THE NARRATIVE SKILLS OF PRIMARY-SCHOOL CHILDREN WITH A UNILATERAL HEARING IMPAIRMENT

The discourse skills of four boys with a unilateral hearing impairment (UHI), aged 7.2-10.7 years, were appraised over a 2-year period by ex amining their oral narrative use. All subjects exhibited delayed narra tive skills, including features typical of children with a language di sorder. These findings of language difficulties within this population were at variance with previous findings showing that children with UH I do not experience language problems. The subjects' language skills w ere discussed in relation to their academic performance. The implicati ons of the findings for the process of narrative assessment were also discussed.