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Can Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders Learn New Vocabulary From Linguistic Context?

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Abstract

This study investigated whether children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) can learn vocabulary from linguistic context. Thirty-five children with ASD (18 with age-appropriate structural language; 17 with language impairment [ALI]) and 29 typically developing peers were taught 20 Science words. Half were presented in linguistic context from which meaning could be inferred, whilst half were accompanied by an explicit definition. Children with ASD were able to learn from context. Condition did not influence phonological learning, but receptive semantic knowledge was greatest in the context condition, and expressive semantic knowledge greatest in the definitional condition. The ALI group learnt less than their peers. This suggests that at least some vocabulary should be taught explicitly, and children with ALI may need additional tuition.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank all of the families who took part in the study and the schools who supported the research. We would also like to thank the Experimental Psychology Society who provided an Undergraduate Research Bursary and we are grateful to Emily Crosby and Rhiannon Daffurn for their assistance with data collection.

Author contributions

CFN contributed to the design and coordination of the study, and helped to draft the manuscript. RL contributed to the design and coordination of the study, data collection and analyses, and drafted the manuscript. LT contributed to data collection and analyses, and helped to draft the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Author notes

  1. Rebecca Lucas

    Present address: University of Roehampton, Whitelands College, Holybourne Avenue, London, UK

  2. Courtenay Frazier Norbury

    Present address: University College London, London, UK

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Royal Holloway University of London, Surrey, UK

    Rebecca Lucas, Louisa Thomas & Courtenay Frazier Norbury

Authors
  1. Rebecca Lucas
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  2. Louisa Thomas
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  3. Courtenay Frazier Norbury
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Correspondence to Rebecca Lucas.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in this study involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual parents/guardians of the children included in this study, and assent was obtained from all individual children in this study.

Appendix

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Table 3 Stimuli characteristics
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Lucas, R., Thomas, L. & Norbury, C.F. Can Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders Learn New Vocabulary From Linguistic Context?. J Autism Dev Disord 47, 2205–2216 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-017-3151-z

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