Evaluating the efficacy of a small-group oral narrative intervention programme for pre-primary children with narrative difficulties in a mainstream school setting

ABSTRACT

This study designed and evaluated the efficacy of a manualised programme for children in mainstream school with delays in narrative discourse. Efficacy was evaluated using a Phase 1 non-randomised single-subject across multiple-baselines design. The programme was delivered by a speech pathologist with 11 mainstream children aged 5;0–5;11 years, in small groups, three times a week for 6 weeks. Intervention focused on explicit teaching of narrative macrostructure using icons, graphic organisers and repeated story retellings. Microstructure (morphosyntax and vocabulary) was targeted using implicit language facilitation procedures including modelling, recasting, expansion and vertical structuring. Participation in the programme resulted in significant changes with moderate to large effect sizes for most participants in the number of macrostructure elements, and conjunctions and adverbs. Analysis of pre-post standardised narrative data revealed clinically significant improvements for 9 of the 11 participants. The findings add to the research supporting the effectiveness of small-group oral narrative intervention.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the contributions of the Department of Education teaching and administration teams, students and families from the Pilot and Trial schools involved in this research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. While SALT was used to code the samples in this study, clinicians could code the presence of the macro- and microstructures using the checklists provided without using SALT.

Additional information

Funding

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.