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Written Expression of Students With and Without Learning Disabilities

Differences Across the Grades

Cherry K. Houck is a professor in the College of Education, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia. She received her EdD from the University of Alabama. Her research interests include educational programs and instruction of students with learning disabilities.

Bonnie S. Billingsley

Bonnie S. Billingsley is an assistant professor in the administration and supervision of special education at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia. She received her doctorate at the same institution and program in 1987. Her current research interests involve the supervision and evaluation of special education programs and programming for adolescents with learning disabilities. Address: Cherry K. Houck, College of Education, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061-0313.

This study compares the written expression of 48 students with learning disabilities (LD) and 48 normally achieving (NA) students (Grades 4, 8, and 11). Productivity, syntactic maturity, vocabulary, and mechanics were examined using writing samples obtained in response to a standard stimulus. Results indicate that, compared to their NA peers, students with learning disabilities write fewer words and sentences, write more words per sentence, produce fewer words with seven letters or more and fewer sentence fragments, and have a higher percentage of capitalization and spelling errors. No group differences were found for the number of T-units produced or the number of morphemes per T-unit. Comparison of group differences at each grade level and differences by groups across the grades reveals persistent written expression difficulties and signals a need for a careful review of current instructional practices and how they can be improved.

Journal of Learning Disabilities, Vol. 22, No. 9, 561-568 (1989)
DOI: 10.1177/002221948902200908


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