Analysis of oral narratives in preschoolers with soft neurological signs and language difficulties

The oral narrative consists of the expression of a series of experiences or sequenced events that took place in time within a context. The objective of this study was to analyze the oral narratives in preschool children with soft neurological signs in the presence or absence of speech disorder. We chose 80 preschool children (32 girls and 48 boys) with an average age of 5 years 8 months, DE = 5.2, from low to middle socioeconomic level of public schools in Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico. Verbal intelligence was assessed with the Wechsler scale for the preschool and primary levels; the soft neurological signs and the narration of a series of illustrations. Significant differences were found in the level of narrative coherence with speech disorders where children with moderate to severe language difficulties were located at the initial levels of coherence. Narratives are relevant tools for the evaluation and development of language.