Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gvvz8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T21:34:03.006Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Situational influences on mentally retarded and nonretarded children's production of directives

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2008

Leonard Abbeduto*
Affiliation:
Vanderbilt University
*
Leonard Abbeduto, Box 512, George Peabody College, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37203

Abstract

This study investigated the influence of the communicative situation on the directives produced by retarded children and nonretarded kindergartners. The two groups were matched on nonverbal MA and on the linguistic maturity of their spontaneous speech. All children could produce the linguistic forms appropriate for the experimental task. In the experimental task, directives were elicited in role-playing situations which differed on three dimensions: addressee age, cause of the directive, and purpose of the directive. As measured by directive politeness, the retarded and nonretarded children were influenced similarly by the situational manipulations. However, they relied on different linguistic forms to convey directives. Many children had a preferred form. Within and between group differences in form preferences were observed.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1984

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Abbeduto, L. (1983). Review of Linguistic communication and speech acts by K. Bach & R. M. Harnish. Applied Psycholinguistics, 4, 397407.Google Scholar
Abbeduto, L., & Rosenberg, S. (1980). The communicative competence of mildly retarded adults. Applied Psycholinguistics, 1, 405426.Google Scholar
Bach, K., & Harnish, R. M. (1979). Linguistic communication and speech acts. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Bates, E. (1976). Language and context: The acquisition of pragmatics. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Bedrosian, J. L., & Prutting, C. A. (1978). Communicative performance of mentally retarded adults in four conversational settings. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 21, 7995.Google Scholar
Brown, R. (1973). A first language: The early stages. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Burgmeister, B. B., Blum, L. H., & Lorge, I. (1972). Columbia Mental Maturity Scale manual. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.Google Scholar
Cardoso-Martins, C., & Mervis, C. B. (1981). Maternal speech to prelinguistic Down's syndrome children. Paper presented at the Gatlinburg Conference on Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, Gatlinburg, TN.Google Scholar
Clark, H. H. (1979). Responding to indirect speech acts. Cognitive Psychology, 11, 430477.Google Scholar
Clark, H. H., & Clark, E. V. (1977). Psychology and language: An introduction to psycho-linguistics. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.Google Scholar
Clark, H. H., & Schunk, D. H. (1980). Polite responses to polite requests. Cognition, 8, 111143.Google Scholar
Clark, H. H., & Schunk, D. H. (1981). Politeness in requests: A rejoinder to Kemper and Thissen. Cognition, 9, 311315.Google Scholar
Curtiss, S., Kempler, D., & Yamada, J. (1981). The relationship between language and cognition in development: Theoretical framework and research design. UCLA Working Papers in Cognitive Linguistics, 3, 159.Google Scholar
Curtiss, S., & Yamada, J. (1981). Selectively intact grammatical development in a retarded child. UCLA Working Papers in Cognitive Linguistics, 3, 6191.Google Scholar
Ervin-Tripp, S. (1977). Wait for me, roller skate! In Ervin-Tripp, S. & Mitchell-Kernan, C. (Eds.), Child discourse. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Hart, B., & Rogers-Warren, A. K. (1978). A milieu approach to teaching language. In Schiefelbusch, R. L. (Ed.), Language intervention strategies. Baltimore: University Park Press.Google Scholar
James, S. L. (1978). Effects of listener age and situation on the politeness of children's directives. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 7, 307317.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, O. H. M. (1977). Mother-child communications with prelinguistic Down's syndrome and normal infants. In Schaffer, H. R. (Ed.), Studies in mother–child interaction. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Loban, W. (1963). The language of elementary school children. NCTE Research Report No. 1. Champaign, IL: National Council of Teachers of English.Google Scholar
Lock, A. (1978). Action, gesture, and symbol. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Miller, J. (1981). Assessing language production in children: Experimental procedures. Baltimore: University Park Press.Google Scholar
Nippold, M. A., Leonard, L. B., & Anastopolous, A. (1982). Development in the use and understanding of polite forms in children. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 25, 193202.Google Scholar
Owens, N. O., McManus, M. D., & Sherer, N. (1981). A deinstitutionalized retarded adult's use of communication functions in a natural setting. British Journal of Disorders of Communication, 16, 119128.Google Scholar
Price-Williams, D. P., & Sabsay, S. (1979). Communicative competence among severely retarded persons. Semiotica, 26, 3563.Google Scholar
Quirk, R., & Greenbaum, S. (1973). A concise grammar of contemporary English. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.Google Scholar
Read, B. K., & Cherry, L. J. (1978). Preschool children's production of directive forms. Discourse Processes, 1, 233245.Google Scholar
Snow, C., & Ferguson, C. A. (1977). Talking to children: Language input and acquisition. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Warren, S. F., & Rogers-Warren, A. K. (1980). Current perspectives in language remediation. Education and Treatment of Children, 3, 133152.Google Scholar
Warren, S. F., Rogers-Warren, A. K., Baer, D. M., & Guess, D. (1980). The assessment and facilitation of language generalization. In Sailor, W., Wilcox, B., & Brown, L. (Eds.), Methods of instruction for severely handicapped students. Baltimore: Brooks Publishers.Google Scholar
Warren, S. F., Rogers-Warren, A. K., & Buchanan, B. G. (1981, 04). A longitudinal analysis of comprehensive language training: Generalization to the real world. Paper presented at the biannual meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Boston, MA.Google Scholar
Zetlin, A. G., & Sabsay, S. (1980, March). Characteristics of verbal interaction among moderately retarded peers. Paper presented at the Gatlinburg Conference on Research in Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, Gatlinburg, TN.Google Scholar