The effects of narrative-based language intervention (NBLI) on spoken narrative structures in Persian-speaking cochlear implanted children: A prospective randomized control trial

Abstract Background Previous research has shown that narrative-based language intervention (NBLI) is a feasible approach increasing the narrative skills of hearing-impaired children. Objective In the present study, the efficacy of NBLI on the macrostructure and microstructure components of the spoken narrative of children with cochlear implants (CI) was evaluated in an experimental study. Materials and methods Thirty-six CI children between the ages of 5.5 and 7 years were randomly divided in three groups of equal size. Group 1 attended 24 1-h sessions of NBLI group therapy. Group 2 participants each attended 24 1-h private sessions of NBLI instruction. Group 3 attended 24 1-h conventional speech therapy (CST) sessions. The subjects' storytelling skills were prompted using pictures from the Persian version of the Language Sample Analysis test. The results were assessed before treatment (T0), after treatment (T1) and two months after treatment (T2) as follow-up. Results Groups 1 and 2 showed significantly better results over Group 3 on all microstructure components of spoken narrative at the T1 ( p  ≤ 0.04) and T2 ( p  ≤ 0.04) levels in comparison with T0, but no differences were observed between the NBLI approaches ( p  > 0.05). All three intervention programs significantly improved the macrostructure of the spoken narrative in CI children. Conclusion Improvements in spoken narrative structures were observed in CI children that support the efficacy of NBLI over CST for the hearing-impaired population.