J. COMMUN. DISORD. 27 (1994), 189-206 COMMUNICATIVE SKILLS IN CHILDREN WITH SPECIFIC LANGUAGE IMPAIRMENTS: A COMPARISON WITH THEIR LANGUAGE-MATCHED SIBLINGS zyxwvutsrqponmlk PAMELA R. ROLLINS, BARBARA A. PAN, GINA CONTI-RAMSDEN and CATHERINE E. SNOW Hunurd University Cumhridge. Massachusetts and Uni1vr.sit.v of Manchester Munchrstrr, En&rld The purpose of this study was to compare the pragmatic skills of five children with Specific Language Impairments (SLI) and their Mean Length of Utterance-matched younger siblings, thus in part controlling for home language environment and expres- sive language level. Data were videotaped as mother-child free play in the home. Children’s communicative acts were coded on three levels (social interchange, speech act, and conversational). Analysis of each level separately indicated generally comparable performance within sibling pairs. However, when the three levels were integrated into a measure of pragmatic flexibility, the children with SLI were found to demonstrate a more varied repertoire than their younger, normally developing siblings. INTRODUCTION In the past decade, there has been considerable evidence to suggest that the assessment of pragmatic skills is crucial to our understanding of the nature of language impairments (e.g. Roth and Spekman, 1984; Wetherby, Yonclas, and Bryan 1989; Leonard, 1986; Prutting and Kirchner, 1987). Further, it has been suggested that distinct diagnostic groups display different communica- tive profiles (Wetherby, Yonclas, and Bryan 1989; Prutting and Kirchner, 1987). Despite these claims, relatively few studies have examined the com- Address correspondence to Catherine E. Snow. Harvard University, Larsen Hall. Appian Way, Cambridge, MA 02 138. zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFE 0lYY.t hy Ekevier zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFE Sc ie nc e Inc. I89 655 Avenue of the America\.. New Yorh. NY 10010 002 I -Y924/94/S7.00