The use of dummy verbs in children with Specific Language Impairment

Abstract

This thesis gives an overview of the use of dummy verbs in the narratives of children with Specific Language Impairment. By looking at the verb phrases ten children with SLI in the age range of 6 to 8 years produced in a story-tell-task, an overview is given of the found characteristics. It was hypothesised that children with SLI, similar to TD children, would show a pattern of acquisition in which dummy use precedes the use of conjugation, but that the dummy phase that is extended in the SLI group. The age at which these children start to use dummies is also hypothesised to be higher. The results show that a pattern can be found in which these children indeed use dummies as a preliminary stage to conjugation. The use of dummies, especially in the present tense, decreased where the use of conjugation increased. Further research with more children should be done to confirm that the use of dummies is indeed a preliminary stage to conjugation as found in normal developing children.