Describe at least one way in which the language development of elementary school students is incomplete in each of the following areas:

Question

a. Semantics
b. Syntax
c. Listening comprehension
d. Oral communication
Illustrate each point that you make with a concrete example.
What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Children in the elementary school grades may have limitations such as these (the response should include at least one bulleted item in each of the four areas below, with each item being illustrated with a concrete example):
a. Semantics
- Limited vocabulary
- Incomplete understanding of words (e.g., underextension or overextension)
b. Syntax
- Incomplete mastery of irregular forms (e.g., goed instead of went, gooder instead of better)
- Limited understanding of complex syntactical structures (e.g., passive sentences, sentences with two or more clauses)
c. Listening comprehension
- Belief that good listening means sitting still and being quiet rather than understanding what is being said
- Belief that it is inappropriate to ask for clarification when a message isn't understood
- Overreliance on context clues when interpreting a spoken message
d. Oral communication
- Pronunciation difficulties
- Difficulty taking the characteristics of the listener into account
- Limited pragmatic skills (i.e., limited knowledge about the social conventions of spoken language)