A Qualitative Analysis of Morphological Ability in Learning Disabled and Achieving Children

Abstract

Studies of morphological ability in children with communication disorders have shown that they have significant quantitative deficits. Analyses of these data, to determine if there are qualitative as well as quantitative differences in morphological ability of children with communication disorders as compared with normally achieving children, have produced contradictory findings. In this study, performance of learning disabled and normally achieving children on the Berry-Talbott Language Test of Comprehension of Grammar (an adaptation of Berko's test) was analyzed qualitatively. The percentages of correct responses for items grouped by morphological rule were compared. The major finding was that the LD children did not differ significantly from the normal achievers on categories of items ranked by level of difficulty. The significant quantitative deficits reflect delay in onset and rate of acquisition of morphological rules in the learning disabled rather than a unique, idiosyncratic pattern of response. The results of this study suggest that the learning disabilities specialist should plan language learning goals according to our knowledge of morphological development in normally achieving children.