The relationship between mazes and macrostructure in the narratives of Spanish-English Bilingual Children with and without DLD

Date of Submission

Spring 2026

Document Type

Closed Research Project

Degree Name

Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology

Department

Speech-Language Pathology

First Advisor

Lourdes Martinez-Nieto, PhD

Abstract

Narrative skills are essential for language development and academic success. Mazes reflect the cognitive demands of speech production. This study investigates the relationship between mazes and narrative macrostructure in Spanish-English bilingual children with and without DLD over five years. A total of 28 children (19 TD and 9 DLD) produced English narratives during preschool and third grade. Narratives were transcribed, segmented into five episodes, and analyzed for seven SG elements. Mazes were categorized into repetitions, filled pauses, lexical revisions, and grammatical revisions, with their frequency and distribution across SG elements analyzed. Results showed that both TD and DLD children improved in narrative macrostructure scores from preschool to third grade, though children with DLD scored lower across all SG elements. Both groups displayed strengths in the “Character” element, while “Plan” was the most challenging. Maze production varied across SG elements, with more mazes occurring in more elaborated elements. Maze frequency was linked to the amount of language produced in each SG element rather than its complexity. Children with DLD made more lexical revisions in preschool, but this gap with TD children narrowed by third grade, highlighting the importance of early language intervention. However, filler mazes increased over time for DLD children. These findings emphasize the need to examine how narrative structure and mazes interact to better understand the challenges faced by bilingual children, especially those with DLD.

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