ompromise the developmental
trajectories of children with SLI. The combined effect of language and
literacy difficulties typically results in reduced educational
attainments (Dockrell, Lindsay, Palikara, & Cullen, 2007). However,
the ways in which language and literacy interact to support writing
require further clarification if theoretical models are to address the
nature and extent of the children's difficulties and appropriately
targeted interventions are to be developed.
Compared to studies examining the reading profiles of children with
SLI (Kelso, Fletcher, Lee, & Kelso, 2007; McArthur, Hogben, Edwards,
Heath, & Mengler, 2000), investigations into their difficulties with
writing are relatively recent. The few published studies that have
examined the written texts of children with SLI provide a mixed picture
of the factors that limit the production of written text. Between the
ages of 7 and 11, children with SLI produce a high number of spelling
errors (Bishop & Clarkson, 2003)--particularly phonological errors
(Mackie & Dockrell, 2004)--and error patterns deviate from those of
chronological age but not language-age-matched peers (Mackie &
Dockrell). Children with SLI also show an increased level of grammatical
errors in the written form (Gillam & Johnston, 1992; Scott &
Windsor, 2000; Windsor, Scott, & Street, 2000). However, the most
common associated problems are not grammatical difficulties but problems
with spelling and punctuation, as well as poorer semantic content
(Bishop & Clarkson).
To date, studies of individuals with language impairment point to a
delay in patterns of writing development, where the factors that
constrain text production are similar to those experienced by younger
typically developing children. Over time, for typically developing
children, idea generation and the translation of those ideas into
written text production become more automatic, allowing time for the
cognitively demanding processes of planning and revision. In addition,
the relationships between reading and writing change. Studies of the
writing skills of students with SLI have failed to examine developmental
changes. Important gaps remain in our understanding of the writing
profiles of children with SLI and the factors that underpin difficulties
in text production. Specifically, evidence examining the writing
performance of adolescents with a history of SLI is missing and the ways
in which earlier language and literacy skills contribute to the
development of text production over time is unexplored. A further major
omission, given the motor incoordination difficulties experienced by
many children with SLI (Hill, 2004), is the lack of measures of
handwriting fluency. Transcription skills uniquely predict compositional
fluency throughout the elementary grades (Graham, Berninger, Abbott,
Abbott, & Whitaker, 1997) and motor incoordination can impact
handwriting fluency (Graham, Struck, Richardson, & Berninger, 2006);
students with a history of SLI may be disadvantaged in written text
production by transcription skills, their semantic competence, and their
The current study aimed to address the ways in which measures of
language, literacy, and processing limitations are related to writing,
by studying a sample of adolescents with a history of SLI. No
longitudinal data about the writing skills of students with SLI at this
phase of education have previously been published. We predicted that,
similar to other groups of children with learning disabilities, students
with a history of SLI would continue to exhibit difficulties in
producing written text in late adolescence. Given the processing demands
of producing written text, performance would be differentially impaired
in relation to oral language and reading. We expected their texts to be
short and marred by both spelling and grammatical errors. Some relative
growth in writing skills might be possible, given that previous studies
have found a relative improvement in the production of written story
composition towards the end of elementary school (Fey et al., 2004).
This slow growth m