Purpose: This study investigated the effect of morphological case and number marking on the comprehension of relative clauses by Greek children with Specific Language Impairment and Language Age controls.Method: An agent selection task and experimental materials consisting of 12 subject and 12 object relative clauses were employed. There were two experimental conditions: The first one manipulated number marking for Noun Phrases and the verb (singular vs plural) and neutralised Case through the use of Noun Phrases with neuter gender, which in Greek is ambiguous between Nominative and Accusative. The second one manipulated case and included Noun Phrases marked for morphological case.Result: The Language Age controls performed better on the comprehension of object relative clauses with case manipulation than on those with number, unlike the children with Specific Language Impairment, who performed at the same level on the comprehension of relative clauses with number and case manipulation.Conclusion: The children with Specific Language Impairment did not make efficient use of the morphological case cues in object relative clause interpretation. We argue that deficient use of case cues in object relative clause interpretation is due to difficulties in rapid interpretation of case information in these demanding structures.

Stavrakaki, S., Tasioudi, M., Guasti, M. (2015). Morphological cues in the comprehension of relative clauses by Greek children with specific language impairment and typical development: A comparative study. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SPEECH-LANGUAGE PATHOLOGY, 17(6), 617-626 [10.3109/17549507.2015.1048826].

Morphological cues in the comprehension of relative clauses by Greek children with specific language impairment and typical development: A comparative study

GUASTI, MARIA TERESA
2015

Abstract

Purpose: This study investigated the effect of morphological case and number marking on the comprehension of relative clauses by Greek children with Specific Language Impairment and Language Age controls.Method: An agent selection task and experimental materials consisting of 12 subject and 12 object relative clauses were employed. There were two experimental conditions: The first one manipulated number marking for Noun Phrases and the verb (singular vs plural) and neutralised Case through the use of Noun Phrases with neuter gender, which in Greek is ambiguous between Nominative and Accusative. The second one manipulated case and included Noun Phrases marked for morphological case.Result: The Language Age controls performed better on the comprehension of object relative clauses with case manipulation than on those with number, unlike the children with Specific Language Impairment, who performed at the same level on the comprehension of relative clauses with number and case manipulation.Conclusion: The children with Specific Language Impairment did not make efficient use of the morphological case cues in object relative clause interpretation. We argue that deficient use of case cues in object relative clause interpretation is due to difficulties in rapid interpretation of case information in these demanding structures.
Articolo in rivista - Articolo scientifico
Morphology; Specific Language Impairment (SLI); Syntax; Otorhinolaryngology2734 Pathology and Forensic Medicine; LPN and LVN; 3616; Research and Theory; Language and Linguistics
English
2015
17
6
617
626
none
Stavrakaki, S., Tasioudi, M., Guasti, M. (2015). Morphological cues in the comprehension of relative clauses by Greek children with specific language impairment and typical development: A comparative study. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SPEECH-LANGUAGE PATHOLOGY, 17(6), 617-626 [10.3109/17549507.2015.1048826].
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10281/121369
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