Circumlocution in Children: A Meta-analysis of the Current Literature

This extended literature review investigated the current literature on circumlocution in children. Twelve sources were categorized into the following four themes: objects and actions, typical development and atypical development, bilingual, bilectal, and monolingual children, and picture naming and other research methods. It was found children circumlocute more for actions than they do objects, but not in all circumstances. Additionally, children of atypical development will always circumlocute more than children of typical development. Monolingual children will circumlocute more than bilingual children on average. Lastly, picture naming is the most prominent method used by researchers who write about circumlocution in children. Circumlocution is commonly categorized as a language error, but studies within this review show its potential as a strategy to continue conversing when preferable words or phrases are not available.