Responding relevantly to an information-soliciting utterance (ISU) is required of a
school-age child many times daily. For the' child with pragmatic language
difficulties, this may be especially problematic, yet clinicians have had few data
to design intervention for improving these skills. This small-scale study looks at
the ability of a child with pragmatic language difficulties to respond relevantly to
ISUs in relation to variations in ISU complexity. Propositional density, perceptual
distance, syntax and vocabulary diversity of the ISU are analysed to determine
factors influencing conversational relevance. Results show that decreased
propositional density is associated with improved relevance for this child.
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