Srinakorn Prohmtong. A comparative study of verb expression between normal children and mentally retarded children . Master's Degree(Communication Disorders). Mahidol University. : Mahidol University, 2004.
A comparative study of verb expression between normal children and mentally retarded children
Abstract:
The proposes of this study were: first, to compare the verb production ability
between normal Thai children aged 4 to 5 years and Thai mentally retarded children with
a mental age from 4 to 5 years and second, to compare the performance of children with
mental retardation relative to mental age and gender. The subjects were 60 normal
children and 60 mentally retarded children. There were 30 males and 30 females of
normal subjects and 30 males and 30 females of mentally retarded subjects in two age
groups 4.1 to 4.6 and 4.7 to 5.0 years. The subjects’ performance was evaluated by 80
picture tests. The results were computed and analyzed using percentages, means,
standard deviations, and two way ANOVA.
Results revealed that seventy-five percent of normal children aged 4-5 years
produced 58 verbs. Seventy-five percent of mentally retarded children aged 4-5 years
produced 49 verbs. The means of verb expression scores obtained from normal children
in age groups 4.1 to 4.6 and 4.7 to 5.0 years were 55.33 and 66.06, respectively. For
mentally retarded children, the means of verb expression scores of mental age groups 4.1
to 4.6 and 4.7 to 5.0 were 55.00 and 61.86, respectively. There was a statistically
nonsignificant difference in verb production between age levels and subject groups.
However, there was a statistically significant difference between age groups relative to
verb expression both in normal and mentally retarded subjects (p<.05). The mean scores
for verb expression obtained from mentally retarded males with mental age of 4.1 to 4.6
and 4.7 to 5.0 were 53.86 and 63.80, respectively. The corresponding mean scores from
mentally retarded females, with mental age of 4.1 to 4.6 and 4.7 to 5.0 were 56.13 and
59.93, respectively. There was a statistically nonsignificant difference in verb expression
between age and gender for mentally retarded children. However, there was a
statistically significant difference in verb expression relative to age (p<.05). The scores
of older mental age were significantly higher than scores of younger mental age subjects.