Comprehension of Ditransitive Constructions in Mandarin-Speaking Children with Developmental Language Disorder and Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Plus Language Impairment

Abstract

This study examined and compared the comprehension of Mandarin ditransitive constructions in children with developmental language disorder (DLD) and children with autism spectrum disorder plus language impairment (ALI). Eighteen children with DLD, 17 children with ALI, and 27 age-matched typically developing (TDA) children, participated in a sentence-picture matching task on four patterns of Mandarin ditransitive constructions. Both children with DLD and children with ALI received significantly lower accuracy than TDA children in general and their most common errors were thematic role reversals. However, while children with ALI evinced a generalized deficit in all four patterns, only the comprehension of S1 (Subj. + Vgei + IO + DO) and S3 (Subj. + gei + IO + V + DO) was affected in children with DLD, with that of S2 (Subj. + V + DO + gei + IO) and S4 (Subj. + V + IO + DO) preserved in this population. Additionally, thematic role reversal errors were more dominant in children with DLD than in children with ALI who also committed a relatively higher proportion of Wrong Theme and No Recipient errors. It is concluded that the primary deficit of children with DLD lies in representing dependent relationships between the arguments and the verb as involved in thematic role assignment, but this is less critical in children with ALI, with their performance on the comprehension task possibly also related to other factors associated with the condition. To enhance the development of ditransitive constructions, intervention efforts for children with DLD and children with ALI could focus on strengthening the connection between each argument and its thematic role.

Appendix

General instruction: XX, let’s play a game. I will say something about the pictures that will appear on the screen. Please point at the picture that you think I am talking about, OK?

Test sentences:

S1
1.	shushu huan-gei ayi yiding maozi uncle return-GEI aunt one-CL cap ‘The uncle is returning a cap to the aunt.’
2.	mama jiangli-gei gege yiliang che mum reward-GEI brother one-CL car ‘Mum is rewarding the brother with a car.’
3.	laoshi fa-gei jiejie yiben shu teach distribute-GEI sister one-CL book ‘The teacher is distributing a book to the sister’
4.	didi song-gei jiejei yifu hua brother give-GEi sister one-CL picture ‘The brother is giving the sister a drawing.’
5.	5. gege jie-gei jiejie yiba chizi brother lend-GEI sister one-CL ruler ‘The brother is lendind the sister a ruler.’
S2
6.	ayi fa yilan taozi gei nainai aunt distribute one-CL peach to grandma ‘The aunt is distributing a basket of peach to grandma.’
7.	jieje jie yige qiu gei gege sister lend one-CL ball to brother ‘The sister is lending a ball to the brother.’
8.	mama jiangli yige fengzheng gei gege mum reward one-CL kite to brother ‘Mum is rewarding the brother with a kite.’
9.	shushu huan yitiao yu gei yeye uncle return one-CL fish to grandpa ‘The uncle is returning a fish to the grandpa.’
10.	jiejie song yiduo hua gei mama sister give one-CL flower to mum ‘The sister is giving a flower to mum.’
S3
11.	mama gei shushu jie yige xiangzi mum to uncle lend one-CL box ‘Mum is lending a box to the uncle.’
12.	mama gei jiejie jiangli yige wawa mum to sister reward one-CL doll ‘Mum is rewarding the sister with a doll.’
13.	ayi gei gege huan yijian yifu aunt to brother return one-CL clothes ‘The aunt is returning a piece of clothes to the brother.’
14.	shushu gei nainai fa yilan xiangjiao uncle to grandma distribute one-CL banana ‘The uncle is distributing a box of banana to grandma.’
15.	nainai gei jiejie song yishuang wazi grandma to sister give one-CL sock ‘Grandma is giving a pair of socks to the sister.’
S4
16.	shushu huan mama yizhang zhuozi uncle return mum one-CL table ‘The uncle is returning a table to mum.’
17.	nainai yao qu xi yifu, mama jie nainai yige penzi grandma want go wash clothes, mum lend grandma one-CL basin ‘Grandma want to go wash some clothes, mum is lending grandma a basin.’
18.	gege jiangli didi yibei guozhi elder brother reward younger brother one-CL juice ‘The elder brother is rewarding his younger brother with a glass of juice.’
19.	mama song yeye yijian maoyi mum give grandpa one-CL sweater ‘Mum is giving the grandpa a sweater’
20.	laoshi fa gege yige baozi teach distribute brother one-CL steamed bun ‘The teacher is distributing a steamed bun to the brother.’