Journal article
Judgments of Omitted BE and DO in Questions as Extended Finiteness Clinical Markers of Specific Language Impairment (SLI) to 15 Years: A Study of Growth and Asymptote
Journal of speech, language, and hearing research, Vol.52(6), pp.1417-1433
12/01/2009
DOI: 10.1044/1092-4388(2009/08-0171)
PMCID: PMC2787761
PMID: 19786705
Abstract
Purpose: Clinical grammar markers are needed for children with SLI older than 8 years. This study followed children who were previously studied on sentences with omitted finiteness to determine if affected children continue to perform at low levels and to examine possible predictors of low performance. This is the first longitudinal report of grammaticality judgments of questions.
Method: Three groups of children participated: 20 SLI, 20 age controls, and 18 language-matched controls, followed from ages 6-15 years. An experimental grammaticality judgment task was administered with BE copula/auxiliary and DO auxiliary in wh- and yes/no questions for 9 times of measurement. Predictors were indices of vocabulary, nonverbal intelligence, and maternal education.
Results: Growth curve analyses show that the affected group performed below the younger controls at each time of measurement, for each variable. Growth analyses show linear and quadratic effects for both groups across variables, with the exception of BE acquisition, which was flat for both groups. The control children reached ceiling levels; the affected children reached a lower asymptote.
Conclusion: The results suggest an ongoing maturational lag in finiteness marking for affected children with promise as a clinical marker for language impairment in school-aged and adolescent children and probably adults as well.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Judgments of Omitted BE and DO in Questions as Extended Finiteness Clinical Markers of Specific Language Impairment (SLI) to 15 Years: A Study of Growth and Asymptote
- Creators
- Mabel L. Rice - University of KansasLesa Hoffman - University of Nebraska–LincolnKen Wexler - MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139 USA
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Journal of speech, language, and hearing research, Vol.52(6), pp.1417-1433
- DOI
- 10.1044/1092-4388(2009/08-0171)
- PMID
- 19786705
- PMCID
- PMC2787761
- NLM abbreviation
- J Speech Lang Hear Res
- ISSN
- 1092-4388
- eISSN
- 1558-9102
- Publisher
- Amer Speech-Language-Hearing Assoc
- Number of pages
- 17
- Grant note
- R01DC001803; R01DC005226; P30DC005803 / NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DEAFNESS AND OTHER COMMUNICATION DISORDERS; United States Department of Health & Human Services; National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA; NIH National Institute on Deafness & Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) P30HD002528 / EUNICE KENNEDY SHRIVER NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF CHILD HEALTH & HUMAN DEVELOPMENT; United States Department of Health & Human Services; National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA; NIH Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD)
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 12/01/2009
- Academic Unit
- Psychological and Quantitative Foundations
- Record Identifier
- 9984371277802771
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