Atypical pragmatic development
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Courtenay Frazier Norbury
Abstract
There has been recognition in clinical and research contexts for many years that some children have pronounced difficulties using language in context or using language to communicate in socially purposeful ways. The diagnostic status of such children has been a matter of great debate, but recently, the most well-known diagnostic framework, the DSM-V, introduced Social (Pragmatic) Communication Disorder (SCD), a disorder characterised by persistent difficulties using verbal and non-verbal communication for social purposes, in the absence of restricted and repetitive interests and behaviours. There is currently much confusion about the precise diagnostic criteria for SCD and how this disorder relates to autism spectrum disorders (ASD), previous descriptions of pragmatic language impairment (PLI) and more specific language disorders (LD). In this chapter I will offer an overview of SCD and how pragmatic and social communication skills might be assessed. I argue that implementing the new diagnosis is currently challenged by a lack of well-validated and reliable assessment measures, and that SCD is probably best conceptualised a dimensional symptom profile that may be present across a range of neurodevelopmental disorders. In addition, social communication and aspects of pragmatic language may be dissociated, with the latter heavily influenced by structural language attainments.
Abstract
There has been recognition in clinical and research contexts for many years that some children have pronounced difficulties using language in context or using language to communicate in socially purposeful ways. The diagnostic status of such children has been a matter of great debate, but recently, the most well-known diagnostic framework, the DSM-V, introduced Social (Pragmatic) Communication Disorder (SCD), a disorder characterised by persistent difficulties using verbal and non-verbal communication for social purposes, in the absence of restricted and repetitive interests and behaviours. There is currently much confusion about the precise diagnostic criteria for SCD and how this disorder relates to autism spectrum disorders (ASD), previous descriptions of pragmatic language impairment (PLI) and more specific language disorders (LD). In this chapter I will offer an overview of SCD and how pragmatic and social communication skills might be assessed. I argue that implementing the new diagnosis is currently challenged by a lack of well-validated and reliable assessment measures, and that SCD is probably best conceptualised a dimensional symptom profile that may be present across a range of neurodevelopmental disorders. In addition, social communication and aspects of pragmatic language may be dissociated, with the latter heavily influenced by structural language attainments.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
- The communicative infant from 0-18 months 13
- The development of speech acts 37
- Turn-taking 53
- Conversation Analysis and pragmatic development 71
- Ontogenetic Constraints on Grice’s Theory of Communication 87
- Two Pragmatic Principles in Language Use and Acquisition 105
- Learning conventions and conventionality through conversation 121
- The pragmatics of word learning 139
- The production and comprehension of referring expressions 161
- Scalar Implicature 183
- Children’s pragmatic use of prosodic prominence 199
- The Pragmatic Development of Humor 219
- “The elevator’s buttocks” 239
- Irony production and comprehension 261
- Narrative Development across Cultural Contexts 279
- Children’s understanding of linguistic expressions of certainty and evidentiality 295
- Crosslinguistic and crosscultural approaches to pragmatic development 317
- Atypical pragmatic development 343
- Assessing pragmatic language functioning in young children 363
- Developmental pragmatics 387
- Index 393
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
- The communicative infant from 0-18 months 13
- The development of speech acts 37
- Turn-taking 53
- Conversation Analysis and pragmatic development 71
- Ontogenetic Constraints on Grice’s Theory of Communication 87
- Two Pragmatic Principles in Language Use and Acquisition 105
- Learning conventions and conventionality through conversation 121
- The pragmatics of word learning 139
- The production and comprehension of referring expressions 161
- Scalar Implicature 183
- Children’s pragmatic use of prosodic prominence 199
- The Pragmatic Development of Humor 219
- “The elevator’s buttocks” 239
- Irony production and comprehension 261
- Narrative Development across Cultural Contexts 279
- Children’s understanding of linguistic expressions of certainty and evidentiality 295
- Crosslinguistic and crosscultural approaches to pragmatic development 317
- Atypical pragmatic development 343
- Assessing pragmatic language functioning in young children 363
- Developmental pragmatics 387
- Index 393
