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Parent report data on 82 preschool children with complex neurodevelopmental disabilities including Down syndrome, dyspraxia, autism, and global developmental delay suggests communicative language use must reach a threshold level before vocabulary size becomes the best predictor of word combining. Using the Language Use Inventory and the MacArthur-Bates CDI (with sign vocabulary option), statistical modelling using regression trees and random forests suggests that, despite high linear correlations between variables, (1) pragmatic ability, particularly children's emerging ability to talk about things, themselves and others is a significantly better predictor of the earliest word combining than vocabulary size; and (2) vocabulary size becomes a better predictor of later word combining, once this pragmatic base has been established.

The effectiveness of expansion as a technique for facilitating children's language and conversational skills is well known (Scherer and Olswang, 1984). Expansion, however, can appear alone or in combination with other techniques. Using a repeated measures design, this study aimed to compare the effects of expansion alone (EA); expansion combined with wh-questions (EQ); and expansion followed by a cloze procedure (EC) on the conversational skills of eight preschool children with conversational difficulties. Results showed that while there were no significant differences in child verbal topic maintaining responses across all techniques, EA elicited a significantly higher number of topic extensions, more non-verbal topic maintaining responses and fewer 'non-relevant responses' from the children, than either EQ or EC. The positive effects of each technique on the pragmatic appropriateness in conversations suggest that they could be used strategically in language intervention to ensure greater therapeutic effect.

Background: Personal narratives are descriptions of past events experienced by the speaker and are one of the most commonly found forms of narration in children. The ability to tell personal narratives is considered critical for socio-emotional wellbeing and academic performance., Aims: This study investigated the personal narrative skills of 25 children with Down syndrome (age 5;11-13;1 years) who attended predominantly mainstream primary schools in New Zealand and were classified as beginning readers., Methods & Procedures: Personal narrative samples were elicited by the children's speech-language therapists using a standard protocol commonly used with New Zealand children. Children were shown a series of 11 photographs with scripted introductory prompts and were asked if anything like that ever happened to them. Transcribed samples were analysed on measures of mean length of utterance in morphemes (MLU-M), semantics (number of different words; NDW), and personal narrative quality (PNQ)., Outcomes & Results: Consistent with previous research, results showed wide variability in performance. Although 92% of the children produced at least 50 utterances in response to the prompts, in general MLU-M was very low (mean = 2.67, SD = 1.04). NDW ranged from 19 to 126 (mean = 61.52, SD = 25.39). Regression analyses showed no significant effect for age on MLU-M (p= 0.094), nor on PNQ. There was a significant effect for age on NDW (p= 0.03), with performance improving with age. Analysis of PNQ revealed that only four children (ages 9;11-12;7) were able to relate a personal narrative containing a high point. Correlational analyses indicated significant correlations between PNQ, MLU-M, NDW and performance on a standardized reading test., Conclusions & Implications: The findings highlight the difficulties children with Down syndrome have in producing personal narratives, despite exposure to a national English curriculum that encourages children to develop and convey 'personal voice'. Clinical implications of these findings will be presented., (© 2011 Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists.)

This paper explores the interface between syntax and pragmatics, focusing on the binding of pronouns and the pragmatics of the paradigms used to test this aspect of syntactic knowledge. Reinhart's (1986) version of Binding Theory (which accords a specific role to pragmatics in processes of pronoun resolution) and Sperber & Wilson's (1986) Theory of Relevance are used to examine the syntax and pragmatics of pronoun interpretation. A set of predictions based on Relevance Theory are evaluated against published results of tests of Binding Theory. The paper concludes that Relevance Theory provides a means of understanding constraints on testing syntactic knowledge and argues that pragmatic factors must be systematically controlled in any evaluation of syntactic knowledge.