The use of subject arguments by children with specific language impairment

Abstract

The spontaneous utterances of children with specific language impairment (SLI) were examined for their argument structure. The verbs used by the children were categorized into four types based upon the number and placement of their obligatory arguments. The categories consisted of unergative intransitives, unac-cusative intransitives, transitives, and ditransitives. The results of the study revealed that children with SLI omitted subject arguments more frequently than their younger MLU-matched peers. Such omissions were most likely in sentences with unaccusative intransitives. These findings raise the possibility that children with SLI have difficulty with the movement required to achieve the surface representation of unaccusative verb constructions.

Key Words:

• specific language impairment
• argument structure
• unaccusative verbs
• syntax