RESUMEN
The clinical legacy of William Labov's narrative analysis framework is explored. In recent years, the importance of narration for children's developing literacy and discourse skills has been widely recognized. This article describes a three-step process for assessing children's narrative discourse: elicitation, coding, and scoring. The influences of cultural differences on narration are also presented, with implications and suggestions for culturally sensitive assessment.
Asunto(s)
Cultura , Conducta Verbal , Niño , Lenguaje Infantil , Preescolar , Escolaridad , Retroalimentación , HumanosRESUMEN
This study involves (a) procedures for coding intentionality and communicative function from the behavior of young children, (b) determining inter-rater reliability on those decisions, and (c) making judgments about which data to use for presentation and analysis. Communication data from videotaped interactions of 48 deaf and 96 normally-hearing children (12-54 months of age) and their mothers were obtained from two independent coders. As predicted, the percent-agreement between coders was higher for older children and for hearing children compared to deaf children. It is argued that the ambiguity reflected in poor coder agreement for less skilled communicators may represent the extent to which these children are understood. It is suggested that for such children data analysis should be restricted to those behaviors on which two independent coders agree.
Asunto(s)
Comunicación , Sordera , Audición , Análisis de Varianza , Preescolar , Cognición , Humanos , Lactante , Variaciones Dependientes del Observador , Reproducibilidad de los ResultadosRESUMEN
Virtually all children with autism are deficient in joint attentional skills. The impact of this deficit may be understood in the context of pragmatically based explanations of language acquisition. In this view, each step in the ontongeny of joint attention is consequential for language development. Thus, it is important that speech-language pathologists understand the developmental course of joint attention so that intervention may start at the earliest step possible. In this article, we review the literature on joint attention and its relationship with other rule systems of language. We discuss the ontogeny of joint attention in typical children. Finally, we describe the developmental course of joint attention as a framework for language intervention through the study of one case.
Asunto(s)
Atención , Trastorno Autístico/terapia , Trastorno Autístico/complicaciones , Preescolar , Humanos , Masculino , Trastornos del Habla/etiologíaRESUMEN
The two studies presented here explore the relationship between children's pragmatic skills and their growth in grammar. In study 1, thirty normally developing children were videotaped interacting with their parents at 1;2 and again at 2;7. Using correlational and regression techniques, we found that pragmatic accomplishments of MUTUAL ATTENTION, as well as mother's conversational style, explained 45% of the variance in grammar at 2;7. The second study investigated pragmatic-grammatical relationships with data from 6 high-functioning children with autism. To control for individual variation in skill level at the start of the study, within-individual growth rates for grammar were estimated as our outcome. The results substantiated those of study 1, in that pragmatic accomplishments within mutual attention predicted the per month growth rate in grammar. We interpret these findings as consistent with the position that the infant's social-pragmatic skills contribute to the acquisition of grammar.
Asunto(s)
Atención , Trastorno Autístico/psicología , Desarrollo Infantil/fisiología , Lenguaje Infantil , Relaciones Interpersonales , Desarrollo del Lenguaje , Lingüística , Relaciones Padres-Hijo , Preescolar , Femenino , Humanos , Lactante , MasculinoRESUMEN
The purpose of this study was to compare the pragmatic skills of five children with Specific Language Impairments (SLI) and their Mean Length of Utterance-matched younger siblings, thus in part controlling for home language environment and expressive language level. Data were videotaped as mother-child free play in the home. Children's communicative acts were coded on three levels (social interchange, speech act, and conversational). Analysis of each level separately indicated generally comparable performance within sibling pairs. However, when the three levels were integrated into a measure of pragmatic flexibility, the children with SLI were found to demonstrate a more varied repertoire than their younger, normally developing siblings.
Asunto(s)
Lenguaje Infantil , Trastornos del Lenguaje/psicología , Niño , Preescolar , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Relaciones Madre-Hijo , Juego e Implementos de Juego , Grabación de Cinta de VideoRESUMEN
Describing speakers' repertoires of communicative intents and rules for expressing those intents is crucial to any complete description of the language capacity. Many different systems for classifying speakers' communicative intents have been developed and used in research analyzing both the acquisition of speech acts and the nature of the communicative deficits shown by various language-impaired populations. We argue, though, that these systems have typically been limited in scope, in applicability across the full developmental range, or in their theoretical foundations. The criteria for an adequate system for analyzing communicative intents are discussed, and a system proposed which meets those criteria.