Syntactic Abilities in Normal and Dyslexic Children

Syntactic abilities in oral language of 20 normal and 20 dyslexic second graders were assessed. Group membership was determined on the basis of performance on two silent reading comprehension tests. Nine measures were used to assess syntactic abilities; none required reading or writing. The dyslectics were found to be different from the normal children at a high level of significance on seven of the nine measures, all favoring the normals. The dyslexic children were significantly deficient in oral syntax. The findings indicate the importance of assessing oral syntax in the evaluation and diagnosis of children with reading difficulties.