ERIC Number: EJ1281252
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2021
Pages: 21
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1368-2822
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Available Date: N/A
Real-Time Comprehension of Spanish Prepositions and Prepositional Locutions in Bilingual Children with Developmental Language Disorder: A Study Based on Eye-Movement Evidence
International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, v56 n1 p51-71 Jan-Feb 2021
Background: Function words, and more specifically prepositions and prepositional locutions, are considered to be one of the most important difficulties for children with DLD. Aims: To examine the capacity of bilingual children with developmental language disorder (DLD) to comprehend different Spanish prepositions and prepositional locutions in a simple sentence structure, for example, "El gato está sobre la mesa" / "El gato está bajo la mesa" (The cat is on the table / The cat is under the table). Methods & Procedures: We used simple sentence structures to reduce lexical difficulties in order to focus our evaluation strictly on the grammatical morphemes under study. A total of 96 Spanish and Catalan-speaking participants, divided into four groups, were evaluated in an eye-tracking psycholinguistic experiment: 24 children with DLD (average age = 7.8 years, age range = 4.6-12.6), 24 children with the same chronological age (average age = 7.8 years, age range = 4.6-12.2), 24 children with the same linguistic level (average age = 6.8 years, age range = 4.6-9.4) and 24 adults (average age = 22.5 years, age range = 18-30). Outcomes & Results: The empirical data show that, despite some differences, bilingual children with and without DLD can comprehend Spanish prepositions and prepositional locutions under the current experimental conditions. Conclusions & Implications: Our results suggest that the capacity of bilingual children with DLD to comprehend Spanish prepositions and prepositional locutions in real time and within simple sentence structures is preserved.
Descriptors: Children, Developmental Disabilities, Bilingualism, Comprehension, Spanish, Eye Movements, Psycholinguistics, Form Classes (Languages)
Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www-wiley-com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-us
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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