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The acquisition of ellipsis in English-speaking children with autism spectrum disorder and with developmental language disorder
Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2025.
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
2025
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| _version_ | 1867613887716655104 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Van der Merwe, Jessica Mary |
| author2 | Southwood, Frenette |
| author_browse | Southwood, Frenette Van der Merwe, Jessica Mary |
| author_facet | Southwood, Frenette Van der Merwe, Jessica Mary |
| author_sort | Van der Merwe, Jessica Mary |
| collection | Thesis |
| dc_rights_str_mv | Stellenbosch University |
| description | Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2025. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/132369 |
| institution | Stellenbosch University (South Africa) |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:43:16.997Z |
| license_str | Other — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publishDateRange | 2025 |
| publishDateSort | 2025 |
| publisher | Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| publisherStr | Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository |
| spelling | oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/132369 The acquisition of ellipsis in English-speaking children with autism spectrum disorder and with developmental language disorder Van der Merwe, Jessica Mary Southwood, Frenette Southwood, Frenette, 1971- Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of General Linguistics. Autism spectrum disorders in children -- Language English language -- Ellipsis Developmentally disabled children -- Language Philosophy of mind Language disorders in children UCTD Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2025. van der Merwe, J. M. 2025. The Acquisition of Ellipsis in English-Speaking Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and with Developmental Language Disorder. Unpublished masters thesis. Stellenbosch: Stellenbosch University [online]. Available: https://scholar.sun.ac.za/items/57892eb3-4f04-4700-afe7-cebb9e6511f2 ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis focused on the acquisition of ellipsis in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), a disorder characterised by deficits in expressive and receptive language and in social skills, and a supposed deficit in Theory of Mind. The acquisition of ellipsis in children with ASD was compared to that of children with a similar language phenotype but with no proven deficit in theory of mind, namely those with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD); as well as with that of typically developing children (TDC) to ascertain whether there is a difference between the first two groups, which could point to Theory of Mind playing a role in the acquisition of ellipsis. Data for this study was collected from the Child Language Data Exchange System (CHILDES), an open-access child language data platform. As such, language transcripts of conversations with children from three to nine years old were used. The children were matched across the three participant groups for age, sex, and language. All three participant groups were also from so-called highly developed countries, namely North America and Great Britain. A quantitative approach was adopted in which the child language transcripts were coded for Noun Phrase Ellipsis (NPE), Verb Phrase Ellipsis (VPE), and Clausal Phrase Ellipsis (CPE) as well as for marked use of ellipsis. Subsequently, a Binomial Regression Model was used to run statistical analyses in R on the coded data. The results showed that children with ASD used ellipsis in general significantly more than the other two groups, with children with DLD using ellipsis the least; however, results varied when looking at the three different types of ellipsis separately. For CPE, there was no statistically significant difference between groups; however, for NPE, there was a significant difference between the ASD and the DLD group, and between the DLD and TDC groups, but no significant difference between the ASD and TDC groups. The ASD group used VPE significantly more than both the TDC and DLD groups, and the results revealed that the TDC group used VPE significantly more than the TDC group. The results also showed that the number of questions posed to the child by the interlocutor had a significant and directly proportional effect on the child’s use of ellipsis, and this was consistent across all three participant groups, as well as all three ellipsis types. Based on the ellipsis-type comparisons across groups, it was concluded that children with ASD acquire ellipsis on a more similar than dissimilar developmental trajectory than those with DLD. This then suggests either that children with ASD may not have a deficit in Theory of Mind or that a well-developed Theory of Mind is not necessary for the use of ellipsis. AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Geen opsomming beskikbaar. Masters 2025-06-05T07:48:27Z 2025-06-05T07:48:27Z 2025-03 Thesis https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/132369 en Stellenbosch University viii, 95 pages : illustrations application/pdf Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| spellingShingle | Autism spectrum disorders in children -- Language English language -- Ellipsis Developmentally disabled children -- Language Philosophy of mind Language disorders in children UCTD Van der Merwe, Jessica Mary The acquisition of ellipsis in English-speaking children with autism spectrum disorder and with developmental language disorder |
| title | The acquisition of ellipsis in English-speaking children with autism spectrum disorder and with developmental language disorder |
| title_full | The acquisition of ellipsis in English-speaking children with autism spectrum disorder and with developmental language disorder |
| title_fullStr | The acquisition of ellipsis in English-speaking children with autism spectrum disorder and with developmental language disorder |
| title_full_unstemmed | The acquisition of ellipsis in English-speaking children with autism spectrum disorder and with developmental language disorder |
| title_short | The acquisition of ellipsis in English-speaking children with autism spectrum disorder and with developmental language disorder |
| title_sort | acquisition of ellipsis in english speaking children with autism spectrum disorder and with developmental language disorder |
| topic | Autism spectrum disorders in children -- Language English language -- Ellipsis Developmentally disabled children -- Language Philosophy of mind Language disorders in children UCTD |
| url | https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/132369 |
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