of utterance. They also used fewer serial verb constructions, clausal objects, and temporality conjunctions. They were less adequate in the three referential functions of introduction, maintenance, and switch. Furthermore, the results showed that older children demonstrated higher narrative pattern scores, longer MLU, and higher proportions of conjunctions and referential forms of switch. Conclusions: These results suggest that both macro- and micro-structure measures in narratives are sensitive to linguistic difficulties for children with SLI and that some of these measures are sensitive to grade growth. The findings shed light on the assessment and developmental changes of school-age Mandarin-speaking children with SLI and TD children.