Abstract
Skilled sentence production involves distinct stages of message conceptualization (deciding what to talk about) and message formulation (deciding how to talk about it). Eye-movement paradigms provide a mechanism for observing how speakers accomplish these aspects of production in real time. These methods have recently been applied to children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and specific language impairment (LI) in an effort to reveal qualitative differences between groups in sentence production processes. Findings support a multiple-deficit account in which language production is influenced not only by lexical and syntactic constraints, but also by variation in attention control, inhibition and social competence. Thus, children with ASD are especially vulnerable to atypical patterns of visual inspection and verbal utterance. The potential to influence attentional focus and prime appropriate language structures are considered as a mechanism for facilitating language adaptation and learning.
Highlights
Speaking in sentences is a momentous developmental milestone that marks the beginning of a child’s ability to communicate an infinite array of ideas, feelings and experiences, past and present, real or imagined, to other people
All three children with a clinical diagnosis were more likely to fixate the background, and mention items peripheral to the central event. This is consistent with recent work demonstrating that once linguistic information is activated, it is difficult for verbal individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to inhibit items that are less relevant to the given task [63]
Given that fixating items likely activates lexical information about those items, this would suggest that inhibitory control is an important factor in language production, and one that is likely to be vulnerable in developmental disorders
Summary
Speaking in sentences is a momentous developmental milestone that marks the beginning of a child’s ability to communicate an infinite array of ideas, feelings and experiences, past and present, real or imagined, to other people. Importantly the timing of production elements and the errors that speakers make, have provided insights into processing mechanisms and informed computational models of how meaning is translated into the syntax of a particular language [3]. Such models have made inroads into our understanding of how children become competent syntactic speakers. Four case studies of eye-movements and language production in children with typical development (TD), ASD and LI are provided, highlighting possible sources of language breakdown and hinting at future intervention strategies
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
