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PubMedDate not supplied

Language representation and working memory with bilinguals.

Working memory (WM) plays a crucial role in learning a second language (L2). The ability to repeat words in an unknown language has been observed to predict success in learning that language. Conversely, decreased digit span and inability to repeat pseudowords have been related with failure in L2 acquisition. Not only digit span, but also "word span" and "semantic span" should be considered in WM analysis. In addition to the phonological system, a semantic system is proposed in the WM model for language. In bilinguals, brain activation patterns during WM tasks have been observed to be more complex when using a L2. Processing information in L2 is more demanding, and WM may be less efficient. It can be conjectured that language understanding defects in L2 are at least partially due to this decreased efficiency of WM in its phonological as well as in its semantic subsystem. The reader will be introduced to the basic assumptions of WM. It will be emphasized that WM is significantly involved in the ability to learn a L2. Cross-linguistic differences in digit span will be analyzed. It will be concluded that despite digit span and word span are affected by different variables, "semantic span" may be similar across languages. Words in a L2 function as low frequency words, and hence, semantic search takes longer and WM is less efficient. It will be concluded that in addition to the "phonological system," the WM model should include a "semantic system," involving a "semantic store" and a "semantic search" process.

Humans↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Female incarcerated adolescents with language problems talk about their own communication behaviors and learning.

UNLABELLED: Qualitative methodology was used to explore communication behaviors of 13 female adolescents with language problems who resided in a correctional facility. Girls between ages of 13 and 17 were interviewed on four questions about their communication behaviors and school learning experiences. Data were analyzed from three triangulated sources that included interviews, a review of school records, and test results from the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals-3, the Adolescent WORD Test (WORD Test), the Comprehensive Assessment of Spoken Language (CASL), and the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-III (PPVT-III). Themes emerging from the interviews were: (a) how teenagers communicate with friends, parents, and authority; (b) participants' views about themselves; and (c) how they describe their learning in school. Many spoke about their feelings and interactions as well as their struggles with listening, thinking, speaking, and reading. Implications raise concerns of whether the current educational system is adequately considering how language deficits and disorders impact this troubled population. LEARNING OUTCOMES: (1) Readers will understand how female adolescents with language problems who resided in a correctional facility view their communication with friends and authority figures such as parents, teachers, and correctional educators. (2) Readers will understand the views of adolescents about their learning experiences at school prior to when they were committed to a correctional facility. (3) Readers will understand examples of language behaviors that may have related to why some of the participants struggled with learning in school.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Easily overlooked language disabilities during childhood and adolescence. A cognitive-linguistic perspective.

The population of individuals with LLD make up a heterogeneous group. The identification of individuals with LLD may vary depending on the type(s) and adequacy of the tests used. Assessment protocols for evaluating the language functioning of older school-aged and adolescent individuals are few and far between. This state of affairs necessitates speech-language pathologists to begin to develop a variety of informal tools to assess the higher level (and perhaps more subtle) language abilities of these individuals. Because language functioning entails the convergence of a variety of cognitive and linguistic processes, these informal protocols must be informed by the developmental literature so as to take into account both language-specific (e.g., lexical knowledge, syntactic structure, semantic complexity) and general cognitive processes. Careful task and process analyses must be done to characterize the language performance of any individual.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

The development of morphosyntactic ability in atypical populations: The acquisition of tag questions in children with early focal lesions and children with specific-language impairment.

We examined the development of some features of morphosyntactic ability, specifically the acquisition of auxiliaries and use of agreement marking, along with sentence processing capacity. We used a conceptually simple task called the Tags Question Task, which is a method for evaluating a number of language processes in the production of a commonly used, familiar linguistic device. We compared the performance of children with early focal lesions (N=21), children with specific-language impairment (N=24), and typically developing children (N=24) matched in age and nonverbal ability; additional analyses involved comparisons of children matched on performance level. The data converge to support a "delayed" development of language behavior in our clinical groups, as overall patterns of performance and age-related changes on individual tag features and tag questions were strikingly similar in all three groups across a number of methods of comparison. Implications for theories of the development of brain-language relationships as they pertain to early focal brain damage, specific-language impairment, and the language acquisition process in typically developing children are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

A cross-sectional study of speech- and language-abilities of children with normal hearing, mild fluctuating conductive hearing loss, or moderate to profound sensoneurinal hearing loss.

A total of 1528 pre-school children (mean age 4 years and 9 months), being identified as speech or language delayed, were evaluated with respect to micro-otoscopy, nose and throat pathology, hearing function, and speech-language abilities. Subjects were classified into groups of (I) constant normal hearing, (II) fluctuating conductive hearing loss and (III) bilateral moderate to profound sensorineural hearing loss requiring hearing aids. In groups II and III, severe speech and language pathologies were found more frequently than in group I. Additionally, auditory perception skills were less in group II, even if peripheral hearing function was normalized. Group III was affected more than group II, but not significantly. The results indicate that in children having speech or language delay for severals reasons, mild fluctuating hearing loss can additionally alter language acquisition, but less than in cases of moderate or profound sensoneurinal hearing loss. The need of early detection of sensoneurinal hearing loss appears widely accepted; this study demonstrates also the necessity of early diagnosis of mild fluctuating hearing loss, especially in children with speech-language delay.

Acoustic Impedance Tests↗
PubMed2004

Use of developmental language scales in Chinese children.

The Reynell Developmental Language Scale (RDLS) and Symbolic Play Test (SPT) have been useful language tests for assessing the language age of children. Both tests have been validated in English-speaking children. However, there have been no studies conducted for Chinese children, whether Mandarin (Northerners) or Cantonese (Southerners) is used as the main dialect. As the Chinese population is the largest ethnic group in the world, and Chinese emigration occurred to nearly all parts of the world, it is essential to test whether these language tools can be applied for this ethnic group. The objective of this research was to study whether RDLS and SPT are useful in assessing the language age of Chinese children. Both RDLS (Chinese version) and SPT are conducted for 116 Chinese (Cantonese-speaking) children, aged 13-59 months, in Hong Kong. There is a significant positive correlation of the language age using RDLS and SPT with the chronological age of Chinese children. Both RDLS and SPT can be adopted in determining the language/mental age of Chinese (Cantonese-speaking) children.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1998

[Diagnostic value of ERTL4: a screening test of language disorders in 4-year-old children].

BACKGROUND: Language disorders in children are frequent and may sometimes severely affect their development. ERTL4 (screening test for language disorders of children aged 4) is the first test for screening language disorders to be used by doctors. It has not yet been evaluated. AIM: The objective of this study is to assess and optimize the diagnostic value of the ERTL4 test and to evaluate its potential interest as a screening test. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A sample of 370 children was randomly constituted among children aged between 3 years 9 months and 4 years 6 months from schools in Nancy, France and surrounding areas. These children undertook both the ERTL4 test and a standardized examination of language and speech as a reference. RESULTS: Among the 325 children included in the analysis, 34.1% presented with disorders requiring speech and language therapy. ERTL4 sensitivity and specificity were 88.6% and 66.8%, respectively. Varying thresholds for disorder diagnoses and proposals for a modified test led to a sensitivity of 72.9% and a specificity of 91.0%. The proportion of well-classified subjects improved from 73.8% to 85.3% (P < 10(-3)). The positive predictive value was 78.7% and the negative predictive value was 88.1% (with the observed frequency in the sample). CONCLUSION: ERTL4 is a good test for doctors to screening of children's language disorders and their management.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

A functional MRI protocol for localizing language comprehension in the human brain.

We describe a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) protocol to separate activation of areas in the brain associated with language comprehension from sensory areas activated as a result of the presentation of the language stimulus, by comparing cortical activation patterns during the presentation of similar or the same language stimulus via two different sensory modalities (auditory and visual), and identifying the regions of activation that are common to both modalities. The protocol can be implemented on any MR scanner capable of functional imaging, and has proven valuable for the reliable identification of the lateralization and location of language centres in patients being considered for neurosurgical procedures. As well, the method has potential for the study of cortical processing of auditory speech and written language in healthy subjects and in subjects suffering from language disorders.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed1989

Alternative explanations for the relationship between maternal verbal interaction style and child language development.

The present study analysed formerly unexamined indirect routes for relationships between time 1 maternal speech and later child language development. Ten normally developing children in Brown's early stage 1 and their mothers were the subjects. For each dyad, two free-play sessions occurring five months apart were videotaped in the subjects' homes. Mothers' pragmatic language use was coded from time 1 sessions. Child language level was coded at both sessions. Even though time 1 scores of the outcome were controlled, seven of the ten relationships involving mother speech and child language development were indirectly related through one of two time 1 child language measures. The results indicate that a mother-driven, direct influence model may be inappropriate for many mother speech-child language development relationships. We argue that child-driven and mother-driven explanatory models for the indirect relationships are equally feasible.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Naturalistic language sampling in typically developing children.

This study compared naturalistic samples of three features of language in 30 two-year-olds--total utterances, word roots, and MLU--in the home in three contrasting situations: the child observed playing by her/himself with mother near by, the child and mother observed in direct play interaction, and the child and mother unobserved at a time the mother judged would provide a sample of the child's 'optimal' language. Children produced more utterances and word roots and expressed themselves in longer MLU when in interaction than when playing 'alone', but children's utterances, word roots, and MLU were greatest in the 'optimal' language production situation. Girls used more word roots and spoke in longer MLU (especially in the 'optimal' language situation) than boys. Despite mean level differences, children maintained their rank orders across the three situations in use of word roots and in MLU. These findings have implications for understanding children's language and the representativeness of sampling child language.

Child Development↗
PubMed1997

Discourse processes underlying social competence in children with language learning disabilities.

Children with both a language impairment and a learning disability are at risk for poor social competence. Yet the processes that place these children at risk remain unclear. A developmental-organizational perspective was used to explore processes underlying risk for poor social competence among language learning disable children. To this end, the relative influences of language learning disability and social discourse skills on social competence were examined in 50 language learning disabled (LLD) and 50 control (non-LLD) children aged 8-12 years. Findings indicated that social discourse skills mediated the relation between LLD status and children's social competence. Specifically, a domain of social discourse, figurative language, was the strongest mediator of the effect of LLD status on social competence. Additionally, differences were confirmed between the LLD and non-LLD group in two domains of social discourse, recreating sentences and figurative language, as well as social competence. Two other domains of social discourse, understanding ambiguous sentences and making inferences, did not discriminate the groups. The findings emphasize the importance of analyzing interrelations among domains to identify critical factors related to developmental outcomes.

Child↗
PubMed2003

Outcome in high-functioning adults with autism with and without early language delays: implications for the differentiation between autism and Asperger syndrome.

The question of whether Asperger syndrome and high-functioning autism should be considered as the same or different conditions has been a source of debate and controversy over recent years. In the present study, 34 adults with autism who had shown early delays in language were compared with 42 individuals who were reported to have had no such delays, either in their use of words or phrases. All participants were at least 18 years of age, had a nonverbal IQ of 70 or above and met ADI-R criteria for age of onset, communication and social impairments, and stereotyped behaviors. Those in the language delay group were diagnosed as having high-functioning autism. The remainder were designated as having Asperger syndrome. The groups were matched for age, nonverbal IQ and gender. No significant differences were found between the groups either in their total ADI-R algorithm scores, or in their algorithm scores on individual domains. Social outcome ratings and ADI-R scores based on current functioning also failed to differentiate between the groups. Scores on tests of language comprehension and expression were also similar, but in both groups language abilities were well below chronological age level. The implications of these results with respect to the differences between Asperger syndrome and high-functioning autism are discussed. The poor performance on language tests also challenges the assumption that early language development in Asperger syndrome is essentially normal.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Language and reading outcomes to age 9 in late-talking toddlers.

Language and reading outcomes at 6 to 9 years of age were examined in a sample of 34 children who were late talkers as toddlers. The late talkers, who all had normal nonverbal ability and age-adequate receptive language at intake, were compared to a group of 25 typically developing children matched at intake (24 to 31 months) on age, socioeconomic status, and nonverbal ability. Late talkers performed in the average range on most language tasks by age 5. However, they had significantly poorer scores on most language measures through age 9. The groups did not differ in reading skills at age 6 or 7, but the late talkers were slightly less skilled in reading at ages 8 and 9. Findings suggest that slow early language development reflects a predisposition for slower acquisition and lower asymptotic performance in a wide range of language-related skills into middle childhood.

Age Factors↗
PubMed2004

Present tense be use in young children with specific language impairment: less is more.

A well-known characteristic of children with specific language impairment (SLI) is a significant deficit in grammatical morphology production compared with younger, language-matched, typically developing children. This is true for present tense be (am, is, are), as well as other inflectional morphemes. However, grammatical morpheme learning by children with SLI may vary depending on developmental stage. Participants were 8 boys with SLI (42 to 58 months old with mean length of utterances [MLUs] < or = 3.0 morphemes) and 14 MLU-matched controls (girls and boys; mean age of 27 months). These groups were younger and had lower MLUs than groups from oft-cited studies (e.g., Cleave and Rice, 1997; Leonard, Bortolini, Caselli, McGregor, and Sabbadini, 1992; Leonard, Eyer, Bedore, and Grela, 1997; Rice, Wexler, and Hershberger, 1998). The SLI group had a significantly higher percentage of be use in obligatory contexts (46%) than did the younger, typically developing children (27%). This pattern of better performance in grammatical morphology by SLI groups than controls has been reported. Ingram (1972) and Morehead and Ingram (1973) found similar results for children with language impairment in early-MLU stages. Although findings are presented with caution, they afford an opportunity to consider the nature of SLI. If SLI represents a general processing limitation, then that limitation might enable the language learner with SLI to acquire some initial morphological mappings with relative success. This apparent paradox, which also is evident in normal language acquisition, has been termed less is more by Newport (1990). Limited perception and memory force attention to smaller pieces of the input, and these constraints simplify the task for the language learner. SLI is compared with a chronically constrained system that initially assists the learner to achieve basic form-function mappings but ultimately hinders mastery of English morphology.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed2006

Language deficits in poor comprehenders: a case for the simple view of reading.

PURPOSE: To examine concurrently and retrospectively the language abilities of children with specific reading comprehension deficits ("poor comprehenders") and compare them to typical readers and children with specific decoding deficits ("poor decoders"). METHOD: In Study 1, the authors identified 57 poor comprehenders, 27 poor decoders, and 98 typical readers on the basis of 8th-grade reading achievement. These subgroups' performances on 8th-grade measures of language comprehension and phonological processing were investigated. In Study 2, the authors examined retrospectively subgroups' performances on measures of language comprehension and phonological processing in kindergarten, 2nd, and 4th grades. Word recognition and reading comprehension in 2nd and 4th grades were also considered. RESULTS: Study 1 showed that poor comprehenders had concurrent deficits in language comprehension but normal abilities in phonological processing. Poor decoders were characterized by the opposite pattern of language abilities. Study 2 results showed that subgroups had language (and word recognition) profiles in the earlier grades that were consistent with those observed in 8th grade. Subgroup differences in reading comprehension were inconsistent across grades but reflective of the changes in the components of reading comprehension over time. CONCLUSIONS: The results support the simple view of reading and the phonological deficit hypothesis. Furthermore, the findings indicate that a classification system that is based on the simple view has advantages over standard systems that focus only on word recognition and/or reading comprehension.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

Prevalence of speech and language disorders in 5-year-old kindergarten children in the Ottawa-Carleton region.

A representative sample of 5-year-old kindergarten children was assessed for speech and/or language disorder. Of the 1,655 children tested, 180 were identified as having speech or language impairment. It is estimated that within the total reference population, between 16.2% and 21.8% would show some impairment; for the boys, the rate would be 15.5% to 20.7% and for the girls, between 19.1% and 25.1%. Most of these children would show some language impairment as opposed to speech problems only. Approximately 36% of the identified boys and 30% of the girls would have speech problems only, the remainder having speech and language problems or language problems only. Followup studies of these children are needed to ascertain their outcome and language status in middle childhood.

Articulation Disorders↗
PubMed1987

Symbolic play and social participation abilities of language-impaired and normally developing children.

The symbolic play and social participation behaviors of 6 language-impaired and 8 normal language-learning children were compared on three measures of play: (a) the Symbolic Play Test (Lowe & Costello, 1976), (b) the Brown-Lunzer Scale (Brown, Redmond, Bass, Liebergott, & Swope, 1975), and (c) the Scale of Social Participation in Play (Tizard, Philps, & Plewis, 1976). Subject groups were equated for MLU (Brown, 1973), Developmental Sentence Scoring (Lee, 1974), and performance on the Test of Auditory Comprehension of Language (Carrow, 1973). Results indicated that the language-impaired subjects demonstrated significant deficits in symbolic, adaptive, and integrative play behaviors in comparison with the linguistically equivalent normal subjects. The language-impaired group also evidenced significantly more nonplay and significantly less solitary and parallel play than their normal peers. Findings are discussed with respect to the developmental relationship between language and cognition.

Child↗
PubMed1987

Children with a history of acquired aphasia: residual language and academic impairments.

Fifteen children and adolescents with a history of acquired aphasia were administered a battery of language and academic tests, 1-10 years postonset. As a group, these children performed significantly more poorly than non-brain-injured subjects on the language measures, with deficits in word, sentence, and paragraph comprehension; naming; oral production of complex syntactic constructions; and word fluency. One particular language deficit or cluster of deficits did not characterize the group as a whole. For individual brain-injured subjects, language deficits ranged from no or only mild impairment to significant language deficits. All brain-injured subjects were functional verbal communicators at the time of the study; that is, all were oral and primarily used grammatical sentences as their means of communication. Academic difficulties were characteristic of this population. Two thirds of the brain-injured group were receiving academic assistance of some kind at the time of the study. Poor performance on arithmetic calculations was typical. The brain-injured group was heterogeneous with regard to age at onset, etiology, extent of damage, length of recovery, and outcome profiles. Careful and comprehensive assessment of a range of language and academic abilities is essential to adequately identify needs and appropriate intervention strategies for this population.

Achievement↗