Conversational responsiveness in specific language impairment

Abstract

Reports an error in "Conversational responsiveness in specific language impairment: Evidence of disproportionate pragmatic difficulties in a subset of children" by D. V. M. Bishop, Janet Chan, Catherine Adams, Joanne Hartley and Fiona Weir (Development and Psychopathology, 2000[Spr], Vol 12[2], 177-199). In the original article, Table 3 contained misalignment of the categories and values. Table 3 is reprinted in the erratum with the values correctly aligned. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2000-07852-004). Eighteen children with specific language impairment (SLI), from 6 to 8 yrs of age, were compared with 9 control children matched on age and nonverbal ability (CA controls) and with 9 younger control children (aged 4.4–6.25 yrs) of comparable language level (LA controls). Half of the SLI group were rated on a teacher checklist as having pragmatic difficulties: these were referred to as the pragmatic language impairment (PLI) group; the remainder were the typical (SLI-T) group. Children's responses to adult soliciting utterances were compared. All children usually responded to conversational solicitations, but children in the PLI group were more likely than control children to give no response, and they also made very little use of nonverbal responses, such as nodding. Nonverbal responding was closely related to the quality of children's responses. Children who failed to use nonverbal responses also had a relatively high level of pragmatically inappropriate responses not accounted for by limited grammar or vocabulary. Results support to the notion that there is a subset of the language-impaired population who have broader communicative impairments, extending beyond basic difficulties in mastering language form, reflecting difficulty in responding to and expressing communicative intents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved)