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The production of passives by children with specific language impairment: Acquiring English or Cantonese

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 March 2006

LAURENCE B. LEONARD ,
ANITA M.-Y. WONG ,
PATRICIA DEEVY ,
STEPHANIE F. STOKES  and
PAUL FLETCHER
LAURENCE B. LEONARD
Affiliation:
Purdue University
ANITA M.-Y. WONG
Affiliation:
University of Hong Kong
PATRICIA DEEVY
Affiliation:
Purdue University
STEPHANIE F. STOKES
Affiliation:
University of Reading
PAUL FLETCHER
Affiliation:
University College, Cork
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Abstract

The production of passive sentences by children with specific language impairment (SLI) was studied in two languages, English and Cantonese. In both languages, the word order required for passive sentences differs from the word order used for active sentences. However, English and Cantonese passive sentences are quite different in other respects. We found that English-speaking children with SLI were less proficient than both same-age and younger typically developing peers in the use of passives, although difficulty could not be attributed to word order or a reliance on active sentences. Cantonese-speaking children with SLI proved less capable than same-age peers in their use of passive sentences but at least as proficient as younger peers. The implications of these cross-linguistic differences are discussed.

Type
Articles
Information
Applied Psycholinguistics , Volume 27 , Issue 2 , April 2006 , pp. 267 - 299
Copyright
2006 Cambridge University Press

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