ABSTRACT
Language production limitations in children with language deficits are manifested in all areas of language: form (phonology, syntax, and morphology), content (semantics), and use (pragmatics). This chapter reviews the off-line and on-line methodologies, techniques, and procedures used in clinical and basic research to investigate the various aspects of child expressive language impairments and the underlying mechanisms that are postulated to subserve expressive language skills. It addresses the use of on-line procedures in the investigations of child language production, their constraints, as well as their potential application to research on child language impairment. Research exploring the underlying mechanisms involved in language production in child language impairment is determined by the methodologies used in the investigations. Methods that are used to examine the expressive language abilities in children with language impairments are either off-line or on-line. Naming tasks have been frequently used with children with language impairment, as many of these children tend to demonstrate difficulties in vocabulary development and word naming.
