Chapter published in:
Typical and Impaired Processing in Morphosyntax
Edited by Vincent Torrens
[Language Acquisition and Language Disorders 64] 2020
► pp. 279–301

The comprehension of wh-questions and passives in German children and adolescents with Down syndrome

| TU Dortmund University
| University of Cologne
Children with Down syndrome (DS) have difficulty comprehending complex syntactic structures. Ring and Clahsen (2005) attribute these problems to a specific syntactic deficit that affects A(=argument) movement. We investigated the comprehension of passive sentences (A-movement) and wh-questions (wh-movement) in 22 German children and adolescents with DS compared to mental-age matched typically developing children. The results suggest that an impairment in the syntactic development affecting also wh-movement structures occurs in a substantial proportion of children with DS and exceeds their general cognitive disabilities. The error patterns of both tests reveal problems with non-canonical clauses and the use of the Agent-first strategy as in early stages of typical acquisition. Moreover, limitations in phonological working memory might contribute to syntactic processing problems in individuals with DS.
Keywords: Down syndrome, developmental disorders, language impairment, language comprehension, wh-questions, passive sentences, sentence-comprehension deficits
Published online: 21 October 2020
https://doi.org/10.1075/lald.64.12wim
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