Communicative flexibility in children: Its effect on judgements of communicative competence and communication disorder

Abstract

A recent trend in intervention for language-impaired children has focused upon communication in context. One of the skills which may be targeted is the ability to adapt communication to the needs of the listener. However, there is as yet little empirical support for the notion that a deficit in this skill leads to a perception of impaired communication. The present study was designed to address the question of whether a lack of communicative flexibility affects judgements of communication. Sixty-three speech-language pathologists rated videotapes of children's communication on a scale of communicative competence and a scale of communication disorder. The videotapes consisted of a control group and an experimental group of children speaking to two unseen partners. The experimental group videotapes were contrived to portray a lack of communicative flexibility. The lack of communicative flexibility depicted in this study significantly lowered the speech-language pathologists' ratings of children's communicative competence and communication disorder. Therefore, the results of this study lend support to the proposition that communicative flexibility is a factor in judgements of children's communicative competence and its lack increases the perception of communication disorder.