Pragmatic Functions in Late Talkers: A 1-Year Follow-Up Study

SAGE Publications and Hammill Institute on Disabilities. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: http://sagepub.com

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5

Communication Disorders; Followup Studies; Expressive Language; Delayed Speech; Infants; Preschool Children; Pragmatics; Language Impairments; Morphology (Languages); Language Acquisition; Intelligence Tests; Verbal Ability; Vocabulary; Phonological Awareness; Language Skills; Child Development; Measures (Individuals)

Mean Length of Utterance; Preschool Language Scale; Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test; Goldman Fristoe Test of Articulation; Bayley Scales of Infant Development; MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory

10.1177/1525740115627344

1525-7401

This study analyzed spontaneous language samples of three-year-olds with a history of expressive language delay (late talkers) and age-matched controls using Dore's Conversational Acts analysis (1978) and Mean Length of Utterance (MLU; Brown, 1973). Differences were observed between groups in utterances classified as organizational device and miscellaneous. No differences were noted between groups in other pragmatic functions and the number of pragmatic functions that were used. Late talkers showed lower MLUs as compared to age-matched peers. Pragmatic language, in addition to morphosyntax, should be monitored in children with a history of early expressive language delay.

As Provided

24

2017

EJ1128832