A clinical appraisal of the pragmatic aspects of language

• Published in: The Journal of speech and hearing disorders Vol. 52; no. 2; p. 105
• Main Authors: Prutting, C A, Kirchner, D M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.05.1987
• Subjects: Aged; Aphasia - diagnosis; Articulation Disorders - diagnosis; Brain Damage, Chronic - diagnosis; Cerebrovascular Disorders - diagnosis; Child; Functional Laterality - physiology; Humans; Language; Language Disorders - diagnosis; Middle Aged; Speech
• ISSN: 0022-4677
• DOI: 10.1044/jshd.5202.105

A descriptive taxonomy, the pragmatic protocol, was developed for this study. The protocol consists of 30 pragmatic parameters of language. The purpose of the study was to test the utility of the tool to evaluate a range of pragmatic aspects of language in a sample of conversational speech from subjects in six groups. Among the disordered subjects, four distinct profiles emerged that separated the diagnostic groups. Individual differences in the way pragmatic deficits were distributed within a diagnostic category were also identified. The authors stress that the assessment of pragmatics should encompass a range of parameters that includes aspects of linguistic structure as well as those aspects of communication that have to do with principles governing language use. We offer our data as an early look at the way in which pragmatic deficits stratify across disordered populations.