Story Grammar Knowledge of Learning Disabled Students

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine whether learning disabled (LD) and non-learning disabled (NLD) students differ in their inclusion of basic story grammar components (assumed to underlie development of writing and reading) in written narratives. The written stories of 96 LD and 96 NLD students in grades 3, 4, 5, and 6 were analyzed to evaluate their inclusion of a complete story grammar. Significant differences were indicated at grades 3, 4, and 5, with the LD group demonstrating poorer performance. No differences were found at grade 6. Results suggest a need to investigate the effectiveness of instruction in story schema for LD students to improve reading and writing.