Narrative Discourse in Youth Offenders: Examining Individual Differences.

Purpose: This study examined narrative discourse in youth offenders, focusing on quality of story retelling, story comprehension, critical thinking, and the use of complex syntax.

Method: The participants were 15 incarcerated adolescents, ages 13-18 years ( = 16 years). Each was evaluated at their detention center via Zoom, using a standardized language test and language samples that elicited narrative speaking with fables.

Using Fables to Support Critical Thinking and Advanced Language Skills.

Purpose: In this clinical focus article, we discuss the nature of critical thinking, its importance for adolescents, and its interaction with later language development. We also introduce a language arts program, . The program aims to support critical thinking, narrative and expository discourse, and the use of complex syntax and literate vocabulary.

Mastering the Grammar of Past Tense Counterfactual Sentences: A Pilot Study of Adolescents Attending Low-Income Schools.

Background/aim: This pilot study was designed to determine if adolescents had mastered the grammar of past tense counterfactual (PTCF) sentences (e.g., "If Julie had done all of the track workouts, she might have won the state meet").

How Adolescents Interpret the Moral Messages of Fables: Examining the Development of Critical Thinking.

Purpose Critical thinking pervades formal educational benchmarks in the United States, including the Common Core State Standards. However, little information is available on how it develops. Hence, the primary purpose of this study was to examine the development of critical thinking in adolescents using a written language-sampling task.

Development of Past Tense Counterfactual Sentences: Examining Production and Comprehension in Adolescents and Adults.

Purpose The primary purpose of this study was to examine the development of past tense counterfactual (PTCF) sentences ("If the dog had stayed in the house, he would not have bitten the police officer") in young adolescents and young adults, addressing both production and comprehension. The goal was to determine if growth occurs during the years between early adolescence and early adulthood and when or if mastery of these sentences occurs. We also examined the development of past tense irregular verbs to determine growth and mastery.