Article production difficulties in Spanish-speaking children
with specific language impairment (SLI) are well documented.
However, evidence on article comprehension is scarce. In an
eye tracking experiment, we compared online comprehension
of definite and indefinite articles in monolingual Spanish-
speaking children with SLI and children with typical language
development (TLD) matched for age. Children listened to
simple phrases while inspecting a visual context with four
images. The article in the phrase agreed in number and gender
with the target image only. Visual target preference was
monitored as the phrase unfolded. Eye movements revealed
that children with SLI showed a weak preference for the target
on indefinite article trials only after hearing the noun, although
no significant effects of definiteness were observed. In
contrast, children with TLD were able to use the article to
anticipate the noun. These findings contribute to reducing the
gap between article production and comprehension in children
with SLI.