Llorenç Andreu Barrachina

Argument omissions in preschool Catalan and Spanish speaking children with SLI

Abstract This paper describes three studies on verb production and argument structure in children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) using different methodologies. The first is an observational study which uses a spontaneous-talk longitudinal sample. The second uses an experimental sentence naming task as a result of event video observation. The third comprises an experimental sentence naming task with static images that differ in verb argument complexity. Although the specific data vary according to the methodology used, there is clear evidence that Catalan and Spanish speaking children with SLI have special difficulties in producing verbs with a highly complex argument structure and make errors in the specification of obligatory arguments. It is concluded that both processing limitations and deficits in the semantic representation of verbs may play a role in these difficulties.