Word Comprehension in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Word Comprehension in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Sansiviera Mediana Sari

Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Humanities, Universitas Indonesia

sansiviera92@gmail.com

Harwintha Yuhria Anjarningsih

Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Humanities, Universitas Indonesia

harwintha@ui.ac.id

Myrna Laksman-Huntley

Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Humanities, Universitas Indonesia

laksman@ui.ac.id

Abstract

This research stems from the semantic deficit hypothesis in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD; Rapin & Allen, 1983; Boucher, Bigham, Mayes & Muskett, 2008; McGregor, Berns, Owen, Michels, Bahnsen & Lloyd, 2012). In the field, based on observations at the Cahaya Didaktika inclusive school, Indonesian children with ASD seem to possess word concepts. Therefore, this research seeks to describe their ability in comprehending word meanings through a noun definition task. The research subjects are two mild ASD children aged 16 and 11 years old who are undergoing schooling programs at Cahaya Didaktika. Data is obtained by asking them to define 17 nouns with Age of Acqusition of five years using open-ended questions. The definitions they give are then classified based on Hadley, Dickinson, Hirsh-Pasek, and Golinkoff (2017) and De Deyne and Storms (2008). The results show that only some definitions are meaningfully accurate, supporting earlier findings about ASD children’s semantic deficits in word meaning comprehension. However, the subjects describe word meanings accurately using sensory-motoric abilities, functional descriptions, and gesture. In conclusion, our two research participants who are a lot older than five years old demonstrate semantic deficit, but there is indication that methods of defining word meanings that are more physical more successfully show the knowledge of the participants. Our results contribute to the teaching of nominal meanings to moderate-mild ASD children in Indonesian schools that can further be adapted to the teaching of other parts of speech.

Keywords: children with autism; ASD children; semantic deficit; word comprehension

How do Native Speakers of Bahasa Indonesia Think of Words?: Cognition Revelation through Words Association

How do Native Speakers of Bahasa Indonesia Think of Words?:

 Cognition Revelation through Words Association

Ami Pramesti Jewalani

Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Humanities

Universitas Indonesia

ami.pramesti@ui.ac.id

Myrna Laksman-Huntley

Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Humanities

Universitas Indonesia

laksman@ui.ac.id

Harwintha Yuhria Anjarningsih

Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Humanities

Universitas Indonesia

harwintha@ui.ac.id

Abstract

This present study discusses how Indonesian words are related to other words in Indonesian speakers’ cognition. The data is obtained by conducting word association task involving  Indonesian adult native speakers as participants. Using nouns as the cue words, the generated data is then classified into categories applying semantic taxonomic encoding used previously by De Deyne and Storms (2008) because it allows any words to be related to other words in many ways. The study shows that the responses relate to the cue words mostly by their lexical features, followed by entity features, situation features, taxonomic category, and the least by introspective features. This suggests that Indonesian speakers relate a word mostly to words that share the properties of lexical features, especially words that are usually come after the target words. Moreover, it is also revealed that feeling is rarely attached to a word as  words related to the target word by introspective features are in small amount compare to other features. The result of this study is expected to be an assistance in developing dictionaries and thesauri, or to be the preliminary data to build databases such as Wordnet in Bahasa Indonesia.

Keywords: Word association; semantic properties; conceptual processing, semantic taxonomic coding, Bahasa Indonesia

I read, I cut, and I (mis)select: Written-phrase misunderstanding shown by lexical activation and selection

I read, I cut, and I (mis)select: Written-phrase misunderstanding shown by lexical activation and selection 

Ami Pramesti Jewalani

Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Humanities

Universitas Indonesia

ami.pramesti@ui.ac.id

Myrna Laksman-Huntley

Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Humanities

Universitas Indonesia

laksman@ui.ac.id

Harwintha Yuhria Anjarningsih

Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Humanities

Universitas Indonesia

harwintha@ui.ac.id

Language is complex since it is composed by the combination of sounds whose meanings have no relation to their form. Processing it therefore, requires some steps. Splitting the sound set into pieces that have meaning is the step to be passed before finding out the meaning of the cut pieces. Different cuts made to the string of sounds will lead to different understandings. Intonation, in spoken language, helps listeners divide the pieces to be understood. In written form, however, readers have little clue by the punctuation mark, but once they are missing, misinterpretations are likely to occur. This study examines the way Bahasa Indonesia speakers process written language and how wrong ideas can come up to their minds by observing their lexical selection.

Using definitions of 12 low frequency nouns in Bahasa Indonesia as the stimuli, a lot of varied words were brought out by the participants in the 15 seconds per definition allocated to them. Most of the answers are not the target words represented by the definitions. Nevertheless, at a glance, those words are connected in some way with the definitions. Thus, by applying chunk and pass theory (Christiansen & Cater, 2016) the words are analyzed according to the possible chunks made from the definitions. Frame semantic theory (Fillmore, 1976) is used to explain how different words are activated while reading a text.

The words selected by the participants demonstrate that in processing written text, definitions in this case, the readers chunk the words constructing the text. The chunked words are then conceptualized that leads to frame activation along with words related to the frames. Apparently, most of the words that are different from the targets, are related to one frame activated from the chunked written text rather than to the combination of all chunks. This is why the selected words differ from the target words. In other words, misinterpretation in reading may occur since readers activate many frames but select one frame instead of their combination in deciding what it is intended by the text. This finding can be utilized in vocabulary enrichment activities in children and adult language teaching.

Key words: Frame semantics, lexical selection, written text processing, conceptualization; reading Bahasa Indonesia

Gone and not Understood: Omission Repercussions in the Utterances of Adults Suffering from ASD

Gone and not Understood: Omission Repercussions in the Utterances

of Adults Suffering from ASD

Ulfa Kurniasih

Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Humanities, Universitas Indonesia

ulfakurniasih@gmail.com

Harwintha Yuhria Anjarningsih

Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Humanities, Universitas Indonesia

harwintha@ui.ac.id

Myrna Laksman-Huntley

Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Humanities, Universitas Indonesia

laksman@ui.ac.id

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder causing disability in communicating and expressing feelings. Frith (2004, p. 2) states that autism disorders experienced by a person can cover all levels of intelligence and language abilities and severity. Individuals with ASD who can conduct reciprocal dialogues generally find it difficult to move flexibly from one topic to another. They often respond inappropriately to signals given by others (Tager-Flusberg & Anderson, 1991; Volden, Coolican, Garon, White, & Bryson, 2008). This research is an extension of previous research investigating children with ASD’s language development (e.g., Rice, Warren, & Betz, 2005) in relation with aspects of discourse that influence spoken omissions (e.g., Halliday & Hasan, 1976).

As a linguistic investigation about how adults suffering from ASD use omissions in the utterances produced, the primary data comes from the spontaneous speech of 2 adults suffering from ASD and 6 typically developing children. Normal children are included in the control group as a comparison to see the omission phenomenon with storytelling technique with or without a picture to be described, the two methods used. In the second method that is without aid, a general theme has been prepared to be proposed to the research participants.

It is shown that the omission phenomenon taking place in the utterances of adults suffering from ASD and in children as the control group is quantitatively not significantly different; however, qualitatively it has symptoms that can be used to compare the two groups. Such characteristics are related to the issues of autism spectrum disorder on the communication ability in giving responses to the partners in speaking. Finally, the result of this research can be the first step in diagnosing communication disorders experienced by people suffering from ASD speaking Bahasa Indonesia as their mother tongue.

In general, the references of the omissions by adults suffering from ASD are difficult to determine. This study confirms and shows linguistic evidence for DSM-V that focuses on deficits in social communication, and fixated interest and repetitive behavior.

Keywords: autistic language; language disorder; omissions in Bahasa Indonesia; deficits in social communication

Explaining the Incomprehensibility of the Utterances of Speakers with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Topic Drift and Topic ShiftExplaining the Incomprehensibility of the Utterances of Speakers with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Topic Drift and Topic Shift

Explaining the Incomprehensibility of the Utterances of Speakers with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Topic Drift and Topic Shift

Ulfa Kurniasih

Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Humanities, Universitas Indonesia

ulfakurniasih@gmail.com

Harwintha Yuhria Anjarningsih

Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Humanities, Universitas Indonesia

harwintha@ui.ac.id

Myrna Laksman-Huntley

Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Humanities, Universitas Indonesia

laksman@ui.ac.id

This research is an extension of previous research investigating children with Autism Spectrum Disorder’s (ASD) spontaneous speech (e.g., Manolitsi & Botting, 2011) in relation with aspects of discourse that influence a spoken discourse’s cohesion and coherence (e.g., Bishop, 1999).  The addition lies in the judgment by listeners demonstrating their comprehension of what is spoken about, where both the speakers with ASD and listeners speak Bahasa Indonesia. The research aims to: (1) describe listeners’ comprehension towards the unity of spontaneous speech of adult individuals with ASD elicited with and without a picture; (2) observe the overall structure of a verbal interaction of adult individuals with ASD if listeners do not comprehend the message; and (3) investigate whether there are differences in listeners’ comprehension towards verbal interactions of adult individuals with ASD and those of typically developing children. The primary data comes from the spontaneous speech of 2 adult individuals with ASD (chronological ages 25;3 and 22;9 years old; mental ages 6 and 7;6 respectively) and 6 typically developing children comparable to the speakers with ASD’s mental ages. The recorded speech is then rated by 12 adults (age range 24-37 years old) without any history of neurological damage for topic maintenance, and how that influences their comprehension. The judgment then becomes the secondary data. Findings about the listeners’ comprehension are explained with reference to the existence of topic drifts and shifts observed in the primary data. Results show that listeners’ comprehension is closely related to speakers’ ability to maintain the topic(s) of the verbal interaction. Frequent topic shift and topic drift are found in the speech of the participants with ASD that influence its comprehension by the listeners. In Indonesian context, the findings may suggest the first steps in deciding what to include in the training of communication or conversations for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

Keywords: autism spectrum disorder; verbal interaction in Bahasa Indonesia; listener’s comprehension; topic shift; topic drift

Abstrak tesis yang saya bimbing: KARAKTERISTIK FONOLOGIS PENYANDANG DISLEKSIA: STUDI KOMPARATIF HIPOTESIS DEFISIT FONOLOGIS DAN HIPOTESIS DEFISIT GANDA (Yanti Br. Sitepu)

ABSTRAK

Nama                           : Yanti Br. Sitepu

Program Studi             : Linguistik Deskriptif

Judul                           : Karakteristik Fonologis Penyandang Disleksia: Studi Komparatif Hipotesis Defisit Fonologis dan Hipotesis Defisit Ganda

Pembimbing                : Harwintha Y.Anjarningsih, S.Hum., M.Sc., PhD

Defisit fonologis merupakan penyebab utama atas ketidakmampuan anak disleksia dalam membaca (Lyon, Stanovich, 1999). Saat anak disleksia memiliki gangguan lain, maka anak disleksia tersebut dianggap memiliki defisit ganda (Wolf dan Bowers, 1999). Berkaitan dengan hasil tersebut, pada tahun 2001 Pennington et al. menginvestigasi defisit pada anak disleksia Amerika dan menemukan bahwa gangguan membaca pada anak disleksia berasal dari defisit fonologis. Oleh sebab itu, untuk mendapatkan karakteristik defisit yang dimiliki oleh anak disleksia penutur jati bahasa Indonesia, tesis ini membahas tentang karakteristik fonologis Penyandang disleksia dengan membandingkan hipotesis defisit fonologis dan hipotesis defisit ganda. Penelitian melibatkan 5 anak disleksia yang berasal dari Sekolah Dasar Inklusif Pantara, Jakarta. Kemampuan anak disleksia dibandingkan dengan 25 anak (grup kontrol) yang berasal dari SD Kwitang 8 PSKD, Depok. Penelitian dilakukan dengan metode kuantitatif dan kualitatif dengan pendekatan studi kasus kontrol. Instrumen yang digunakan mengadaptasi instrumen penelitian Pennington et al. (2001). Tes yang dilakukan adalah tes persepsi ujaran, kesadaran silabel, membaca dan akses leksikal. Kata-kata yang digunakan sebagai tes berasal dari 10,000 kata yang memiliki frekuensi tertinggi dalam korpus linguistik Bahasa Indonesia. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan kelima anak disleksia memiliki defisit fonologis dan 3 di antaranya memiliki defisit ganda. Hal ini ditandai oleh kecenderungan anak disleksia dalam melakukan penyulihan fonem dan jenis silabel. Penyulihan fonem terjadi pada bunyi hambat dan cenderung terjadi dari bunyi bersuara menjadi tak bersuara. Pertukaran jenis silabel cenderung terjadi pada suku kata KVK dan KKV menjadi KV. Anak disleksia juga memperlihatkan kemampuan penamaan cepat 3 kali lebih lambat daripada grup kontrol. Dengan demikian, hasil penelitian ini mendukung hipotesis defisit fonologis (Wagner and Torgersen, 1987) dan hipotesis defisit ganda oleh Wolf dan Bowers (1999).

Kata kunci: disleksia, defisit fonologis, defisit ganda, penamaan cepat

ABSTRACT

Name                           : Yanti Br. Sitepu

Program                       : Descriptive Linguistics

Title                            : Phonological Characteristic of Indonesian Dyslexics: Comparative Study of Phonological Deficit Hypothesis and Double Deficit Hypothesis.

Phonological deficit is defined as the core deficit of  dyslexic children to read (Lyon, Stanovich, 1999). As the dyslexic show other deficit, they probably has double deficit (Wolf and Bowers, 1999). In line with that result, Pennington et al. (2001) investigated the American dyslexic children and found that phonological deficit is the core deficit of the dyslexics. Therefore, the current study discussed the phonological characteristics of Indonesian Dyslexics by comparing the hypothesis of phonological deficit and double deficit hypothesis. Five dyslexic children (DC) (age 7-9; 3 males and 2 females) and 25 chronological age-matched controls (CA) were administered speech perception, syllable awareness, words reading and lexical access test. Most of the instruments were adapted from Pennington et al. (2001). The instruments for all task were taken from the 10.000 highest frequent words of the linguistic corpus of Bahasa Indonesia in 2013. The results showed that Indonesian dyslexic children performed significantly worse than CA controls in all phonological tasks. The results suggest Indonesian dyslexics tended to substitute voice to voiceless phoneme and substitute syllable during syllable awareness task. In addition, dyslexics are easier to produce CV rather than CVC or CCV. As for the naming speed deficit, the result showed that three out of five dyslexics were significantly slower than that of their CA controls. Therefore, the result are broadly consistent with earlier conclusions that support the phonological deficit (Wagner Torgersen, 1987) and for the double-deficit hypothesis of Wolf and Bowers (1999)

Keywords: dyslexic, speech sound, syllable, phonological deficit hypothesis, double deficit hypothesis

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