scholarly journals Article choice in children with High Functioning Autism (HFA) and in children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI)

2014 ◽  
Vol 31 ◽  
pp. 107-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeannette C. Schaeffer ◽  
Merel van Witteloostuijn ◽  
Doatske de Haan
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
High Functioning Autism ◽  
Scalar Implicature ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
High Functioning ◽  
Indefinite Article ◽  
Group A ◽  
Impaired Children

This study reports on the choice between a definite and an indefinite article by children with High Functioning Autism (HFA) and children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI). We carried out an elicited production task with 16 Dutch-speaking non-grammatically impaired children with HFA aged 6–13, 16 age-matched Dutch-speaking children with SLI, and 16 typically developing (TD) age controls. The results in the indefinite conditions reveal virtually no errors across groups. However, in the definite condition the HFA group, but NOT the SLI group, incorrectly produces indefinite articles significantly more often than the TD group. A more detailed analysis shows that 38% (6/16) of the children with HFA vs. 13% (2/16) of the children with SLI regularly produce indefinite articles in definite contexts. We propose that these children do not always calculate the additional (pragmatic) meaning of indefinites derived by scalar implicature (Horn 2006). Furthermore, development by age in the SLI group, but NOT in the HFA group, suggests that the failure to draw a scalar implicature is more persistent in children with HFA than in children with SLI. Concluding, our results show that non-grammatically impaired children with HFA are more prone to pragmatic impairments than children with SLI, suggesting a dissociation between grammar and pragmatics.

scholarly journals Article choice, theory of mind, and memory in children with high-functioning autism and children with specific language impairment

2017 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
JEANNETTE SCHAEFFER ◽  
MEREL VAN WITTELOOSTUIJN ◽  
AVA CREEMERS
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
High Functioning Autism ◽  
Definite Article ◽  
Phonological Memory ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
High Functioning ◽  
Indefinite Article

ABSTRACTPrevious studies show that young, typically developing (TD) children (<age 5) and children with specific language impairment (SLI; >age 5) make errors in the choice between a definite and an indefinite article. Suggested explanations for overgeneration of the definite article include failure to distinguish speaker from hearer assumptions, and for overgeneration of the indefinite article failure to draw scalar implicatures, and weak working memory. However, no direct empirical evidence for these accounts is available. In this study, 27 Dutch-speaking children with high-functioning autism, 27 children with SLI, and 27 TD children aged 5–14 were administered a pragmatic article choice test, a nonverbal theory of mind test, and three types of memory tests (phonological memory, verbal, and nonverbal working memory). The results show that the children with high-functioning autism and SLI (a) make similar errors, that is, they overgenerate the indefinite article; (b) are TD-like at theory of mind, but (c) perform significantly more poorly than the TD children on phonological memory and verbal working memory. We propose that weak memory skills prevent the integration of the definiteness scale with the preceding discourse, resulting in the failure to consistently draw the relevant scalar implicature. This in turn yields the occasional erroneous choice of the indefinite articleain definite contexts.

Observing iconic gestures enhances word learning in typically developing children and children with specific language impairment

2017 ◽  
Vol 44 (6) ◽  
pp. 1458-1484 ◽  
Author(s):  
SUSANNE VOGT ◽  
CHRISTINA KAUSCHKE
Keyword(s):  
Word Learning ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Typically Developing Children ◽  
Iconic Gesture ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
New Words ◽  
Language Impaired ◽  
Impaired Children

AbstractResearch has shown that observing iconic gestures helps typically developing children (TD) and children with specific language impairment (SLI) learn new words. So far, studies mostly compared word learning with and without gestures. The present study investigated word learning under two gesture conditions in children with and without language impairment. Twenty children with SLI (age four), twenty age-matched TD children, and twenty language-matched TD children were taught words that were presented with either iconic or non-iconic gestures. Results showed that children of all groups benefited more successfully from observing iconic gestures for word learning. The iconic gesture advantage was similar across groups. Thus, observing iconic gestures prompts richer encoding and makes word learning more efficient in TD and language impaired children.

scholarly journals Grammatical and pragmatic properties of the DP in children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) and in children with High Functioning Autism (HFA)

2015 ◽  
Vol 32 ◽  
pp. 16-32
Author(s):  
Ava Creemers ◽  
Jeannette C. Schaeffer
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
High Functioning Autism ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Production Task ◽  
Age And Gender ◽  
High Functioning ◽  
Indefinite Article ◽  
Quantity Judgment ◽  
And Gender

This study investigates whether grammar and pragmatics are separate linguistic components or not, and whether children with SLI and children with HFA have overlapping or distinct linguistic profiles. We examine two DP-related phenomena: the mass-count distinction (grammatical) and the choice for a definite/indefinite article (pragmatic). We tested 27 children with HFA aged 6–14, age and gender matched to 27 children with SLI, and 27 TD controls on a Quantity Judgment Task (mass-count) and an Elicited Production Task (article choice). Our results show that pragmatics can be impaired independently from grammar (in HFA) and vice versa (in SLI), providing evidence for a modular view of grammar and pragmatics, and against an overlap in the profiles of SLI and HFA.

Lexical Imitation and Acquisition in Language-Impaired Children

1985 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard G. Schwartz ◽  
Laurence B. Leonard
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Lexical Acquisition ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Language Impaired ◽  
Impaired Children ◽  
Novel Words

This investigation examined the influence of unsolicited lexical imitation on the comprehension and on the production of novel words by language-impaired children. Subjects were 13 children (2:8–3:1) exhibiting specific language impairment who were presented with 16 unfamiliar words referring to unfamiliar objects or actions over 10 experimental sessions. Unsolicited imitations appeared to facilitate subsequent production of these words on a posttest. This effect was greatest when these words were also produced spontaneously prior to the posttest. Words that were produced imitatively and spontaneously also appeared more frequently in spontaneous usage than words that were only produced spontaneously. No relationship between such imitations and comprehension was observed. These findings suggest that unsolicited imitations benefit children's lexical acquisition primarily by providing them with additional opportunities to produce words that are in the process of being established in their expressive lexicons.

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