Inferring Word Class and Meaning From Spoken and Written Texts: A Comparison of Children With and Without Developmental Language Disorder

The aim of the study was to determine the ability of children with developmental language disorder (DLD) to infer word class and meaning from text and to document variations by word class (noun, verb, adjective) and modality (listening, reading). We also asked whether the children could integrate global cues across the entire passage as well as local cues from the immediate sentence frame to support inferences. Fourth graders with DLD ( = 28) and typical language development (TLD; = 41) read and listened to expository texts and guessed the noun, verb, and adjective removed from each. Adults ( = 20) completed the task to establish a baseline of correct responses. We used latent semantic analysis (LSA) to determine the semantic fit of the responses to the texts and to determine whether global cues were more difficult for children with DLD than local cues. The DLD group was 24% less accurate than the TLD group. In both diagnostic groups, accuracy varied by word class (nouns > adjectives > verbs) but not modality (reading = listening). Word class errors were rare, and errors of semantic fit were frequent. LSA cosines were higher for correct responses relative to the passage as a whole than the immediate sentence frame, suggesting that both groups mined the more extensive information in the global cues to support inferences. Compared to the TLD group, the DLD group tended to make "worse" errors: repeating words from the sentence frame or coming up with no response at all. Accuracy in the DLD group, but not the TLD group, was related to vocabulary knowledge. When the two groups were collapsed, scores on verbal short-term/working memory and sustained attention also predicted performance, but weaknesses in these aspects of executive function on the part of individuals with DLD did not fully explain the difference between the performance of the DLD and TLD groups. Whether listening or reading, fourth graders with DLD are less able to infer word meaning from texts than their age-mates. The problem reflects, in part, deficits in executive function and lexical semantic knowledge.