Patterns in verb use by preschoolers with normal language and specific language impairment

Preschoolers with specific language impairment (SLI) and two groups of children developing language normally (age-equivalent and MLU-equivalent) described motion and change-of-state scenes while viewing a video program in a controlled experimental setting. Patterns of verb use were then analyzed across the three groups of children. Two findings were of particular interest. First, while the children with SLI relied heavily on the use of general all-purpose (GAP) verbs while describing the video scenes, the normally developing children produced an even higher percentage of GAP verbs. Second, the children with SLI made significantly more semantic errors in verb use. Unlike the normally developing children, the children with SLI were much more likely to produce a change-of-state verb. Hence, they produced cross-domain errors for motion-eliciting scenes (e.g., a moving figure was said to be ''cracking'' or ''changing color'') and within-domain errors for change-of-state-eliciting scenes (e.g., a figure changing shape was said to be ''changing to green'').