Describing and comparing pragmatic language skills ofTurkish students with typical development and inclusive education students withmild intellectual disability

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to describe and compare pragmatic language skills of Turkish students with typical development and inclusive education students with mild intellectual disability. Participants included 152 primary school students\xa0 (75 students were students with typical development-STD, and 77 students were inclusive education students with mild intellectual disability-IES) aged between 5 and 12. Data were collected via Turkish version of Pragmatic Language Skills Inventory (TV-PLSI, Alev, Diken, Ardic, Diken, Şekercioglu and Gilliam, 2014). Results indicated that out of 75 students with typical development (STD), 58 (77,4 %) had average or above average pragmatic language skills whereas out of 77 inclusive education students (IES), only 17 (22,1 %) showed average or above average pragmatic language skills. More specifically, 60 (77,9) IES had below average, poor and very poor pragmatic language skills. Results on comparisons of two groups also revealed that students with typical development showed higher pragmatic language skills than inclusive education students with mild intellectual disability on total score and three subtest scores of the TV-PLSI. Suggestions were provided.