A Coding System for Describing Conversational Breakdowns in Preschool Children

Abstract

Analysis of children’s breakdowns offers a rich data source, potentially revealing patterns of weakness in children’s communication ability. The purpose of the present study was to present a fine-grained instrument, the Breakdown Coding System (BCS; Yont, 1998), for measuring conversational breakdowns in preschoolers. The BCS was applied to language samples collected from five typically developing children (ages 3;11–4;2 years) during naturalistic interactions with familiar caregivers. Results indicated that the BCS was a useful tool for describing children’s breakdowns. Further support for the BCS was seen in the high interobserver reliability for identifying (kappa = .8834) and describing (kappa = .9170) breakdowns and in its usefulness for profiling individual patterns of breakdown types across children. This study is an important first step in developing a valid and useful measure for clinical analysis of breakdowns in young children’s conversational samples.

Responsiveness of children with specific language impairment and maternal repairs during shared book reading

“…In fact, this kind of adjustment has been observed in shared book‐reading interactions between mothers and toddlers or young preschoolers with TD language (De Temple 2001). Yont et al (2000) showed that linguistic errors (phonological, lexical, syntactic errors) and inappropriate content in the answers of children with SLI, as well as their frequent lack of responsiveness, are evident sources of conversational breakdown during free‐play interaction. Consistent with this idea, Vander Woude and Barton (2001, 2003) suggested that increased parental talking during shared reading may benefit the child in case the conversational strategies used by the parents are aimed at positioning the child as a communicatively competent participant during shared reading conversation.…”

Practitioner Review: The assessment of language pragmatics

“…A system for coding breakdowns in conversations (Breakdown Coding System) with young children, described by Yont, Howard, and Miccio (2000) holds considerable potential for a focused practical assessment of repair strategies. Adult clarification requests are divided into a) further information required, b) more sophisticated information required, c) lack of comprehension, d) unintelligibility, e) to fill in a turn.…”

Communication Breakdowns and Repair Strategies of Children with Down Syndrome

“…Though universally accepted definitions of behaviors associated with communication breakdowns do not exist, we drew from well-established literature to formulate the following definitions. A communication breakdown consisted of a child's problematic utterance and a mother's RQCL (Yont et al 2000). A mother's RQCL served to signal a misunderstanding and asked the child to repair the utterance.…”

“…When a listener indicates that he or she does not understand the speaker's communication turn during conversation and requests clarification, the speaker must provide a repair in order for the conversation to continue successfully. A variety of communication difficulties stemming from the speaker, including reduced volume; phonological, lexical, and pragmatic errors; and unclear use of gestures, can lead to breakdowns in conversation (Yont et al 2000). As noted by Brady et al (2005), the ability to repair breakdowns is essential for children with disabilities, who often have difficulty communicating and depend on successful repairs to reach their communication goals.…”