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Factors accounting for the ability of children with SLI to learn agreement morphemes in intervention*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 January 2008

MONIKA PAWŁOWSKA ,
LAURENCE B. LEONARD ,
STEPHEN M. CAMARATA ,
BARBARA BROWN  and
MARY N. CAMARATA
MONIKA PAWŁOWSKA*
Affiliation:
Purdue University
LAURENCE B. LEONARD
Affiliation:
Purdue University
STEPHEN M. CAMARATA
Affiliation:
Vanderbilt University
BARBARA BROWN
Affiliation:
Purdue University
MARY N. CAMARATA
Affiliation:
Vanderbilt University
*
Address for correspondence: Monika Pawłowska, Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, Purdue University, 500 Oval Drive, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2038, USA. Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

The aim of this study was to uncover factors accounting for the ability of children with specific language impairment (SLI) to learn agreement morphemes in intervention. Twenty-five children with SLI who participated in a six-month intervention program focused on teaching third person singular -s or auxiliary is/are/was showed a wide range of use of the target morpheme after intervention. Regression analyses showed that age and two factors expected to be related to agreement – the use of noun plural -s and subject/verb constructions prior to intervention – significantly predicted progress in the acquisition of agreement morphemes. In contrast, the pretreatment use of morphemes hypothesized to be unrelated to agreement was not a significant predictor of progress. The results indicate that the ability of children with SLI to learn agreement morphemes relies on their prior ability to use noun plural and subject/verb constructions.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Child Language , Volume 35 , Issue 1 , February 2008 , pp. 25 - 53
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

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