Language comprehension and production by an Italian 14-year-old adolescent: a case study on a student with Special Educational Needs.

Abstract

M. is a 14-year-old student in his second year of high school. In spite of his clear difficulties in following a regular program, he has been included in a normal classroom. According to the Italian legislation he is a student with Special Educational Needs (SEN in the UK; Bisogni Educativi Speciali BES in Italy), therefore a specific teaching plan has been modeled on him at the beginning of his high school career. The plan does not consider his difficulties in detail. Focusing only on the distinction between dyslexia and Specific Language Impairment (SLI), the aim of this thesis is to investigate his language impairment through the submission of standardized tests (Peabody PPVT-R, Test di Comprensione Grammaticale per Bambini TCGB and Prove di Valutazione Grammaticale dell’Italiano Scritto) and non-standardized tests (Sentence repetition task, Passive sentence comprehension task, Passive sentence production task and Relative clause comprehension task). The analysis of his performance in the standardized tests made it possible to detect poor vocabulary skills; difficulties with negative, relative and dative sentences; low accuracy in the use of pronouns, articles and prepositions. Non-standardized tests revealed that memory and passive sentences are more preserved than relative clauses. The analysis and the comparison of results with normative data highlight that M.’s impairment is more probably related to SLI and that the plan stated by the school board is not adequate to his needs.