Understanding questions: a specific difficulty in children with pragmatic communication and language disorders

Introduction. The question-answer schema is the basis for communicative interaction and is therefore a fundamental aim of the work carried out with children with severe communication and language impairment. Development. Answering questions requires basic skills that enable the listener to identify intonation and facial expression, as well as skills in interpreting intentions and in understanding linguistic content. Some questions can rest on contextual-social keys and others may be based on lexical or structural keys. Some questions, however, call for a more complex understanding, such as 'what' and 'who' questions. Here, we propose an analysis of the skills involved in understanding questions and the consequences on intervention strategies. Conclusions. Intervention in understanding questions should combine different approaches (cognitive, social, linguistic) depending on the type of question, the specific difficulties the child has and the context.