Speech style modifications of language-impaired children

Six language-impaired children, each having a mean length of utterance (MLU) greater than 3.0, were observed in dyadic interactions with (1) normal-language children of similar chronological ages and (2) normal-language children who were younger but exhibited similar MLUs. Eight measures analyzing overall sentence complexity, sentence form, and features of discourse were used to compare the subjects' linguistic behaviors in the two conditions. Across conditions, the subjects made changes in their speech that were consistent with the speech style modifications made by normal-language children observed in earlier interaction studies. Lower Mean Pre-Verb Length, a greater degree of conversational assertiveness, and a higher frequency of Internal-State Questions were characteristic of the subjects in the MLU-matched condition as compared to the age-matched condition. Diagnostic and therapy considerations are discussed in view of these findings.