Draghi Lara, Zampini Laura
a Dipartimento di Psicologia , Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca , Milan , Italy.
Clin Linguist Phon. 2019;33(5):406-419. doi: 10.1080/02699206.2018.1521871. Epub 2018 Sep 19.
Morphosyntax is one of the most impaired aspects of language development in children with Down syndrome. The present study aimed to assess the emergence of multiword utterances in this population. Sixteen Italian-speaking children with Down syndrome were followed from 36 to 48 months of age. Data derived from an analysis of their spontaneous productions showed that although the mean productivity of multiword utterances increased over the three time points (36, 42 and 48 months), different growth patterns of early syntactic development could be identified: (1) null or marginal development; (2) a gradual increase in multiword production over time; (3) an increase in the production of more complex multiword utterances and a decrease or inverted U-shaped profile in the production of simpler multiword productions; (4) an inverted U-shaped profile in multiword productions. In addition, children showed an improvement in their ability to express different semantic functions by word combinations. Significant relationships were found between early syntactic skills and both the child's vocabulary size and developmental age. A better knowledge of the acquisition pace and content of word combinations could allow more effective rehabilitative treatment during the first steps of children's syntactic development.
形态句法是唐氏综合征患儿语言发展中受损最严重的方面之一。本研究旨在评估该群体中多词话语的出现情况。对16名讲意大利语的唐氏综合征患儿从36个月至48个月进行了跟踪研究。对他们自发话语的分析数据表明，尽管多词话语的平均产出率在三个时间点（36个月、42个月和48个月）有所增加，但早期句法发展的不同增长模式是可以识别的：（1）零发展或边缘发展；（2）随着时间推移多词产出逐渐增加；（3）更复杂多词话语的产出增加，而较简单多词话语的产出减少或呈倒U形；（4）多词话语呈倒U形。此外，儿童通过词语组合表达不同语义功能的能力有所提高。研究发现早期句法技能与儿童词汇量和发育年龄之间存在显著关系。更好地了解词语组合的习得速度和内容，可以在儿童句法发展的最初阶段进行更有效的康复治疗。
