CHAPTER 5 LANGUAGE

Discussion Questions

1. Children with language disorders often have difficulty with all three aspects of linguistic knowledge: semantics, morphology/syntax, and pragmatics. These language skills are essential for academic success. Describe the growth that we expect to take place during the school years in each of these areas, and then explain specifically how poor development in these areas can effect reading comprehension and written expression.

2. Children with disorders of receptive language (in semantics, morphology/syntax, and/or pragmatics) often also have weaknesses in one or more areas of cognitive processing that are related to language. Levine discusses 5 areas of verbal cognitive processing (see pp. 151-157) that are related to problems of linguistic knowledge. If you think about it, these 5 areas plus linguistic knowledge can be rearranged into the processing hierarchy (input and integration) that you learned in class. Assume that Levine's discussion of semantics, morphology/syntax, and pragmatics corresponds to what we have called "symbolization." Rearrange Levine's list of verbal processes to correspond to the processing hierarchy we have studied in class.

3. What is dysnomia? Why do children with dysnomia seem to be at high risk for reading problems? Specifically what types of reading problems?

4. If you were conducting an assessment of a child with a suspected oral language disability whose first language was not English, (1) what types of assessment are necessary to be sure you take a thorough look at all aspects of oral language, and (2) why is it necessary to assess a child's language development in their first language?

5. Children with written language problems often are found to have weak oral expressive language. Describe how problems with linguistic knowledge (semantics, morphology/syntax, pragmatics) might interfere with the ability to write a story or composition. What intervention strategies would be helpful when working with a child who has poor oral expressive language?