Story organization and narrative by school-age children with typical language development.

BACKGROUND: The narrative abilities provide valuable information about the linguistic, cognitive and social development of school-age children with typical language development (TLD).

AIM: To examine the temporal ordering of figures and the narrative abilities of school-age children with TLD in relation to the type of discourse presented.

METHOD: Participants of this study included 60 children with TLD aged between seven and ten years of age. Fifteen stories were used in the study. Each story was illustrated by four figures. The sequences of figures were created and classified as mechanical, behavioral and intentional according to the relationships presented among the characters. Data were transcribed and analyzed regarding the type of discourse (descriptive, causal and intentional) and the type of organization of the figures.

RESULTS: No differences between age groups were observed for temporal ordering. For all age groups, the most frequently presented discourse type was the causal one. Statistically significant differences were observed among age groups for the causal and intentional discourse type. Inasmuch as the age increased, school-age children with TLD reduced the use of the descriptive discourse and increased the use of the intentional one.

CONCLUSION: The ability of temporal ordering is already developed in children with TLD at seven-years of age. The type of discourse was influenced by age and by the type of story presented.