Analysis of Children’s Word-Finding Skills in Discourse

Abstract

This investigation analyzed children’s word-finding skills in discourse. The subjects, 16 children with word-finding problems and 16 normal children in Grades 1–6, were matched for sex, age, grade, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, geographic region, and receptive language. Subjects’ narratives, produced in response to three pictures and five probes, were tape recorded, transcribed, and analyzed with respect to the following word-finding indices: language productivity and the incidence of word-finding characteristics (repetitions, reformulations, substitutions, delays, empty words, time fillers, and insertions). Group comparisons were made with respect to these indices. Children with word-finding disorders did not differ from normal children in language productivity but manifested significantly more word-finding characteristics in their narratives. These findings are discussed with respect to characteristics and assessment of and intervention for children with word-finding disorders in discourse.