scholarly journals Comprehension of exhaustive wh-questions of typically developing preschool children

2012 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 368-384
Author(s):  
Jasmina Vuksanovic ◽  
Irena Avramovic-Ilic ◽  
Jovana Bjekic

Wh-questions are among the most important and the most frequent types of utterance, which presumably reflects the role of questions in everyday life in gathering various types of information. There is a limited body of research on the exhaustivity comprehension in multiple wh-questions in children (such as, for example, Who drives what, Who gives something to whom?). However, previous results suggest that exhaustivity emerges at the age of four, although there is considerable variability depending on the language. In this paper two aims were proposed: first, to explore when typically developing Serbian speaking monolingual children comprehend exhaustivity property within multiple wh-questions, and, second, cognitive relevancy of structural complexity of multiple wh-questions. 40 typically developing Serbian speaking monolingual children subdivided in three age groups from 3,6 - 7,1 years participated in this study. The question-after-picture test, which consists of 20 tasks with pre-vocabulary check, was used. The tasks were classified according to complexity index into paired and triple wh-questions. Results indicate that children acquire comprehension of exhaustive wh-questions gradually, first in paired wh-questions and then in triple wh-questions. The research provides data on language development, and also offers guidelines for diagnostic and clinical work with children with specific language impairment.

2013 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 708-720 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Tamburelli ◽  
Gary Jones

Purpose In this study, the authors examined the role of syllabic structure in nonword repetition performance in typically developing (TD) children and children with specific language impairment (SLI). Method Eighteen children with SLI (5;7–6;7 [years;months]) and 18 TD children matched for chronological age were tested on their ability to repeat phonemes in different positions within syllable structure (onset, nucleus, coda). The test involved 2 separate nonword repetition tasks differing in lexicality (high vs. low). High-lexicality nonwords contained subparts that are morphemes of the language (i.e., subparts were “lexical”), whereas nonlexical nonwords did not. Results Repetition performance across the 3 syllabic positions showed a significant effect for both populations and on both tasks. However, although on the high-lexicality task the direction of the effect revealed the onset as the most error-prone constituent (onset > coda > nucleus), on the low-lexicality task, it was the coda that attracted most errors (coda > onset > nucleus). Conclusions Results suggest that the procedures involved in computing syllabic structure are qualitatively similar in the 2 populations. We take these results to support the view that different syllabic positions involve different levels of phonological complexity and that tests that control for lexicality are crucial in illuminating these differences.


Author(s):  
Ασημίνα Μ. Ράλλη ◽  
Ολυμπία Παληκαρά

In this study, we tested the predictions of two opposing perspectives on the nature of the deficit in Specific Language Impairment (SLI): the language delay approach, and the view that the language development of SLI children is qualitatively different from typically developing children populations. Data consisted of the elicited production of pronominal object clitics from monolingual and bilingual SLI children with various language pairs (Greek always being the children’s second language); younger, typically developing, bilingual language peers, and monolingual Greek-speaking comparison groups. We analyzed the children’s accurate responses and error-types in clitic production. Both SLI groups had more difficulty with clitics in comparison to typically-developing, chronological age-matched peers, while SLI children performed similarly with their younger, unaffected monolingual and bilingual peers. We argue that these findings provide support to the language delay approach and present challenges to the role of bilingualism in SLI.


Author(s):  
Αναστασία Γώγου ◽  
Σταυρούλα Σταυρακάκη ◽  
Γιώργιος Γρούϊος ◽  
Νικόλαος Τσιγγίλης

The present study aims at investigating whether a link between language deficits and upper and lower limb motor asymmetry can be established. We assessed language skills, handedness, and footedness in a group of 13 children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) and two control groups matched on language age (LA) and chronological age(CA) respectively. Specifically, we tested the production of object wh questions, object relative clauses and sigmatic past tense production for novel non-rhyming verbs, and administered hand and foot preferencequestionnaires. While significant between group differences were found in the language tasks, as participants with SLI performed significantly below CA controls, the same level of performance was shown for hand and foot preference. Further analysis revealed no correlation between foot and hand preference for the SLI group in contrast to typically developing children. Additional regression analysis showed that the non-right foot preference could predict participation in the SLI group. These results may be indicative of poor hand-foot coordination in the SLI group and increased chance for SLI individuals to be grouped as non-right footed. We interpret these findings as showing immature motor development in SLI and pointing to a weak correlation between motor laterality and language deficits. We discuss the implications of our findings for the characterisation of the deficit in SLI.


Psihologija ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 167-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maja Savic ◽  
Darinka Andjelkovic ◽  
Nevena Budjevac ◽  
der Van

In this research we investigate the relevance of phonological parameters in acquisition of Serbian language. Implementation of British Test of Phonological Screeing (TOPhS, van der Lely and Harris, 1999) has revealed that phonological complexity (syllabic and metrical structure) influences accuracy in non-word repetition task and could be used in assessment of phonological development of typically developing children, as well as of children with Grammatical Specific Language Impairment (G-SLI) (van der Lely and Harris, 1999; Gallon, Harris & van der Lely, 2007). Having in mind phonological properties of Serbian language (Zec, 2000, 2007), we hypothesized that several parameters can be used in assessment of phonological development in Serbian: a. onset (consonants cluster at the beginning of syllable; b. rime (consonant at the end of syllable). c. word of three syllables, and d. placement of stressed syllable in a word. Combination of these parameters gave us a list of 96 pseudo words of different levels of complexity. Participants were 14 adults and 30 children from kindergarten divided into three age groups (3, 4 and 5 years). Task for the participants was to loudly repeat every pseudo-word, and their reproduction was recorded. Transcription of their answers and coding of errors allowed us to analyze impact of different parameters on accuracy of phonological reproduction in children of different ages. The results indicate that the ability for reproduction of Serbian phonological properties develops in early preschool period. The most difficult is cluster of consonants at the beginning of syllable, and consonant at the end of syllable. These two parameters are even more difficult for reproduction in three-syllable words or in words that have more then one parameter marked. Placement of stress in a word is acquired even before 3 years. In other words, the results have shown that investigated features could be good indicators in assessment of early phonological development of typically developing children. Delay in their acquisition could reveal possible developmental difficulties.


2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (5) ◽  
pp. 1173-1199 ◽  
Author(s):  
ENIKŐ LADÁNYI ◽  
BENCE KAS ◽  
ÁGNES LUKÁCS

ABSTRACTWe studied anaphor resolution and its relationship with cognitive control abilities in children with specific language impairment (SLI) and typically developing (TD) children. In a sentence–picture verification task assessing anaphor interpretation, the SLI group was less successful than age-matched TD peers, and displayed similar performance patterns as younger TD children in previous studies. The SLI group showed weaknesses in nonlinguistic cognitive control tasks, which were associated with anaphor interpretation results. These findings are in contrast with the view that proposes a grammar-specific deficit behind anaphor resolution problems in SLI. We suggest that anaphor interpretation in this population is delayed but not atypical, and this delay can be partly explained by weaker cognitive control abilities.


2014 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. 38-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
LAURENCE B. LEONARD

ABSTRACTChildren with specific language impairment (SLI) are distinguishable from typically developing children primarily in the pace and course of their language development. For this reason, they are appropriate candidates for inclusion in any theory of language acquisition. In this paper, the areas of overlap between children with SLI and those developing in typical fashion are discussed, along with how the joint study of these two populations can enhance our understanding of the language development process. In particular, evidence from children with SLI can provide important information concerning the role of language typology in language development, the optimal ages for acquiring particular linguistic details, the robustness of the bilingual advantage for children, the role of input in children's acquisition of grammatical details, the unintended influence of processing demands during language assessment, the contributions of treatment designs to the study of typically developing children, and the study of individual differences in language development.


Author(s):  
Ιάνθη - Μαρία Τσιμπλή ◽  
Ελένη Περιστέρη ◽  
Μαρία Ανδρέου

In this study, we tested the predictions of two opposing perspectives on the nature of the deficit in Specific Language Impairment (SLI): the language delay approach, and the view that the language development of SLI children is qualitatively different from typically developing children populations. Data consisted of the elicited production of pronominal object clitics from monolingual and bilingual SLI children with various language pairs (Greek always being the children’s second language); younger, typically developing, bilingual language peers, and monolingual Greek-speaking comparison groups. We analyzed the children’s accurate responses and error-types in clitic production. Both SLI groups had more difficulty with clitics in comparison to typically-developing, chronological age-matched peers, while SLI children performed similarly with their younger, unaffected monolingual and bilingual peers. We argue that these findings provide support to the language delay approach and present challenges to the role of bilingualism in SLI.


2013 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 200-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
JUDITH E. RISPENS ◽  
ELISE H. DE BREE

ABSTRACTThis study focuses on morphophonology and frequency in past tense production. It was assessed whether Dutch five- and seven-year-old typically developing (TD) children and eight-year-old children with specific language impairment (SLI) produce the correct allomorph in regular, irregular, and novel past tense formation. Type frequency of the allomorph, token frequency and phonotactic probability (PP) of the novel verb form are considered. The results showed all groups were sensitive to the phonological cue. PP did not contribute to past tense inflection of novel verbs in any of the groups, but type frequency did in all three groups. Only the seven-year-old typically developing children relied on token frequency for inflection of regulars. The findings point to an important role of phonology and frequency in past tense acquisition for both TD children and children with SLI. We discuss how the SLI performance pattern relates to theories on SLI.


2003 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 769-795 ◽  
Author(s):  
LAURENCE B. LEONARD ◽  
PATRICIA DEEVY ◽  
CAROL A. MILLER ◽  
MONIQUE CHAREST ◽  
ROBERT KURTZ ◽  
...  

Children with specific language impairment (SLI) have well-documented problems in the use of tense-related grammatical morphemes. However, in English, tense often overlaps with aspect and modality. In this study, 15 children with SLI (mean age 5;2) and two groups of 15 typically developing children (mean ages 3;6 and 5;3) were compared in terms of their use of previously studied morphemes in contexts that more clearly assessed the role of aspect. The children's use of less frequently studied morphemes tied to modality or tense was also examined. The children with SLI were found to use -ing to mark progressive aspect in past as well as present contexts, even though they were relatively poor in using the tense morphemes (auxiliary was, were) that should accompany the progressive inflection. These children were inconsistent in their use of third person singular -s to describe habitual actions that were not occurring during the time of their utterance. However, the pattern of the children's use suggested that the source of the problem was the formal tense feature of the inflection, not the habitual action context. The children's use of modal can was comparable to that of the typically developing children, raising the possibility that the modality function of possibility had been learned without necessarily acquiring the tense feature of this morpheme. These children's proficiency with can suggests that their bare verb stem productions should probably not be re-interpreted as cases of missing modals. Together these findings suggest that the more serious tense-related problems seen in English-speaking children with SLI co-occur with a less impaired ability to express temporal relations through aspect and modality.


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