ABSTRACT
T he morphological deficits of children with specific language impairment (SLI) havebeen extensively documented, and there is a growing literature base of comparativestudies investigating the structural systems of children with other developmental disabilities. Much of this work has been grounded in methods and constructs first developed by Brown (1973). These include the use of spontaneous language samples as a method of data collection and mean length of utterance (MLU), Brown’s 14 morphemes, and 90% mastery as constructs by which to assess a child’s morphological profile. In the current chapter, we review these studies as they relate to the broad categories of deficits, assessment tools, and intervention methods. Although our review is limited to studies of English-speaking children, we try to present the work in a way that highlights a number of scientific advances that have been made over the last 30 years (for crosscultural/ crosslinguistic studies, see chapter 12 by Peña & Bedore and chapter 13 by Leonard).
