Pragmatic Comprehension Beyond Language: An Exploratory Study of Children with ASD in Malaysia
Abstract
This exploratory study examines the pragmatic comprehension of four children diagnosed with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in selected special education schools and learning centres in Malaysia. The study investigates the extent to which the children provided correct answers and correct explanations for questions with varying contextual demands, as well as the types of incorrect answers and incorrect explanations produced by them. The occurrence of topics drifts was also examined to determine if the children continued to respond inappropriately after they had provided a correct answer or a correct explanation. A scenario-based pragmatic comprehension instrument developed by Lina (2012) was adopted, and findings are interpreted through Relevance Theory (Sperber & Wilson, 1995). The results indicate that all four children answered reference assignment questions correctly but encountered increasing difficulty with enrichment and implicature questions that require higher contextual processing. The most frequent error type was overgeneralisation of world knowledge. None of the children produced topic drifts. The findings are discussed in relation to cognitive-linguistic characteristics linked with ASD, including deficits in Theory of Mind, weak central coherence, and executive function difficulties. Implications for language therapy and pedagogical support are discussed.
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