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Learning disabled children's conversational competence: responses to inadequate messages

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2008

Mavis Donahue ,
Ruth Pearl  and
Tanis Bryan
Mavis Donahue*
Affiliation:
University of Illinois at Chicago Circle
Ruth Pearl
Affiliation:
University of Illinois at Chicago Circle
Tanis Bryan
Affiliation:
University of Illinois at Chicago Circle
*
Mavis Donahue, College of Education, University of Illinois at Chicago Circle, Box 4348, Chicago, IL 60680
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Abstract

This study examined learning disabled children's understanding of conversational rules for initiating the repair of a communicative breakdown. Learning disabled and normal children in grades 1 through 8 played the listener role in a referential communication task requiring them to select referents based on messages varying in informational adequacy. Learning disabled children were less likely to request clarification of inadequate messages and, consequently, made fewer correct referent choices than normal children. Only young learning disabled girls were less able than their normal age-mates to appraise message adequacy. Analyses of response latencies and request type also suggest that the failure to request clarification cannot be attributed solely to linguistic deficits. Results are discussed in terms of the relative contributions of syntactic-semantic ability and social knowledge to conversational competence.

Type
Research Article
Information
Applied Psycholinguistics , Volume 1 , Issue 4 , November 1980 , pp. 387 - 403
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1980

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