This study aimed to explore the underlying basis of the communication difficulties in children (between 5.0 and 7.11 years) with high functioning pervasive developmental disorder (HFPDD) (n=26), compared to children with specific language impairment (SLI) (n=26), and children with no history of developmental difficulty (NDD) (n=26). The study looked at: whether different profiles could be obtained for the groups on comprehensive batteries of communication, cognitive processing and theory of mind; which areas measured were best correlated; and which measures best differentiated the groups. Comprehensive communication and theory of mind batteries were devised and conducted. Cognitive processing was measured using the Cognitive Assessment System (CAS) (Naglieri and Das, 1997). Data was analysed using descriptive statistics, analysis of variance, the Kruskal-Wallis test, Bonferroni t tests, frequency distributions, Pearson correlation coefficients and discriminant function analyses. Kappa coefficients and analysis of variance measures were carried out on 23% of the rated data in order to establish inter-rater agreement and acceptable levels of agreement were reached. On the communication assessment, the HFPDD group experienced the most difficulty on the measures of understanding abstract vocabulary, understanding conversation, pronoun alternation, higher level semantics, narrative ability and pragmatic ability. In contrast, the SLI group experienced the most difficulty on the measures of expressive grammar and narrative clarity. On the cognitive processing assessment, the HFPDD group experienced marked difficulty in the areas of planning and attention, while the SLI group experienced significant difficulty in the areas of successive processing and less marked but still significant difficulty in the area of planning. Within the HFPDD group, a group with simultaneous processing markedly stronger than successive processing, a group with successive processing markedly stronger than simultaneous processing, and a group with simultaneous and successive processing occurring at a similar level, were identified. The HFPDD group experienced significant difficulty on all the measures of theory of mind, although a limited number of HFPDD subjects did not experience difficulty. The SLI group experienced significant difficulty on the two theory of mind measures that were more verbally loaded. Strong correlations were found between receptive language, expressive semantics, narrative ability, pragmatic ability, planning, attention and theory of mind; and between expressive grammar and successive processing. Pragmatic ability, narrative ability, planning, and certain of the theory of mind measures best appeared to discriminate the groups. A combined model of language, cognitive and theory of mind processing is proposed to explain the differences between the HFPDD and SLI groups.

O Distúrbio Específico de Linguagem (DEL) é uma alteração que acomete o desenvolvimento da linguagem que não pode ser atribuído à defasagem sensorial, motora, intelectual, transtorno globais do desenvolvimento, privação social ou lesão cerebral evidente. Estudos comprovam que o desempenho de crianças com DEL é inferior ao de seus pares normais em provas de Memória de Trabalho (MT) e relacionam essa defasagem às dificuldades linguísticas destes sujeitos. É consenso que a memória de trabalho fonológica (MTF) é fundamental para o desenvolvimento da linguagem, porém, há divergências sobre o papel da memória de trabalho visual (MTV). Assim este estudo teve como objetivo comparar o desempenho de crianças com DEL e com Desenvolvimento Típico de Linguagem (DTL) em provas de MT e vocabulário receptivo; comparar o desempenho na Prova de Memória de Trabalho Fonológica (PMTF) e Teste Pictórico de Memória (TEPIC-M) verificando se há diferença em função do material ser apresentado por via auditiva ou visual e ainda, correlacionar o desempenho das crianças com DEL nas provas de MT e de vocabulário receptivo. Participaram do estudo 42 crianças sendo 14 delas com diagnóstico de DEL e 28 com DTL, pareadas pela idade cronológica, foram aplicados dois testes que avaliam a memória de trabalho (PMTF e TEPIC-M) e um teste que avalia vocabulário receptivo (Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test- PPVT-III). Para a análise estatística foram utilizados os testes t de Student para comparação entre os grupos e Correlação de Pearson para correlacionar os resultados entre as provas. Os resultados mostraram que as crianças com DEL apresentam desempenho inferior em relação aos seus pares normais em ambas as provas de MT, sendo que, em maior proporção na prova de PMTF, havendo correlação entre todos os testes aplicados. Assim conclui-se que crianças com DEL apresentam defasagem na MTF e na MTV, nesta última em menor proporção. Quanto maior a defasagem nas habilidades de memória, maior foi a defasagem no vocabulário destas crianças. Tanto crianças com DEL, como as com DTL apresentaram pior desempenho quando o estímulo foi apresentado por via auditiva comparado àquele apresentado por via visual. / The Specific Language Impairment (SLI) is a disorder that affects the language development and cant be attributed to lag sensory, motor, intellectual and pervasive developmental disorder, social deprivation or evident brain lesion. Studies show that the performance of SLI children is lower than their normal peers in Working Memory (WM) tests and relate this discrepancy to the linguistic difficulties of these subjects. There is consensus that phonological working memory (PWM) is critical to language development, but there are disagreements about the role of visual working memory (VWM). So this study aimed to compare the performance of children with SLI and typical language development (TLD) in WM tests and receptive vocabulary, to compare the performance in Phonological Working Memory Test (PWMT) and Pictorial Memory Test (PMT) checking whether there are differences depending on the material being presented through auditory or visual, still, to correlate the performance of children with SLI on receptive vocabulary tests and WM tests. The study included 42 children, 14 of them with SLI and 28 with TLD, paired with chronological age, were applied two tests that assessed working memory (PWMT and PMT) and a receptive vocabulary test (Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test - PPVT-III). For statistical analysis were used t of Student test for comparison between groups and Pearson Correlation to correlate the results between tests. The results showed that children with SLI perform below their peers in relation to normal in both WM tests, mainly on the PWMT, there was correlation between all tests. Thus it is concluded that children with SLI present deficits in PWM and VWM, the latter in a smaller proportion. The higher is the gap in their memory skills, the higher is the gap in the vocabulary of these children. Both children with SLI, as with TLD showed a worse performance when the stimulus was presented auditory compared to that presented by visual means.

Os objetivos deste estudo foram correlacionar o desempenho de crianças com Distúrbio Específico de Linguagem (DEL) nas provas de memória de trabalho e de compreensão de sentenças e verificar, entre as duas provas de memória de trabalho utilizadas, qual a mais eficaz para discriminar crianças com DEL, quando comparadas a crianças com desenvolvimento típico de linguagem (DTL). Foram selecionadas 66 crianças, com idades variando de 37 meses (3:1 anos) a 131 meses (10:11 anos), divididas em três grupos de 22 crianças: um grupo experimental, de crianças com diagnóstico de DEL, e dois grupos controle, de crianças com desenvolvimento típico de linguagem e aprendizagem (DTLA). O primeiro grupo controle (n=22) foi pareado pela idade psicolinguística (GCIPL) e, o segundo (n=22), pareado pela idade cronológica (GCIC). A memória de trabalho foi obtida por meio das provas de repetição de pseudopalavras (PP) e de memória seqüencial para dígitos (ITPA DG), e a compreensão de sentenças por meio do \"Token Test\". A comparação entre o desempenho dos grupos foi realizada pelo teste \"t\" de Student, a correlação entre as provas de memória de trabalho e compreensão de sentenças foi realizada pela correlação de Pearson e, para verificar qual a melhor prova para discriminar as crianças com DEL, utilizou-se a curva ROC. As análises demonstraram que os sujeitos do grupo experimental apresentaram menor número de acertos nas três provas aplicadas (p<0,05). Foi encontrada correlação positiva entre as provas de memória de trabalho e a prova de compreensão de sentenças (PP --> r=0,42, p=0,049; ITPA DG --> r=0,74, p<0,001). Entre as duas provas relacionadas à memória de trabalho, a que demonstrou ter o melhor índice discriminatório de crianças com DEL foi a de pseudopalavras, com acurácia de 95%. Concluiu-se que houve correlação positiva entre a memória de trabalho e o aspecto da linguagem, compreensão, e que a melhor forma de discriminar crianças com DEL e crianças com DTL, entre as duas analisadas é a prova de pseudopalavras. / The objectives of this study was to correlate the children\'s performance with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) in the working memory and sentences comprehension tasks and to verify among the two working memory tasks used, which one is more effective to discriminate children with SLI, when compared to children with typical language development (TLD). It was selected 66 children with ages varying of 37 months (3:1 years) to 131 months (10:11 years), divided in 3 groups of 22 children, being one a experimental group of children with diagnosis of SLI and two control groups of children with typical development of language and learning (TDLA), being the first control group (n=22) matched by the psycholinguistic age (CGPLA) and the second (n=22) matched by the chronological age (CGCA). The working memory was obtained through the nonwords repetition (NW) and digit span (ITPA DG) tasks, and the sentences comprehension through \"Token Test\". The comparison among the groups performance was accomplished by the Student\'s t-test, the correlation between the working memory and sentences comprehension tasks was accomplished by the Pearson correlation, and to verify which one is the best task to discriminate the children with SLI, the ROC curve analyses was used. The analyses demonstrated that the experimental group subject presented smaller number of successes in the three applied tasks (p <0,05). It was found positive correlation between the working memory and sentences comprehension tasks (NW-->r=0,42, p=0,049; ITPA DG-->r=0,74, p <0,001). Among the two tasks regarding the working memory, the one that demonstrated to be the best discriminatory index of children with SLI was the NW, with accuracy of 95%. Therefore it is ended that there was positive correlation among the working memory and the aspect of the language, comprehension. And the best form of discriminating children with SLI and children with TLD, among the analyzed two, is the NW task.

O objetivo deste estudo foi comparar o desempenho psicolingüístico de crianças com Distúrbio Específico de Linguagem (DEL) com o de crianças que apresentam desenvolvimento típico de linguagem (DTL), apontando os marcadores psicolingüísticos mais significativos do distúrbio e também comparar a eficácia de dois métodos de intervenção - Modelo de Intervenção no Meio e Modelo Neuropsicolingüístico - no desempenho psicolingüístico das crianças com DEL. Participaram desta investigação 12 pré-escolares de ambos os gêneros, com idade entre 4:0 - 6:11 anos, sendo metade deles pertencentes ao grupo experimental - crianças com DEL, submetidos à intervenção - e os demais ao grupo controle - crianças com DTL, não submetidos à intervenção. A quantificação do rendimento dos sujeitos nas distintas dimensões psicolingüísticas foi obtida mediante a utilização de diversos instrumentos, com o propósito de avaliar o nível primário, secundário e terciário da recepção e produção lingüística. Posteriormente às avaliações préintervenção, o grupo experimental foi distribuído aleatoriamente em dois grupos e submetido a dois diferentes modelos terapêuticos (primeiro ciclo), com duração de quatro meses. Ao fim deste ciclo foi reavaliado, submetido a quatro meses de terapia em que os Modelos foram alternados e os grupos novamente reavaliados. A análise estatística revelou a existência de diferença estatisticamente significante entre o desempenho do grupo experimental e controle em vários níveis de análise e produção lingüística, sendo os marcadores mais significativos encontrados os que envolvem a discriminação auditiva, análise fonológica, recepção e organização morfossintática, memória de curto prazo e habilidades pragmáticas quanto ao uso de turnos expansivos. Já a comparação da eficácia dos dois Modelos de intervenção propostos revelou que as distintas habilidades psicolingüísticas responderam de forma diferente aos mesmos, sugerindo que a combinação das estratégias dos Modelos investigados possa ser o melhor caminho quando se deseja intervir nos quadros de crianças cujas dificuldades encontram-se situadas nos níveis de análise e produção lingüística investigados neste trabalho. / This study aimed to compare the psycholinguistic performance of children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) to children with Typical Language Development (TLD), pointing out the most significant psycholinguistic markers, and to compare the effectiveness of two intervention methods, Milieu Teaching Approach and Neuropsycholinguistic Model, in the psycholinguistic performance of children with SLI. The subjects were 12 pre-school boys and girls, 4:00 to 6:11 years old; half of them took part in the experimental group - children with SLI submitted to intervention - and the others in the control group - children with TLD not submitted to intervention. The subject performance quantification in distinct psycholinguistic dimensions was obtained through several tools in order to evaluate the primary, secondary and tertiary levels of linguistic reception and production. After pre-intervention evaluations, the experimental group was randomly distributed into two study groups and submitted to two different therapeutic models (first cycle) during four months. At the end of this cycle, it was evaluated again, submitted to four-month therapy with alternating Models and re-evaluated. Statistical analysis showed the existence of statistically significant difference in the performance between the experimental group and the control one in several levels of linguistic analysis and production. The most significant markers involve auditory discrimination, phonological analysis, morphosyntactic reception and production, short-term memory and pragmatic abilities in relation to the use of expansive turns. The comparison of the effectiveness between the two proposed Models showed that distinct psycholinguistic abilities responded differently to themselves, which suggests that the combination of strategies of the studied Models be the best way to intervene in the performance of children whose difficulties lie in the investigated analysis and linguistic production levels of this study.

L'objectif de ce travail était de concevoir un questionnaire écrit qui examine le développement du langage oral des enfants normaux et dysphasiques du point de vue des parents. Dans cette perspective, nous avons conduit trois études auprès de deux populations (sujets normaux et dysphasiques) afin d'étudier l'impact des facteurs sociodémographiques sur le langage et de comparer le langage des enfants dysphasiques à celui des enfants normaux. Enfin, nous avons réalisé une étude des profils.Pour réaliser nos objectifs, un questionnaire a été conçu portant sur 5 axes linguistiques (praxie/articulatoire,phonologie, syntaxe, sémantique, pragmatique) destiné aux parents des enfants normaux et dysphasiques. La comparaison entre les deux échantillons a montré un niveau de langage inférieur chez les enfants dysphasiques par rapport à celui des enfants normaux au niveau de tous les axes. Les résultats ont objectivé un effet très significatif de l'âge de l'enfant sur tous les axes du questionnaire pour la population normale. De même, un effet significatif du genre sur l'axe syntaxique a été relevé. En revanche, nos données n'ont pas révélé d’effet significatif de la plupart des facteurs sociodémographiques pour la population dysphasique.L'étude des profils des enfants dysphasiques a permis d’observer des aspects langagiers déficitaires, et d'autres préservés, en fonction du type de dysphasie ainsi qu’une concordance entre l'évaluation des parents et le diagnostic posé par les spécialistes. En conclusion, le questionnaire semble être un bon outil pour fournir des indicateurs de développement du langage et pour contribuer à repérer précocement des enfants à risques pour développer les troubles spécifiques du langage oral. / The objective of this work was to design a written questionnaire that examines the oral language development of normal children and children with specific language impairment depending on the evaluation of parents. In this perspective, we conducted three studies with two groups(normal children, children with specific language impairment)to study the impact of sociodemographic factors on language and to compare the language between the normal children and children with specific language impairment (SLI) and finally to conduct a study of profile. To achieve our objectives a questionnaire was designed concerning 5 axes of language (praxis / articulation, phonology, syntax, semantics,pragmatics) designed for parents of normal children and dysphasia. The comparison between two samples showed inferior performance in SLI than in normal children at all axesThe results have objectified a highly significant effect of child's age on all axis of the questionnaire for the normal population. Similarly, a significant effect of gender of the child on the syntactic axis. However, our data did not reveal asignificant effect of most of sociodemographic factors for the SLI population. Profiling children with SLI showed performance loss, and other preserved, by the type of SLI andit proved a correspondence between the assessment of parentsand the diagnosis made by specialists. Finally, the questionnaire appears to be a good tool to provide indicators of language development and early detection of children atrisk for specific oral language disorders.

Problemområdet i denna uppsats rör matematiksvårigheter hos elever med språkstörning på gymnasiet. Bakgrunden är bland annat den rapport från SPSM (2018) som visar att rutiner kring elever med språkstörning på gymnasiet är bristfälliga samt en stor mängd forskning som konstaterar att det finns ett samband mellan språkstörning och matematik. Uppsatsens syfte är att synliggöra denna grupp genom att undersöka hur några elever med språkstörning på gymnasiet upplever och har upplevt sina matematiksvårigheter. Eftersom undersökningen utgår ifrån elevperspektivet valdes semistrukturerade intervjuer som metod. De fem deltagarna har alla diagnosen språkstörning, går på gymnasiet och har inte klarat gymnasiets första matematikkurs på utsatt tid.        Elevernas berättelser och upplevelser diskuteras utifrån attributionsteorins modell om hur vi attribuerar våra motgångar och framgångar. Det framkommer att alla eleverna har fått kämpa med matematiken genom hela sin skolgång. Eleverna förklarar sina svårigheter till övervägande del med stabila, det vill säga oföränderliga, faktorer, både sådana som ligger utanför dem själva (externa) och sådana som ligger inom dem själva (interna). Varken eleverna själva eller lärare de mött, har kopplat ihop matematiksvårigheterna med diagnosen språkstörning.        Utifrån resultaten diskuteras bland annat vikten av kunskap om sambandet mellan språkstörning och matematiksvårigheter hos matematiklärare samt samarbetet mellan denne och specialläraren med inriktning språk-, skriv- och läsutveckling. Vidare diskuteras organisatoriska förändringar som skulle kunna underlätta för den här elevgruppen och att man bör ha i beaktande hur upprepade misslyckanden resulterar i minskad motivation. Detta är särskilt relevant för elever, som förklarar sina motgångar med stabila, oföränderliga faktorer, då det minskar möjligheten att ta vara på den kapacitet de har. / The research problem in this thesis concerns mathematical difficulties in pupils with specific language impairment (SLI) in upper secondary school. A large amount of research shows that there is a connection between specific language impairment and mathematical difficulties and a report from SPSM (2018) states that routines concerning pupils with SLI in upper secondary school are deficient. The purpose of the thesis is to make this group more visible by examining how some pupils with SLI in upper secondary school experience, and have experienced, their mathematical difficulties. Since the study is based on the student perspective, semi-structured interviews were chosen as a method. The five participants have all been diagnosed with SLI and attend upper secondary school.        The students' stories and experiences are discussed based on the model of attribution theory, which describe how we attribute our adversities and successes. It appears that all the students have been struggling with mathematics throughout their schooling. Students explain their difficulties predominantly with stable, i.e. unchanging, factors, external as well as internal. Neither the students themselves nor the teachers they encountered have linked the mathematical difficulties with the diagnosis SLI.        Based on the results, the importance of more knowledge among mathematics teachers about the relationship between SLI and mathematical difficulties is discussed, as well as the importance of collaboration between mathematics teachers and special education teachers. Furthermore, organizational changes that could facilitate this student group are discussed and moreover that one should consider how repeated failures result in reduced motivation. This is particularly relevant for students, who explain their setbacks with stable, unchanging factors, as it reduces the ability to take advantage of their capacity.

Finding an early and objective way to identify language impairment in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has the potential to lead to earlier speech and language intervention for affected children. Previous magnetoencephalography studies utilizing the mismatch field component (MMF) component have shown that increased MMF latency is a predictor of language impairment in children with ASD. We attempted to replicate these results using the mismatch negativity (MMN), the electroencephalography (EEG) equivalent of MMF. EEG was recorded in children ages 5 to 10 with ASD plus language impairment (ASD +LI), ASD minus language impairment (ASD –LI), and typically developing controls (TD) during a passive auditory oddball experiment presenting speech and nonspeech sounds. Contrary to previous MMF findings, individuals with ASD +LI demonstrated decreased MMN latency in the left hemisphere in response to novel vowel sounds compared to individuals with ASD –LI and TD controls. A positive correlation between left hemisphere MMN latency and language scores on the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals was found when combining both ASD groups. Our results lend support to the theory that some children with ASD +LI have increased connectivity in primary sensory cortices at the expense of computational connectivity between association areas of the brain. This may account for faster speech sound processing despite low language scores in these children. Further research needs to be done in order to determine if grouping children by hyper– versus hyposensitivity to auditory stimuli could explain conflicting results between studies and elucidate a neurophysiological biomarker of language impairment in subgroups of children with ASD.

O Distúrbio Específico de Linguagem (DEL) é uma alteração que acomete o desenvolvimento da linguagem que não pode ser atribuído à defasagem sensorial, motora, intelectual, transtorno globais do desenvolvimento, privação social ou lesão cerebral evidente. Estudos comprovam que o desempenho de crianças com DEL é inferior ao de seus pares normais em provas de Memória de Trabalho (MT) e relacionam essa defasagem às dificuldades linguísticas destes sujeitos. É consenso que a memória de trabalho fonológica (MTF) é fundamental para o desenvolvimento da linguagem, porém, há divergências sobre o papel da memória de trabalho visual (MTV). Assim este estudo teve como objetivo comparar o desempenho de crianças com DEL e com Desenvolvimento Típico de Linguagem (DTL) em provas de MT e vocabulário receptivo; comparar o desempenho na Prova de Memória de Trabalho Fonológica (PMTF) e Teste Pictórico de Memória (TEPIC-M) verificando se há diferença em função do material ser apresentado por via auditiva ou visual e ainda, correlacionar o desempenho das crianças com DEL nas provas de MT e de vocabulário receptivo. Participaram do estudo 42 crianças sendo 14 delas com diagnóstico de DEL e 28 com DTL, pareadas pela idade cronológica, foram aplicados dois testes que avaliam a memória de trabalho (PMTF e TEPIC-M) e um teste que avalia vocabulário receptivo (Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test- PPVT-III). Para a análise estatística foram utilizados os testes t de Student para comparação entre os grupos e Correlação de Pearson para correlacionar os resultados entre as provas. Os resultados mostraram que as crianças com DEL apresentam desempenho inferior em relação aos seus pares normais em ambas as provas de MT, sendo que, em maior proporção na prova de PMTF, havendo correlação entre todos os testes aplicados. Assim conclui-se que crianças com DEL apresentam defasagem na MTF e na MTV, nesta última em menor proporção. Quanto maior a defasagem nas habilidades de memória, maior foi a defasagem no vocabulário destas crianças. Tanto crianças com DEL, como as com DTL apresentaram pior desempenho quando o estímulo foi apresentado por via auditiva comparado àquele apresentado por via visual. / The Specific Language Impairment (SLI) is a disorder that affects the language development and cant be attributed to lag sensory, motor, intellectual and pervasive developmental disorder, social deprivation or evident brain lesion. Studies show that the performance of SLI children is lower than their normal peers in Working Memory (WM) tests and relate this discrepancy to the linguistic difficulties of these subjects. There is consensus that phonological working memory (PWM) is critical to language development, but there are disagreements about the role of visual working memory (VWM). So this study aimed to compare the performance of children with SLI and typical language development (TLD) in WM tests and receptive vocabulary, to compare the performance in Phonological Working Memory Test (PWMT) and Pictorial Memory Test (PMT) checking whether there are differences depending on the material being presented through auditory or visual, still, to correlate the performance of children with SLI on receptive vocabulary tests and WM tests. The study included 42 children, 14 of them with SLI and 28 with TLD, paired with chronological age, were applied two tests that assessed working memory (PWMT and PMT) and a receptive vocabulary test (Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test - PPVT-III). For statistical analysis were used t of Student test for comparison between groups and Pearson Correlation to correlate the results between tests. The results showed that children with SLI perform below their peers in relation to normal in both WM tests, mainly on the PWMT, there was correlation between all tests. Thus it is concluded that children with SLI present deficits in PWM and VWM, the latter in a smaller proportion. The higher is the gap in their memory skills, the higher is the gap in the vocabulary of these children. Both children with SLI, as with TLD showed a worse performance when the stimulus was presented auditory compared to that presented by visual means.

Plusieurs auteurs se sont intéressés au développement des conduites explicatives et justificatives (CEJ) chez des enfants typiques. La littérature reporte aussi de plus en plus d’études qui s’intéressent aux compétences pragmatiques et interactionnelles des enfants qui présentent un trouble du développement du langage (TDL) en montrant que ces enfants présentent des spécificités par rapport aux enfants typiques. Dans ce travail, nous avons combiné ces deux pistes de réflexion en investiguant les CEJ produites par des enfants avec TDL (5-7 ans) et des enfants typiques (4-7 ans), ainsi que par leurs mères, dans des interactions mères-enfants italophones et francophones dans deux activités différentes : unjeu symbolique et une lecture conjointe d’un livre en images. Nos résultats montrent que les deux langues présentent des patrons similaires. Cependant, des différences ponctuelles liées à la langue ont pu être mises en évidence. Les mères prennent en charge les activités proposées et l’activité paraît influencer le fonctionnement des interactions et la production des CEJ. Les enfants avec TDL présentent de CEJ moins élevés que leurs pairs typiques dans l’activité de jeu symbolique et ils semblent avoir davantage besoin que ces derniers du support de leur mère pour en produire dans l’activité de lecture conjointe (notamment dans le corpus francophone). Les mères des enfants typiques et des enfants avec TDL présentent des comportements globalement similaires en amont mais elles semblent s’adapter aux besoins de leurs enfants en aval. Compte tenu de l’importance sociale et éducative de ces conduites, nos résultats pourraient avoir des implications cliniques / Several authors have studied the development of explanations and justifications(E/J) in typical developing (TD) children. Similarly, it is possible to find in the literature studiesthat analyze pragmatic and interactional skills of children with specific language impairment(SLI). These studies show that children with SLI present specific behaviour when compared toTD children. In this thesis, we merge these two strands of research by investigating E/Jproduced by children with SLI (aged 5-7) and TD children (aged 4-7), and by their mothers. Todo so, we analyzed mother-child interactions (in Italian and French) during two differentactivities: symbolic play and joint wordless picture-book reading. Similar patterns wereobserved in both languages. Nevertheless, specific differences related to the typology of thelanguage were highlighted. Our results show that the management of the activity is globallyasymmetric, but important interindividual differences were observed. Moreover, activities playa central role in shaping the structure of interactions and E/J. Furthermore, children with SLIshow lower rates of E/J than their typical peers in the symbolic play and seem to need thesupport of their mothers more than TD children in the joint reading activity (particularly in theFrench corpus). Finally, the mothers of TD children and children with SLI show somesimilarities in the way they solicit E/J, but at the same time they fine tune their reactions to E/Jproduced by children according to the children’s needs. Given the social and educationalimportance of explanations and justifications, our results may have some clinical implications.

No description available.