روایت و گفتگو های مشترک در کودکان مبتلا به سندرم ویلیامز فرانسوی زبان

Williams syndrome (WS) is a rare genetic disease with a specific neuropsychological profile. WS people are generally described as being “hypersociable” and as having relatively well-preserved language abilities despite cognitive retardation. Recent research into the structural aspects of their language and their sociability has found nonhomogeneous profiles (with strong and weak points) in these two areas. The goal of this study was to show that the findings are analogous for the pragmatic facet of WS language. We also looked into the source of this heterogeneity by comparing performance on two contrasted tasks: narration and collaborative conversation. Twelve native French-speaking WS children and adolescents ages 6 years 6 months to 18 years 11 months participated in the study. They were compared to children with Down's syndrome, and to typical children of the same chronological age or the same mental age. The results showed that the pragmatic abilities of the WS children and adolescents defined a unique profile: they were proficient in some areas (narration), deficient in others (collaborative conversation), and atypical in still others (expression of subjective views or feelings).