Claes Nilholm

Conversation versus narration in pre-school children with language impairment

The study focuses on two elicitation methods for language sampling in children with language impairment: conversation and narration. It has been noted in other studies on different clinical groups that language elicited in different speaking contexts varies in aspects such as MLU, fluency and syntactic complexity. The purpose of this study was to compare genre effects on different aspects of language production in a group of pre-school children with language impairment. The results show that there are differences in language production during conversation compared with narration. Intelligibility and fluency were found to be higher in conversation than in narration, whereas MLU in words was higher in narration. The narrative task elicited more phrasal expansions and grammatical morphemes per utterance than the conversation. However, the children used more complex verb forms in conversation than in narration. The results are discussed in relation to recent research.

Contextual Influence On The Language Production Of Children With Speech/Language Impairment

To investigate the possible contextual variability of language and interaction, data from 10 children with speech/language impairment and three different types of conversational partners (a parent, a peer and a clinician) were collected. The dialogues were analyzed with respect to the characteristics of the dialogues as whole, to the dominance and the productivity of the three types of conversational partners, and to the productivity, fluency and grammatical structure of the language production of the children with speech/language impairment. Productivity was measured as mean length of utterance (MLU) in words, number of utterances, number of different words and proportion of complete and intelligible utterances. Fluency was measured as the proportion of utterances containing a maze. Grammatical structure was analysed with respect to the use of grammatical morphemes, word order patterns, the occurrence of expansions and the complexity of verb forms. Significant differences, in particular between child-child and adult-child dialogues were found. The adult-child dialogues were asymmetrical, where the adults dominated through asking many questions and talking much. The peer dialogues were more dynamic and equal. In these dialogues the children with speech/language impairment took a more active role as a conversational partner. The children produced more utterances and different words with the adult partners, but variables related to fluency and grammatical structure did not vary as a function of the conversational partner. The results imply that children with speech/language impairment practise different aspects of their communicative ability with different types of conversational partners. In particular, it is important to provide them with opportunities to interact with peers, in order for them to develop their skills as independent conversational partners.

Democracy and dilemmas of self-determination

Results from analyses of interactions in ‘user‐centred’ meetings within the Swedish rehabilitation sector are reported. Transcripts of team meetings are used to discern situations in which dilemmas of self‐determination versus paternalism may possibly need to be treated when the ‘user’ with impairment is to exercise his/her social citizenship. The analyses illustrate how the liberal ideal of self‐determination makes certain demands on the ‘user’. These demands are categorised as ‘physical presence’, ‘interpretable voice’, ‘purposeful voice’, ‘sincere voice’ and ‘realisable voice’. It is argued that dilemmas of self‐determination are impossible to avoid completely. To deal with the complexity of implementing self‐determination, it is important to try to adjust the preparations and the organisation of the meetings, increase user control of services provided, combine individualised support with collective and political action, and allow expressions of different models of democracy. The possibility of appreciating interdependence and justifying paternalistic actions also needs to be acknowledged.

The Zone of Proximal Development: A Comparison of Children with Down Syndrome and Typical Children.

The zone of proximal development - a comparsion of children with Down syndrome and typical children

Who is Cindy? Aspects of identity work in a teacher-parent-pupil talk at a special school

The article presents a case study of one teacher-parent-pupil (TPP) conference. Cindy, the pupil, has Down syndrome. A study of how people with verbal communication problems manage discursive pract ...

Why ask questions? Contextual effects on grammatical structure in the language production of children with specific language impairment

In this small-scale study we investigated the influence of different aspects of context on the language production of children with specific language impairment (SLI). Each of the variables, type of partner, the partner’s interactional style and the type of material used for eliciting conversation, was related to the probability of the use of a set of grammatical constructions by the child. The results show that the interactional style of the conversational partner as well as the type of elicitation material used can have an influence on the grammatical complexity in the language production of children with SLI. Further investigation of such contextual effects from a dialogical perspective would have important implications for intervention with these children.

Discourse about children with mental disablement : An analysis of teacher-parent conferences in special education schools

Discourse about children with mental disablement : An analysis of teacher-parent conferences in special education schools

Children with Down syndrome: Implications of a contextual approach

Earlier research on the development of children with Down syndrome is summarized from the standpoint of the development-difference debate. While some progress is recognized, it is argued that this research has neglected to theorize the concept of context and has, therefor, to a large extent created a notion of a universal child with Down syndrome. Three such neglected contexts are discussed; (1) the controlled setting, (2) the life context of the children, and, (3) culture as a context of development. With the point of departure in the criticism of how these contexts have been theorized, it is argued that (1) it is difficult to search for specific weaknesses in children with Down syndrome, (2) little is known about what factors in the lifes of these children that are important to development, and, (3) since cultures structure development differently, the development of children with Down syndrome will consequently vary from culture to culture. An outline of a framework for the study of the development of children with Down syndrome is proposed as well as its methodological implications. It is suggested that a partly new way of speaking about the development of children with Down syndrome is needed.RésuméLes recherches antérieures sur l’évolution des enfants atteints du syndrome de Down sont résumées à partir de la discussion sur le thème “development-difference”. Certains progrès sont mentionnés, mais l’on montre aussi, arguments à l’appui, que ces recherches ont négligé d’intégrer les contextes au cadre théorique. De ce fait, elles ont éminemment contribué à construire l’image d’un enfant universel atteint du syndrome de Down. Trois types de contextes qui ont été négligés sont: (1) les situations contrôlées; (2) le contexte de vie de l’enfant; (3) l’environnement culturel dans lequel s’opère l’évolution.A partir d’une critique du cadre théorique existant sont présentés des arguments visant à montrer: (1) qu’il est difficile de mettre en lumière des faiblesses spéciales chez les enfants atteints du syndrome de Down; (2) qu’on est peu renseigné sur les facteurs qui présentent une importance particulière pour l’évolution de ces enfants; (3) que l’évolution des enfants atteints du syndrome de Down varie d’une culture à l’autre étant donné que l’évolution est structurée de manière différente dans différentes cultures.On esquisse un cadre conceptuel permettant d’étudier l’évolution des enfants atteints du syndrome de Down et on en précise les implications méthodologiques. En conclusion, on souligne la nécessité de renouveler partiellement la maniére de présenter l’évolution des enfants atteints du syndrome de Down.