Language Use In Normal And Learning Disabled Children

The language use of 30 normal and 30 learning disabled subjects matched on the basis of chronological age, 7-6 to 9-6, and sex, was compared using the Assessment of Communication in Everyday Situations (ACES). This instrument contains a series of structured role-playing episodes designed to elicit language use strategies from children. ACES is based on a functional taxonomy of language use and contains 36 strategies representative of two functions and seven uses of language regarded important to academic success. The social function consists of the self-maintaining and directing uses of language. While the reporting, logical reasoning, predicting, projecting and imagining comprise the representative (cognitive) function.