Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-t5tsf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T06:11:04.719Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Children with SLI exhibit delays resolving ambiguous reference*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 February 2014

JULIE M. ESTIS  and
BRENDA L. BEVERLY
JULIE M. ESTIS*
Affiliation:
University of South Alabama
BRENDA L. BEVERLY
Affiliation:
University of South Alabama
*
[*]Address for correspondence: Julie M. Estis, PhD, Associate Professor, University of South Alabama, 5721 USADr N, 1119 HAHN. tel: 251-445-9364; Mobile, AL 36688-0002; fax: 251-445-9376; e-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Fast mapping weaknesses in children with specific language impairment (SLI) may be explained by differences in disambiguation, mapping an unknown word to an unnamed object. The impact of language ability and linguistic stimulus on disambiguation was investigated. Sixteen children with SLI (8 preschool, 8 school-age) and sixteen typically developing age-matched children selected referents given familiar and unfamiliar object pairs in three ambiguous conditions: phonologically distinct word (PD), phonologically similar word (PS), no word (NW). Preschoolers with SLI did not disambiguate, unlike typically developing age-matched participants, who consistently selected unfamiliar objects given PD. School-age children with SLI disambiguated given PD. Delays in disambiguation for young children with SLI suggest limitations in processes that facilitate word learning for typically developing children. School-age children with SLI consistently selected familiar objects for PS, unlike typically developing children, suggesting differences in phonological activation for word learning.

Type
Brief Research Reports
Information
Journal of Child Language , Volume 42 , Issue 1 , January 2015 , pp. 180 - 195
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alt, M. & Plante, E. (2006). Factors that influence lexical and semantic fast mapping of young children with Specific Language Impairment. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research 49, 941–54.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Alt, M., Plante, E. & Creusere, M. (2004). Semantic features in fast-mapping: performance of preschoolers with specific language impairment versus preschoolers with normal language. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research 47, 407–20.Google Scholar
Beverly, B. L. & Estis, J. M. (2003). Fast mapping deficits during disambiguation in children with specific language impairment. Journal of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology 27, 163–71.Google Scholar
Bloom, P. (2000). How children learn the meanings of words. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carey, S. & Bartlett, E. (1978). Acquiring a single new word. Papers and Reports on Child Language Development 15, 17–29.Google Scholar
Clark, E. V. (1990). On the pragmatics of contrast. Journal of Child Language 17, 417–31.Google Scholar
Coady, J. A. (2013). Rapid naming by children with and without specific language impairment. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research 56, 604–17.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dollaghan, C. A. (1987). Fast mapping in normal and language impaired children. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders 52, 218–22.Google Scholar
Gathercole, S. E. (1993). Word learning in language-impaired children. Child Language Teaching & Therapy 9(3), 187–99.Google Scholar
Gathercole, S. E. & Baddeley, A. D. (1990). Phonological memory deficits in language disordered children: Is there a causal connection? Journal of Memory and Language 29, 336–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gathercole, S. E., Willis, C., Emslie, H. & Baddeley, A. (1992). Phonological memory and vocabulary development during early school years: a longitudinal study. Developmental Psychology 28, 887–98.Google Scholar
Gray, S. (2003). Word-learning by preschoolers with specific language impairment: What predicts success? Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research 46, 56–67.Google Scholar
Jarvis, L. H., Merriman, W. E., Barnett, M., Hanba, J. & Van Haitsma, K. S. (2004). Input that contradicts young children's strategy for mapping novel words affects their phonological and semantic interpretation of other novel words. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research 47, 392–406.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Leonard, L. B. (1998). Children with specific language impairment. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Locke, J. L. (1980). The inference of speech perception in the phonologically disordered child. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders XLV, 431–68.Google Scholar
Maillart, C., Schelstraete, M. & Hupet, M. (2004). Phonological representations in children with SLI: a study of French. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research 47, 187–98.Google Scholar
Mainela-Arnold, E., Evans, J. L. & Coady, J. A. (2008). Lexical representations in children with SLI: evidence from a frequency-manipulated gating task. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research 51(2), 381–93.Google Scholar
Markman, E. M. (1993). Ways in which children constrain word meanings. In Dromi, Esther (ed.), Language and cognition: a developmental perspective, 61–87. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.Google Scholar
Merriman, W. E. & Bowman, L. L. (1989). The mutual exclusivity bias in children's word learning. Monographs of the Society of Research in Child Development 55(3–4, Serial No. 220).Google Scholar
Merriman, W. E. & Marazita, J. (1995). The effect of hearing similar-sounding words on young 2-year-olds’ disambiguation of novel noun reference. Developmental Psychology 31, 973–84.Google Scholar
Merriman, W. E., Marazita, J. & Jarvis, L. (1995). Children's disposition to map new words onto new referents. In Tomasello, M. & Merriman, W. E. (eds), Beyond names for things: young children's acquisition of verbs, 147–83. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Merriman, W. E. & Schuster, J. M. (1991). Young children's disambiguation of object name reference. Child Development 62, 1288–301.Google Scholar
Merriman, W. E. & Stevenson, C. M. (1997). Restricting a familiar name in response to learning a new one: evidence for the mutual exclusivity bias in young two-year-olds. Child Development 68, 211–28.Google Scholar
Rice, M. L., Buhr, J. C. & Nemeth, M. (1990). Fast mapping word-learning abilities of language-delayed preschoolers. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders 55, 33–42.Google Scholar
Rice, M. L., Oetting, J. B., Marquis, J., Bode, J. & Pae, S. (1994). Frequency of input effects on word comprehension of children with specific language impairment. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders 37, 106–22.Google Scholar
Roid, G. H. & Miller, L. J. (1997). Leiter International Performance Scale – Revised (Leiter-R). Wood Dale, IL: Stoelting, CO.Google Scholar
Storkel, H. L. & Morrisette, M. L. (2002). The lexicon and phonology: interactions in language acquisition. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools 33, 24–37.Google Scholar
Semel, E., Wiig, E. H. & Secord, W. A. (2003). Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals, 4th ed.San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.Google Scholar
Syntrillium Software Corporation (2002). Cool Edit, Pro (Version 2) (computer software). Phoenix, AZ: Author.Google Scholar
Wiig, E. H., Secord, W. A. & Semel, E. (2004). Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals Preschool, 2nd ed. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.Google Scholar
Zimmerman, I. L., Steiner, V. G. & Pond, R. E. (2002). Preschool Language Scale – 4. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.Google Scholar