This study investigated if there is difference in performance to compose sentences according to sentence type and number of phrase with these three groups such as child with specific language impairment, general children with matched language age, and...
This study investigated if there is difference in performance to compose sentences according to sentence type and number of phrase with these three groups such as child with specific language impairment, general children with matched language age, and general children with matched chronological age. In addition, the difference between above three groups was examined.
The subjects were 12 children with specific language impairment at 2-3rd grade in elementary school, 12 general children with matched language age, and 12 general children with matched chronological age - in total of 36.
54 sentences were used, the sentences consisted of 4, 5, and 6 phrases, and the sentences consisted of simple sentences and complex sentences according to sentence structure.(connected sentence, double sentence) The connected sentences consisted of sentences with coordination conjunction and ones with subordinate conjunction. The double sentences consisted of sentences with adnominal clause, predicate clause, and noun clause. The experimental task of this study was word-order-task : to make a right sentence in meaning and structure by combining given phrases.
The results were as follows.
First, in the overall performance to conduct the task, children with specific language impairment showed significantly low performance compared to not only general children with matched language age but also general children with matched chronological age. In sentence type, the score for connected sentence was most high, next was simple sentence, and double sentence showed the lowest score.
Second, in the performance to compose simple sentence, children with specific language impairment showed significantly low performance compared to general children with matched chronological age but they did not show significant difference compared to general children with matched language age. As the number of phrase increased, the performance significantly decreased. But there was no interaction effect between number of phrase and groups.
Third, in the performance to compose complex sentences, children with specific language impairment showed significantly low performance compared to not only general children with matched language age but also general children with matched chronological age. as for sentence type, performance for double sentence was significantly low compared to connected sentence. Interaction effect between sentence type and groups was observed. For connected sentence, there was significant difference between children with specific language impairment and general children with matched chronological age. For double sentence, there was significant difference between all the groups. As the number of phrase increased, the performance significantly decreased. But there was interaction effect between number of phrase and groups. In the sentences with 4 phrases, there was significant difference between children with specific language impairment and general children with matched language age, between children with specific language impairment and general children with matched chronological age. In the sentences with 5 and 6 phrases, there was significant difference between all the groups.
Fourth, in the performance to compose connected sentences, children with specific language impairment showed significantly low performance compared to general children with matched chronological age but they did not show significant difference compared to general children with matched language age. In meaning type, performance for connected sentence with subordinate conjunction was significantly low compared to sentence with coordination conjunction. As the number of phrase increased, the performance significantly decreased. Also, interaction effect between number of phrase and groups was observed. In the sentences with 4 phrases, there was significant difference between children with specific language impairment and general children with matched chronological age. In the sentences with 5 phrases, there was significant difference between all the groups. In the sentences with 6 phrases, there was not significant difference between all the groups. Interaction effect between number of phrase and meaning type was observed. In the sentences with coordination conjunction, there was significant difference only between 4 phrases and 6 phrases. In the sentences with subordinate conjunction, there was significant difference between all the phrases.
Fifth, in the performance to compose double sentence, children with specific language impairment showed significantly low performance compared to not only general children with matched language age but also general children with matched chronological age. As for type of double clause, the performance showed this order in adnominal clause which is the highest, predicate clause, and noun clause. As the number of phrase increased, performance significantly decreased. The interaction effect was not observed for all the types.
Based on this study, it was known that children with specific language impairment was low in composition ability compared to not only general children with matched chronological age but also general children with matched language age. This study also showed that performance for composition is affected by length and complexity of sentence. In addition, there was significant difference in performance record between general children with matched language age languneral children with matched chronological age, which proves that the ability of composition for children continuously develops during the age of six to 20.