The use of syntactic cues in lexical acquisition by children with SLI. Specific Language Impairment.

This study investigated the syntactic bootstrapping abilities of children who differed by language abilities and age. In the first study, the performance of 5-year-old children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) was compared to that of two groups of typically developing children-one of equivalent language levels, as indexed by mean length of utterance (MLU), and the other of equivalent chronological age. In the second study, two groups of 7-year-old children, one whose language was developing typically and one with SLI, were involved. The count/mass distinction was used as the basis for the experimental tasks. A videotaped story was used to present the novel count and mass words, with syntactic cues in one condition and with neutral syntax in another. Results from the first study revealed that only the 5-year-old nonaffected control children showed evidence of using the syntactic cues. The 5-year-old SLI group and 3-year-old control group achieved comparable scores. However, error analyses suggested that different factors were operative in the two groups. The second study revealed that there was continued growth into the early school years for children with SLI and children whose language was developing typically.

An examination of the morpheme BE in children with specific language impairment: the role of contractibility and grammatical form class.

This study examined the production of the morpheme BE, focusing on the influence of contractibility, the relationship between copula and auxiliary forms, and the occurrence of non-omission errors. Language samples collected from children with SU and from normal language learners at equivalent MLU levels were analyzed. Three levels of contractibility were examined: contractible, syntactically uncontractible, and phonetically uncontractible. Contractible contexts were produced significantly more accurately than uncontractible contexts by both groups. There was no difference between the two forms of uncontractibility. Furthermore, there were no significant interactions between language status and contractibility, suggesting that contractibility influenced both groups equally. Copula forms were produced more consistently than auxiliary. There was no interaction between BE type and language status. The groups did not differ in proportion or type of non-omission error. The results are discussed in relation to accounts of morphological deficits in SU.

Two models of grammar facilitation in children with language impairments: phase 2.

Fey, Cleave, Long and Hughes (1993) demonstrated the effectiveness of two 5-month interventions for preschoolers with problems in expressive grammar. This article reports the results of an additional 5-month intervention phase for 18 of the original participants. Results indicated that although participants improved during Phase 2, improvements generally were not as strong as those noted for Phase 1. Gains were larger and more consistent for children who received the relatively costly clinician-administered approach than for those who received a less expensive parent-administered intervention. The parent intervention was successful in helping parents to use sentence recasts, and especially so for parents of children at relatively early stages of grammatical development, Finally, children who were dismissed after a highly successful treatment Phase 1 generally exhibited no gains over the no-treatment Phase 2.

Specific language impairment as a period of extended optional infinitive.

English-speaking children with specific language impairment (SLI) are known to have particular difficulty with the acquisition of grammatical morphemes that carry tense and agreement features, such as the past tense -ed and third-person singular present -s. In this study, an Extended Optional Infinitive (EOI) account of SLI is evaluated. In this account, -ed, -s, BE, and DO are regarded as finiteness markers. This model predicts that finiteness markers are omitted for an extended period of time for nonimpaired children, and that this period will be extended for a longer time in children with SLI. At the same time, it predicts that if finiteness markers are present, they will be used correctly. These predictions are tested in this study. Subjects were 18 5-year-old children with SLI with expressive and receptive language deficits and two comparison groups of children developing language normally: 22 CA-equivalent (5N) and 20 younger, MLU-equivalent children (3N). It was found that the children with SLI used nonfinite forms of lexical verbs, or omitted BE and DO, more frequently than children in the 5N and 3N groups. At the same time, like the normally developing children, when the children with SLI marked finiteness, they did so appropriately. Most strikingly, the SLI group was highly accurate in marking agreement on BE and DO forms. The findings are discussed in terms of the predictions of the EOI model, in comparison to other models of the grammatical limitations of children with SLI.

Effects of grammar facilitation on the phonological performance of children with speech and language impairments.

Although there is a great deal of evidence for a significant developmental relationship between grammar and phonology, the nature of this relationship and its implications for the intervention of children with impairments in both grammar and phonology are unclear. The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether two approaches to grammar facilitation that placed no emphasis on phonology would have indirect effects on the phonological output of preschoolers with speech and language impairments. All 26 subjects, ages 44-70 months, had impairments both in grammar and in phonology. Ten subjects took part in a clinician-administered intervention program, eight subjects received a similar intervention program implemented by their parents, and eight children served as delayed intervention controls (Fey, Cleave, Long, & Hughes, 1993). The results indicated that despite a strong effect for the intervention on the children's grammatical output, there were no indirect effects on the subjects' phonological production. It is concluded that despite a close relationship between the development of grammar and phonology, language intervention approaches for children approximately 4 to 6 years of age should address phonological problems directly if significant effects on phonology are to be expected.

Two approaches to the facilitation of grammar in children with language impairment: an experimental evaluation.

Two approaches to grammar facilitation in preschool-age children with language impairment were evaluated. One approach was administered by a speech-language pathologist and the other was presented by the subjects' parents, who were trained by the speech-language pathologist. Both treatment packages ran for 4 1/2 months and made use of focused stimulation procedures and a cyclical goal-attack strategy. Subjects were 30 children between the ages of 3:8 and 5:10 (years:months) who had marked delays in grammatical development. Children who served in a delayed-treatment control group averaged no gains over their no-treatment period. In contrast, large treatment effects were observed for both treatment groups on three of four measures of grammatical expression. However, closer inspection of the data revealed that the effects for the clinician treatment were more consistent across treatment administrations than were those for the parent treatment. Although the specific contributions of the focused stimulation procedures and the cyclical goal attack strategy were not evaluated, the results support the viability of these components as parts of larger treatment packages. The results also support the participation of parents as primary intervention agents in grammar facilitation programs. When parents take such a large role in the intervention process, however, it is imperative that the children's progress be monitored carefully and that program adjustments be made whenever gains are smaller than expected.