ACQ Vol 13 no 3 2011

Pearce, W. M., James, D. G. H., & McCormack, P. F. (2010). A comparison of oral narratives in children with specific and non-specific language impairment. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics , 24 (8), 622–645. doi: 10.3109/02699201003736403 Petersen, D.B., Gillam, S.L., & Gillam, R.B. (2008). Emerging procedures in narrative assessment: The index of narrative complexity. Topics in Language Disorders , 28 (2), 115–130. Price, L. H., Hendricks, S., & Cook, C. (2010). Incorporating computer-aided language sample analysis into clinical practice. Language, Speech and Hearing Services in Schools , 41 (2), 206–222. doi:10.1044/0161- 1461(2009/08-0054 Speech Pathology Australia (SPA). (2007). Working with Aboriginal people in rural and remote Northern Territory: A resource guide for speech pathologists . Melbourne: Author. Turnbull, D. (2002). Monitoring second language development using the bandscales for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander learners . Retrieved from www.education.qld. gov.au Westerveld, M. (2011). Sampling and analysis of children’s spontaneous language: From research to practice. ACQuiring Knowledge in Speech, Language and Hearing , 13 (2), 63–67. Westerveld, M., & Claessen, M. (2009, May). Children’s spoken language skills in conversation and narration: A

Wendy Pearce is a senior lecturer at James Cook University (Townsville, Queensland), teaching in the areas of paediatric speech and language impairments and with a special research interest in the language skills of Indigenous Australian children. She gained a PhD from Flinders University in 2007 and has over 25 years’ experience working with children in early childhood settings and schools in South Australia. Emma Stockings graduated with Honours from James Cook University at the end of 2010 and now works as a speech pathologist for Education Queensland in Bundaberg. Westerveld, M. F., Gillon, G. T., & Miller, J. F. (2004). Spoken language samples of New Zealand children in conversation and narration. Advances in Speech-Language Pathology , (6) 4, 195–208. cross-Tasman comparison . Paper presented at Speech Pathology Australia National Conference, Adelaide. Westerveld, M.F., & Gillon, G.T. (2010). Profiling oral narrative ability in young school-aged children. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology , 12 (3), 178–189.

Correspondence to: Wendy Pearce, PhD Senior Lecturer in Speech Pathology, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland phone: 07 4781 6501 email: wendy.pearce@jcu.edu.au

Appendix: Features of Aboriginal English present in the children’s narratives Feature of “Aboriginal English” Example SAE form Preposition is omitted or varied “it jumped out the jar”

“it jumped out of the jar” “it bit him on the nose”

“bit him in the nose”

Pronouns vary in form (reduced marking

“Sonny jumped outa the jar and went where he

“Sonny jumped out of the jar and went

for gender, possession or case)

mother”

where his mother was”

Plurals are omitted

“and they saw the frog two mummy”

“and they saw the frog’s two mummies”

Possessive form is omitted or varied

“and they saw the frog two mummy”

“and they saw the frog’s two mummies”

Copula is omitted

“there the frog”

“there is the frog”

“Sonny jumped outa the jar and went where

“Sonny jumped out of the jar and went

he mother”

where his mother was”

Auxiliaries and modals are omitted

“what you doing?”

“what are you doing?”

“we gonna try and find him”

“we are gonna try and find him”

Past tense forms are omitted or varied

“the bees come out” “the boy waked up”

“the bees came out” “the boy woke up”

“then he looked in the hole and say ‘frog’“

“then he looked in the hole and said ‘frog’“

Future tense marked with “gonna”

“we gonna try and find him”

“we are going to try to find him”

Subject–verb concord is absent

“they was hearing this thing behind the big

“they were hearing this thing behind the big

big log”

log”

Infinitive “to” missing

“they try look outside”

“they tried to look outside”

Repetition for emphasis

“they was hearing this thing behind the big

“they were hearing this thing behind the

big log”

big log”

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ACQ Volume 13, Number 3 2011

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