Naming Errors of Children With Specific Language Impairment

Abstract

This paper explores why children with SLI are less accurate than peers in naming pictures. Subjects included 66 children with SLI (aged 4:3 to 9:7) with 2 subgroups, one with expressive-only language deficits (SLIexp) and one with receptive and expressive language deficits (SLImix), and 66 children with no language impairment (NLI). Children with SLI made more errors than children with NLI, and proportionally more of their errors were names of objects associated with the pictured object (e.g., shoe/foot) and names that were phonologically related to the target than were those with NLI. The relative frequency of error types was related to pattern of language deficit; in comparison to their NLI peers, a greater proportion of SLIexp errors were phonological errors, and a greater proportion of the SLImix errors were semantic associated, semantic perceptual, and nonsemantic perseverative. The proportion of semantic-associated errors also discriminated a subgroup of the children with SLI from a matched subgroup of the children with SLImix. Interpretations and potential implications are discussed.

Semantic Abilities in Children With Pragmatic Language Impairment: The Case of Picture Naming Skills

“…The categorization of error types was based on the categorization of Lahey and Edwards (1999). To circumvent extremely low frequencies for some error types, the different categories were collapsed into the categories of semantic errors, phonological errors, "nonrelated" errors, and a category consisting of omissions and circumlocutions.…”

“…As such, the distribution of errors could provide clinicians with an indication of the type of language deficit. For example, Lahey and Edwards (1999) found that 6-year-old children with receptive language problems were more likely to make semantic errors, whereas their peers with expressive language problems showed a higher likelihood of phonological errors. Studies on picture naming skills in children with SLI found a lower naming accuracy compared with TD children (e.g., Lahey & Edwards, 1999;.…”

“…For example, Lahey and Edwards (1999) found that 6-year-old children with receptive language problems were more likely to make semantic errors, whereas their peers with expressive language problems showed a higher likelihood of phonological errors. Studies on picture naming skills in children with SLI found a lower naming accuracy compared with TD children (e.g., Lahey & Edwards, 1999;. In the only comprehensive study known to the authors on picture naming skills in children with PLI, subtle differences in performance were visible in a group of 10 children aged 7 and 8, compared with children with SLI (Botting & ContiRamsden, 1999).…”

“…Picture naming skills have been researched extensively in the case of children with language disorders (Bello, Capirci, & Volterra, 2004;Dockrell, Messer, & George, 2001;Lahey & Edwards, 1999;Nation et al, 2001;Swan & Goswami, 1997). The pattern of naming errors differs by the type of language problem.…”

Learning New Words

“…In this way, when the novel words were encountered, a child needed to create a semantic representation of the referent, a lexical representation of the whole word form, and an association between the two. We hypothesized that analysis of children's error patterns may provide insights into which type of representation, lexical or semantic, may be most affected by phonotactic probability (cf., Lahey & Edwards, 1999;McGregor, 1997). Two factors were considered: (1) error type; (2) Preschool children were recruited from the local community through posted announcements and newspaper advertisements.…”