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Conversational interaction and decision-making in children with specific language impairment
J Grove1, G Conti-Ramsden, C Donlan
1Centre for Educational Guidance and Special Needs, School of Education, University of Manchester, UK.
Summary
Children with specific language impairment (SLI) demonstrated effective conversational decision-making, matching peers verbally and exceeding them non-verbally. This highlights their interactive capabilities despite language challenges.
Area of Science:
- Child Language Acquisition
- Developmental Psychology
- Communication Disorders
Background:
- Specific Language Impairment (SLI) affects language development.
- Conversational skills are crucial for social interaction.
- Previous research on peer interaction in SLI is varied.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate decision-making in conversational contexts for children with SLI.
- To compare children with SLI to same-age peers and MLU-matched peers.
- To understand the pragmatic abilities of children with SLI.
Main Methods:
- Dyadic conversational interactions were analyzed.
- Decision-making was assessed through 'winning moves' (verbal and non-verbal).
- Participants included children with SLI and two control groups (age-matched and MLU-matched).
Main Results:
- Children with SLI made comparable verbal winning moves to age-matched peers.
- Children with SLI made more verbal winning moves than MLU-matched peers.
- Children with SLI exhibited more non-verbal winning moves than age-matched peers.
Conclusions:
- Children with SLI possess effective conversational decision-making skills.
- Findings suggest strengths in non-verbal communication for children with SLI.
- Implications for clinical interventions and research with SLI populations.