Hostname: page-component-686fd747b7-8z4zl Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-02-13T12:31:55.259Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Plural noun inflection in Kuwaiti Arabic-speaking children with and without Specific Language Impairment*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 December 2012

FAUZIA ABDALLA ,
KHAWLA ALJENAIE  and
ABDESSATAR MAHFOUDHI
FAUZIA ABDALLA*
Affiliation:
Department of Communication Science, Kuwait University
KHAWLA ALJENAIE
Affiliation:
Department of Communication Science, Kuwait University
ABDESSATAR MAHFOUDHI
Affiliation:
Department of Communication Science, Kuwait University
*
Address for correspondence: Fauzia Abdalla, PhD, CCC-SLP, Department of Communication Science, College for Women, Kuwait University, PO Box 5969, Safat 13060, Kuwait. e-mail: f.abdalla@ku.edu.kw
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This study examined the production of three types of noun plural inflections, feminine sound plural (FSP), masculine sound plural (MSP), and broken plural (BP) in Kuwaiti Arabic-speaking children with and without language impairment. A total of thirty-six Kuwaiti participants – twelve adults, twelve children with specific language impairment (SLI), and twelve typically developing age-matched controls (TD) were presented with twenty-seven pictured stimuli of real and nonsense words. The results showed that the TD children were significantly more accurate in using the required noun plural inflections than the SLI group. The TD children's preferred overgeneralization strategy was to substitute FSP for the regular MSP and irregular BP contexts much more than their peers with SLI. The performance of the SLI group also differed from that of their age-matched counterparts in the number of errors and their distribution across categories. The results are discussed in the light of relevant theories of atypical language development.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Child Language , Volume 40 , Special Issue 1: Atypical development , January 2013 , pp. 139 - 168
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

[*]

A special word of gratitude goes to the adults and children who participated in this study, and their parents who provided permission and supported this research. We wish to thank CSL students (Sara Al-Subaie, Hissa Ali, Nuwayer Al-Mutairi, Maryam Al-Oraifan, and Maryam Al-Ghaith) for their extraordinary help in data collection and rendering. We also express our appreciation to the clinicians in Sheikh Salem Al Ali Centre for assistance in recruiting participants with language impairment.

References

REFERENCES

Abdalla, F. & Crago, M. (2008). Verb morphology deficits in Arabic-speaking children with SLI. Applied Psycholinguistics 29, 315–40.Google Scholar
Aguirre, C. & Marrero, V. (2009). Number morphology in Spanish first language acquisition. In Stephany, U. & Voeikova, M. (eds), Development of nominal inflection in first language acquisition: A cross-linguistic perspective, 341–69. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aljenaie, K. (2001). The emergence of tense and agreement in Kuwaiti Arabic children. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Reading.Google Scholar
Aljenaie, K, Abdalla, F. & Farghal, M. (2011). Developmental changes in using nominal number inflections in Kuwaiti Arabic. First Language 31, 222–39.Google Scholar
Bedore, L. & Leonard, L. (2001). Grammatical morphology deficits in Spanish-speaking children with Specific Language Impairment. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research 44, 905–24.Google Scholar
Berko, J. (1958). The child's learning of English morphology. Word 14, 150–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bortolini, U., Caselli, M. C. & Leonard, L. B. (1997). Grammatical deficits in Italian-speaking children with Specific Language Impairment. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research 40, 809–820.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Boudelaa, S. & Gaskell, M. G (2002). A re-examination of the default system for Arabic plurals. Language and Cognitive Processes 17, 321–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, R. (1973). A first language: The early stages. London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cazden, C. (1968). The acquisition of noun and verb inflections. Child Development 39, 433–48.Google Scholar
Clahsen, H., Rothweiler, M., Woest, A. & Marcus, G. (1992). Regular versus irregular inflection in the acquisition of German noun plurals. Cognition 45, 225–55.Google Scholar
Clark, E. & Nikitina, T. (2009). One vs. more than one: Antecedents to plurality in early language acquisition. Linguistics 47, 103–139.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crystal, D., Fletcher, P. & Garman, M. (1976). The grammatical analysis of language disability. London: Edward Arnold.Google Scholar
Daana, H. A. (2009). The development of consonant clusters, stress and plural nouns in Jordanian Arabic child language. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Essex.Google Scholar
Dalalakis, J. (1996). Developmental language impairment: Evidence from Greek and its implications for morphological representation. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, McGill University.Google Scholar
Dromi, E., Leonard, L. & Shteiman, M. (1993). The grammatical morphology of Hebrew-speaking children with Specific Language Impairment: Some competing hypotheses. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research 36, 760–71.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dunn, M., Flax, J., Sliwinski, M. & Aram, D. (1996). The use of spontaneous language measures as criteria for identifying children with specific language impairment: An attempt to reconcile clinical and research incongruence. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research 39, 643–54.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eyer, J. & Leonard, L. (1995). Functional categories and specific language impairment: A case study. Language Acquisition 4, 177–203.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fahim, D. (2005). Developmental language impairment in Egyptian Arabic. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of London.Google Scholar
Fischer, W. (1997). Classical Arabic. In Hertzron, R. (ed.), The Semitic languages, 187–219. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Fraser, J., Goswami, U. & Conti-Ramsden, G. (2010). Dyslexia and specific language impairment: The role of phonology and auditory processing. Scientific Studies of Reading 14, 8–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gopnik, M. & Crago, M. (1991). Familial aggregation of a developmental language disorder. Cognition 39, 1–50.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gray, S. (2004). Word learning by preschoolers with specific language impairment: Predictors and poor learners. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research 47, 1117–32.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Grela, B., Snyder, W. & Hiramatsu, K. (2005). The production of novel root compounds in children with specific language impairment. Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics 19, 701–715.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hadley, P. & Rice, M. (1993). Parental judgments of preschoolers' speech and language development: A resource for assessment and IEP planning. Seminars in Speech and Language 14, 278–88.Google Scholar
Hoekstra, T. & Hyams, N. (1998). Aspects of root infinitives. Lingua 106, 81–112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holes, C. (1995). Modern Arabic structures and functions and varieties. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Jia, G. (2003). The acquisition of the English plural morpheme by native Mandarin Chinese-speaking children. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research 46, 1297–311.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Leonard, L. (1998). Children with Specific Language Impairment. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google ScholarPubMed
Leonard, L. (2009). Some reflections on the study of children with Specific Language Impairment. Child Language Teaching and Therapy 25, 169–71.Google Scholar
Leonard, L. & Deevy, P. (2006). Cognitive and linguistic issues in the study of children with Specific Language Impairment. In Traxler, M. & Gernsbacher, M. A. (eds), Handbook of psycholinguistics, 2nd edn. 1143–71. London: Elsevier.Google Scholar
Leonard, L., Dromi, E., Adam, G. & Zadunaisky-Ehrlich, S. (2000). Tense and finiteness in the speech of children with specific language impairment acquiring Hebrew. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders 35, 319–35.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Leonard, L., Eyer, J., Bedore, L. & Grela, B. (1997). Three accounts of the grammatical morpheme difficulties of English-speaking children with specific language impairment. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research 40, 741–53.Google Scholar
Leonard, L., Sabbadini, L., Leonard, L. & Volterra, V. (1987). Specific language impairment in children: A crosslinguistic study. Brain and Language 32, 233–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ljubešić, M. & Kovačević, M. (1992). Some insights into specific language impairment in Croatian. Scandinavian Journal of Logopedics and Phoniatrics 17, 37–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lukács, A., Leonard, L. & Kas, B. (2010). Use of noun morphology by children with language impairment: The case of Hungarian. International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders 45, 145–61.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lyovin, A. (1997). An introduction to the languages of the world. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marchman, V., Wulfeck, B. & Ellis Weismer, S. (1999). Productivity of past tense in children with normal language and specific language impairment. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research 42, 206–219.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marcus, G., Ullman, U., Pinker, S., Hollander, J., Rosen, T. & Xu, F. (1992). Over-regularization in language acquisition. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development 57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morsi, R. (2006). A preliminary investigation on an Arabic-speaking child with SLI. Paper presented at the Linguistics Association of Great Britain Conference, Newcastle, England.Google Scholar
Nawwab, N. (2009). Children's acquisition of Arabic nominal number. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, King Faisal University.Google Scholar
Noccetti, S. (2009). The emergence of nominal number in Italian. In Stephany, U. & Voeikova, M. (eds), Development of nominal inflection in first language acquisition: A cross-linguistic perspective, 303–340. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Oetting, J. & Rice, M. (1993). Plural acquisition in children with Specific Language Impairment. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research 36, 1236–48.Google Scholar
Omar, M. (1973). The acquisition of Egyptian Arabic as a native language. The Hague: Mouton.Google Scholar
Paradis, J. & Crago, M. (2001). The morphosyntax of Specific Language Impairment in French: An extended optional default account. Language Acquisition 9, 269–300.Google Scholar
Ravid, D. & Farah, R. (1999). Learning about noun plurals in early Palestinian Arabic. First Language 19, 187–206.Google Scholar
Ravid, D. & Farah, R. (2009). Noun plurals in early Palestinian Arabic: A longitudinal case study. In Stephany, U. & Voeikova, M. (eds), Development of nominal inflection in first language acquisition: A cross-linguistic perspective, 411–32. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Ravid, D. & Hayek, L. (2003). Learning about different ways of expressing number in the development of Palestinian Arabic. First Language 23, 41–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ravid, D. & Schiff, R. (2009). Morpho-phonological categories of noun plurals in Hebrew: A developmental study. Linguistics 47, 45–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rice, M., Wexler, K. & Cleave, P. (1995). Specific language impairment as a period of extended optional infinitive. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research 38, 850–63.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schacter, D. & Buckner, R. (1998). Priming and the brain. Neuron 20, 185–95.Google Scholar
Shaalan, S. (2010). Investigating grammatical complexity in Gulf Arabic speaking children with Specific Language Impairment. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University College London.Google Scholar
Shaalan, S. & van der Lely, H. K. (2007). Characteristics of morphosyntactic deficits in Qatari children with SLI. Paper presented at Linguistics in the Gulf Conference, University of Qatar, Doha.Google Scholar
Siddiki, A. (2002). Developmental and behavioural studies in English and Arabic inflectional morphology. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Oxford.Google Scholar
Stephany, U. & Voeikova, M. (2009). Development of nominal inflection in first language acquisition: A cross-linguistic perspective. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Szagun, G. (2001). Learning different regularities: The acquisition of noun plurals by German-speaking children. First language 21, 109–141.Google Scholar
Tomblin, J., Records, N. L., Buckwalter, P., Zhang, X., Smith, E. & O'Brien, M. (1997). Prevalence of Specific Language Impairment in kindergarten. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research 40, 1245–60.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ullman, M. & Gopnik, M. (1994). Past tense production: Regular, irregular and nonsense verbs. McGill Working Papers in Linguistics 10, 81–118.Google Scholar
Zapf, J. & Smith, L. (2007). When do children generalize the plural to novel nouns? First Language 27, 53–73.Google Scholar