The Relationship Between Dynamic Assessment of Analogical Reasoning and Syntax in French-Speaking Children With and Without Developmental Language Disorder

Purpose: According to usage-based theories of language development, typically developing (TD) children rely on analogical reasoning (AR) to learn syntactic structures. However, children with developmental language disorder (DLD) demonstrate difficulties in AR, which could contribute to explaining their difficulties in acquiring syntactic structures. While previous studies have reported no link between nonverbal AR and syntax using static assessment, we shifted focus onto dynamic assessment to explore the relationship between these two domains' learning potential in a French-speaking population. Method: Ninety-seven TD children (25 bilingual) and 98 children with DLD (40 bilingual; M age = 8;8 [years;months]) were assessed by using (a) a static task of AR; (b) a static task of syntax; (c) a dynamic task of AR, with prompts assisting the learner to analyze the analogy required to complete the matrix; and (d) a dynamic task of syntax targeting six structures, with prompts based on syntactic priming. Results: Children with DLD scored lower than TD children on all our measures, except when considering the progression within the dynamic task of AR, where children improved similarly. Static syntactic skills were not linked to AR ones, unlike dynamic syntactic skills that were predicted by AR, mainly in children with DLD. Only the production of the most complex syntactic structure was marginally impacted by AR in TD children. Conclusions: Higher learning potential in AR predicts higher learning potential in syntax in children with DLD. Therefore, more preserved skills in AR could predict less severe difficulties in syntax in this population. These results could guide the design of future language interventions. Supplemental Material: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.33407794