In 1973, Rodger Brown and his colleagues conducted a study on the acquisition of grammar among twelve middle class children. Three of these twelve children were diagnosed with downs syndrome and was studied for two years. Brown studied the development of the children’s language and morphemes in their speech. He studied the development of fourteen different morphemes including using the present progressive affix on verbs, the prepositions on and in, plural and possessive “s”, the regular and irregular past tense of verbs, the articles “a” and “the”, third person singular “s”, irregular, third-person singular present tense, and various forms of “be”. The goal of Brown’s study was to investigate the acquisition of these morphemes as the children learned to speak.
The children Brown studied were similar in age and he studied children from ages 12 to 38 months (1 to 3 years) until the children were between the ages of 43 and 67 months (3.5 to 5.5 years). Each of the children lived at home and their primary care giver was their mother, who was asked to keep a diary of the child’s spoken language, in some cases children had used sign language. As the children’s language and developed the parents were asked to record only conversations during specific times in the day like meal times and they were asked to document words/signs/phrases that he child had developed within the month. Brown then drew his conclusions on his study.
In Brown’s conclusion he explained that most children, despite retardation learned the majority of the early morpheme rules. In Brown’s study he noted that the first six rules of the fourteen he had chosen were also the first six that had developed in the children with Down’s syndrome’s speech. He also noted that in the beginning, the children with Down’s syndrome learned these morpheme rules as well as producing their first ten words at a significantly later age than those who did not have the disorder. Although their language developed a litter later, once they had begun to speak, they children with Down’s syndrome acquired the rules at a similar rate to typically developing children. Brown’s study showed that the morphemes which included third person singular “s” and the uncontractable copula “be” form and uncontractable auxiliary “be” form were not developed by any of the children in the study. Also, the irregular third-person singular present tense developed in only one of the children’s language. Brown believed that the reason for this could be from the speech that the children’s caregivers direct at them. For example, the mothers might use a more directive style of speech.
Brown’s study allows us to get a greater understanding of the development of speech among children who have retardation. Although these children did not develop the morphemes as fast as the children who do not have retardation, due to their lack of development in speech, they still learned the morphemes at a pretty normal pace.
This article was quite interesting, because I have never really taken the time out to think about how metal capacity has an affect on grammar. It makes alot of sense that the children learned at a different rate in using morphemes to acquire some sense of grammar. The article is interesting because it allowed me to think of grammar in a different perspective, in dealing with peoples with disabilities.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting topic that I never really noticed before in children with down syndrome. I believed that most of them at least had outside in the development in their speech, but to know that if you teach them in the early stages of childhood, they can pick up on the same things as any normal child is amazing.
ReplyDeleteIt would be really devastating as a parent to have a child with Down's syndrome, and it would definitely require a lot of extra effort accompanied with love and patience. But this article did help shed a positive light on the language skills of children with Down's syndrome, because even though these children aquire basic language skills a little bit later than children without mental handicap, they rate they progress once this development begins is pretty much the same. This tells me that these children are every bit as smart; they just have an early hurdle to get over before they can jump on the same track as everyone else.
ReplyDeleteAlthough there are some children that acquire Down's Syndrome, they are no different than a child without it. A child with Down's Syndrome may look like he/she has a problem, but he/she is just as functional as any other child. Like the article stated, after doing certain studies, the researcher finally concluded that children with Down's Syndrome learn everything a normal child would learn but only in a later stage in life; which is almost true in every case. A child with Down's Syndrome has to work twice as hard as a normal child in order to learn effectively, but this is why a child with Down's Syndrome eventually has the same information learned as a child without Down's Syndrome.
ReplyDeleteThats a good thing they aren't limited by their condition in relating to grammar. All of these articles are really opening a greater understanding of how language is for connected to all humans, even ones that do appear to be incapable of similar acts.
ReplyDeleteI really love articles like this. It is able to inform me on alot of things I didnt know before. With this article I was able to understand that children with Down Syndrome are able to learn just like regular kids. It was really informal because I did not have a clue that it was possible for children with Down Syndrome to learn as any other kid. I really enjoy reading this article.
ReplyDeleteThis was a really interesting articel and i feel that even aside from a child that has down syndromes alot of outside elements decide just how fast your child develops in language, reading, interacting etc. Outside elements like how parents and others speak within the household, whether or not verbal interaction is encouraged in the family , just basically what you expose your children to is vital whether they have a condition or not. You as parent can either speed up your childs already slow developing process with stimulating activities at home or make it slower by not doing so.
ReplyDeleteDown syndrome is a very tricky disease to deal with. Having a relative with it, I know first hand the speech problems that come with it. They are able to learn just as someone without the disease but takes them a little longer. This article is very interesting because it puts into perspective the ability that people with down syndrome actually have .
ReplyDeleteThis was a very interesting article because I didn't know that having a mental illness could effect your grammar. It's great to hear that kids with any mental illness could learn just like everyone else. This article tells me these kids are pretty smart but they just take a little bit longer.
ReplyDeleteThis article was very interesting to me because even though it's obvious that mental retardation affects one's ability, I was not obvious of the learning ability that some overcome. Taking a web design class, we have to adapt our sites to people with disabilities (vision, hearing, etc). Reading this article made me think from their perspective when thinking about designing something that all types of people might see.
ReplyDeleteThis article is interesting because it allows anyone to grasp a better understanding of downs syndrome in young children. This will help parents of children with this illness to not give up home on their children learning grammar skills. It is interesting to know that once the children with downs syndrome started to speak, they were able to leran the rules at the same rate as others.
ReplyDeleteI like this article. It informed me on something I did not know about. I did not know that children with down syndrome could learn things that "normal" children can learn. I believe that every family that has a child with down syndrome should try these aspects and be encouraged to teach their child things that a mother or family would teach a child that does not have down syndrome.
ReplyDeleteAfter learning this post I learned a few things about Down Syndrome that i didn't know. I always thought that Down Syndrome has something to do with the way the mind works, and its ability to take in information. So to learn that this syndrome has nothing to do with the way their mind works was a big thing.
ReplyDeleteSince this is my blog comment, I'm not sure if I'm suppose to comment or not. I found this article to be very interesting. Lately, we have read a lot of articles that have been about different types of people and their ability to read or write or even learn grammar. I feel that all of these articles are very informative and will help Education students a lot in the future.
ReplyDeleteThis was an intresting and informative article. Even though those with Down's Syndrome learn slower than those without, it was good to know that once they had begun to speak, they acquired the rules at a similar rate to typically developing children.It is intreasting to see how language is connected to everyone, even those who seem incapable.
ReplyDeleteThis article is interesting and very informative concerning Down's Syndrome. The article explains how children with Down's Syndrome learn langauage and how his/her caregiver could have an influence on the child's langauge development. A child with this disease has to work twice as hard to learn but it is very possible. I personal feel that this informative is important and could help plenty of parents that are in this situation and how to handle it.
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