Communication style and effectiveness in homogeneous and heterogeneous dyads of retarded children

The channels, styles, and successfulness of communication used by retarded children when teaching a simple board game to a listener of similar or dissimilar age and ability to themselves were investigated. Forty children, half of high level and half of low level (means MAs=6.6 and 3.7 years, mean CAs-15.5 and 11.2 years, respectively) instructed a naive listener either at their own or at the other level, after they had been taught the game by the experimenter. Both high- and low-level speakers altered their channels and styles of communication to low-level listeners along the dimensions found by Shatz and Gelman (1973) with nonretarded children. However, the communication shifts, particularly those produced by high-level speakers, were ineffective in producing listener understanding. We concluded than communication-skills training for retarded children must be concentrated not only on the linguistic form, but also on the functional appropriateness of the children's utterances.