Narrative language competence in children and adolescents with Down syndrome
Narrative language competence in children and adolescents with Down syndrome
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DOI：
10.3389/fnbeh.2015.00283
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发表时间：
2015-10-30
影响因子：
3
通讯作者：
Abbeduto, Leonard
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Channell, Marie Moore;McDuffie, Andrea S.;Abbeduto, Leonard
本研究旨在考察唐氏综合征(DS)儿童和青少年的叙事语言能力，并与脆性X综合征(FXS)同龄人和非言语认知能力水平相匹配的典型发育儿童(TD)进行比较。参与者从一本没有文字的图画书中进行了叙事性复述。叙事从宏观结构(即其内部情节结构)和微观结构(即特定词类的使用率)两个层面进行分析。平均话语长度(MLU)作为句法复杂性的微观结构度量，被用作控制变量。患有DS的参与者在他们的叙事中产生的情节元素(即他们的叙事没有得到充分实现)比TD参与者更少，尽管MLU的差异解释了参与者群体之间的宏观结构差异。在微观结构水平上，患有DS的参与者表现出比FXS和典型发育组更低的动词使用率，即使在考虑MLU之后也是如此。这些发现既反映了DS和FXS个体的异同，也有助于我们理解DS的语言表型。讨论了促进语言发展和学术成就的干预措施的含义。
This study was designed to examine the narrative language abilities of children and adolescents with Down syndrome (DS) in comparison to same age peers with fragile X syndrome (FXS) and younger typically developing (TD) children matched by nonverbal cognitive ability levels. Participants produced narrative retells from a wordless picture book. Narratives were analyzed at the macrostructural (i.e., their internal episodic structure) and the microstructural (i.e., rate of use of specific word categories) levels. Mean length of utterance (MLU), a microstructural metric of syntactic complexity, was used as a control variable. Participants with DS produced fewer episodic elements in their narratives (i.e., their narratives were less fully realized) than the TD participants, although MLU differences accounted for the macrostructural differences between participant groups. At the microstructural level, participants with DS displayed a lower rate of verb use than the groups with FXS and typical development, even after accounting for MLU. These findings reflect both similarities and differences between individuals with DS or FXS and contribute to our understanding of the language phenotype of DS. Implications for interventions to promote language development and academic achievement are discussed.