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Requesting strategies of learning disabled children

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2008

Mavis L. Donahue
Mavis L. Donahue*
Affiliation:
University of Illinois at Chicago Circle
*
Mavis L. Donahue, College of Education, University of Illinois at Chicago Circle, Box 4348, Chicago, IL 60680
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Abstract

Learning disabled children's pragmatic competence was examined on a task which allowed for the separate assessment of linguistic and social knowledge, that is, the ability to appropriately vary politeness and persuasive strategies as a function of listener status. Learning disabled and nondisabled children made requests of four imaginary listeners varying on the dimensions of intimacy and power. Learning disabled girls produced more polite requests than nondisabled girls to all listeners. Learning disabled boys produced a smaller variety of persuasive appeals and fewer appeals which represented sophisticated levels of listener perspective taking. Learning disabled boys' politeness and the elaboration of their persuasive appeals exhibited variations as a function of listener features, but attended to dimensions different from those reflected in nondisabled boys' requests. It appears that learning disabled boys produced less appropriate requesting strategies than nondisabled boys, even though their repertoire of linguistic forms for conveying politeness was not deficient. These results are discussed in terms of the interdependence of the social and linguistic knowledge underlying pragmatic development.

Type
Articles
Information
Applied Psycholinguistics , Volume 2 , Issue 3 , August 1981 , pp. 213 - 234
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1981

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