Thinking out loud: an exploration of problem-solving language in preschoolers with and without language impairment

This study investigates the use of language while engaged in solving a complex spatial problem. Children with specific language impairment (SLI) have been reported to lag behind age peers in certain cognitive tasks, despite normal range non-verbal intelligence test scores. It was hypothesized that these delays could reflect some failure to employ language to direct and facilitate thought. Dyads of preschool children were taped during a three-dimensional construction task. Task-relevant utterances were then coded for function and addressee. The speech of six children with SLI, aged 4;10, was compared with that of two control groups, one matched by age, the other by language level. The SLI group used less problem-solving speech and fewer modal expressions than their age peers, Not all differences were statistically significant, but the pattern of findings indicated that what differences did occur were due to overall reductions in the amount of speech rather than any specific failure to use language as a tool of thought. Correlations between the use of problem-solving speech and a measure of cognitive style indicated clear group differences. For children in the control groups, greater use of private speech was associated with greater cognitive efficiency; for children in the SLI group the relationship was in the opposite direction, greater use of private speech being associated with less cognitive efficiency. In all three groups, problem-solving speech could be addressed either to partner or to self, although some individual preferences were observed. The findings, while preliminary, suggest new directions for studies of cognitive deficits in children with SLI. They also indicate the importance of including socially directed utterances, and controls for language proficiency, in future research on private speech.