Original scientific paper

https://doi.org/10.31299/log.6.1.5

The role of grammatical gender and number in the comprehension of relative clauses among children with specific language impairment

Maja Balija Mećar ; SUVAG Polyclinic, Zagreb
Katarina Pavičić Dokoza ; SUVAG Polyclinic, Zagreb
Adinda Dulčić ; SUVAG Polyclinic, Zagreb

Abstract

This study sought to determine whether a difference in gender and number of the head noun facilitates the comprehension of subject and object relative clauses within a group of children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) aged between 6 and 11 years. The comprehension of these complex syntactic structures was assessed using a task in which children had to answer questions designed to check their understanding of thematic roles in a relative clause. The results demonstrated that object relative clauses were more difficult to comprehend than subject relative clauses. On the other hand, children aged 8 to 11 years were more successful than those in the younger group (6-7 years) at understanding object relative clauses that varied in morphological characteristics (singular-plural, feminine-masculine). These results provide further insight into the linguistic nature of SLI and have implications for therapy.

Keywords

noun gender and number; relative clause; specific language impairment

Hrčak ID:

161793

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/161793

Publication date:

30.6.2016.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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