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Investigation of maze production in children with specific language impairment

Linguistic dysfluencies known as mazes have been interpreted clinically as reflecting breakdown in language formulation. Nevertheless, the relatively limited available research has suggested that maze frequency increases with linguistic complexity and that mazes are produced more frequently by children with specific language impairment (SLI) than normal language (NL) peers. This study examined the hypothesis that greater maze production by children with SLI results from their processing limitations. Language samples of school-age children with SLI (n = 9) and NL (n = 11) were collected in contexts varying in task demands: conversation, narration and expository discourse. Both groups produced significantly more mazes in the more demanding contexts than in conversation. However, no significant group effect was noted for age-matched or MLU-matched groups. These results suggest that mazes should not be viewed primarily as an indication of processing limitations or a clinical marker for SLI, but more appropriately as a byproduct of linguistic complexity across groups.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.101867
Date January 2007
CreatorsMadon, Zinnia.
PublisherMcGill University
Source SetsLibrary and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeElectronic Thesis or Dissertation
Formatapplication/pdf
CoverageMaster of Science (School of Communication Sciences and Disorders.)
Rights© Zinnia Madon, 2007
Relationalephsysno: 002655464, proquestno: AAIMR38418, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest.

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