ERIC Number: EJ730947
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2004-Feb
Pages: 12
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0093-934X
EISSN: N/A
The Development of Morphosyntactic Ability in Atypical Populations: The Acquisition of Tag Questions in Children with Early Focal Lesions and Children with Specific-Language Impairment
Weckerly, Jill; Wulfeck, Beverly; Reilly, Judy
Brain and Language, v88 n2 p190-201 Feb 2004
We examined the development of some features of morphosyntactic ability, specifically the acquisition of auxiliaries and use of agreement marking, along with sentence processing capacity. We used a conceptually simple task called the Tags Question Task, which is a method for evaluating a number of language processes in the production of a commonly used, familiar linguistic device. We compared the performance of children with early focal lesions (N=21), children with specific-language impairment (N=24), and typically developing children (N=24) matched in age and nonverbal ability; additional analyses involved comparisons of children matched on performance level. The data converge to support a "delayed" development of language behavior in our clinical groups, as overall patterns of performance and age-related changes on individual tag features and tag questions were strikingly similar in all three groups across a number of methods of comparison. Implications for theories of the development of brain-language relationships as they pertain to early focal brain damage, specific-language impairment, and the language acquisition process in typically developing children are discussed.
Descriptors: Morphology (Languages), Syntax, Language Acquisition, Language Impairments, Children, Language Processing, Linguistic Performance, Neurolinguistics, Developmental Delays, Comparative Analysis, Brain, Language Patterns
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A