Semester
Spring
Date of Graduation
2020
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Type
MS
College
College of Education and Human Services
Department
Communication Sciences and Disorders
Committee Chair
Jayne Brandel
Committee Member
Michelle Moore
Committee Member
Alexandra Hollo
Abstract
The aim of this project was to examine the use of action, metacognitive, and metalinguistic verbs in narratives relative to age-related growth for children with typical language and their peers with a language-based disorder. While limited information is known about the use of these differing verb types, there is evidence to show that metacognitive and metalinguistic verbs are less salient than action verbs, and therefore have a longer trajectory of acquisition. The oral narratives of 84 typically developing students were coded for occurrences of action verbs, metacognitive verbs, and metalinguistic verbs to obtain a total use as well as to examine the number of different verb types in each category used by the participants. In addition, the use of these verbs by 76 children with typical language were compared to those of 38 age-matched children with language impairment. The results indicated that an increase in age lead to a significant increase in the number of action, metacognitive, and metalinguistic verbs used. The findings also revealed that children with typical language used a wider variety of verbs in their narratives as compared to those with a language-based disorder.
Recommended Citation
Switzer, Allison Ann, "The Use of Differing Verb Types in the Oral Narratives of School-Age Children" (2020). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 7519.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/7519