Original scientific paper

Is There a Pragmatic Language Impairment?

Jasmina Ivšac
Ana Gaćina

Abstract

Within the last two decades scholars and therapists have been focusing on the role of pragmatics in speech and language
communication, as in common development and especially in possible disorders. Namely, adequate development of morphology,
syntax and other language aspects in the preschool period is not sufficient for efficient communication within the situational
and social context. Pragmatic abilities are, among other, grounded on understanding owns and other people intentions and on
continuous integration of different information during conversation. Assessment of conversational skills requires situational
context that is as natural as possible and acquired structural aspects of language. There are also other reasons, beside the
previously named, why pragmatic language disorders often pass unnoticed in clinical work or became labeled as other close
disorder. As scientific literature also does not suggest clear and uniform definition and official categorization of pragmatic
language impairments, this work shows a case study of a child whose clinical features fulfill all the criteria for pragmatic
language impairment proposed by many authors (Bishop, 1998., 2000., 2001.). Results of a two year follow-up are trying to
make a contribution to dilemmas about independence of pragmatics, other language aspects and cognitive development, on
possible co-occurrence of different disorders and to clear description on indicators of pragmatic language impairments. This
longitudinal follow-up also describes a use of different methodological solutions that open up a possibility for reliable screening
and assessment of pragmatic language impairments.

Keywords

pragmatics; features of pragmatic language disorder; case study; language development

Hrčak ID:

16738

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/16738

Publication date:

1.10.2006.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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