Wray Charlotte, Saunders Natalie, McGuire Rosie, Cousins Georgia, Norbury Courtenay Frazier
Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2017 Apr 14;60(4):969-982. doi: 10.1044/2016_JSLHR-L-16-0141.
The aim of this study was to determine whether children with language impairment (LI) use gesture to compensate for their language difficulties.
The present study investigated gesture accuracy and frequency in children with LI (n = 21) across gesture imitation, gesture elicitation, spontaneous narrative, and interactive problem-solving tasks, relative to typically developing (TD) peers (n = 18) and peers with low language and educational concerns (n = 21).
Children with LI showed weaknesses in gesture accuracy (imitation and gesture elicitation) in comparison to TD peers, but no differences in gesture rate. Children with low language only showed weaknesses in gesture imitation and used significantly more gestures than TD peers during parent-child interaction. Across the whole sample, motor abilities were significantly related to gesture accuracy but not gesture rate. In addition, children with LI produced proportionately more extending gestures, suggesting that they may use gesture to replace words that they are unable to articulate verbally.
The results support the notion that gesture and language form a tightly linked communication system in which gesture deficits are seen alongside difficulties with spoken communication. Furthermore, it is the quality, not quantity of gestures that distinguish children with LI from typical peers.
本研究旨在确定语言障碍（LI）儿童是否使用手势来弥补其语言困难。
本研究调查了21名LI儿童在手势模仿、手势诱发、自发叙事和互动问题解决任务中的手势准确性和频率，将其与18名发育正常（TD）的同龄人以及21名有低语言和教育问题的同龄人进行比较。
与TD同龄人相比，LI儿童在手势准确性（模仿和手势诱发）方面表现出弱点，但在手势频率上没有差异。只有低语言能力的儿童在手势模仿方面表现出弱点，并且在亲子互动中使用的手势明显多于TD同龄人。在整个样本中，运动能力与手势准确性显著相关，但与手势频率无关。此外，LI儿童产生的伸展手势比例更高，这表明他们可能使用手势来替代无法用言语表达的词语。
结果支持这样一种观点，即手势和语言形成一个紧密相连的交流系统，其中手势缺陷与口语交流困难同时出现。此外，区分LI儿童与典型同龄人的是手势的质量，而非数量。
