JSLHR
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research Vol.47 1440-1453 December 2004. doi:10.1044/1092-4388(2004/107)
© American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow My Folders
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Wong, A. M.-Y.
Right arrow Articles by Stokes, S. F.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Wong, A. M.-Y.
Right arrow Articles by Stokes, S. F.

Questions Without Movement

A Study of Cantonese-Speaking Children With and Without Specific Language Impairment

Anita M.-Y. Wong 1
Laurence B. Leonard 2
Paul Fletcher 3

Stephanie F. Stokes 4
1 University of Hong Kong
2 Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
3 University College, Cork, Ireland
4 University of Northumbria, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom

amywong{at}hkusua.hku.hk

English-speaking children with specific language impairment (SLI) appear to have special difficulty in the use of who-object questions (e.g., Who is the girl chasing?). It has been argued that problems related to grammatical movement may be responsible for this difficulty. However, it is also possible that the lower frequency of who-object questions relative to who-subject questions also plays a role. In this study, the use of who-object and who-subject questions by children with SLI who were acquiring Cantonese as their 1st language was examined. In Cantonese, the surface form of who-object questions (e.g., hung4zai2 sek3 bin1go3? [Bear kiss who?]) reflects the same subject, verb, object order typically used for declarative sentences, and a movement account provides no basis for expecting special difficulties with such questions. As in English, however, Cantonese who-object questions occur less frequently than do who-subject questions. A comparison of preschoolers with SLI, typically developing same-age peers, and younger, typically developing peers revealed that the children with SLI were less accurate in using who-object questions than either of the other participant groups yet showed no differences from these groups in the use of who-subject questions (e.g., bin1go3 sek3 zyu1zyu1? [Who kiss Piglet?]). The implications of these findings for current accounts of SLI are discussed, and the idea that input frequency and animacy may play a larger role than is often assumed is suggested.

KEY WORDS: specific language impairment, Chinese, Cantonese, developmental language disorders

Submitted on November 25, 2003
Revised on March 18, 2004
Accepted on May 11, 2004




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 JSLHRHome page
S. F. Stokes, A. M-Y. Wong, P. Fletcher, and L. B. Leonard
Nonword repetition and sentence repetition as clinical markers of specific language impairment: the case of cantonese.
J Speech Lang Hear Res, April 1, 2006; 49(2): 219 - 236.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
All ASHA Journals AJA AJSLP JSLHR LSHSS
Copyright © 2004 by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.