Child language interventions in public health: a systematic literature review.

Science.gov (United States)

De Cesaro, Bruna Campos; Gurgel, Léia Gonçalves; Nunes, Gabriela Pisoni Canedo; Reppold, Caroline Tozzi

2013-01-01

Systematically review the literature on interventions in children's language in primary health care. One searched the electronic databases (January 1980 to March 2013) MEDLINE (accessed by PubMed), Scopus, Lilacs and Scielo. The search terms used were "child language", "primary health care", "randomized controlled trial" and "intervention studies" (in English, Portuguese and Spanish). There were included any randomized controlled trials that addressed the issues child language and primary health care. The analysis was based on the type of language intervention conducted in primary health care. Seven studies were included and used intervention strategies such as interactive video, guidance for parents and group therapy. Individuals of both genders were included in the seven studies. The age of the children participant in the samples of the articles included in this review ranged from zero to 11 years. These seven studies used approaches that included only parents, parents and children or just children. The mainly intervention in language on primary health care, used in randomized controlled trials, involved the use of interactional video. Several professionals, beyond speech and language therapist, been inserted in the language interventions on primary health care, demonstrating the importance of interdisciplinary work. None of the articles mentioned aspects related to hearing. There was scarcity of randomized controlled trials that address on language and public health, either in Brazil or internationally.

Deficits in narrative abilities in child British Sign Language users with specific language impairment.

Science.gov (United States)

Herman, Ros; Rowley, Katherine; Mason, Kathryn; Morgan, Gary

2014-01-01

This study details the first ever investigation of narrative skills in a group of 17 deaf signing children who have been diagnosed with disorders in their British Sign Language development compared with a control group of 17 deaf child signers matched for age, gender, education, quantity, and quality of language exposure and non-verbal intelligence. Children were asked to generate a narrative based on events in a language free video. Narratives were analysed for global structure, information content and local level grammatical devices, especially verb morphology. The language-impaired group produced shorter, less structured and grammatically simpler narratives than controls, with verb morphology particularly impaired. Despite major differences in how sign and spoken languages are articulated, narrative is shown to be a reliable marker of language impairment across the modality boundaries. © 2014 Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.

Automatic generation of the index of productive syntax for child language transcripts.

Science.gov (United States)

Hassanali, Khairun-nisa; Liu, Yang; Iglesias, Aquiles; Solorio, Thamar; Dollaghan, Christine

2014-03-01

The index of productive syntax (IPSyn; Scarborough (Applied Psycholinguistics 11:1-22, 1990) is a measure of syntactic development in child language that has been used in research and clinical settings to investigate the grammatical development of various groups of children. However, IPSyn is mostly calculated manually, which is an extremely laborious process. In this article, we describe the AC-IPSyn system, which automatically calculates the IPSyn score for child language transcripts using natural language processing techniques. Our results show that the AC-IPSyn system performs at levels comparable to scores computed manually. The AC-IPSyn system can be downloaded from www.hlt.utdallas.edu/~nisa/ipsyn.html .

Prenatal mercury exposure, maternal seafood consumption and associations with child language at five years.

Science.gov (United States)

Vejrup, Kristine; Brandlistuen, Ragnhild Eek; Brantsæter, Anne Lise; Knutsen, Helle Katrine; Caspersen, Ida Henriette; Alexander, Jan; Lundh, Thomas; Meltzer, Helle Margrete; Magnus, Per; Haugen, Margaretha

2018-01-01

Methyl mercury (MeHg) is a well-known neurotoxin and evidence suggests that also low level exposure may affect prenatal neurodevelopment. Uncertainty exists as to whether the maternal MeHg burden in Norway might affect child neurodevelopment. To evaluate the association between prenatal mercury exposure, maternal seafood consumption and child language and communication skills at age five. The study sample comprised 38,581 mother-child pairs in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study. Maternal mercury blood concentration in gestational week 17 was analysed in a sub-sample of 2239 women. Prenatal mercury exposure from maternal diet was calculated from a validated FFQ answered in mid-pregnancy. Mothers reported children's language and communications skills at age five by a questionnaire including questions from the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ), the Speech and Language Assessment Scale (SLAS) and the Twenty Statements about Language-Related Difficulties (language 20). We performed linear regression analyses adjusting for maternal characteristics, nutritional status and socioeconomic factors. Median maternal blood mercury concentration was 1.03μg/L, dietary mercury exposure was 0.15μg/kgbw/wk, and seafood intake was 217g/wk. Blood mercury concentrations were not associated with any language and communication scales. Increased dietary mercury exposure was significantly associated with improved SLAS scores when mothers had a seafood intake below 400g/wk in the adjusted analysis. Sibling matched analysis showed a small significant adverse association between those above the 90th percentile dietary mercury exposure and the SLAS scores. Maternal seafood intake during pregnancy was positively associated with the language and communication scales. Low levels of prenatal mercury exposure were positively associated with language and communication skills at five years. However, the matched sibling analyses suggested an adverse association between mercury and child

Associations among Head Start Fathers' Involvement with Their Preschoolers and Child Language Skills

Science.gov (United States)

Fagan, Jay; Iglesias, Aquiles; Kaufman, Rebecca

2016-01-01

This study examined the associations among child language competence during father-child play interactions, fathers' time spent volunteering in their preschool-age child's Head Start classroom over the course of one school year, amount of father play and reading to the child at home, and fathers' positive control during play. The sample of 68…

A minority perspective in the diagnosis of child language disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Seymour, H N; Bland, L

1991-01-01

The effective diagnosis and treatment of persons from diverse minority language backgrounds has become an important issue in the field of speech and language pathology. Yet, many SLPs have had little or no formal training in minority language, there is a paucity of normative data on language acquisition in minority groups, and there are few standardized speech and language tests appropriate for these groups. We described a diagnostic process that addresses these problems. The diagnostic protocol we have proposed for a child from a Black English-speaking background characterizes many of the major issues in treating minority children. In summary, we proposed four assessment strategies: gathering referral source data; making direct observations; using standardized tests of non-speech and language behavior (cognition, perception, motor, etc.); and eliciting language samples and probes.

Timing of high-quality child care and cognitive, language, and preacademic development

OpenAIRE

Li, W; Farkas, G; Duncan, GJ; Burchinal, MR; Vandell, DL

2013-01-01

The effects of high- versus low-quality child care during 2 developmental periods (infant-toddlerhood and preschool) were examined using data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care. Propensity score matching was used to account for differences in families who used different combinations of child care quality during the 2 developmental periods. Findings indicated that cognitive, language, and preacademic skills prior to school entry were hig...

Study of child language development and disorders in Iran: A systematic review of the literature

OpenAIRE

Yalda Kazemi; Helen Stringer; Thomas Klee

2015-01-01

Child language development and disorder in Iran has been the focus for research by different professions, the most prominent ones among them being psychologists and speech therapists. Epidemiological studies indicate that between 8% and 12% of children show noticeable signs of language impairment in the preschool years; however, research on child language in Iran is not extensive compared to studies in English speaking countries, which are currently the basis of clinical decision-making in Ir...

Quality of caregiver-child play interactions with toddlers born preterm and full term: Antecedents and language outcome.

Science.gov (United States)

Loi, Elizabeth C; Vaca, Kelsey E C; Ashland, Melanie D; Marchman, Virginia A; Fernald, Anne; Feldman, Heidi M

2017-12-01

Preterm birth may leave long-term effects on the interactions between caregivers and children. Language skills are sensitive to the quality of caregiver-child interactions. Compare the quality of caregiver-child play interactions in toddlers born preterm (PT) and full term (FT) at age 22months (corrected for degree of prematurity) and evaluate the degree of association between caregiver-child interactions, antecedent demographic and language factors, and subsequent language skill. A longitudinal descriptive cohort study. 39 PT and 39 FT toddlers individually matched on sex and socioeconomic status (SES). The outcome measures were dimensions of caregiver-child interactions, rated from a videotaped play session at age 22months in relation to receptive language assessments at ages 18 and 36months. Caregiver intrusiveness was greater in the PT than FT group. A composite score of child interactional behaviors was associated with a composite score of caregiver interactional behaviors. The caregiver composite measure was associated with later receptive vocabulary at 36months. PT-FT group membership did not moderate the association between caregiver interactional behavior and later receptive vocabulary. The quality of caregiver interactional behavior had similar associations with concurrent child interactional behavior and subsequent language outcome in the PT and FT groups. Greater caregiver sensitivity/responsiveness, verbal elaboration, and less intrusiveness support receptive language development in typically developing toddlers and toddlers at risk for language difficulty. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

[Formula: see text]Associations among parent-child relationships and cognitive and language outcomes in a clinical sample of preschool children.

Science.gov (United States)

Leiser, Kara; Heffelfinger, Amy; Kaugars, Astrida

2017-02-01

To examine associations among parent-child relationship characteristics and child cognitive and language outcomes. Preschool children (n = 72) with early neurological insult completed assessments of cognitive and language functioning and participated in a parent-child semi-structured interaction. Quality of the parent-child relationship accounted for a significant amount of unique variance (12%) in predicting children's overall cognitive and language functioning. Impact of neurological insult was a significant predictor. Caregiver-child interactions that are harmonious and reciprocal as evidenced by affective and/or verbal exchanges support children's cognitive and language development. Observations of interactions can guide providers in facilitating child- and family-centered interventions.

Causal effects on child language development: A review of studies in communication sciences and disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Rogers, Clare R; Nulty, Karissa L; Betancourt, Mariana Aparicio; DeThorne, Laura S

2015-01-01

We reviewed recent studies published across key journals within the field of communication sciences and disorders (CSD) to survey what causal influences on child language development were being considered. Specifically, we reviewed a total of 2921 abstracts published within the following journals between 2003 and 2013: Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools (LSHSS); American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology (AJSLP); Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research (JSLHR); Journal of Communication Disorders (JCD); and the International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders (IJLCD). Of the 346 eligible articles that addressed causal factors on child language development across the five journals, 11% were categorized as Genetic (37/346), 83% (287/346) were categorized as Environmental, and 6% (22/346) were categorized as Mixed. The bulk of studies addressing environmental influences focused on therapist intervention (154/296=52%), family/caregiver linguistic input (65/296=22%), or family/caregiver qualities (39/296=13%). A more in-depth review of all eligible studies published in 2013 (n=34) revealed that family/caregiver qualities served as the most commonly controlled environmental factor (e.g., SES) and only 3 studies explicitly noted the possibility of gene-environment interplay. This review highlighted the need to expand the research base for the field of CSD to include a broader range of environmental influences on child language development (e.g., diet, toxin exposure, stress) and to consider more directly the complex and dynamic interplay between genetic and environmental effects. Readers will be able to highlight causal factors on child language development that have been studied over the past decade in CSD and recognize additional influences worthy of consideration. In addition, readers will become familiar with basic tenets of developmental systems theory, including the complex interplay between genetic and environmental factors

Setting Limits: The Child Who Uses Inappropriate Language

Science.gov (United States)

Greenberg, Polly

2004-01-01

This article discusses how to work with a child who uses inappropriate language. The words inappropriately used by young children are grouped into five categories: (1) names of body parts considered as private, and their nicknames; (2) bathroom words and body products; (3) religion-related words; (4) sexually charged words overheard when adults…

Peer Tutoring with Child-Centered Play Therapy Language

Science.gov (United States)

Vavreck, Sarah; Esposito, Judy

2012-01-01

The focus of this paper is on responses from fifth grade peer tutors who were trained to use child-centered play therapy language during tutoring sessions with kindergarteners. The focus of this project was to identify academic and social/emotional benefits of participating in the program. Results indicated that participation in the program…

Timing of high-quality child care and cognitive, language, and preacademic development.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Weilin; Farkas, George; Duncan, Greg J; Burchinal, Margaret R; Vandell, Deborah Lowe

2013-08-01

The effects of high- versus low-quality child care during 2 developmental periods (infant-toddlerhood and preschool) were examined using data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care. Propensity score matching was used to account for differences in families who used different combinations of child care quality during the 2 developmental periods. Findings indicated that cognitive, language, and preacademic skills prior to school entry were highest among children who experienced high-quality care in both the infant-toddler and preschool periods, somewhat lower among children who experienced high-quality child care during only 1 of these periods, and lowest among children who experienced low-quality care during both periods. Irrespective of the care received during infancy-toddlerhood, high-quality preschool care was related to better language and preacademic outcomes at the end of the preschool period; high-quality infant-toddler care, irrespective of preschool care, was related to better memory skills at the end of the preschool period. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved).

Teacher-Child Relationships in Preschool Period: The Roles of Child Temperament and Language Skills

Science.gov (United States)

Yoleri, Sibel

2016-01-01

The aim of this study was to determine how children's temperament and language skills predict the effects of teacher-child relationships in preschool. Parents and preschool teachers completed three questionnaires: The Student-Teacher Relationship Scale, the Marmara Development Scale and the Short Temperament Scale for Children. The relational…

Child gender influences paternal behavior, language, and brain function.

Science.gov (United States)

Mascaro, Jennifer S; Rentscher, Kelly E; Hackett, Patrick D; Mehl, Matthias R; Rilling, James K

2017-06-01

Multiple lines of research indicate that fathers often treat boys and girls differently in ways that impact child outcomes. The complex picture that has emerged, however, is obscured by methodological challenges inherent to the study of parental caregiving, and no studies to date have examined the possibility that gender differences in observed real-world paternal behavior are related to differential paternal brain responses to male and female children. Here we compare fathers of daughters and fathers of sons in terms of naturalistically observed everyday caregiving behavior and neural responses to child picture stimuli. Compared with fathers of sons, fathers of daughters were more attentively engaged with their daughters, sang more to their daughters, used more analytical language and language related to sadness and the body with their daughters, and had a stronger neural response to their daughter's happy facial expressions in areas of the brain important for reward and emotion regulation (medial and lateral orbitofrontal cortex [OFC]). In contrast, fathers of sons engaged in more rough and tumble play (RTP), used more achievement language with their sons, and had a stronger neural response to their son's neutral facial expressions in the medial OFC (mOFC). Whereas the mOFC response to happy faces was negatively related to RTP, the mOFC response to neutral faces was positively related to RTP, specifically for fathers of boys. These results indicate that real-world paternal behavior and brain function differ as a function of child gender. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Mother-child language style matching predicts children's and mothers' emotion reactivity.

Science.gov (United States)

Rasmussen, Hannah F; Borelli, Jessica L; Smiley, Patricia A; Cohen, Chloe; Cheung, Ryan Cheuk Ming; Fox, Schuyler; Marvin, Matthew; Blackard, Betsy

2017-05-15

Co-regulation of behavior occurring within parent-child attachment relationships is thought to be the primary means through which children develop the capacity to regulate emotion, an ability that is protective across development. Existing research on parent-child co-regulation focuses predominantly on parent-infant dyads, and operationalizes co-regulation as the matching of facial expressions; however, matching can occur on other behaviors, including vocal tone, body movement, and language. Studies with young children find that greater matching is associated with children's lower emotion reactivity, but with unknown impacts on parents. In this study we examine a recently-developed metric of behavioral matching, language style matching (LSM), a composite measure of the similarity of function word use in spoken or written language between two or more people. We test whether LSM between mothers and their school-aged children is associated with children's and mothers' physiological and subjective emotion reactivity. Children completed a standardized stressor task while their mothers observed; children's and mother's cortisol and cardiovascular reactivity were assessed, as were their subjective reports of emotion reactivity. Following the stressor, children and mothers completed independent interviews about the experience, later assessed for LSM. Higher mother-child LSM was associated with lower emotion reactivity (lower cortisol reactivity, lower reports of negative emotion) for children, and with higher maternal cardiovascular but not cortisol or subjective reactivity. Further, higher LSM was more strongly associated with lower child cortisol reactivity when mothers were more reactive themselves. We conclude that mother-child LSM, thought to reflect a history of co-regulated interaction, confers protective benefits for children, but heightened reactivity for mothers. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Child first language and adult second language are both tied to general-purpose learning systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Hamrick, Phillip; Lum, Jarrad A G; Ullman, Michael T

2018-02-13

Do the mechanisms underlying language in fact serve general-purpose functions that preexist this uniquely human capacity? To address this contentious and empirically challenging issue, we systematically tested the predictions of a well-studied neurocognitive theory of language motivated by evolutionary principles. Multiple metaanalyses were performed to examine predicted links between language and two general-purpose learning systems, declarative and procedural memory. The results tied lexical abilities to learning only in declarative memory, while grammar was linked to learning in both systems in both child first language and adult second language, in specific ways. In second language learners, grammar was associated with only declarative memory at lower language experience, but with only procedural memory at higher experience. The findings yielded large effect sizes and held consistently across languages, language families, linguistic structures, and tasks, underscoring their reliability and validity. The results, which met the predicted pattern, provide comprehensive evidence that language is tied to general-purpose systems both in children acquiring their native language and adults learning an additional language. Crucially, if language learning relies on these systems, then our extensive knowledge of the systems from animal and human studies may also apply to this domain, leading to predictions that might be unwarranted in the more circumscribed study of language. Thus, by demonstrating a role for these systems in language, the findings simultaneously lay a foundation for potentially important advances in the study of this critical domain.

Early relations between language development and the quality of mother-child interaction in very-low-birth-weight children.

Science.gov (United States)

Stolt, S; Korja, R; Matomäki, J; Lapinleimu, H; Haataja, L; Lehtonen, L

2014-05-01

It is not clearly understood how the quality of early mother-child interaction influences language development in very-low-birth-weight children (VLBW). We aim to analyze associations between early language and the quality of mother-child interaction, and, the predictive value of the features of early mother-child interaction on language development at 24 months of corrected age in VLBW children. A longitudinal prospective follow-up study design was used. The participants were 28 VLBW children and 34 full-term controls. Language development was measured using different methods at 6, 12 and at 24 months of age. The quality of mother-child interaction was assessed using PC-ERA method at 6 and at 12 months of age. Associations between the features of early interaction and language development were different in the groups of VLBW and full-term children. There were no significant correlations between the features of mother-child interaction and language skills when measured at the same age in the VLBW group. Significant longitudinal correlations were detected in the VLBW group especially if the quality of early interactions was measured at six months and language skills at 2 years of age. However, when the predictive value of the features of early interactions for later poor language performance was analyzed separately, the features of early interaction predicted language skills in the VLBW group only weakly. The biological factors may influence on the language development more in the VLBW children than in the full-term children. The results also underline the role of maternal and dyadic factors in early interactions. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Role of Language Skill in Child Psychopathology: Implications for Intervention in the Early Years.

Science.gov (United States)

Salmon, Karen; O'Kearney, Richard; Reese, Elaine; Fortune, Clare-Ann

2016-12-01

In this narrative review, we suggest that children's language skill should be targeted in clinical interventions for children with emotional and behavioral difficulties in the preschool years. We propose that language skill predicts childhood emotional and behavioral problems and this relationship may be mediated by children's self-regulation and emotion understanding skills. In the first sections, we review recent high-quality longitudinal studies which together demonstrate that that children's early language skill predicts: (1) emotional and behavioral problems, and this relationship is stronger than the reverse pattern; (2) self-regulation skill; this pattern may be stronger than the reverse pattern but moderated by child age. Findings also suggest that self-regulation skill mediates the relation between early language skill and children's emotional and behavioral problems. There is insufficient evidence regarding the mediating role of emotion understanding. In subsequent sections, we review evidence demonstrating that: (1) particular kinds of developmentally targeted parent-child conversations play a vital role in the development of language skill, and (2) some current clinical interventions, directly or indirectly, have a beneficial impact on children's vocabulary and narrative skills, but most approaches are ad hoc. Targeting language via parent-child conversation has the potential to improve the outcomes of current clinical interventions in the preschool years.

Monosyllabic Place Holders in Child Acquisition of Spanish as a Second Language

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Estrella Nicolás

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Monosyllabic place holders (MPHs have been studied extensively in first-language (L1 acquisition of Spanish and other Romance languages. However, the study of MPHs in second-language (L2 acquisition, both by children and adults, has received much less attention. This study provides evidence for the presence of MPHs in the L2 Spanish of two L1 Moroccan Arabic children living in Spain. The age difference between the children (10;9 for Rachida and 6;10 for Khalid allows us to address the issue of whether the younger child would use MPHs, as is the case in L1 acquisition. However, what the data show is that both children used MPHs, although Khalid’s MPH rate was slightly higher than Rachida’s. Therefore, based on these findings we argue that MPHs can constitute a strategy available for all child learners of Spanish.

Is "Two" a Plural Marker in Early Child Language?

Science.gov (United States)

Barner, David; Lui, Toni; Zapf, Jennifer

2012-01-01

Is "two" ever a plural marker in child language? By some accounts, children bootstrap the distinction between the words "one" and "two" by observing their use with singular-plural marking ("one ball/two balls"). Others argue that the numeral "two" marks plurality before children begin using numerals to denote precise quantities. We tested the…

The agreement between parent-reported and directly measured child language and parenting behaviors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shannon K Bennetts

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Parenting behaviors are commonly targeted in early interventions to improve children’s language development. Accurate measurement of both parenting behaviors and children’s language outcomes is thus crucial for sensitive assessment of intervention outcomes. To date, only a small number of studies have compared parent-reported and directly measured behaviors, and these have been hampered by small sample sizes and inaccurate statistical techniques, such as correlations. The Bland-Altman Method and Reduced Major Axis regression represent more reliable alternatives because they allow us to quantify fixed and proportional bias between measures. In this study, we draw on data from two Australian early childhood cohorts (N= 201 parents and slow-to-talk toddlers aged 24 months; and N=218 parents and children aged 6-36 months experiencing social adversity to (1 examine agreement and quantify bias between parent-reported and direct measures, and (2 to determine socio-demographic predictors of the differences between parent-reported and direct measures. Measures of child language and parenting behaviors were collected from parents and their children. Our findings support the utility of the Bland-Altman Method and Reduced Major Axis regression in comparing measurement methods. Results indicated stronger agreement between parent-reported and directly measured child language, and poorer agreement between measures of parenting behaviors. Child age was associated with difference scores for child language; however the direction varied for each cohort. Parents who rated their child’s temperament as more difficult tended to report lower language scores on the parent questionnaire, compared to the directly measured scores. Older parents tended to report lower parenting responsiveness on the parent questionnaire, compared to directly measured scores. Finally, speaking a language other than English was associated with less responsive parenting behaviors on the

An Analysis of Child Caregivers' Language during Book Sharing with Toddler-Age Children

Science.gov (United States)

Rhyner, Paula M.

2007-01-01

Increasing enrollment in childcare centers has led to questions about the extent to which those environments foster child development in areas such as language. This study examined the language of childcare center caregivers during book sharing with children to describe caregivers' use of linguistic structures (declarative, imperative, and …

Study of child language development and disorders in Iran: A systematic review of the literature

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yalda Kazemi

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Child language development and disorder in Iran has been the focus for research by different professions, the most prominent ones among them being psychologists and speech therapists. Epidemiological studies indicate that between 8% and 12% of children show noticeable signs of language impairment in the preschool years; however, research on child language in Iran is not extensive compared to studies in English speaking countries, which are currently the basis of clinical decision-making in Iran. Consequently, there is no information about the prevalence of child language disorders in Iranian population. This review summarizes Iranian studies on child language development and disorder in the preschool years and aims to systematically find the most studied topics in the field of normal development, the assessment and diagnosis of language impairments as well as exploring the current gaps within the body of literature. Three main Iranian academic websites of indexed articles along with four other nonIranian databases were scrutinized for all relevant articles according to the inclusion criteria: Iranian studies within the field of Persian language development and disorders in preschool children published up to December 2013. They are classified according to the hierarchy of evidence and weighed against the criteria of critical appraisal of study types. As this is a type of nonintervention systematic review, the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses is modified to be more compatible to the designs of eligible studies, including descriptive studies, test-developing and/or diagnostic studies. Several limitations made the process of searching and retrieving problematic; e.g., lack of unified keywords and incompatibility of Persian typing structure embedded in Iranian search engines. Overall, eligible studies met the criteria up to the third level of the hierarchy of evidence that shows the necessity of conducting studies

Study of child language development and disorders in Iran: A systematic review of the literature.

Science.gov (United States)

Kazemi, Yalda; Stringer, Helen; Klee, Thomas

2015-01-01

Child language development and disorder in Iran has been the focus for research by different professions, the most prominent ones among them being psychologists and speech therapists. Epidemiological studies indicate that between 8% and 12% of children show noticeable signs of language impairment in the preschool years; however, research on child language in Iran is not extensive compared to studies in English speaking countries, which are currently the basis of clinical decision-making in Iran. Consequently, there is no information about the prevalence of child language disorders in Iranian population. This review summarizes Iranian studies on child language development and disorder in the preschool years and aims to systematically find the most studied topics in the field of normal development, the assessment and diagnosis of language impairments as well as exploring the current gaps within the body of literature. Three main Iranian academic websites of indexed articles along with four other nonIranian databases were scrutinized for all relevant articles according to the inclusion criteria: Iranian studies within the field of Persian language development and disorders in preschool children published up to December 2013. They are classified according to the hierarchy of evidence and weighed against the criteria of critical appraisal of study types. As this is a type of nonintervention systematic review, the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses is modified to be more compatible to the designs of eligible studies, including descriptive studies, test-developing and/or diagnostic studies. Several limitations made the process of searching and retrieving problematic; e.g., lack of unified keywords and incompatibility of Persian typing structure embedded in Iranian search engines. Overall, eligible studies met the criteria up to the third level of the hierarchy of evidence that shows the necessity of conducting studies with higher levels of

Home environment as a predictor of child's language: A mediating role of family literacy activities and symbolic play

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Urška Fekonja-Peklaj

2015-06-01

Full Text Available In our study, we explored the ways in which SES-related factors of family environment affect child's language across toddlerhood and early childhood. We proposed a mediational path model in which we presumed that family literacy activities and parental encouragement of symbolic play acted as mediating variables, mediating the effect of parental education, family possessions and parent-to-child speech on child's language. The sample included 99 families with children, aged from 1 to 6 years. The data were collected in the family home, mostly via direct observation and by using a semi-structured interview with parents. The findings suggest that high-SES parents and parents who used a more complex and supportive speech, more frequently involved their children in different literacy activities. The effect of the parent-to-child speech on child's language proved to be mediated by parental use of mental transformations during symbolic play with a child.

African languages, linguistics, child speech and speech pathology – the connection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gxilishe, Sandile

2008-12-01

Full Text Available This article deals with the need for the incorporation of the study of child language in the field of African Linguistics. It gives an overview of some of the studies conducted in the area of acquisition of Xhosa with a view to developing norms for the development of Xhosa amongst monolingual Xhosa-speaking children. This is useful in the diagnosis of speech and language disorders using criterion referenced measures. The developmental data may be used in the development of culturally appropriate standardised assessment measures: which are severely lacking for the indigenous languages of South Africa.

Bilingual Mothers' Language Choice in Child-directed Speech: Continuity and Change.

Science.gov (United States)

De Houwer, Annick; Bornstein, Marc H

2016-01-01

An important aspect of Family Language Policy in bilingual families is parental language choice. Little is known about the continuity in parental language choice and the factors affecting it. This longitudinal study explores maternal language choice over time. Thirty-one bilingual mothers provided reports of what language(s) they spoke with their children. Mother-child interactions were videotaped when children were pre-verbal (5M), producing words in two languages (20M), and fluent speakers (53M). All children had heard two languages from birth in the home. Most mothers reported addressing children in the same single language. Observational data confirmed mothers' use of mainly a single language in interactions with their children, but also showed the occasional use of the other language in over half the sample when children were 20 months. Once children were 53 months mothers again used only the same language they reported speaking to children. These findings reveal a possible effect of children's overall level of language development and demonstrate the difficulty of adhering to a strict "one person, one language" policy. The fact that there was longitudinal continuity in the language most mothers mainly spoke with children provided children with cumulative language input learning opportunities.

Development of directives in child language: A case study of Czech

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chejnová Pavla

2015-06-01

Full Text Available In this article, the longitudinal development of directives in first-language acquisition is described, and examples of the development of directive speech acts in one Czech child from the ages of 2.8 to 4.1 are included. The results show that the child acquires communicative strategies gradually and that he usually prefers one concrete strategy initially, which is later replaced by a new strategy corresponding with the acquisition of morphological categories. The child’s grammatical development is divided into two stages: the stage of protomorphology, when the child acquires basic morphological categories, and the stage of morphology proper / modular morphology, when the child uses a variety of grammatical means. In the stage of morphology proper, pragmatic factors become more influential as the child is no longer limited by a lack of grammatical competence.

Hours in non-parental child care are related to language development in a longitudinal cohort study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Luijk, M.P.C.M.; Linting, M.; Henrichs, J.; Herba, C.M.; Verhage, M.L.; Schenk, J.J.; Arends, L.R.; Raat, H.; Jaddoe, V.W.V.; Hofman, A.; Verhulst, F.C.; Tiemeier, H.; Van IJzendoorn, M.H.

2015-01-01

Background: The effects of child care services on several domains of child development have been extensively investigated, but evidence regarding the effects of child care on language development remains inconclusive. Methods: Within a large-scale population-based study, we examined the longitudinal

A Comparative Study of Vygotsky's Perspectives on Child Language Development with Nativism and Behaviorism

Science.gov (United States)

Dastpak, Mehdi; Behjat, Fatemeh; Taghinezhad, Ali

2017-01-01

This study aimed at investigating the similarities and differences between Vygotsky's perspectives on child language development with nativism and behaviorism. Proposing the idea of the Zone of Proximal Development, Vygotsky emphasized the role of collaborative interaction, scaffolding, and guided participation in language learning. Nativists, on…

Comparison of child obesity prevention and control content in mainstream and Spanish-language US parenting magazines.

Science.gov (United States)

Kalin, Sari R; Fung, Teresa T

2013-01-01

Mass media coverage of child obesity is rising, paralleling the child obesity epidemic's growth, and there is evidence that parents seek parenting advice from media sources. Yet little to no research has examined the coverage of child obesity in parenting magazines or Spanish-language media. The purpose of this study was to use qualitative and quantitative content analysis methods to identify, quantify, and compare strategies for child obesity prevention and control presented in mainstream and Spanish-language US parenting magazines. Child obesity-related editorial content in 68 mainstream and 20 Spanish-language magazine issues published over 32 months was gathered. Magazine content was coded with a manual developed by refining themes from the sample and from an evidence-based child obesity prevention action plan. Seventy-three articles related to child obesity prevention and control were identified. Most focused on parental behavior change rather than environmental change, and only 3 in 10 articles referred to the social context in which parental behavior change takes place. Child obesity-focused articles were not given high prominence; only one in four articles in the entire sample referred to child obesity as a growing problem or epidemic. Key differences between genres reflect culturally important Latino themes, including family focus and changing health beliefs around child weight status. Given mass media's potential influence on parenting practices and public perceptions, nutrition communication professionals and registered dietitians need to work to reframe media coverage of childhood obesity as an environmental problem that requires broad-based policy solutions. Spanish-speaking media can be an ally in helping Latina women change cultural health beliefs around child weight status. Copyright © 2013 Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Mother-Child Interaction and Early Language Skills in Children Born to Mothers with Substance Abuse and Psychiatric Problems.

Science.gov (United States)

J Haabrekke, Kristin; Siqveland, Torill; Smith, Lars; Wentzel-Larsen, Tore; Walhovd, Kristine B; Moe, Vibeke

2015-10-01

This prospective, longitudinal study with data collected at four time points investigated how maternal psychiatric symptoms, substance abuse and maternal intrusiveness in interaction were related to early child language skills. Three groups of mothers were recruited during pregnancy: One from residential treatment institutions for substance abuse (n = 18), one from psychiatric outpatient treatment (n = 22) and one from well-baby clinics (n = 30). Maternal substance abuse and anti-social and borderline personality traits were assessed during pregnancy, postpartum depression at 3 months, maternal intrusiveness in interaction at 12 months, and child language skills at 2 years. Results showed that the mothers in the substance abuse group had the lowest level of education, they were younger and they were more likely to be single mothers than the mothers in the two other groups. There was a significant difference in expressive language between children born to mothers with substance abuse problems and those born to comparison mothers, however not when controlling for maternal age, education and single parenthood. No group differences in receptive language skills were detected. Results further showed that maternal intrusiveness observed in mother-child interaction at 12 months was significantly related to child expressive language at 2 years, also when controlling for socio-demographic risk factors. This suggests that in addition to addressing substance abuse and psychiatric problems, there is a need for applying treatment models promoting sensitive caregiving, in order to enhance child expressive language skills.

The Practical Side of Working with Parent-Child Interaction Therapy with Preschool Children with Language Impairments

Science.gov (United States)

Klatte, Inge S.; Roulstone, Sue

2016-01-01

A common early intervention approach for preschool children with language problems is parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT). PCIT has positive effects for children with expressive language problems. It appears that speech and language therapists (SLTs) conduct this therapy in many different ways. This might be because of the variety of…

Case report: acquisition of three spoken languages by a child with a cochlear implant.

Science.gov (United States)

Francis, Alexander L; Ho, Diana Wai Lam

2003-03-01

There have been only two reports of multilingual cochlear implant users to date, and both of these were postlingually deafened adults. Here we report the case of a 6-year-old early-deafened child who is acquiring Cantonese, English and Mandarin in Hong Kong. He and two age-matched peers with similar educational backgrounds were tested using common, standardized tests of vocabulary and expressive and receptive language skills (Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (Revised) and Reynell Developmental Language Scales version II). Results show that this child is acquiring Cantonese, English and Mandarin to a degree comparable to two classmates with normal hearing and similar educational and social backgrounds.

Psychomotor profile of a child with specific language impairment and Dyslexia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dias Tânia

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Projecting beyond the ideia of the organic and expressive body and cementing a close relationship between motor skills, cognition and language, the current practices Psychomotricity reach a new conceptual field. In this paper of qualitative nature, it was intended to draw the psychomotor profile of a 8 years old child with Specific Language Impairment (SLI and Dyslexia, by using the Vitor da Fonseca ‘s Observation Psychomotor Battery (OPB and correlate it with the linguistic and cognitive profiles. Through the triangulation of the results obtained in psychomotor, cognitive and language tests, the data in literature was corroborated, which clearly point to the existence of co-morbidity between PEL, Dyslexia and disturbances in the psychomotor’s profile, thereby demonstrating a strong correlation between psychomotricity, cognition and language. Therefore, it’s urgent, and possible, to sensitize the family, the health and education professionals for the need to a multidisciplinary approach in the areas of psychomotricity and language, both at a prophylactic or rehabilitative level.

Predictors of maternal language to infants during a picture book task in the home: Family SES, child characteristics and the parenting environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Vernon-Feagans, Lynne; Pancsofar, Nadya; Willoughby, Mike; Odom, Erica; Quade, Alison; Cox, Martha

2008-01-01

This study investigated the contribution of child characteristics and parenting environment to the relationship between family SES/demographic characteristics and maternal language to infants.1157 children were drawn from a representative sample of 1292 infants born to mothers in rural Appalachian counties and rural counties in southern minority U.S. communities. Mothers and their 6-8 month old babies were videotaped at home while talking about a wordless picture book. Mothers' language output and complexity were analyzed. Child temperament, age, and parenting environment (knowledge of child development and observed mother-child engagement) were predictors of maternal language. Furthermore, their inclusion reduced the magnitude of the association between demographic characteristics and maternal language. Tests of mediation suggested that the parenting environment partially mediates the relationship between SES/demographic characteristics and maternal language. Findings are discussed with respect to identifying proximal processes that explain how SES may exert its influence on the language of young children.

Assessing the Effectiveness of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy with Language Delayed Children: A Clinical Investigation

Science.gov (United States)

Falkus, Gila; Tilley, Ciara; Thomas, Catherine; Hockey, Hannah; Kennedy, Anna; Arnold, Tina; Thorburn, Blair; Jones, Katie; Patel, Bhavika; Pimenta, Claire; Shah, Rena; Tweedie, Fiona; O'Brien, Felicity; Leahy, Ruth; Pring, Tim

2016-01-01

Parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT) is widely used by speech and language therapists to improve the interactions between children with delayed language development and their parents/carers. Despite favourable reports of the therapy from clinicians, little evidence of its effectiveness is available. We investigated the effects of PCIT as…

Sign-Lingo : Feasibility of a Serious Game for Involving Parents in the Language Development of their Deaf or Hearing Impaired Child

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schalk, I van der; Spruit, M.

2017-01-01

Family involvement plays a critical factor in the language development of a deaf or hearing impaired child. Hearing parents often have major difficulties in communicating with their child when it is deaf or hearing impaired. These difficulties often lead to issues in the language development of the

Predicting behavior problems in deaf and hearing children: the influences of language, attention, and parent-child communication.

Science.gov (United States)

Barker, David H; Quittner, Alexandra L; Fink, Nancy E; Eisenberg, Laurie S; Tobey, Emily A; Niparko, John K

2009-01-01

The development of language and communication may play an important role in the emergence of behavioral problems in young children, but they are rarely included in predictive models of behavioral development. In this study, cross-sectional relationships between language, attention, and behavior problems were examined using parent report, videotaped observations, and performance measures in a sample of 116 severely and profoundly deaf and 69 normally hearing children ages 1.5 to 5 years. Secondary analyses were performed on data collected as part of the Childhood Development After Cochlear Implantation Study, funded by the National Institutes of Health. Hearing-impaired children showed more language, attention, and behavioral difficulties, and spent less time communicating with their parents than normally hearing children. Structural equation modeling indicated there were significant relationships between language, attention, and child behavior problems. Language was associated with behavior problems both directly and indirectly through effects on attention. Amount of parent-child communication was not related to behavior problems.

Music and Sign Language to Promote Infant and Toddler Communication and Enhance Parent-Child Interaction

Science.gov (United States)

Colwell, Cynthia; Memmott, Jenny; Meeker-Miller, Anne

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of using music and/or sign language to promote early communication in infants and toddlers (6-20 months) and to enhance parent-child interactions. Three groups used for this study were pairs of participants (care-giver(s) and child) assigned to each group: 1) Music Alone 2) Sign Language…

Child healthcare nurses believe that bilingual children show slower language development, simplify screening procedures and delay referrals.

Science.gov (United States)

Nayeb, Laleh; Wallby, Thomas; Westerlund, Monica; Salameh, Eva-Kristina; Sarkadi, Anna

2015-02-01

A significant number of children living in Sweden are bilingual, but how language screening is performed in this group is unknown. We investigated child healthcare nurses' perceptions of the language screening of bilingual children aged 30-36 months, together with their clinical practices. An online questionnaire was completed by 863 nurses who performed language screening of bilingual children in Sweden at least once a month, corresponding to 89% of the target population. Cox regression identified predictors of the nurses' tendency to simplify the screening of bilingual children. The nurses reported a greater lack of confidence and more difficulties in interpreting screening outcomes for bilingual than monolingual children (p bilingual children and 74% postponed referrals to speech and language services, basing these adaptations on their perceptions of the children's Swedish language skills (p bilingual children, and this was the strongest predictor of simplified screening practices (RR=2.00, 95% CI 1.44-2.77). Child healthcare nurses need easily accessible information and clear guidelines on the language development of bilingual children to ensure that bilingual and monolingual children receive equitable language screening services. ©2014 Foundation Acta Paediatrica. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

MENTAL STATE LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT: THE LONGITUDINAL ROLES OF ATTACHMENT AND MATERNAL LANGUAGE.

Science.gov (United States)

Becker Razuri, Erin; Hiles Howard, Amanda R; Purvis, Karyn B; Cross, David R

2017-05-01

Maternal mental state language is thought to influence children's mental state language and sociocognitive understanding (e.g., theory of mind), but the mechanism is unclear. The current study examined the longitudinal development of mental state language in mother-child interactions. The methodology included assessments of the child and/or mother-child dyad at six time points between 12 to 52 months of the child's age. Measures determined child's attachment style and language abilities, and mental state language used by mother and child during a block-building task. Results showed that (a) mental state talk, including belief and desire language, increased over time; (b) there were differences between the type of mental state words used by the mother in insecure versus secure dyads; (c) there were differences in patterns of mental state words used in both mothers and children in insecure versus secure dyads; and (d) attachment appeared to exert a consistent influence over time. © 2017 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.

Teacher-Child Relationships and Classroom-Learning Behaviours of Children with Developmental Language Disorders

Science.gov (United States)

Rhoad-Drogalis, Anna; Justice, Laura M.; Sawyer, Brook E.; O'Connell, Ann A.

2018-01-01

Background: Children with developmental language disorders (DLDs) often struggle with classroom behaviour. No study has examined whether positive teacher-child relationships may act as a protective factor for children with DLDs in that these serve to enhance children's important classroom-learning behaviours. Aims: To examine the association…

Impacts of Teacher-Child Managed Whole-Group Language and Literacy Instruction on the Depth of Preschoolers' Social Interaction

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Tzu-Jung; Justice, Laura M.; Emery, Alyssa A.; Mashburn, Andrew J.; Pentimonti, Jill M.

2017-01-01

Research Findings: This study examined the potential impacts of ongoing participation (twice weekly for 30 weeks) in teacher-child managed whole-group language and literacy instruction on prekindergarten children's social interaction with classmates. Teacher-child managed whole-group instruction that provides children with opportunities to engage…

Predicting language outcomes for children learning AAC: Child and environmental factors

Science.gov (United States)

Brady, Nancy C.; Thiemann-Bourque, Kathy; Fleming, Kandace; Matthews, Kris

2014-01-01

Purpose To investigate a model of language development for nonverbal preschool age children learning to communicate with AAC. Method Ninety-three preschool children with intellectual disabilities were assessed at Time 1, and 82 of these children were assessed one year later at Time 2. The outcome variable was the number of different words the children produced (with speech, sign or SGD). Children’s intrinsic predictor for language was modeled as a latent variable consisting of cognitive development, comprehension, play, and nonverbal communication complexity. Adult input at school and home, and amount of AAC instruction were proposed mediators of vocabulary acquisition. Results A confirmatory factor analysis revealed that measures converged as a coherent construct and an SEM model indicated that the intrinsic child predictor construct predicted different words children produced. The amount of input received at home but not at school was a significant mediator. Conclusions Our hypothesized model accurately reflected a latent construct of Intrinsic Symbolic Factor (ISF). Children who evidenced higher initial levels of ISF and more adult input at home produced more words one year later. Findings support the need to assess multiple child variables, and suggest interventions directed to the indicators of ISF and input. PMID:23785187

The effectiveness of semantic aspect of language on reading comprehension in a 4-year-old child with autistic spectrum disorder and hyperlexia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Atusa Rabiee

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Background: Hyperlexia is a super ability demonstrated by a very specific group of individuals with developmental disorders. This term is used to describe the children with high ability in word recognition, but low reading comprehension skills, despite the problems in language, cognitive and social skills. The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of improving the semantic aspect of language (increase in understanding and expression vocabulary on reading comprehension in an autistic child with hyperlexia.Case: The child studied in this research was an autistic child with hyperlexia. At the beginning of this study he was 3 years and 11 months old. He could read, but his reading comprehension was low. In a period of 12 therapy session, understanding and expression of 160 words was taught to child. During this period, the written form of words was eliminated. After these sessions, the reading comprehension was re-assessed for the words that child could understand and express.Conclusion: Improving semantic aspect of language (understanding and expression of vocabulary increase reading comprehension of written words.

Parenting stress in parents of children with cochlear implants: relationships among parent stress, child language, and unilateral versus bilateral implants.

Science.gov (United States)

Sarant, Julia; Garrard, Philippa

2014-01-01

Little attention has been focused on stress levels of parents of children with cochlear implants (CIs). This study examined the stress experience of 70 parents of children with CIs by comparing stress levels in this group of parents to those in parents of children without disabilities, identifying primary stressors, examining the relationship between parent stress and child language, and comparing stress in parents of children with bilateral and unilateral CIs. Parents completed a parent stress questionnaire, and the receptive vocabulary and language abilities of the children were evaluated. Results indicated that these parents had a higher incidence of stress than the normative population. Parent stress levels and child language outcomes were negatively correlated. Child behavior and lack of spousal and social support were the prime causes of parent stress. Parents of children with bilateral CIs were significantly less stressed than were parents of children with unilateral CIs.

Do early care and education services improve language development for maltreated children? Evidence from a national child welfare sample.

Science.gov (United States)

Merritt, Darcey H; Klein, Sacha

2015-01-01

Young children under 6 years old are over-represented in the U.S. child welfare system (CWS). Due to their exposure to early deprivation and trauma, they are also highly vulnerable to developmental problems, including language delays. High quality early care and education (ECE) programs (e.g. preschool, Head Start) can improve children's development and so policymakers have begun calling for increased enrollment of CWS-supervised children in these programs. However, it is not a given that ECE will benefit all children who experience maltreatment. Some types of maltreatment may result in trauma-related learning and behavior challenges or developmental deficits that cause children to respond to ECE settings differently. The current study uses data from a nationally representative survey of children in the U.S. child welfare system, the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being II, to assess whether young CWS-supervised children (N=1,652) who were enrolled in ECE had better language development outcomes 18 months later than those not enrolled in ECE. We also explore whether the type of maltreatment that brought children to the CWS' attention moderates the relationship between ECE and children's language development. After controlling for children's initial scores on the Preschool Language Scale (PLS-3), type(s) of maltreatment experienced, and child and caregiver demographics, we found that ECE participation predicted better PLS-3 scores at follow-up, with a positive interaction between ECE participation and supervisory neglect. ECE seems to be beneficial for CWS-involved children's early language development, especially for children referred to the CWS because they lack appropriate parent supervision at home. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The French-Farsi Simultaneous Early Bilingualism in an Iranian Child--Study on the Regularity of the Presence of the Minority Language in the First Lexical Productions of a Bilingual Child

Science.gov (United States)

Jalilian, Sahar; Rahmatian, Rouhollah; Safa, Parivash; Letafati, Roya

2017-01-01

In a simultaneous bilingual education, there are many factors that can affect its success, primarily the age of the child and socio-cognitive elements. This phenomenon can be initially studied in the first lexical productions of either language in a child. The present study focuses on the early lexical developments of a child, who lives in the…

Does a child's language ability affect the correspondence between parent and teacher ratings of ADHD symptoms?

Science.gov (United States)

Gooch, Debbie; Maydew, Harriet; Sears, Claire; Norbury, Courtenay Frazier

2017-04-05

Rating scales are often used to identify children with potential Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), yet there are frequently discrepancies between informants which may be moderated by child characteristics. The current study asked whether correspondence between parent and teacher ratings on the Strengths and Weakness of ADHD symptoms and Normal behaviour scale (SWAN) varied systematically with child language ability. Parent and teacher SWAN questionnaires were returned for 200 children (aged 61-81 months); 106 had low language ability (LL) and 94 had typically developing language (TL). After exploring informant correspondence (using Pearson correlation) and the discrepancy between raters, we report inter-class correlation coefficients, to assess inter-rater reliability, and Cohen's kappa, to assess agreement regarding possible ADHD caseness. Correlations between informant ratings on the SWAN were moderate. Children with LL were rated as having increased inattention and hyperactivity relative to children with TL; teachers, however, rated children with LL as having more inattention than parents. Inter-rater reliability of the SWAN was good and there were no systematic differences between the LL and TL groups. Case agreement between parent and teachers was fair; this varied by language group with poorer case agreement for children with LL. Children's language abilities affect the discrepancy between informant ratings of ADHD symptomatology and the agreement between parents and teachers regarding potential ADHD caseness. The assessment of children's core language ability would be a beneficial addition to the ADHD diagnostic process.

[Multilingualism and child psychiatry: on differential diagnoses of language disorder, specific learning disorder, and selective mutism].

Science.gov (United States)

Tamiya, Satoshi

2014-01-01

Multilingualism poses unique psychiatric problems, especially in the field of child psychiatry. The author discusses several linguistic and transcultural issues in relation to Language Disorder, Specific Learning Disorder and Selective Mutism. Linguistic characteristics of multiple language development, including so-called profile effects and code-switching, need to be understood for differential diagnosis. It is also emphasized that Language Disorder in a bilingual person is not different or worse than that in a monolingual person. Second language proficiency, cultural background and transfer from the first language all need to be considered in an evaluation for Specific Learning Disorder. Selective Mutism has to be differentiated from the silent period observed in the normal successive bilingual development. The author concludes the review by remarking on some caveats around methods of language evaluation in a multilingual person.

Foreign language learning as a complex dynamic process: A microgenetic case study of a Chinese child's English learning trajectory

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sun, He; Steinkrauss, Rasmus; van der Steen, Steffie; Cox, Ralf; de Bot, Kees

2016-01-01

The current study focuses on one child's (male, 3 years old) learning behaviors in an English as a Foreign Language classroom, and explores the coordination and developmental patterns of his nonverbal (gestures and body language) and verbal (verbal repetition and verbal responses) learning behaviors

The Impact of Bimodal Bilingual Parental Input on the Communication and Language Development of a Young Deaf Child

Science.gov (United States)

Levesque, Elizabeth; Brown, P. Margaret; Wigglesworth, Gillian

2014-01-01

This study explores the impact of bimodal bilingual parental input on the communication and language development of a young deaf child. The participants in this case study were a severe-to-profoundly deaf boy and his hearing parents, who were enrolled in a bilingual (English and Australian Sign Language) homebased early intervention programme. The…

The Home Literacy Environment: Exploring How Media and Parent-Child Interactions Are Associated with Children's Language Production

Science.gov (United States)

Liebeskind, Kara G.; Piotrowski, Jessica T.; Lapierre, Matthew A.; Linebarger, Deborah L.

2014-01-01

Children who start school with strong language skills initiate a trajectory of academic success, while children with weaker skills are likely to struggle. Research has demonstrated that media and parent-child interactions, both characteristics of the home literacy environment, influence children's language skills. Using a national sample of…

SIMPLIFICATION IN CHILD LANGUAGE IN BAHASA INDONESIA: A CASE STUDY ON FILIP

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Julia Eka Rini

2000-01-01

Full Text Available This article aims at giving examples of characteristics of simplification in Bahasa Indonesia and proving that child language has a pattern and that there is a process in learning. Since this is a case study, it might not be enough to say that simplification is universal for all children of any mother tongues, but at least there is a proof that such patterns of simplification also occur in Bahasa Indonesia.

Maternal reading fluency is positively associated with greater functional connectivity between the child's future reading network and regions related to executive functions and language processing in preschool-age children.

Science.gov (United States)

Horowitz-Kraus, Tzipi; Hutton, John S; Phelan, Kieran; Holland, Scott K

2018-03-01

The role of the parent or educator in a child's learning is a key feature in child development. Evidence supports the impact of early language exposure for future language and cognitive abilities and of home reading environment on neural circuits supporting language and reading. As shared parent-child reading is largely contingent on the reading ability of the parent, the aim of the current study was to explore association of parental reading ability on functional connectivity of brain networks involved with reading acquisition in their children. Twenty-two 4-year-old girls and their mothers participated in the current study. Maternal reading fluency was applied as predictors of functional connectivity analyses of a stories-listening functional MRI task. Results indicate a positive association between maternal fluency scores and greater functional connectivity between regions in the future reading network and brain regions supporting language and cognitive control in the children. Maternal reading fluency is important in facilitating development of a child's reading network. Implications regarding shared reading are discussed, and an extended ecological model for child language and literacy development is proposed. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Multilingualism and Specific Language Impairment

OpenAIRE

Engel de Abreu, Pascale

2014-01-01

Is a multilingual education beneficial for children? What are the optimal conditions under which a child can become perfectly multilingual? When should we be concerned about a multilingual child's language skills? What are the signs of Specific Language Impairment in a child who speaks more than one language? Developmental psychologist and Associate Professor in multilingual cognitive development at the University of Luxembourg Pascale Engel de Abreu will address these questions based on what...

Integrating Language, Pragmatics, and Social Intervention in a Single-Subject Case Study of a Child With a Developmental Social Communication Disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Adams, Catherine; Gaile, Jacqueline; Lockton, Elaine; Freed, Jenny

2015-10-01

This clinical focus article presents an illustration of a complex communication intervention, the Social Communication Intervention Programme (SCIP), as delivered to a child who has a social communication disorder (SCD). The SCIP intervention combined language processing and pragmatic and social understanding therapies in a program of individualized therapy activities and in close liaison with families. The study used an enhanced AB single-subject design in which an 8-year-old child with an SCD participated in 20 therapy sessions with a specialist speech-language pathologist. A procedure of matching assessment findings to intervention choices was followed to construct an individualized treatment program. Examples of intervention content and the embedded structure of SCIP are illustrated. Observational and formal measurements of receptive and expressive language, conversation, and parent-teacher ratings of social communication were completed before therapy, after therapy, and at a 6-month follow-up session. Outcomes revealed change in total and receptive language scores but not in expressive language. Conversation showed marked improvement in responsiveness, appreciation of listener knowledge, turn taking, and adaptation of discourse style. Teacher-reported outcomes included improved classroom behavior and enhanced literacy skills. Parent-reported outcomes included improved verbal interactions with family members and personal narratives. This clinical focus article demonstrates the complexity of needs in a child with an SCD and how these can be addressed in individualized intervention. Findings are discussed in relation to the essential nature of language support including pragmatic therapy for children with SCDs. Discussion of the role of formal and functional outcome measurement as well as the proximity of chosen outcomes to the intervention is included.

Questions You May Want to Ask Your Child's Speech-Language Pathologist = Preguntas que usted le podria hacer al patologo del habla y el lenguaje de su hijo

Science.gov (United States)

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2007

2007-01-01

This accordion style pamphlet, dual sided with English and Spanish text, suggests questions for parents to ask their Speech-Language Pathologist and speech and language therapy services for their children. Sample questions include: How will I participate in my child's therapy sessions? How do you decide how much time my child will spend on speech…

Many languages, building connections supporting infants and toddlers who are dual language learners

CERN Document Server

Nemeth, Karen

2012-01-01

All infants and toddlers need experiences that nurture, support, and teach their home language and culture. Language is a vital component of early experiences well before the child can say his first word. Many Languages, Building Connections outlines adaptable strategies that caregivers of children younger than the age of three need to feel confident that they know how language develops, how cultural differences can come into play, and how to assess an individual child's situation to provide appropriate support.

Stuttering and the Bilingual Child--New Ways to Help

Science.gov (United States)

Childhood Education, 2004

2004-01-01

What should parents of a child who stutters do if their child speaks more than one language? Research shows that a child's language skills can affect his or her fluency, according to the nonprofit Stuttering Foundation of America. However, it has not been proven that speaking two languages in the home since birth causes stuttering. If the child is…

GESTURE'S ROLE IN CREATING AND LEARNING LANGUAGE.

Science.gov (United States)

Goldin-Meadow, Susan

2010-09-22

Imagine a child who has never seen or heard language. Would such a child be able to invent a language? Despite what one might guess, the answer is "yes". This chapter describes children who are congenitally deaf and cannot learn the spoken language that surrounds them. In addition, the children have not been exposed to sign language, either by their hearing parents or their oral schools. Nevertheless, the children use their hands to communicate--they gesture--and those gestures take on many of the forms and functions of language (Goldin-Meadow 2003a). The properties of language that we find in these gestures are just those properties that do not need to be handed down from generation to generation, but can be reinvented by a child de novo. They are the resilient properties of language, properties that all children, deaf or hearing, come to language-learning ready to develop. In contrast to these deaf children who are inventing language with their hands, hearing children are learning language from a linguistic model. But they too produce gestures, as do all hearing speakers (Feyereisen and de Lannoy 1991; Goldin-Meadow 2003b; Kendon 1980; McNeill 1992). Indeed, young hearing children often use gesture to communicate before they use words. Interestingly, changes in a child's gestures not only predate but also predict changes in the child's early language, suggesting that gesture may be playing a role in the language-learning process. This chapter begins with a description of the gestures the deaf child produces without speech. These gestures assume the full burden of communication and take on a language-like form--they are language. This phenomenon stands in contrast to the gestures hearing speakers produce with speech. These gestures share the burden of communication with speech and do not take on a language-like form--they are part of language.

Parent-child picture-book reading, mothers' mental state language and children's theory of mind.

Science.gov (United States)

Adrian, Juan E; Clemente, Rosa A; Villanueva, Lidon; Rieffe, Carolien

2005-08-01

This study focuses on parent-child book reading and its connection to the development of a theory of mind. First, parents were asked to report about frequency of parent-child storybook reading at home. Second, mothers were asked to read four picture-books to thirty-four children between 4;0 and 5;0. Both frequency of parent-child storybook reading at home, and mother's use of mental state terms in picture-books reading tasks were significantly associated with success on false belief tasks, after partialling out a number of potential mediators such as age of children, verbal IQ, paternal education, and words used by mothers in joint picture-book reading. Among the different mental state references (cognitive terms, desires, emotions and perceptions), it was found that the frequency and variety of cognitive terms, but also the frequency of emotional terms correlated positively with children's false belief performance. Relationships between mental state language and theory of mind are discussed.

"It's the Way You Talk to Them." The Child's Environment: Early Years Practitioners' Perceptions of Its Influence on Speech and Language Development, Its Assessment and Environment Targeted Interventions

Science.gov (United States)

Marshall, Julie; Lewis, Elizabeth

2014-01-01

Speech and language delay occurs in approximately 6% of the child population, and interventions to support this group of children focus on the child and/or the communicative environment. Evidence about the effectiveness of interventions that focus on the environment as well as the (reported) practices of speech and language therapists (SLTs) and…

Empirically based solutions for the Serbian adaptation of a parent report inventory used in the assessment of child language development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anđelković Darinka

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The study is aimed at providing empirical basis for the adaptation of the MacArthur-Bates’ Communicative Development Inventories (CDIs for Serbian language, a parent report instrument for the language development assessment. Two sources of data were used in order to provide the basis for selection of items and evaluation of their linguistic, cultural and developmental validity: a. Serbian Corpus of Early Child Language (SCECL, and b. focus groups with experts and parents/caregivers. Exploration of the frequency of words/forms in Serbian child language and the qualitative analysis of focus groups discussions provided criteria for selection/adjustment of items in the course of inventory adaptation. The results also revealed that parents are naturally more focused on semantic and communicational aspects of utterances, and insufficiently aware of formal properties of their children’s production. The paper presents significant changes and modifications of the instrument in the course of its adaptation for Serbian, which is a step closer to the final aim - providing a standardized instrument for the assessment of language development in Serbian. [Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. ON179033, Grant no. ON179034 and Grant no. III47008

Maternal cell phone use in early pregnancy and child's language, communication and motor skills at 3 and 5 years: the Norwegian mother and child cohort study (MoBa).

Science.gov (United States)

Papadopoulou, Eleni; Haugen, Margaretha; Schjølberg, Synnve; Magnus, Per; Brunborg, Gunnar; Vrijheid, Martine; Alexander, Jan

2017-09-05

Cell phone use during pregnancy is a public health concern. We investigated the association between maternal cell phone use in pregnancy and child's language, communication and motor skills at 3 and 5 years. This prospective study includes 45,389 mother-child pairs, participants of the MoBa, recruited at mid-pregnancy from 1999 to 2008. Maternal frequency of cell phone use in early pregnancy and child language, communication and motor skills at 3 and 5 years, were assessed by questionnaires. Logistic regression was used to estimate the associations. No cell phone use in early pregnancy was reported by 9.8% of women, while 39%, 46.9% and 4.3% of the women were categorized as low, medium and high cell phone users. Children of cell phone user mothers had 17% (OR = 0.83, 95% CI: 0.77, 0.89) lower adjusted risk of having low sentence complexity at 3 years, compared to children of non-users. The risk was 13%, 22% and 29% lower by low, medium and high maternal cell phone use. Additionally, children of cell phone users had lower risk of low motor skills score at 3 years, compared to children of non-users, but this association was not found at 5 years. We found no association between maternal cell phone use and low communication skills. We reported a decreased risk of low language and motor skills at three years in relation to prenatal cell phone use, which might be explained by enhanced maternal-child interaction among cell phone users. No evidence of adverse neurodevelopmental effects of prenatal cell phone use was reported.

The home literacy environment: exploring how media and parent-child interactions are associated with children’s language production

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Liebeskind, K.G.; Piotrowski, J.; Lapierre, M.A.; Linebarger, D.L.

2014-01-01

Children who start school with strong language skills initiate a trajectory of academic success, while children with weaker skills are likely to struggle. Research has demonstrated that media and parent-child interactions, both characteristics of the home literacy environment, influence children's

Language Brokering and Depressive Symptoms in Mexican-american Adolescents: Parent-Child Alienation and Resilience as Moderators

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Su Yeong; Hou, Yang; Gonzalez, Yolanda

2017-01-01

This study aimed to untangle the mixed effects of language brokering by examining a contextual factor (i.e., parent-child alienation) and a personal attribute (i.e., resilience) that may relate to adolescents' feelings during translating (i.e., sense of burden and efficacy) and that may moderate the association between such feelings and adolescent…

Language competence in movement

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Laursen, Helle Pia; Mogensen, Naja Dahlstrup

2016-01-01

multilingual children's language and literacy acquisition processes, we direct our focus to a single child's active exploration of what it means to know a language. Through analysis of interviews and researcher generated activities, we see how this child both describes and does language competence......This article examines how, in a multilingual perspective, language competence is experienced, talked about and practiced by language users themselves. By viewing children as active co-creators of the spaces in which language is used, this article contributes to a research tradition in which focus...... is shifted from viewing the individual's language competence as a mental linguistic or communicative property, to viewing language as a series of social and spatial practices. Looking at data from the research project Tegn på Sprog (in the following referred to as Signs of Language), which examines...

Understanding Language Change: Phonetics, Phonology and Child Language Acquisition

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Volk, Kevin

1999-01-01

Language change is a phenomenon that has fascinated scholars for centuries. As a science, linguistic theory has evolved considerably during the 20th century, but the overall puzzle of language change still remains unsolved...

Aspects of cohesion, tense and pronoun usage in the discourse of the older language-impaired child

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hilary Berger

1978-11-01

Full Text Available Aspects of the discourse of 5 language-impaired children and 5 children with no language impairment, aged approximately 9 years, were compared. A film and a story sequence were utilised to elicit narratives on which, measures of cohesion, tense and pronouns were appraised. Measures of cohesion refer  to the ability to indicate appropriately the relations of meaning with regard to situational context. Measures of tense include aspects of tense range and tense continuity. Measures of  pronouns refer  to the anaphoric use of  pronouns with non-ambiguous referents.  The group of language-impaired children was found  to be significantly poorer on measures of  cohesion and pronominal usage than the normal children, whereas a significant difference between the two groups was not revealed on measures of tense. Possible factors  accounting for  these findings  were discussed and implications for the diagnosis and therapy of the older language-impaired child were considered.

Social Withdrawal Behaviour at One Year of Age Is Associated with Delays in Reaching Language Milestones in the EDEN Mother-Child Cohort Study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Antoine Guedeney

Full Text Available The aim of the study was to examine the relationship between social withdrawal behaviour at one year and motor and language milestones.One-year old children from the EDEN French population-based birth cohort study (Study on the pre- and postnatal determinants of the child's development and prospective health Birth Cohort Study were included. Social withdrawal at one year was assessed by trained midwives using the Alarm Distress BaBy (ADBB scale. Midwives concurrently examined infants' motor and language milestones. Parents reported on child's psychomotor and language milestones, during the interview with the midwife.After adjusting for potential confounding factors, social withdrawal behaviour was significantly associated with concurrent delays in motor and language milestones assessed by the midwife or the parents.Higher scores on social withdrawal behaviour as assessed with the ADBB were associated with delays in reaching language milestones, and to a lesser extent with lower motor ability scores. Taking the contribution of social withdrawal behaviour into account may help understand the unfolding of developmental difficulties in children.

Social Withdrawal Behaviour at One Year of Age Is Associated with Delays in Reaching Language Milestones in the EDEN Mother-Child Cohort Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Guedeney, Antoine; Forhan, Anne; Larroque, Beatrice; de Agostini, Maria; Pingault, Jean-Baptiste; Heude, Barbara

2016-01-01

The aim of the study was to examine the relationship between social withdrawal behaviour at one year and motor and language milestones. One-year old children from the EDEN French population-based birth cohort study (Study on the pre- and postnatal determinants of the child's development and prospective health Birth Cohort Study) were included. Social withdrawal at one year was assessed by trained midwives using the Alarm Distress BaBy (ADBB) scale. Midwives concurrently examined infants' motor and language milestones. Parents reported on child's psychomotor and language milestones, during the interview with the midwife. After adjusting for potential confounding factors, social withdrawal behaviour was significantly associated with concurrent delays in motor and language milestones assessed by the midwife or the parents. Higher scores on social withdrawal behaviour as assessed with the ADBB were associated with delays in reaching language milestones, and to a lesser extent with lower motor ability scores. Taking the contribution of social withdrawal behaviour into account may help understand the unfolding of developmental difficulties in children.

Predictors of second language acquisition in Latino children with specific language impairment.

Science.gov (United States)

Gutiérrez-Clellen, Vera; Simon-Cereijido, Gabriela; Sweet, Monica

2012-02-01

This study evaluated the extent to which the language of intervention, the child's development in Spanish, and the effects of English vocabulary, use, proficiency, and exposure predict differences in the rates of acquisition of English in Latino children with specific language impairment (SLI). In this randomized controlled trial, 188 Latino preschoolers with SLI participated in a small-group academic enrichment program for 12 weeks and were followed up 3 and 5 months later. Children were randomly assigned to either a bilingual or an English-only program. Predictors of English growth included measures of Spanish language skills and English vocabulary, use, proficiency, and exposure. Performance on English outcomes (i.e., picture description and narrative sample) was assessed over time. A series of longitudinal models were tested via multilevel modeling with baseline and posttreatment measures nested within child. Children demonstrated growth on the English outcomes over time. The language of intervention, Spanish skills, English vocabulary, and English use significantly predicted differences in rates of growth across children for specific measures of English development. This study underscores the role of the child's first language skills, the child's level of English vocabulary development, and level of English use for predicting differences in English acquisition in Latino preschoolers with SLI. These factors should be carefully considered in making clinical decisions.

Thinking or feeling? An exploratory study of maternal scaffolding, child mental state talk, and emotion understanding in language-impaired and typically developing school-aged children.

Science.gov (United States)

Yuill, Nicola; Little, Sarah

2018-06-01

Mother-child mental state talk (MST) supports children's developing social-emotional understanding. In typically developing (TD) children, family conversations about emotion, cognition, and causes have been linked to children's emotion understanding. Specific language impairment (SLI) may compromise developing emotion understanding and adjustment. We investigated emotion understanding in children with SLI and TD, in relation to mother-child conversation. Specifically, is cognitive, emotion, or causal MST more important for child emotion understanding and how might maternal scaffolding support this? Nine 5- to 9-year-old children with SLI and nine age-matched typically developing (TD) children, and their mothers. We assessed children's language, emotion understanding and reported behavioural adjustment. Mother-child conversations were coded for MST, including emotion, cognition, and causal talk, and for scaffolding of causal talk. Children with SLI scored lower than TD children on emotion understanding and adjustment. Mothers in each group provided similar amounts of cognitive, emotion, and causal talk, but SLI children used proportionally less cognitive and causal talk than TD children did, and more such child talk predicted better child emotion understanding. Child emotion talk did not differ between groups and did not predict emotion understanding. Both groups participated in maternal-scaffolded causal talk, but causal talk about emotion was more frequent in TD children, and such talk predicted higher emotion understanding. Cognitive and causal language scaffolded by mothers provides tools for articulating increasingly complex ideas about emotion, predicting children's emotion understanding. Our study provides a robust method for studying scaffolding processes for understanding causes of emotion. © 2017 The British Psychological Society.

Family socioeconomic status and child executive functions: the roles of language, home environment, and single parenthood.

Science.gov (United States)

Sarsour, Khaled; Sheridan, Margaret; Jutte, Douglas; Nuru-Jeter, Amani; Hinshaw, Stephen; Boyce, W Thomas

2011-01-01

The association between family socioeconomic status (SES) and child executive functions is well-documented. However, few studies have examined the role of potential mediators and moderators. We studied the independent and interactive associations between family SES and single parenthood to predict child executive functions of inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility, and working memory and examined child expressive language abilities and family home environment as potential mediators of these associations. Sixty families from diverse SES backgrounds with a school-age target child (mean [SD] age = 9.9 [0.96] years) were evaluated. Child executive functioning was measured using a brief battery. The quality of the home environment was evaluated using the Home Observation for the Measurement of the Environment inventory. Family SES predicted the three child executive functions under study. Single parent and family SES were interactively associated with children's inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility; such that children from low SES families who were living with one parent performed less well on executive function tests than children from similarly low SES who were living with two parents. Parental responsivity, enrichment activities and family companionship mediated the association between family SES and child inhibitory control and working memory. This study demonstrates that family SES inequalities are associated with inequalities in home environments and with inequalities in child executive functions. The impact of these disparities as they unfold in the lives of typically developing children merits further investigation and understanding.

Relationship between early language skills and the development of inattention/hyperactivity symptoms during the preschool period: Results of the EDEN mother-child cohort.

Science.gov (United States)

Peyre, Hugo; Galera, Cedric; van der Waerden, Judith; Hoertel, Nicolas; Bernard, Jonathan Y; Melchior, Maria; Ramus, Franck

2016-11-08

This study aims to examine bidirectional relationships between children's language skills and Inattention/Hyperactivity (IH) symptoms during preschool. Children (N = 1459) from the EDEN mother-child cohort were assessed at ages 3 and 5.5 years. Language skills were evaluated using the WPPSI-III, NEPSY and ELOLA batteries. Children's behavior, including IH symptoms, was assessed using the parent-rated Strengths & Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Using a Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) approach, we examined the relationship between language skills and IH symptoms, as well as potential mediating processes. SEM analyses indicated a small negative effect of language skills at 3 years on ADHD symptoms at 5.5 years after adjusting for IH symptoms at 3 years (β =-0.12, SE = 0.04, p-value = 0.002). Interpersonal difficulties did not mediate the relationship between early language skills and later IH symptoms, nor was this association reduced after adjusting for a broad range of pre- and postnatal environmental factors and performance IQ. Among different language skills, receptive syntax at 3 years was most strongly related to IH symptoms at 5.5 years. Poor language skills at age 3 may predict IH symptoms when a child enters primary school. Implications for the understanding and the prevention of the co-occurrence of language disorders and ADHD are discussed.

Bilingualism, Language Disorders and Intercultural Families in Contemporary Italy: Family Relations, Transmission of Language and Representations of Otherness.

Science.gov (United States)

Bruno, Davide; Balottin, Umberto; Berlincioni, Vanna; Moro, Marie Rose

2016-03-01

This study aims to show how language disorders in children affect language transmission and the mixedness experience in intercultural families. To this end, it adopts a qualitative method of study based on the administration of ad hoc interviews to intercultural couples who consulted our Child Neuropsychiatry Service because of language disorders in their children. One of the main consequences, when the child of an intercultural couple presents a language disorder and a diagnostic process has to be initiated, may be interruption of the transmission of the second language, especially if it is the mother's language. The decision to do this, which may be taken on the advice of teachers and health professionals, but also because the parents themselves often attribute their child's language disorder to his bilingual condition, affects not only the relationship between the mother and her child, but also processes in the construction of parenthood and in the structuring of the child's personality and the plurality of his affiliations. A clear understanding of how the dialectic between the categories of "alien" and "familiar" is managed in these contemporary families, which have to reckon with the condition of otherness, is crucial for psychiatrists and psychotherapists working in settings in which cultural difference is an issue to consider.

Perception and Lexicon Labeling Ability on a Child with Language Delay Diagnosed As Autistic Spectrum Disorder: A Psycholinguistic Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rohmani Nur Indah

2016-07-01

Full Text Available This research focuses on the semantics acquisition of a child with language delay diagnosed as autistic spectrum disorder (ASD. The research problem is on how the child acquired the ability to comprehend meaning. It aims at answering the questions on how the child identified lexical meanings and how he labeled targeted lexicons of his first language. The approach employed in this research is descriptive qualitative to get adequate explanation on a specific language phenomenon, namely semantics acquisition. Its design is case study with the type neo-ethnographic. As the data collection method, it uses participant observation of longitudinal study considering that the research subject has familial relation with the researcher. The data analysis shows that the semantic acquisition of the research subject has complexity in vocabulary enrichment. The research subject often performs echolalic speech when he is asked to identify or label certain object given. The typical idiosyncratic speech is shown by the unique feature of limited syllable and prosody. In general, his ability to identify lexical meanings is far exceeding his ability to label objects. He also has sensitivity to perceive the non-verbal symbol performed by the people he knows well. The use of verbal language supported by non-verbal language facilitates his perception. He finds it difficult to comprehend the lexicons having similar sound as he assumes that one lexicon represents one object which typically belongs to concrete object. In addition, the ability of the research subject in labeling objects cannot be developed easily because of his difficulty in expressing ideas through words. To pronounce the words correctly, he shows high anxiety by lowering down his speech. In selecting the lexicon he also finds it hard to use pronoun, to label homonyms and to apply both polysemy and hyponym. Accordingly, he tends to communicate only to fulfill his needs by asking things, asking the

Language acquisition from a biolinguistic perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Crain, Stephen; Koring, Loes; Thornton, Rosalind

2017-10-01

This paper describes the biolinguistic approach to language acquisition. We contrast the biolinguistic approach with a usage-based approach. We argue that the biolinguistic approach is superior because it provides more accurate and more extensive generalizations about the properties of human languages, as well as a better account of how children acquire human languages. To distinguish between these accounts, we focus on how child and adult language differ both in sentence production and in sentence understanding. We argue that the observed differences resist explanation using the cognitive mechanisms that are invoked by the usage-based approach. In contrast, the biolinguistic approach explains the qualitative parametric differences between child and adult language. Explaining how child and adult language differ and demonstrating that children perceive unity despite apparent diversity are two of the hallmarks of the biolinguistic approach to language acquisition. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effects of Home Environment and Center-Based Child Care Quality on Children's Language, Communication, and Literacy Outcomes

Science.gov (United States)

Pinto, Ana Isabel; Pessanha, Manuela; Aguiar, Cecilia

2013-01-01

This study examined the joint effects of home environment and center-based child care quality on children's language, communication, and early literacy development, while also considering prior developmental level. Participants were 95 children (46 boys), assessed as toddlers (mean age = 26.33 months; Time 1) and preschoolers (mean age = 68.71…

One-Parent-One-Language (OPOL) Families: Is the Majority Language-Speaking Parent Instrumental in the Minority Language Development?

Science.gov (United States)

Venables, Elizabeth; Eisenchlas, Susana A.; Schalley, Andrea C.

2014-01-01

The aim of this study is to examine the strategies majority language-speaking parents use to support the development of the minority language in families who follow the pattern of exposure known as one-parent-one-language (OPOL). In this particular pattern of raising a child bilingually, each parent speaks only their own native language to their…

MODEL NATIVIS LANGUAGE ACQUISITION DEVICE (SEBUAH TEORI PEMEROLEHAN BAHASA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mamluatul Hasanah

2011-10-01

Full Text Available The ability of using mother tongue has been possessed by every child. They can master the language without getting specific education. In a short time a child has mastered the language to communicate with others. There are many theories of language acquisition. One of them that still exists is The Native Model of Language Acquisition (LAD. This theory was pioneered by Noam Chomsky. In this language naturally. This ability develops automatically when the language is used is Language Acquisition Device (LAD. LAD constitutes a hypothesis of feature of grammatical rules used progressively by a child in accordance with his psychological development.

Effects of a Cross-Linguistic Storybook Intervention on the Second Language Development of Two Preschool English Language Learners

Science.gov (United States)

Huennekens, Mary Ellen; Xu, Yaoying

2010-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a shared reading experience between parent and child in the child's home language on the emergent literacy and language acquisition in English of preschool-age English Language Learners. Parents of Spanish-speaking four-year-old Head Start students read storybooks in Spanish with their…

A Comparative Analysis of Pausing in Child and Adult Storytelling

Science.gov (United States)

Redford, Melissa A.

2012-01-01

The goals of the current study were (1) to assess differences in child and adult pausing, and (2) to determine whether characteristics of child and adult pausing can be explained by the same language variables. Spontaneous speech samples were obtained from ten 5-year-olds and their accompanying parent using a storytelling/retelling task. Analyses of pause frequency, duration, variation in durations, and pause location indicated that pause time decreased with retelling, but not with age group except when child and adult pausing was considered in its speech and language context. The results suggest that differences in child and adult pausing reflect differences in child and adult language, not in the cognitive resources allocated to language production PMID:23772097

No Child Left Behind in Art Education Policy: A Review of Key Recommendations for Arts Language Revisions

Science.gov (United States)

Grey, Anne C.

2010-01-01

From bipartisan origins and a laudable intent, the No Child Left Behind (Act) of 2001 has profoundly altered the condition of art education. A historical vantage point and review of literature reveals the current status of pending arts language revisions to the NCLB Act, as well as a pressing need to examine the key recommendations and to consider…

Language disorder with mild intellectual disability in a child affected by a novel mutation of SLC6A8 gene.

Science.gov (United States)

Battini, R; Chilosi, A M; Casarano, M; Moro, F; Comparini, A; Alessandrì, M G; Leuzzi, V; Tosetti, M; Cioni, G

2011-02-01

We describe the clinical and molecular features of a child harboring a novel mutation in SLC6A8 gene in association with a milder phenotype than other creatine transporter (CT1) deficient patients (OMIM 300352) [1-7]. The mutation c.757 G>C p.G253R in exon 4 of SLC6A8 was hemizygous in the child, aged 6 years and 6 months, who showed mild intellectual disability with severe speech and language delay. His carrier mother had borderline intellectual functioning. Although the neurochemical and biochemical parameters were fully consistent with those reported in the literature for subjects with CT1 deficit, in our patient within a general cognitive disability, a discrepancy between nonverbal and verbal skills was observed, confirming the peculiar vulnerability of language development under brain Cr depletion. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

First Language Acquisition and Teaching

Science.gov (United States)

Cruz-Ferreira, Madalena

2011-01-01

"First language acquisition" commonly means the acquisition of a single language in childhood, regardless of the number of languages in a child's natural environment. Language acquisition is variously viewed as predetermined, wondrous, a source of concern, and as developing through formal processes. "First language teaching" concerns schooling in…

Predictors of Language Gains Among School-Age Children With Language Impairment in the Public Schools.

Science.gov (United States)

Justice, Laura M; Jiang, Hui; Logan, Jessica A; Schmitt, Mary Beth

2017-06-10

This study aimed to identify child-level characteristics that predict gains in language skills for children with language impairment who were receiving therapy within the public schools. The therapy provided represented business-as-usual speech/language treatment provided by speech-language pathologists in the public schools. The sample included 272 kindergartners and first-graders with language impairment who participated in a larger study titled "Speech-Therapy Experiences in the Public Schools." Multilevel regression analyses were applied to examine the extent to which select child-level characteristics, including age, nonverbal cognition, memory, phonological awareness, vocabulary, behavior problems, and self-regulation, predicted children's language gains over an academic year. Pratt indices were computed to establish the relative importance of the predictors of interest. Phonological awareness and vocabulary skill related to greater gains in language skills, and together they accounted for nearly 70% of the explained variance, or 10% of total variance at child level. Externalizing behavior, nonverbal cognition, and age were also potentially important predictors of language gains. This study significantly advances our understanding of the characteristics of children that may contribute to their language gains while receiving therapy in the public schools. Researchers can explore how these characteristics may serve to moderate treatment outcomes, whereas clinicians can assess how these characteristics may factor into understanding treatment responses.

Language and Literacy Acquisition through Parental Mediation in American Sign Language

Science.gov (United States)

Bailes, Cynthia Neese; Erting, Lynne C.; Thumann-Prezioso, Carlene; Erting, Carol J.

2009-01-01

This longitudinal case study examined the language and literacy acquisition of a Deaf child as mediated by her signing Deaf parents during her first three years of life. Results indicate that the parents' interactions with their child were guided by linguistic and cultural knowledge that produced an intuitive use of child-directed signing (CDSi)…

Outcome Measurement Using Naturalistic Language Samples: A Feasibility Pilot Study Using Language Transcription Software and Speech and Language Therapy Assistants

Science.gov (United States)

Overton, Sarah; Wren, Yvonne

2014-01-01

The ultimate aim of intervention for children with language impairment is an improvement in their functional language skills. Baseline and outcome measurement of this is often problematic however and practitioners commonly resort to using formal assessments that may not adequately reflect the child's competence. Language sampling,…

Language Brokering and Depressive Symptoms in Mexican American Adolescents: Parent-Child Alienation and Resilience as Moderators

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Su Yeong; Hou, Yang; Gonzalez, Yolanda

2016-01-01

The current study aimed to untangle the mixed effects of language brokering by examining a contextual factor (i.e., parent-child alienation) and a personal attribute (i.e., resilience) that may relate to adolescents’ feelings during translating (i.e., sense of burden and efficacy) and that may moderate the association between such feelings and adolescent depressive symptoms. Participants included 557 adolescent language brokers (Mage = 12.96) in Mexican-American families. Results showed that adolescents with a strong sense of alienation from parents or low resilience a) experienced more burden or less efficacy in translating, and b) were more susceptible to the detrimental effects of feeling a sense of burden and the beneficial effects of experiencing a sense of efficacy, as measured by depressive symptoms. PMID:27637380

Prenatal phthalate exposure and language development in toddlers from the Odense Child Cohort.

Science.gov (United States)

Olesen, Trine Staak; Bleses, Dorthe; Andersen, Helle Raun; Grandjean, Philippe; Frederiksen, Hanne; Trecca, Fabio; Bilenberg, Niels; Kyhl, Henriette Boye; Dalsager, Louise; Jensen, Inge Kjær; Andersson, Anna-Maria; Jensen, Tina Kold

Phthalates are a group of chemicals found in a variety of consumer products. They have anti-androgenic properties and human studies have reported associations between prenatal phthalate exposure and neuropsychological development in the offspring despite different cognitive tests, different ages and varying timing of exposure. To investigate the association between prenatal phthalate exposure and language development in children aged 20-36months. In the Odense Child Cohort, we analyzed 3rd trimester urine samples of 518 pregnant women for content of metabolites of diethyl, di-n-butyl, diisobutyl, butylbenzyl, di(2-ethylhexyl), and diisononyl phthalate, adjusted for osmolality. Language development was addressed using the Danish version of the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories "Words and Sentences". Associations were assessed using logistic regression models comparing children below and above the 15th percentile while stratifying by sex and adjusting for maternal age and educational level. Phthalate metabolites were detectable in all samples although in lower levels than previous studies. Among boys, increased prenatal phthalate exposure was associated with lower scores in language development; odds ratios for vocabulary score below the 15th percentile with doubling in monoethyl phthalate, and summed di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate metabolites were respectively 1.24 (95% confidence interval: 1.05,1.46), and 1.33 (1.01,1.75). Similar associations were found for language complexity. No associations were found for girls. Our findings are notable, as adverse associations were suggested even in this low-level exposed population, with only one spot urine sample for exposure assessment and control for confounders. Lower scores in early language development are of relevance to health as this test predicts later educational success. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

On Parsing CHILDES

OpenAIRE

Laakso, Aarre

2005-01-01

Research on child language acquisition would benefit from the availability of a large body of syntactically parsed utterances between parents and children. We consider the problem of generating such a ``treebank'' from the CHILDES corpus, which currently contains primarily orthographically transcribed speech tagged for lexical category.

EVALUATIVE LANGUAGE IN SPOKEN AND SIGNED STORIES TOLD BY A DEAF CHILD WITH A COCHLEAR IMPLANT: WORDS, SIGNS OR PARALINGUISTIC EXPRESSIONS?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ritva Takkinen

2011-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper the use and quality of the evaluative language produced by a bilingual child in a story-telling situation is analysed. The subject, an 11-year-old Finnish boy, Jimmy, is bilingual in Finnish sign language (FinSL and spoken Finnish.He was born deaf but got a cochlear implant at the age of five.The data consist of a spoken and a signed version of “The Frog Story”. The analysis shows that evaluative devices and expressions differ in the spoken and signed stories told by the child. In his Finnish story he uses mostly lexical devices – comments on a character and the character’s actions as well as quoted speech occasionally combined with prosodic features. In his FinSL story he uses both lexical and paralinguistic devices in a balanced way.

Mapping the Early Language Environment Using All-Day Recordings and Automated Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Gilkerson, Jill; Richards, Jeffrey A; Warren, Steven F; Montgomery, Judith K; Greenwood, Charles R; Kimbrough Oller, D; Hansen, John H L; Paul, Terrance D

2017-05-17

This research provided a first-generation standardization of automated language environment estimates, validated these estimates against standard language assessments, and extended on previous research reporting language behavior differences across socioeconomic groups. Typically developing children between 2 to 48 months of age completed monthly, daylong recordings in their natural language environments over a span of approximately 6-38 months. The resulting data set contained 3,213 12-hr recordings automatically analyzed by using the Language Environment Analysis (LENA) System to generate estimates of (a) the number of adult words in the child's environment, (b) the amount of caregiver-child interaction, and (c) the frequency of child vocal output. Child vocalization frequency and turn-taking increased with age, whereas adult word counts were age independent after early infancy. Child vocalization and conversational turn estimates predicted 7%-16% of the variance observed in child language assessment scores. Lower socioeconomic status (SES) children produced fewer vocalizations, engaged in fewer adult-child interactions, and were exposed to fewer daily adult words compared with their higher socioeconomic status peers, but within-group variability was high. The results offer new insight into the landscape of the early language environment, with clinical implications for identification of children at-risk for impoverished language environments.

Bootstrapping language acquisition.

Science.gov (United States)

Abend, Omri; Kwiatkowski, Tom; Smith, Nathaniel J; Goldwater, Sharon; Steedman, Mark

2017-07-01

The semantic bootstrapping hypothesis proposes that children acquire their native language through exposure to sentences of the language paired with structured representations of their meaning, whose component substructures can be associated with words and syntactic structures used to express these concepts. The child's task is then to learn a language-specific grammar and lexicon based on (probably contextually ambiguous, possibly somewhat noisy) pairs of sentences and their meaning representations (logical forms). Starting from these assumptions, we develop a Bayesian probabilistic account of semantically bootstrapped first-language acquisition in the child, based on techniques from computational parsing and interpretation of unrestricted text. Our learner jointly models (a) word learning: the mapping between components of the given sentential meaning and lexical words (or phrases) of the language, and (b) syntax learning: the projection of lexical elements onto sentences by universal construction-free syntactic rules. Using an incremental learning algorithm, we apply the model to a dataset of real syntactically complex child-directed utterances and (pseudo) logical forms, the latter including contextually plausible but irrelevant distractors. Taking the Eve section of the CHILDES corpus as input, the model simulates several well-documented phenomena from the developmental literature. In particular, the model exhibits syntactic bootstrapping effects (in which previously learned constructions facilitate the learning of novel words), sudden jumps in learning without explicit parameter setting, acceleration of word-learning (the "vocabulary spurt"), an initial bias favoring the learning of nouns over verbs, and one-shot learning of words and their meanings. The learner thus demonstrates how statistical learning over structured representations can provide a unified account for these seemingly disparate phenomena. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Speech and language support: How physicians can identify and treat speech and language delays in the office setting.

Science.gov (United States)

Moharir, Madhavi; Barnett, Noel; Taras, Jillian; Cole, Martha; Ford-Jones, E Lee; Levin, Leo

2014-01-01

Failure to recognize and intervene early in speech and language delays can lead to multifaceted and potentially severe consequences for early child development and later literacy skills. While routine evaluations of speech and language during well-child visits are recommended, there is no standardized (office) approach to facilitate this. Furthermore, extensive wait times for speech and language pathology consultation represent valuable lost time for the child and family. Using speech and language expertise, and paediatric collaboration, key content for an office-based tool was developed. early and accurate identification of speech and language delays as well as children at risk for literacy challenges; appropriate referral to speech and language services when required; and teaching and, thus, empowering parents to create rich and responsive language environments at home. Using this tool, in combination with the Canadian Paediatric Society's Read, Speak, Sing and Grow Literacy Initiative, physicians will be better positioned to offer practical strategies to caregivers to enhance children's speech and language capabilities. The tool represents a strategy to evaluate speech and language delays. It depicts age-specific linguistic/phonetic milestones and suggests interventions. The tool represents a practical interim treatment while the family is waiting for formal speech and language therapy consultation.

The Differential Effect of Three Naturalistic Language Interventions on Language Use in Children with Autism

Science.gov (United States)

Ingersoll, Brooke

2011-01-01

Naturalistic interventions show promise for improving language in children with autism. Specific interventions differ in direct elicitation of child language and indirect language stimulation, and thus may produce different language outcomes. This study compared the effects of responsive interaction, milieu teaching, and a combined intervention on…

Language Competence in Movement: A Child's Perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Laursen, Helle Pia; Mogensen, Naja Dahlstrup

2016-01-01

This article examines how, in a multilingual perspective, language competence is experienced, talked about and practiced by language users themselves. By viewing children as active co-creators of the spaces in which language is used, this article contributes to a research tradition in which focus is shifted from viewing the individual's language…

Language and the African American Child

Science.gov (United States)

Green, Lisa J.

2011-01-01

How do children acquire African American English? How do they develop the specific language patterns of their communities? Drawing on spontaneous speech samples and data from structured elicitation tasks, this book explains the developmental trends in the children's language. It examines topics such as the development of tense/aspect marking,…

Second Language Aquisition and The Development through Nature-Nurture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Syahfitri Purnama

2017-10-01

Full Text Available There are some factors regarding which aspect of second language acquisition is affected by individual learner factors, age, learning style. aptitude, motivation, and personality. This research is about English language acquisition of fourth-year child by nature and nurture. The child acquired her second language acquisition at home and also in one of the courses in Jakarta. She schooled by her parents in order to be able to speak English well as a target language for her future time. The purpose of this paper is to see and examine individual learner difference especially in using English as a second language. This study is a library research and retrieved data collected, recorded, transcribed, and analyzed descriptively. The results can be concluded: the child is able to communicate well and also able to construct simple sentences, complex sentences, sentence statement, phrase questions, and explain something when her teacher asks her at school. She is able to communicate by making a simple sentence or compound sentence in well-form (two clauses or three clauses, even though she still not focus to use the past tense form and sometimes she forgets to put bound morpheme -s in third person singular but she can use turn-taking in her utterances. It is a very long process since the child does the second language acquisition. The family and teacher should participate and assist the child, the proven child can learn the first and the second language at the same time.

Predictors of maternal language to infants during a picture book task in the home: Family SES, child characteristics and the parenting environment☆

OpenAIRE

Vernon-Feagans, Lynne; Pancsofar, Nadya; Willoughby, Mike; Odom, Erica; Quade, Alison; Cox, Martha

2008-01-01

This study investigated the contribution of child characteristics and parenting environment to the relationship between family SES/demographic characteristics and maternal language to infants.1157 children were drawn from a representative sample of 1292 infants born to mothers in rural Appalachian counties and rural counties in southern minority U.S. communities. Mothers and their 6–8 month old babies were videotaped at home while talking about a wordless picture book. Mothers' language outpu...

Teachers' Perceptions of Language Teaching for English Language Learners

Science.gov (United States)

Schulz, Yoshiko

2017-01-01

Under the No Child Left Behind's educational accountability requirements, the U.S.'s mainstream classroom teachers were responsible for all students' academic language and content knowledge development regardless of students' academic or linguistic backgrounds. A lack of teachers' language awareness appeared to be responsible for teachers'…

Predictors of Language Gains among School-Age Children with Language Impairment in the Public Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Justice, Laura M.; Jiang, Hui; Logan, Jessica A.; Schmitt, Mary Beth

2017-01-01

Purpose: This study aimed to identify child-level characteristics that predict gains in language skills for children with language impairment who were receiving therapy within the public schools. The therapy provided represented business-as-usual speech/language treatment provided by speech-language pathologists in the public schools. Method: The…

Levers for Language Growth: Characteristics and Predictors of Language Trajectories between 4 and 7 Years.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cristina McKean

Full Text Available Evidence is required as to when and where to focus resources to achieve the greatest gains for children's language development. Key to these decisions is the understanding of individual differences in children's language trajectories and the predictors of those differences. To determine optimal timing we must understand if and when children's relative language abilities become fixed. To determine where to focus effort we must identify mutable factors, that is those with the potential to be changed through interventions, which are associated with significant differences in children's language scores and rate of progress.Uniquely this study examined individual differences in language growth trajectories in a population sample of children between 4 and 7 years using the multilevel model for change. The influence of predictors, grouped with respect to their mutability and their proximity to the child (least-mutable, mutable-distal, mutable-proximal, were estimated.A significant degree of variability in rate of progress between 4 and 7 years was evident, much of which was systematically associated with mutable-proximal factors, that is, those factors with evidence that they are modifiable through interventions with the child or family, such as shared book reading, TV viewing and number of books in the home. Mutable-distal factors, such as family income, family literacy and neighbourhood disadvantage, hypothesised to be modifiable through social policy, were important predictors of language abilities at 4 years.Potential levers for language interventions lie in the child's home learning environment from birth to age 4. However, the role of a family's material and cultural capital must not be ignored, nor should the potential for growth into the school years. Early Years services should acknowledge the effects of multiple, cascading and cumulative risks and seek to promote child language development through the aggregation of marginal gains in the pre

Managing the language and learning needs of the communication-impaired preschool child. A proactive approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Prelock, P A

1993-01-01

If a proactive approach to assessment and intervention had been used in the case study presented at the beginning of this article, the following might have occurred: The SLP would have asked the parents and brother of the 3 1/2-year-old child referred for a communication evaluation to participate in the assessment activities. The parents would have been asked to prioritize their expectations for their daughter's communication, behavior, and school success. They would have been told the SLP would do the same based on her knowledge of performance expectations in these areas for a 3 1/2-year old. Both the parents and the SLP would have agreed to consider describing the child's communication, behavior, and potential for school success in more than a single setting or context. The child would have been seen in her home as well as in a preschool setting. The clinician would have observed the child's play with both familiar and unfamiliar children and adults. The parents would have kept a log of their child's communication successes and failures for one week. The clinician would have used those situations the parents identified as successful and unsuccessful to specify the child's strengths and weaknesses. The parents would have been asked to write down ideas they had on the type of intervention, if any, they felt their daughter needed to meet the expectations they set. The clinician would do the same and would have consulted with an educational specialist and a psychologist to obtain their perspective on the educational and cognitive needs of a preschooler. The speech-language pathologist would have asked other professionals to assist in assessment of this child. The psychologist would have completed some testing in the home with the SLP providing help in interpreting the child's responses. The educational specialist would have invited the SLP to observe the child in a diagnostic preschool setting to assess the child's ability to understand and communicate in an

Preparing Your Child for Surgery

Science.gov (United States)

... their bodies. Give a child this age clear, rational information as well as assurances that the surgery ... facial expressions, gestures, and body language send powerful messages. If you appear fearful, your child is likely ...

Speech and language support: How physicians can identify and treat speech and language delays in the office setting

Science.gov (United States)

Moharir, Madhavi; Barnett, Noel; Taras, Jillian; Cole, Martha; Ford-Jones, E Lee; Levin, Leo

2014-01-01

Failure to recognize and intervene early in speech and language delays can lead to multifaceted and potentially severe consequences for early child development and later literacy skills. While routine evaluations of speech and language during well-child visits are recommended, there is no standardized (office) approach to facilitate this. Furthermore, extensive wait times for speech and language pathology consultation represent valuable lost time for the child and family. Using speech and language expertise, and paediatric collaboration, key content for an office-based tool was developed. The tool aimed to help physicians achieve three main goals: early and accurate identification of speech and language delays as well as children at risk for literacy challenges; appropriate referral to speech and language services when required; and teaching and, thus, empowering parents to create rich and responsive language environments at home. Using this tool, in combination with the Canadian Paediatric Society’s Read, Speak, Sing and Grow Literacy Initiative, physicians will be better positioned to offer practical strategies to caregivers to enhance children’s speech and language capabilities. The tool represents a strategy to evaluate speech and language delays. It depicts age-specific linguistic/phonetic milestones and suggests interventions. The tool represents a practical interim treatment while the family is waiting for formal speech and language therapy consultation. PMID:24627648

Prenatal chemical exposures and child language development.

Science.gov (United States)

Dzwilewski, Kelsey L C; Schantz, Susan L

2015-01-01

The goal of this review is to summarize the evidence that prenatal and/or early postnatal exposure to certain chemicals, both manmade (insulating materials, flame retardants, pesticides) and naturally occurring (e.g., lead, mercury), may be associated with delays or impairments in language development. We focus primarily on a subset of more extensively studied chemicals-polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), lead, and methyl mercury-for which a reasonable body of literature on neurodevelopmental outcomes is available. We also briefly summarize the smaller body of evidence for other chemicals including polybrominated diphenyl ether flame retardants (PBDEs) and organophosphate pesticides. Very few studies have used specific assessments of language development and function. Therefore, we included discussion of aspects of cognitive development such as overall intellectual functioning and verbal abilities that rely on language, as well as aspects of cognition such as verbal and auditory working memory that are critical underpinnings of language development. A high percentage of prospective birth cohort studies of PCBs, lead, and mercury have reported exposure-related reductions in overall IQ and/or verbal IQ that persist into middle or late childhood. Given these findings, it is important that clinicians and researchers in communication sciences and disorders are aware of the potential for environmental chemicals to impact language development. The goal of this review is to summarize the evidence that prenatal and/or early postnatal exposure to certain chemicals may be associated with delays or impairments in language development. Readers will gain an understanding of the literature suggesting that early exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), lead, and mercury may be associated with decrements in cognitive domains that depend on language or are critical for language development. We also briefly summarize the smaller body of evidence regarding polybrominated diphenyl

[History of the rehabilitation of the deaf child].

Science.gov (United States)

Noyon, P

1995-01-01

As a deaf mute, because mute and more often than not deaf, and then deaf and dumb, because deaf and therefore dumb, the deaf child inevitably deprived of spontaneous speech was considered up to the end of the middle ages as having no possibility of language or of thought, left to the sorry fate of being part of a sporadic population expressing themselves by gestures, a language bereft of past and future, understood only by a few members of the family or occasionally deaf neighbours. During the Renaissance, it appeared that with specific education the deaf child could talk, have a language, and therefore thought. Due merit must be given to 16th century Spain. In the 18th century, France discovered that gestures can also be a language, collated and constructed thanks to the collaboration of the partially deaf. From then on, gestual language flourished in America whilst the rest of Europe continued to prefer oral rehabilitation. With current medical progress, the deaf are no longer deaf. Deafness in the child still exists, however, but there are no longer any mutes. The deaf child can achieve access to language, which may be oral or gestual. The choice between these two modes of expression is still very tropical.

Language learning and brain reorganization in a 3.5-year-old child with left perinatal stroke revealed using structural and functional connectivity.

Science.gov (United States)

François, Clément; Ripollés, Pablo; Bosch, Laura; Garcia-Alix, Alfredo; Muchart, Jordi; Sierpowska, Joanna; Fons, Carme; Solé, Jorgina; Rebollo, Monica; Gaitán, Helena; Rodriguez-Fornells, Antoni

2016-04-01

Brain imaging methods have contributed to shed light on the possible mechanisms of recovery and cortical reorganization after early brain insult. The idea that a functional left hemisphere is crucial for achieving a normalized pattern of language development after left perinatal stroke is still under debate. We report the case of a 3.5-year-old boy born at term with a perinatal ischemic stroke of the left middle cerebral artery, affecting mainly the supramarginal gyrus, superior parietal and insular cortex extending to the precentral and postcentral gyri. Neurocognitive development was assessed at 25 and 42 months of age. Language outcomes were more extensively evaluated at the latter age with measures on receptive vocabulary, phonological whole-word production and linguistic complexity in spontaneous speech. Word learning abilities were assessed using a fast-mapping task to assess immediate and delayed recall of newly mapped words. Functional and structural imaging data as well as a measure of intrinsic connectivity were also acquired. While cognitive, motor and language levels from the Bayley Scales fell within the average range at 25 months, language scores were below at 42 months. Receptive vocabulary fell within normal limits but whole word production was delayed and the child had limited spontaneous speech. Critically, the child showed clear difficulties in both the immediate and delayed recall of the novel words, significantly differing from an age-matched control group. Neuroimaging data revealed spared classical cortical language areas but an affected left dorsal white-matter pathway together with right lateralized functional activations. In the framework of the model for Social Communication and Language Development, these data confirm the important role of the left arcuate fasciculus in understanding and producing morpho-syntactic elements in sentences beyond two word combinations and, most importantly, in learning novel word-referent associations, a

Promoting integration of immigrants. Effects of free child care on child enrollment and parental employment

OpenAIRE

Nina Drange; Kjetil Telle

2015-01-01

Proficiency in the language spoken by the majority population may be crucial for the cognitive development of children from immigrant families. High-quality child care is believed to promote such language skills, and it is thus of concern that children from immigrant families are underrepresented in formal child care across OECD countries. How can we increase their participation, and can such participation improve family integration? We study an intervention in some districts of Oslo where ch...

No Child Left with Crayons: The Imperative of Arts-Based Education and Research with Language "Minority" and Other Minoritized Communities

Science.gov (United States)

Chappell, Sharon Verner; Cahnmann-Taylor, Melisa

2013-01-01

Since the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act in 2001, public discourse on "failing schools" as measured by high-stakes standardized tests has disproportionately affected students from minoritized communities (such as language, race, class, dis/ability), emphasizing climates of assessment at the expense of broader, more democratic, and…

Integrating Language, Pragmatics, and Social Intervention in a Single-Subject Case Study of a Child with a Developmental Social Communication Disorder

Science.gov (United States)

Adams, Catherine; Gaile, Jacqueline; Lockton, Elaine; Freed, Jenny

2015-01-01

Purpose: This clinical focus article presents an illustration of a complex communication intervention, the Social Communication Intervention Programme (SCIP), as delivered to a child who has a social communication disorder (SCD). The SCIP intervention combined language processing and pragmatic and social understanding therapies in a program of…

OF LANGUAGE EDUCATION POLICY AND CHILD FOREIGN ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Foreign language education, particularly in French, has taken root in Kenyan ... interest and potential in foreign language education at this young stage of life. ... Since independence, the Kenyan government has set up several education ...

Language growth in children with heterogeneous language disorders: a population study.

Science.gov (United States)

Norbury, Courtenay Frazier; Vamvakas, George; Gooch, Debbie; Baird, Gillian; Charman, Tony; Simonoff, Emily; Pickles, Andrew

2017-10-01

Language development has been characterised by significant individual stability from school entry. However, the extent to which trajectories of language growth vary in children with language disorder as a function of co-occurring developmental challenges is a question of theoretical import, with implications for service provision. SCALES employed a population-based survey design with sample weighting procedures to estimate growth in core language skills over the first three years of school. A stratified sample (n = 529) received comprehensive assessment of language, nonverbal IQ, and social, emotional and behavioural difficulties at 5-6 years of age and 95% of the sample (n = 499) were assessed again at ages 7-8. Language growth was measured using both raw and standard scores in children with typical development, children with language disorder of unknown origin, and children with language disorders associated with a known clinical condition and/or intellectual disability. Overall, language was stable at the individual level (estimated ICC = 0.95) over the first three years of school. Linear mixed effects models highlighted steady growth in language raw scores across all three groups, including those with multiple developmental challenges. There was little evidence, however, that children with language disorders were narrowing the gap with peers (z-scores). Adjusted models indicated that while nonverbal ability, socioeconomic status and social, emotional and behavioural deficits predicted initial language score (intercept), none predicted language growth (slope). These findings corroborate previous studies suggesting stable language trajectories after ages 5-6 years, but add considerably to previous work by demonstrating similar developmental patterns in children with additional nonverbal cognitive deficits, social, emotional, and behavioural challenges, social disadvantage or clinical diagnoses. © 2017 The Authors. Journal of Child Psychology and

Pragmatic language impairment and associated behavioural problems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ketelaars, M.P.; Cuperus, J.; Jansonius, K.; Verhoeven, L.

2010-01-01

Background: Specific language impairment (SLI) is diagnosed when a child shows isolated structural language problems. The diagnosis of pragmatic language impairment (PLI) is given to children who show difficulties with the use of language in context. Unlike children with SLI, these children tend to

What's in a name? Coming to terms with the child's linguistic environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Saxton, Matthew

2008-08-01

This article reviews the proliferation of terms that have been coined to denote the language environment of the young child. It is argued that terms are often deployed by researchers without due consideration of their appropriateness for particular empirical studies. It is further suggested that just three of the dozen or more available terms meet the needs of child language researchers in most instances: CHILD-DIRECTED SPEECH, INFANT-DIRECTED SPEECH AND EXPOSURE LANGUAGE. The phenomena denoted by these terms are then considered. The term register is generally borrowed for this purpose from sociolinguistics. However, close inspection of this concept reveals that the notion of register needs to be constrained, in specified ways, in order to be of any real value within the field of child language research.

The pragmatic language, communication skills, parent-child relationships, and symptoms of children with ADHD and their playmates 18-months after a parent-delivered play-based intervention.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilkes-Gillan, Sarah; Cantrill, Alycia; Parsons, Lauren; Smith, Cally; Cordier, Reinie

2017-07-01

This study examined the communication skills, pragmatic language, parent-child relationships, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms of children with ADHD and their playmates 18-months after a pilot parent-delivered intervention for improving social play skills and pragmatic language. Participants were five children with ADHD, their parents, and five typically-developing playmates. Outcomes were measured immediately post and 18-months following the intervention. Parent-rated norm-based assessments and an observational measure were used. Differences within and between the ADHD and playmate groups were examined. Children maintained all skills gained 18-months following the intervention. Compared to a normative sample, children with ADHD remained below the average range on aspects of communication skills, parent-child relationships, and ADHD symptom levels 18-months following intervention. After intervention, children with ADHD still experienced pragmatic language skills below those of their peers on norm-based assessments that measure their skills across contexts. School-based interventions are needed to facilitate ongoing skill development and generalization.

Language Intervention and the Culturally Different Child.

Science.gov (United States)

Adler, Sol

1978-01-01

After describing a variety of compensatory programs that have not been very successful for children who enter school speaking nonstandard dialects, the author describes a bidialectal program that teaches standard usage as "school language" but accepts nonstandard dialects as "everyday language," and makes the differences…

Language and Recursion

Science.gov (United States)

Lowenthal, Francis

2010-11-01

This paper examines whether the recursive structure imbedded in some exercises used in the Non Verbal Communication Device (NVCD) approach is actually the factor that enables this approach to favor language acquisition and reacquisition in the case of children with cerebral lesions. For that a definition of the principle of recursion as it is used by logicians is presented. The two opposing approaches to the problem of language development are explained. For many authors such as Chomsky [1] the faculty of language is innate. This is known as the Standard Theory; the other researchers in this field, e.g. Bates and Elman [2], claim that language is entirely constructed by the young child: they thus speak of Language Acquisition. It is also shown that in both cases, a version of the principle of recursion is relevant for human language. The NVCD approach is defined and the results obtained in the domain of language while using this approach are presented: young subjects using this approach acquire a richer language structure or re-acquire such a structure in the case of cerebral lesions. Finally it is shown that exercises used in this framework imply the manipulation of recursive structures leading to regular grammars. It is thus hypothesized that language development could be favored using recursive structures with the young child. It could also be the case that the NVCD like exercises used with children lead to the elaboration of a regular language, as defined by Chomsky [3], which could be sufficient for language development but would not require full recursion. This double claim could reconcile Chomsky's approach with psychological observations made by adherents of the Language Acquisition approach, if it is confirmed by researches combining the use of NVCDs, psychometric methods and the use of Neural Networks. This paper thus suggests that a research group oriented towards this problematic should be organized.

Language and Culture: Nigerian Perspective

African Journals Online (AJOL)

DrNneka

that enables a human child to learn any language in about four years. Contrary views argue that there is no such faculty, since language derives from general purpose ..... Timber and Caliber”, “Juggernaut”,” political heavy weight” etc.

Hearing, language, motor and social skills in the child development: a screening proposal

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aline Cabral de Oliveira

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Purpose: to analyze the hearing, language, motor and social skills of children and propose a screening of child development. Methods: 129 preschool children of both sexes, aged between three and six years old, enrolled in educational institutions and 25 teachers of kindergarten from public and private institutions, with no history of hearing disorders, with type A tympanometric curves and the presence of acoustic reflexes participated. For the children, the neuropsychomotor test, Denver II, and the evaluation of sound localization and temporal ordination of three verbal and non-verbal sounds were applied. For the educators responsible for the children, the Scale of Auditory Behaviors (SAB, was used. Results: most participants with normal SAB presented hearing abilities or standard Denver II; while in the amended SAB group, most participants presented alterations in Denver II or in the auditory abilities tests. It was found, also, that part of the children with standard Denver II were pointed, by the educators, as misbehaving in SAB. Conclusion: the combination of the findings of the Denver II, hearing tests of sound localization and temporal ordination and the SAB Scale is useful in the characterization of child development and, thus, the use of these three instruments for screening in this age group is recommended.

INDIGENOUS LANGUAGE IMPLEMENTATION AND NATION ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

NGOZI

language teaching and use in the early child education stages can enhance nation building. ... only assimilated the English language but have allowed it .... lead to serious economic and political disadvantages in the future: “A future in which ...

Effects of the teach-model-coach-review instructional approach on caregiver use of language support strategies and children's expressive language skills.

Science.gov (United States)

Roberts, Megan Y; Kaiser, Ann P; Wolfe, Cathy E; Bryant, Julie D; Spidalieri, Alexandria M

2014-10-01

In this study, the authors examined the effects of the Teach-Model-Coach-Review instructional approach on caregivers' use of four enhanced milieu teaching (EMT) language support strategies and on their children's use of expressive language. Four caregiver-child dyads participated in a single-subject, multiple-baseline study. Children were between 24 and 42 months of age and had language impairment. Interventionists used the Teach-Model-Coach-Review instructional approach to teach caregivers to use matched turns, expansions, time delays, and milieu teaching prompts during 24 individualized clinic sessions. Caregiver use of each EMT language support strategy and child use of communication targets were the dependent variables. The caregivers demonstrated increases in their use of each EMT language support strategy after instruction. Generalization and maintenance of strategy use to the home was limited, indicating that teaching across routines is necessary to achieve maximal outcomes. All children demonstrated gains in their use of communication targets and in their performance on norm-referenced measures of language. The results indicate that the Teach-Model-Coach-Review instructional approach resulted in increased use of EMT language support strategies by caregivers. Caregiver use of these strategies was associated with positive changes in child language skills.

English Language Proficiency and Early School Attainment Among Children Learning English as an Additional Language.

Science.gov (United States)

Whiteside, Katie E; Gooch, Debbie; Norbury, Courtenay F

2017-05-01

Children learning English as an additional language (EAL) often experience lower academic attainment than monolingual peers. In this study, teachers provided ratings of English language proficiency and social, emotional, and behavioral functioning for 782 children with EAL and 6,485 monolingual children in reception year (ages 4-5). Academic attainment was assessed in reception and Year 2 (ages 6-7). Relative to monolingual peers with comparable English language proficiency, children with EAL displayed fewer social, emotional, and behavioral difficulties in reception, were equally likely to meet curriculum targets in reception, and were more likely to meet targets in Year 2. Academic attainment and social, emotional, and behavioral functioning in children with EAL are associated with English language proficiency at school entry. © 2016 The Authors. Child Development published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society for Research in Child Development.

[Multilingualism and specific language impairment].

Science.gov (United States)

Arkkila, Eva; Smolander, Sini; Laasonen, Marja

2013-01-01

Specific language impairment is one of the most common developmental disturbances in childhood. With the increase of the foreign language population group an increasing number of children assimilating several languages and causing concern in language development attend clinical examinations. Knowledge of factors underlying the specific language impairment and the specific impairment in general, special features of language development of those learning several languages, as well as the assessment and support of the linguistic skills of a multilingual child is essential. The risk of long-term problems and marginalization is high for children having specific language impairment.

The Influence of Maternal Pragmatics on the Language Skills of Children with Autism.

Science.gov (United States)

Stern, Yael S; Maltman, Nell; Roberts, Megan Y

2017-06-01

This study examined the relationship between mothers' pragmatics and child language in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and non-ASD language delay (LD) mother-child dyads. Participants consisted of 20 dyads of mothers and their toddlers aged 24 to 48 months, with ASD (n = 10) or non-ASD LD (n = 10). Groups were matched on child chronological age, language, and cognition. Maternal pragmatic language was qualified based on the degree of pragmatic violations during a semistructured interview, and was examined in relation to both child language, as measured by the Preschool Language Scale-4 and maternal use of language facilitation strategies during play. Lower rates of maternal pragmatic violations were associated with higher expressive language scores in children with ASD, and with higher receptive language scores for children with non-ASD LD. Within ASD dyads, maternal pragmatic violations were negatively related to mothers' use of linguistic expansions. These findings indicate that parental pragmatics likely contribute to early language learning, and that the effects of maternal pragmatics on early language in ASD may be indirect (e.g., through parents' use of facilitative strategies). Parent-mediated language interventions for ASD should therefore consider parent pragmatics, especially given that pragmatic differences have been identified in unaffected family members of individuals with ASD.

Coaching Parents to Use Naturalistic Language and Communication Strategies

Science.gov (United States)

Akamoglu, Yusuf; Dinnebeil, Laurie

2017-01-01

Naturalistic language and communication strategies (i.e., naturalistic teaching strategies) refer to practices that are used to promote the child's language and communication skills either through verbal (e.g., spoken words) or nonverbal (e.g., gestures, signs) interactions between an adult (e.g., parent, teacher) and a child. Use of naturalistic…

Expressive Language Development in 45 Cochlear Implanted Children Following 2 Years of Implantation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Seyed Basir Hashemi

2011-10-01

Full Text Available Objectives: Profound hearing loss encounters children with delay in speech and language. As it is known language acquisition in young deaf children is a lengthy process, but cochlear implanted children have better spoken language skills than if they had not received the device. According to the importance of cochlear implant in deaf child's language development, this study evaluates the effect of different variables on child's language performance. Methods: 45 cochlear implanted children were tested, all of whom had used the device for at least 2 years. In order to evaluate the children, the NEWSHA test which is fitted for Persian speaking children was performed and language development of the children was compared through stepwise discriminant analysis. Results: After evaluation of the effect of different variables like child's age of implantation, participating in rehabilitation classes, parent's cooperation and their level of education, we came to a conclusion that the child's age of implantation and rehabilitation program significantly develop the child's language performance. Discussion: The value of cochlear implant in improvement of deaf children in speech, language perception, production and comprehension is confirmed by different studies which have been done on cochlear implanted children. Also, the present study indicates that language development in cochlear implanted children is highly related to their age of implantation and rehabilitation program.

THE BENEFIT OF EARLY EXPOSURE TO SIGN LANGUAGE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ljubica PRIBANIKJ

2009-11-01

Full Text Available Early diagnosis and intervention are now recognized as undeniable rights of deaf and hard-of-hearing children and their families. The deaf child’s family must have the opportunity to socialize with deaf children and deaf adults. The deaf child’s family must also have access to all the information on the general development of their child, and to special information on hearing impairment, communication options and linguistic development of the deaf child.The critical period hypothesis for language acquisition proposes that the outcome of language acquisition is not uniform over the lifespan but rather is best during early childhood. Individuals who learned sign language from birth performed better on linguistic and memory tasks than individuals who did not start learning sign language until after puberty. The old prejudice that the deaf child must learn the spoken language at a very young age, and that sign language can wait because it can be easily learned by any person at any age, cannot be maintained anymore.The cultural approach to deafness emphasizes three necessary components in the development of a deaf child: 1. stimulating early communication using natural sign language within the family and interacting with the Deaf community; 2. bilingual / bicultural education and 3. ensuring deaf persons’ rights to enjoy the services of high quality interpreters throughout their education from kindergarten to university. This new view of the phenomenology of deafness means that the environment needs to be changed in order to meet the deaf person’s needs, not the contrary.

Stepping Stones to Others' Minds: Maternal Talk Relates to Child Mental State Language and Emotion Understanding at 15, 24, and 33 Months

Science.gov (United States)

Taumoepeau, Mele; Ruffman, Ted

2008-01-01

This continuation of a previous study (Taumoepeau & Ruffman, 2006) examined the longitudinal relation between maternal mental state talk to 15- and 24-month-olds and their later mental state language and emotion understanding (N = 74). The previous study found that maternal talk about the child's desires to 15-month-old children uniquely predicted…

PSYCHOLINGUISTIC SIMILARITIES IN THE ACQUISITION OF ENGLISH AND RUSSIAN AS NATIVE LANGUAGES.

Science.gov (United States)

SLOBIN, DAN I.

ONE APPROACH TO CHILD LANGUAGE ACQUISITION IS THAT OF TRANSFORMATIONAL, GENERATIVE GRAMMAR WHICH EMPHASIZES MAN'S ABILITY TO UNDERSTAND AND PRODUCE AN UNLIMITED VARIETY OF SENTENCES THROUGH CONTROL OF A LIMITED NUMBER OF LANGUAGE RULES. THUS, A CHILD LEARNS TO SPEAK BY DEVELOPING HIS OWN THEORIES OF THE STRUCTURE OF HIS LANGUAGE. STUDIES OF…

Sing a Song Please: Musical Contexts and Language Learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Howarth, Lisa M.; Conti-Ramsden, Gina

1987-01-01

Six language-impaired children, aged 4-7, were studied in two routinized contexts (a lesson without music and a singing session) and child-teacher talk was analyzed. Results showed that the addition of music to a routinized context has the potential to increase the language-impaired child's ability to interact non-verbally. (Author/JDD)

Books, toys, parent-child interaction, and development in young Latino children.

Science.gov (United States)

Tomopoulos, Suzy; Dreyer, Benard P; Tamis-LeMonda, Catherine; Flynn, Virginia; Rovira, Irene; Tineo, Wendy; Mendelsohn, Alan L

2006-01-01

To describe the interrelationships between books and toys in the home, parent-child interaction, and child development at 21 months among low-income Latino children. Latino mother-infant dyads enrolled in a level 1 nursery and infants were followed to 21 months. The subjects consisted of the control group of a larger intervention study. At 6 and 18 months, the number of books and toys in the home and the frequency of reading aloud were measured by the StimQ. At 21 months, child cognitive and language development and parent-child interaction were assessed by the Bayley Mental Development Index (MDI), the Preschool Language Scale-3 (PLS-3), and the Caregiver-Child Interaction Rating Scale, respectively. Eligibility for early intervention (EI) services was determined on the basis of the MDI and PLS-3. Data were obtained for 46 (63.0%) of 73 at 21 months. In multiple regression analysis, books provided at 18 months predicted both cognition (semipartial correlation [sr] = .49, P= .001) and receptive language (sr = .37, P= .02), whereas toys provided at both 6 and 18 months predicted 21-month receptive language (sr = .40, P= .01; sr = .32, P= .047, respectively). Reading aloud by parents > or =4 days a week was associated with decreased EI eligibility (adjusted odds ratio = 0.16, 95% confidence interval 0.03-0.99). Reading aloud and provision of toys are associated with better child cognitive and language development as well as with decreased likelihood of EI eligibility.

Drug and alcohol in pregnancy and stuttering - a speech-language pathology case report

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mahyara Francini Jacob

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Drug use during pregnancy is a well-known risk factor for the manifestation of speech-language disabilities. However, the necessity of studies directed towards drug use and its influence on interventional speech process in cases of alterations of child language and fluency is observed. In this study, clinical history data are presented as well as pre and post-assessment tests (Speech and Language and the description of an interventional process of a six-year child. The main communication complaint about the child was stuttering. In addition to the child’s clinical history, there was also knowledge of alcohol and legal and illegal drug use by the mother from before the moment of conception until this intervention process was reported. The protocols Stuttering Severity Instrument (SSI, Child Language Test (ABFW: phonology, vocabulary, and fluency tests, along with the Checklist of Verbal Communication Skills were applied. Based on these assessments, the child was diagnosed with mild to moderate stuttering, phonological simplifications, vocabulary inferior to that expected for his age, difficulty maintaining communicative turns, simplified narrative skills, alterations in psycholinguistic processes, and complaints from the school about his learning. The child underwent speech therapy in the areas of fluency and Child Language (phonological approach, showing evolution in the post-intervention assessment. Thus, in the present case, it became clear that the concomitant use of alcohol with exposure to cigarettes and marijuana may trigger changes in the acquisition and development of language, fluency and, consequently, learning.

English Language Narratives of Filipino Children

Science.gov (United States)

Lofranco, Lee Ann L.; Pena, Elizabeth D.; Bedore, Lisa M.

2006-01-01

Purpose: The current study focuses on describing the English language narrative skills of children who have been exposed to the Filipino language. Method: Eight children between the ages of 6;0 (years;months) and 7;7 who spoke primarily English but who were exposed to the Filipino language at home participated. Each child produced three narrative…

Acquisition of speech rhythm in first language.

Science.gov (United States)

Polyanskaya, Leona; Ordin, Mikhail

2015-09-01

Analysis of English rhythm in speech produced by children and adults revealed that speech rhythm becomes increasingly more stress-timed as language acquisition progresses. Children reach the adult-like target by 11 to 12 years. The employed speech elicitation paradigm ensured that the sentences produced by adults and children at different ages were comparable in terms of lexical content, segmental composition, and phonotactic complexity. Detected differences between child and adult rhythm and between rhythm in child speech at various ages cannot be attributed to acquisition of phonotactic language features or vocabulary, and indicate the development of language-specific phonetic timing in the course of acquisition.

Language Impairment in Autistic Children.

Science.gov (United States)

Deaton, Ann Virginia

Discussed is the language impairment of children with infantile autism. The speech patterns of autistic children, including echolalia, pronomial reversal, silent language, and voice imitation, are described. The clinical picture of the autistic child is compared to that of children with such other disorders as deafness, retardation, and…

Implementing Whole Language: Collaboration, Communication and Coordination.

Science.gov (United States)

Dumas, Colleen

A parent of a kindergarten child in Texas began observing her child's classroom when she noticed that the whole language instructional approach described to parents before the beginning of school was apparently not being implemented as stated. The parent was surprised when her child's teacher suggested, after only six weeks of instruction, that…

[Assessing and measuring language development in the child. The Reynell Scales in a Dutch language area].

Science.gov (United States)

Schaerlaekens, A

1995-01-01

This article deals with the recent adaptation of the Reynell Developmental Language Scales to the Dutch language. The existing language tests for the Dutch language are reviewed and the need to adapt a test for young children, measuring both receptive and expressive language development, is argued. The adaptation of the original Reynell Developmental Language Scales to the Dutch language is described. An extensive standardisation was carried out with 1,288 Dutch-speaking children, carefully selected geographically and according to socio-economic status. The psychodiagnostic results of the standardisation are discussed. As a result there are now norms for children between 2 and 5 years, both for receptive and expressive language development. The adaptation of the original Reynell Scales to Dutch functions under the new name RTOS (Reynell Taalontwikkelingsschalen).

Breastfeeding duration and cognitive, language and motor development at 18 months of age: Rhea mother-child cohort in Crete, Greece.

Science.gov (United States)

Leventakou, Vasiliki; Roumeliotaki, Theano; Koutra, Katerina; Vassilaki, Maria; Mantzouranis, Evangelia; Bitsios, Panos; Kogevinas, Manolis; Chatzi, Leda

2015-03-01

Breast feeding duration has been associated with improved cognitive development in children. However, few population-based prospective studies have evaluated dose-response relationships of breastfeeding duration with language and motor development at early ages, and results are discrepant. The study uses data from the prospective mother-child cohort ('Rhea' study) in Crete, Greece. 540 mother-child pairs were included in the present analysis. Information about parental and child characteristics and breastfeeding practices was obtained by interview-administered questionnaires. Trained psychologists assessed cognitive, language and motor development by using the Bayley Scales of Infant Toddler Development (3rd edition) at the age of 18 months. Duration of breast feeding was linearly positively associated with all the Bayley scales, except of gross motor. The association persisted after adjustment for potential confounders with an increase of 0.28 points in the scale of cognitive development (β=0.28; 95% CI 0.01 to 0.55), 0.29 points in the scale of receptive communication (β=0.29; 95% CI 0.04 to 0.54), 0.30 points in the scale of expressive communication (β=0.30; 95% CI 0.04 to 0.57) and 0.29 points in the scale of fine motor development (β=0.29; 95% CI 0.02 to 0.56) per accumulated month of breast feeding. Children who were breast fed longer than 6 months had a 4.44-point increase in the scale of fine motor development (β=4.44; 95% CI 0.06 to 8.82) compared with those never breast fed. Longer duration of breast feeding was associated with increased scores in cognitive, language and motor development at 18 months of age, independently from a wide range of parental and infant characteristics. Additional longitudinal studies and trials are needed to confirm these results. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Developmental Levels of the Child's Storytelling.

Science.gov (United States)

Marjanovic-Umek, Ljubica; Kranjc, Simona; Fekonja, Urska

Noting that examining the storytelling skills of children between 4 and 8 years of age can provide insights into the child's overall language development, this study explored the development of children's storytelling, using story coherence and story cohesion to evaluate the developmental level of the child's storytelling. Participating in the…

Body Mass Index: Calculator for Child and Teen

Science.gov (United States)

... Healthy Weight Sample Link BMI Percentile Calculator for Child and Teen English Version Language: English Español (Spanish) ... and Weight Accurately At Home BMI Calculator for Child and Teen ( English | Metric ) 1. Birth Date : Month: ...

Infant and Toddler Language Development.

Science.gov (United States)

Fox, Jill Englebright

A child's need for formal communication may be as much an emotional need as a cognitive need. Several theories attempt to explain children's language development, including the theories developed by B. F. Skinner, Noam Chomsky, and J. Bruner. Most children typically follow a standard sequence of language development: crying and cooing, babbling,…

Duplication of 17(p11.2p11.2) in a male child with autism and severe language delay.

Science.gov (United States)

Nakamine, Alisa; Ouchanov, Leonid; Jiménez, Patricia; Manghi, Elina R; Esquivel, Marcela; Monge, Silvia; Fallas, Marietha; Burton, Barbara K; Szomju, Barbara; Elsea, Sarah H; Marshall, Christian R; Scherer, Stephen W; McInnes, L Alison

2008-03-01

Duplications of 17(p11.2p11.2) have been associated with various behavioral manifestations including attention deficits, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, autistic traits, and language delay. We are conducting a genetic study of autism and are screening all cases for submicroscopic chromosomal abnormalities, in addition to standard karyotyping, and fragile X testing. Using array-based comparative genomic hybridization analysis of data from the Affymetrix GeneChip(R) Human Mapping Array set, we detected a duplication of approximately 3.3 Mb on chromosome 17p11.2 in a male child with autism and severe expressive language delay. The duplication was confirmed by measuring the copy number of genomic DNA using quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Gene expression analyses revealed increased expression of three candidate genes for the Smith-Magenis neurobehavioral phenotype, RAI1, DRG2, and RASD1, in transformed lymphocytes from Case 81A, suggesting gene dosage effects. Our results add to a growing body of evidence suggesting that duplications of 17(p11.2p11.2) result in language delay as well as autism and related phenotypes. As Smith-Magenis syndrome is also associated with language delay, a gene involved in acquisition of language may lie within this interval. Whether a parent of origin effect, gender of the case, the presence of allelic variation, or changes in expression of genes outside the breakpoints influence the resultant phenotype remains to be determined. (c) 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Fatores de risco psíquico ao desenvolvimento infantil: implicações para a fonoaudiologia Psychical risk factors to the child development: implications on speech-language and hearing therapy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luciele Dias Oliveira

2012-04-01

Full Text Available TEMA: fatores de risco psíquico ao desenvolvimento infantil e as implicações para a fonoaudiologia. OBJETIVOS: estudar, por meio de uma revisão teórica os riscos psíquicos ao desenvolvimento infantil, com ênfase nos riscos para aquisição da linguagem, e discutir as implicações para a atuação fonoaudiológica em idade precoce. CONCLUSÃO: a partir da literatura revisada, constatou-se que crianças que convivem com riscos biológicos e, sobretudo psíquicos, nos primeiros anos de vida, são mais propensas a desenvolver problemas que podem afetar o seu desenvolvimento. Assim, considera-se a necessidade daatuação fonoaudiológica estar vinculada a uma constante observação dos fatores de risco psíquico ao desenvolvimento infantil e aquisição da linguagem, podendo participar da detecção e estimulação precoces em uma perspectiva promocional.BACKGROUND: psychical risk factors to child development and implications on speech-language and hearing therapy. PURPOSE: to study, through a theoretical review, the psychical risks to the child development, emphasizing the risks for language acquisition, and discuss the implications on the speech-language and hearing therapy performance for precocious age. CONCLUSION: through reviewed literature, we evidenced that children who live with biological and especially psychic risks, during their first years, are more inclined to develop problems that may come to affect their development. So, we consider the need for speech-language and hearing therapy to be linked to a constant observation of the psychical risk factors to the child development and language acquisition, being this professional able to take part in the precocious detection and stimulation under a promotional perspective.

Using the Language Environment Analysis (LENA) system in preschool classrooms with children with autism spectrum disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Dykstra, Jessica R; Sabatos-Devito, Maura G; Irvin, Dwight W; Boyd, Brian A; Hume, Kara A; Odom, Sam L

2013-09-01

This study describes the language environment of preschool programs serving children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and examines relationships between child characteristics and an automated measure of adult and child language in the classroom. The Language Environment Analysis (LENA) system was used with 40 children with ASD to collect data on adult and child language. Standardized assessments were administered to obtain language, cognitive, and autism severity scores for participants. With a mean of over 5 hours of recording across two days several months apart, there was a mean of 3.6 child vocalizations per minute, 1.0 conversational turns (in which either the adult or child respond to the other within 5 seconds) per minute, and 29.2 adult words per minute. Two of the three LENA variables were significantly correlated with language age-equivalents. Cognitive age-equivalents were also significantly correlated with two LENA variables. Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule severity scores and LENA variables were not significantly correlated. Implications for using the LENA system with children with ASD in the school environment are discussed.

Multilingual Children Increase Language Differentiation by Indexing Communities of Practice

Science.gov (United States)

O'Shannessy, Carmel

2015-01-01

An area in need of study in child language acquisition is that of complex multilingual contexts in which there is little language separation by interlocutor or domain. Little is known about how multilingual children use language to construct their identities in each language or in both languages. Identity construction in monolingual contexts has…

Learning Grammatical Categories from Distributional Cues: Flexible Frames for Language Acquisition

Science.gov (United States)

St. Clair, Michelle C.; Monaghan, Padraic; Christiansen, Morten H.

2010-01-01

Numerous distributional cues in the child's environment may potentially assist in language learning, but what cues are useful to the child and when are these cues utilised? We propose that the most useful source of distributional cue is a flexible frame surrounding the word, where the language learner integrates information from the preceding and…

Simultaneous bilingual language acquisition: The role of parental input on receptive vocabulary development.

Science.gov (United States)

Macleod, Andrea An; Fabiano-Smith, Leah; Boegner-Pagé, Sarah; Fontolliet, Salomé

2013-02-01

Parents often turn to educators and healthcare professionals for advice on how to best support their child's language development. These professionals frequently suggest implementing the 'one-parent-one-language' approach to ensure consistent exposure to both languages. The goal of this study was to understand how language exposure influences the receptive vocabulary development of simultaneous bilingual children. To this end, we targeted nine German-French children growing up in bilingual families. Their exposure to each language within and outside the home was measured, as were their receptive vocabulary abilities in German and French. The results indicate that children are receiving imbalanced exposure to each language. This imbalance is leading to a slowed development of the receptive vocabulary in the minority language, while the majority language is keeping pace with monolingual peers. The one-parent-one-language approach does not appear to support the development of both of the child's languages in the context described in the present study. Bilingual families may need to consider other options for supporting the bilingual language development of their children. As professionals, we need to provide parents with advice that is based on available data and that is flexible with regards to the current and future needs of the child and his family.

Language ENvironment Analysis Language and Autism Screen and the Child Development Inventory Social Subscale as a possible autism screen for children who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Science.gov (United States)

Carr, Jason; Xu, Dongxin; Yoshinaga-Itano, Christine

2014-11-01

The Language ENvironment Analysis Language and Autism Screen (LLAS) is an automated vocal production analysis that has been shown to be a valid screener for autism in hearing children between the ages of 24 to 48 months of age. Although there is reportedly a higher incidence of autism among children who are deaf or hard of hearing, the diagnosis of autism is usually later than that in children with hearing. None of the traditional screening instruments have been used with children with hearing loss. Data about the utility of LLAS with children who are deaf or hard of hearing will be presented and discussed. Though more data will be needed, an LLAS at-risk flag in conjunction with the Social Quotient from the Child Development Inventory holds significant promise for a screen for children who are deaf or hard of hearing. Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

Language impairment in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Safaa Refaat El Sady

2013-06-06

Jun 6, 2013 ... in language skills as sequencing difficulties, poor problem- solving skills ... help in managing the motor and language difficulties [7]. Despite the ..... attention, thinking, learning process, and social interaction of the child, which ...

Bilingual Intertextuality: The Joint Construction of Bi-Literacy Practices between Parent and Child

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Yu; Vadeboncoeur, Jennifer A.

2010-01-01

Based on sociocultural theory, this article examines two activities constituted by a parent and child as jointly constructed bi-literacy practices. Bi-literacy practices enable the parent and child to co-construct conceptual meanings and sense across two languages. Concept development in young children "begins" with meaning in one language and…

Nurturing Your Child's Development from 24 to 36 Months

Science.gov (United States)

... lots of conversations with your child. This will boost his language skills, introduce him to the pleasure ... self-confidence, and lang… Explore more from Healthy Minds: Nurturing Your Child's Development Resource | Disponible en español ...

The impact of the home learning environment in native- vs. second-language acquisition

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bleses, Dorthe; Højen, Anders; Dale, Philip S.

., 2007). However, little is known about the relative importance of the HLE for native- vs. second-language acquisition. This question was examined in 1,200 second-language and 8,000 native-language learners of Danish. The parents of the 3-5-year-old children completed a HLE questionnaire......The home literacy environment (HLE) has been shown to impact language and literacy skills in preschool-aged children via factors such as availability of books, frequency of reading and child age when parents began reading to the child (Burgess, Hecht, & Lonigan, 2002; Payne, Whitehurst, & Angell......, 1994). Many dual language learners (DLL) rely on interactions in the second language outside the home to acquire second-language proficiency, but the HLE also influences second-language development in DLL, whether the native language or the second language is the primary home language (Duursma et al...

A Stronger Reason for the Right to Sign Languages

Science.gov (United States)

Trovato, Sara

2013-01-01

Is the right to sign language only the right to a minority language? Holding a capability (not a disability) approach, and building on the psycholinguistic literature on sign language acquisition, I make the point that this right is of a stronger nature, since only sign languages can guarantee that each deaf child will properly develop the…

Atypical brain lateralisation in the auditory cortex and language performance in 3- to 7-year-old children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder: a child-customised magnetoencephalography (MEG) study.

Science.gov (United States)

Yoshimura, Yuko; Kikuchi, Mitsuru; Shitamichi, Kiyomi; Ueno, Sanae; Munesue, Toshio; Ono, Yasuki; Tsubokawa, Tsunehisa; Haruta, Yasuhiro; Oi, Manabu; Niida, Yo; Remijn, Gerard B; Takahashi, Tsutomu; Suzuki, Michio; Higashida, Haruhiro; Minabe, Yoshio

2013-10-08

Magnetoencephalography (MEG) is used to measure the auditory evoked magnetic field (AEF), which reflects language-related performance. In young children, however, the simultaneous quantification of the bilateral auditory-evoked response during binaural hearing is difficult using conventional adult-sized MEG systems. Recently, a child-customised MEG device has facilitated the acquisition of bi-hemispheric recordings, even in young children. Using the child-customised MEG device, we previously reported that language-related performance was reflected in the strength of the early component (P50m) of the auditory evoked magnetic field (AEF) in typically developing (TD) young children (2 to 5 years old) [Eur J Neurosci 2012, 35:644-650]. The aim of this study was to investigate how this neurophysiological index in each hemisphere is correlated with language performance in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and TD children. We used magnetoencephalography (MEG) to measure the auditory evoked magnetic field (AEF), which reflects language-related performance. We investigated the P50m that is evoked by voice stimuli (/ne/) bilaterally in 33 young children (3 to 7 years old) with ASD and in 30 young children who were typically developing (TD). The children were matched according to their age (in months) and gender. Most of the children with ASD were high-functioning subjects. The results showed that the children with ASD exhibited significantly less leftward lateralisation in their P50m intensity compared with the TD children. Furthermore, the results of a multiple regression analysis indicated that a shorter P50m latency in both hemispheres was specifically correlated with higher language-related performance in the TD children, whereas this latency was not correlated with non-verbal cognitive performance or chronological age. The children with ASD did not show any correlation between P50m latency and language-related performance; instead, increasing chronological age was a

Bilingual children referred for psychiatric services: associations of language disorders, language skills, and psychopathology.

Science.gov (United States)

Toppelberg, Claudio O; Medrano, Laura; Peña Morgens, Liana; Nieto-Castañon, Alfonso

2002-06-01

To investigate (1) the prevalence of language deficits and disorders and (2) the relationship of bilingual language skills and psychopathology, in Spanish-English bilingual children referred for child and adolescent psychiatry services. Bilingual language skills, emotional/behavioral problems, sociodemographics, immigration variables, and nonverbal IQ were studied in 50 consecutively referred children. Estimated prevalence was high for language deficits (48%) and disorders (41%), with most cases (>79%) being of the mixed receptive-expressive type. In children with clinically significant emotional/behavioral problems, bilingual language skills were strongly and inversely correlated with problem scores, particularly global problems (r = -0.67, p or = -0.54; p language disorders and delays and (2) the close tie between poor language skills and emotional/behavioral problems. The data strongly suggest the clinical importance and feasibility of language assessment and the significance of receptive problems in bilingual children referred for psychiatric services. A safe approach is to fully assess language skills, rather than misattributing these children's language delays to normal bilingual acquisition processes.

A Preliminary Investigation of the Relationship between Parenting, Parent-Child Shared Reading Practices, and Child Development in Low-Income Families

Science.gov (United States)

Dexter, Casey A.; Stacks, Ann M.

2014-01-01

This study examined relations between parenting, shared reading practices, and child development. Participants included 28 children (M = 24.66 months, SD = 8.41 months) and their parents. Measures included naturalistic observations of parenting and shared reading quality, assessments of child cognitive and language development, and home reading…

Mutuality in Mother-Child Interactions in an Antillean Intervention Group

Science.gov (United States)

Boomstra, Nienke W.; van Dijk, Marijn W. G.; van Geert, Paul L. C.

2016-01-01

This article describes a study on mutuality in mother-child interaction during reading and playing sessions. Within mother-child interaction, mutuality is seen as important in language acquisition. The study was executed within a group of Netherlands Antillean mother-child dyads who participated in an intervention programme. Mutuality was…

Language Disorders in a Child Psychiatric Center: Demographic Characteristics and Comorbidity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dyrborg, Jørgen; Goldschmidt, Vibeke V.

1996-01-01

expressive language disorders, 47% receptive language disorders, and 26% mixed specific developmental disorders (inclusive language disorder). The prevalence of previously unsuspected language disorders was 27%. 75% of patients with language disorders could furthermore be psychiatrically diagnosed......In this study demographic variables and comorbidity were registered in a group of children and adolescents with language disorders. Ss were drawn from 1,151 consecutively admitted psychiatric patients (0-17 yrs) in a 5-yr period. 116 patients had language disorders (10%), and 73% were boys. 27% had...... in accordance with 8 main categories of ICD-10. Language disorders were most often found to be comorbid with conduct disorders, and the comorbidity was most frequent in the adolescent group. Boys had significantly more conduct disorders than girls, and girls had significantly more emotional disorders than boys...

What You Don't Know Can Hurt You: The Risk of Language Deprivation by Impairing Sign Language Development in Deaf Children.

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Wyatte C

2017-05-01

A long-standing belief is that sign language interferes with spoken language development in deaf children, despite a chronic lack of evidence supporting this belief. This deserves discussion as poor life outcomes continue to be seen in the deaf population. This commentary synthesizes research outcomes with signing and non-signing children and highlights fully accessible language as a protective factor for healthy development. Brain changes associated with language deprivation may be misrepresented as sign language interfering with spoken language outcomes of cochlear implants. This may lead to professionals and organizations advocating for preventing sign language exposure before implantation and spreading misinformation. The existence of one-time-sensitive-language acquisition window means a strong possibility of permanent brain changes when spoken language is not fully accessible to the deaf child and sign language exposure is delayed, as is often standard practice. There is no empirical evidence for the harm of sign language exposure but there is some evidence for its benefits, and there is growing evidence that lack of language access has negative implications. This includes cognitive delays, mental health difficulties, lower quality of life, higher trauma, and limited health literacy. Claims of cochlear implant- and spoken language-only approaches being more effective than sign language-inclusive approaches are not empirically supported. Cochlear implants are an unreliable standalone first-language intervention for deaf children. Priorities of deaf child development should focus on healthy growth of all developmental domains through a fully-accessible first language foundation such as sign language, rather than auditory deprivation and speech skills.

Increasing the Odds: Applying Emergentist Theory in Language Intervention

Science.gov (United States)

Poll, Gerard H.

2011-01-01

Purpose: This review introduces emergentism, which is a leading theory of language development that states that language ability is the product of interactions between the child's language environment and his or her learning capabilities. The review suggests ways in which emergentism provides a theoretical rationale for interventions that are…

Risk factors for proper oral language development in children: a systematic literature review.

Science.gov (United States)

Gurgel, Léia Gonçalves; Vidor, Deisi Cristina Gollo Marques; Joly, Maria Cristina Rodrigues Azevedo; Reppold, Caroline Tozzi

2014-01-01

To conduct a systematic review of literature production related to risk factors for proper oral language development in children. We used the terms "child language," "risk factors," and "randomized controlled trial" in MEDLINE (accessed via PubMed), Lilacs, SciELO, and The Cochrane Library from January 1980 to February 2014. Randomized controlled trials involving the study of some risk factors related to child language were included. Works with individuals who were not from the age group 0-12 years and presented no reliable definition of risk factors were excluded. The research findings were classified according to their theme and categorized methodological aspects. We observed the lack of a standardized list of risk factors for language available for health professionals. The main risk factor mentioned was family dynamics, followed by interaction with parents, immediate social environment, and encouragement given to the child in the first years of life. It was also observed that organic hazards such as brain injury, persistent otitis media, and cardiac surgery, besides the type of food and parental counseling, may be related to language disorders. More randomized controlled trials involving the evaluation of risk factors for child language and the creation of further studies involving children above 6 years of age and males are needed.

Influences of early child nutritional status and home learning environment on child development in Vietnam.

Science.gov (United States)

Nguyen, Phuong H; DiGirolamo, Ann M; Gonzalez-Casanova, Ines; Young, Melissa; Kim, Nicole; Nguyen, Son; Martorell, Reynaldo; Ramakrishnan, Usha

2018-01-01

Early childhood development plays a key role in a child's future health, educational success, and economic status. However, suboptimal early development remains a global challenge. This study examines the influences of quality of the home learning environment (HOME) and child stunting in the first year of life on child development. We used data collected from a randomized controlled trial of preconceptional micronutrient supplementation in Vietnam (n = 1,458). The Bayley Scales of Infant Development-III were used to assess cognition, language, and motor development domains at 2 years. At 1 year, 14% of children were stunted, and 15%, 58%, and 28% of children lived in poor, medium, and high HOME environments, respectively. In multivariate generalized linear regression models, living in a high HOME environment was significantly associated with higher scores (0.10 to 0.13 SD) in each of the developmental domains. Stunted children scored significantly lower for cognitive, language, and motor development (-0.11 to -0.18), compared to nonstunted children. The negative associations between stunting on development were modified by HOME; the associations were strong among children living in homes with a poor learning environment whereas they were nonsignificant for those living in high-quality learning environments. In conclusion, child stunting the first year of life was negatively associated with child development at 2 years among children in Vietnam, but a high-quality HOME appeared to attenuate these associations. Early interventions aimed at improving early child growth as well as providing a stimulating home environment are critical to ensure optimal child development. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Medico-biological factors of speech and language development in young children (part 1

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chernov D.N.

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The article analyzed the main results of medico-biological directions in the study of the factors of children's speech and language. It shows that a variety of pre-, peri-and neonatal developmental factors (teratogenic effects, prematurity, low birth weight, maternal diseases during pregnancy, and chronic diseases of the child had a negative impact on the child-parent relationship that has a lasting influence on child speech and language development.

Parental tobacco consumption and child development.

Science.gov (United States)

Santos, Nadine F; Costa, Raquel A

2015-01-01

To analyze the association between parental tobacco consumption and the prevalence of psychomotor development disorders in children between 6 and 22 months of age. One hundred and nine mothers, fathers, and their babies participated in the study. The sociodemographic and clinical conditions were assessed using questionnaires. Tobacco consumption was assessed using the Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND). Child development was evaluated using the Scale of Psychomotor Development in Early Childhood. There was a significant negative correlation between the father's morning smoking (FTND) and the child's language development quotient; r=-0.41, p=0.005, r(2)=0.15. The children of mothers without nicotine dependence had a higher mean language development quotient than children of mothers with nicotine dependence; F(1, 107)=5.51, p=0.021, ηp(2)=0.05. Parental smoking appears to have a detrimental effect on child development. Copyright © 2015 Sociedade Brasileira de Pediatria. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

Parental tobacco consumption and child development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nadine F. Santos

2015-08-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: To analyze the association between parental tobacco consumption and the prevalence of psychomotor development disorders in children between 6 and 22 months of age.METHOD: One hundred and nine mothers, fathers, and their babies participated in the study. The sociodemographic and clinical conditions were assessed using questionnaires. Tobacco consumption was assessed using the Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND. Child development was evaluated using the Scale of Psychomotor Development in Early Childhood.RESULTS: There was a significant negative correlation between the father's morning smoking (FTND and the child's language development quotient; r = -0.41, p = 0.005, r2 =0.15. The children of mothers without nicotine dependence had a higher mean language development quotient than children of mothers with nicotine dependence; F(1, 107 = 5.51, p = 0.021, ?p2 = 0.05.CONCLUSION: Parental smoking appears to have a detrimental effect on child development.

Specific Language Impairment

Science.gov (United States)

... Some of the tests use interactions between the child and puppets and other toys to focus on specific rules of grammar, especially ... is not treated early, it can affect a child’s performance in school. ... language development. This kind of classroom program might enlist normally ...

Prenatal methylmercury exposure and language delay at three years of age in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Vejrup, Kristine; Schjølberg, Synnve; Knutsen, Helle Katrine; Kvalem, Helen Engelstad; Brantsæter, Anne Lise; Meltzer, Helle Margrete; Alexander, Jan; Magnus, Per; Haugen, Margaretha

2016-01-01

Prenatal methylmercury (MeHg) exposure and its possible neurodevelopmental effects in susceptible children are of concern. Studies of MeHg exposure and negative health outcomes have shown conflicting results and it has been suggested that co-exposure to other contaminants and/or nutrients in fish may confound the effect of MeHg. Our objective was to examine the association between prenatal exposure to MeHg and language and communication development at three years, adjusting for intake of fish, n-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 LCPUFAs) and co-exposure to dioxins and dioxin like polychlorinated biphenyls (dl-PCBs). We used data from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa) collected between 2002 and 2008. The study sample consisted of 46,750 mother-child pairs. MeHg exposure was calculated from reported fish intake during pregnancy by a FFQ in mid-pregnancy. Children's language and communication skills were measured by maternal report on the Dale and Bishop grammar rating and the Ages and Stages communication scale (ASQ). We estimated odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) using logistic regressions. Median MeHg exposure was 1.3μg/day, corresponding to 0.14μg/kgbw/week. An exposure level above the 90th percentile (>2.6μg/day, >0.29μg/kgbw/week) was defined as the high MeHg exposure. Results indicated an association between high MeHg exposure and unintelligible speech with an adjusted OR 2.22 (1.31, 3.72). High MeHg exposure was also associated with weaker communication skills adjusted OR 1.33 (1.03, 1.70). Additional adjustment for fish intake strengthened the associations, while adjusting for PCBs and n-3 LCPUFA from diet or from supplements had minor impact. In conclusion, significant associations were found between prenatal MeHg exposure above the 90th percentile and delayed language and communication skills in a generally low exposed population. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Assessing Linguistic Competence: Verbal Inflection in Child Tamil

Science.gov (United States)

Lakshmanan, Usha

2006-01-01

Within child language acquisition research, there has been a fair amount of controversy regarding children's knowledge of the grammatical properties associated with verbal inflection (e.g., tense, agreement, and aspect). Some researchers have proposed that the child's early grammar is fundamentally different from the adult grammar, whereas others…

Use of Child Centered Play Therapy Responses in a Child Care Setting

Science.gov (United States)

Muro, Joel H.; Muro, Lilia Lamar; Rose, Katherine Kensinger; Webster, Lindsey; Allen, Cassie

2017-01-01

The communication process between care providers and children can, at times, be complex. Young children typically lack the verbal language necessary for complex emotional expression. In this article, the authors contend that using some basic "child centered play therapy" (CCPT) techniques would be beneficial in enhancing communicative…

Bilingual child acquisition through the lens of sociolinguistic approaches

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cornips, L.; Miller, David; Bayram, Fatih; Rothman, Jason; Serratrice, Ludovica

2018-01-01

This paper entails a perspective on bilingual child acquisition through the lens of sociolinguistic approaches. A discussion of the concepts of monolingual language ideology and power dynamics is undertaken in order to reveal their important consequences on studying bilingual child acquisition, in

Linguistic Diversity in First Language Acquisition Research: Moving beyond the Challenges

Science.gov (United States)

Kelly, Barbara F.; Forshaw, William; Nordlinger, Rachel; Wigglesworth, Gillian

2015-01-01

The field of first language acquisition (FLA) needs to take into account data from the broadest typological array of languages and language-learning environments if it is to identify potential universals in child language development, and how these interact with socio-cultural mechanisms of acquisition. Yet undertaking FLA research in remote…

Duration of watching TV and child language development in young children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Silva Audya Perdana

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Background Many factors contribute to language development in children. About 5-8% of children in Indonesia experience delayed language skills. Young children need appropriate stimulation for optimal development. Children who watch television (TV for long periods of time may receive less two-way interaction, the appropriate stimulation for learning. As such, shorter duration of the appropriate stimulation may impede language development in small children. Objective To assess for an association between duration of watching TV and language development in young children. Methods This cross-sectional study was done with primary data collected from questionnaires. Subjects, aged 18 months to 3 years, were from a Jakarta-area community health center (Puskesmas Jatinegara and the Pediatric Growth and Development Clinic, Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital, Jakarta. Their language development was tested using the Developmental Pre-screening Questionnaire (Kuesioner Pra Skrining Perkembangan, KPSP and the Early Language Milestone (ELM Scale 2 test. Results From a total of 84 subjects, 47 (56% had normal and 37 (44% had delayed language development. Duration of watching TV was categorized as 4 hours per day. Children who watched TV >4 hours/day (OR 4.4; 95%CI 1.68 to 11.7; P=0.002, and children who watched both Indonesian and English language TV programs (OR 14.7; 95%CI 1.77 to 123.0; P=0.004 had higher risk of language delay. Other variables such as sex, first age exposed to TV, use of gadgets, and TV in the bedroom had no significant associations with delayed language development. Conclusion Children who watch TV >4 hours/day had four times higher risk of developing language delay. In addition, those who watch TV programs in both Indonesian and English, also have a 14.7 higher risk of delayed language development.

Bilingual First Language Acquisition: Exploring the Limits of the Language Faculty.

Science.gov (United States)

Genesee, Fred

2001-01-01

Reviews current research in three domains of bilingual acquisition: pragmatic features of bilingual code mixing, grammatical constraints on child bilingual code mixing, and bilingual syntactic development. Examines implications from these domains for the understanding of the limits of the mental faculty to acquire language. (Author/VWL)

Acquisition of French as a second language new developmental perspectives

CERN Document Server

Lindqvist, Christina

2014-01-01

It has been argued that the study of child L2 development can inform different maturational accounts of language acquisition. One such specific proposal was put forward by Meisel (2008), arguing for a cut-off point for monolingual or bilingual first language acquisition - (2)L1 - type of development at 3-4 years. The paper analyses the longitudinal development of object clitics in child L2 French (L1 Swedish) and compares the developmental sequence in child L2 learners (n = 7) with different Ages of onset of Acquisition (AoA) (from 3;0 to 6;5) to the adult L2 sequence that was found in previou

MEASUREMENT OF FATHER-CHILD ROUGH-AND-TUMBLE PLAY AND ITS RELATIONS TO CHILD BEHAVIOR.

Science.gov (United States)

Stgeorge, Jennifer; Freeman, Emily

2017-11-01

Although there is increasing evidence of paternal influence on child outcomes such as language and cognition, researchers are not yet clear on the features of father-child play that are most valuable in terms of child development. Physical play such as rough and tumble play (RTP) is a favored type of father-child play in Western societies that has been linked to children's socioemotional competence. It is important, therefore, to determine the implications of this play for child development. In this review and meta-analysis, associations between father-child physical play and child behavior were examined. The review also focused on study methods. Sixteen studies are reviewed, N = 1,521 father-child dyads, 35% boys. Study characteristics such as definitions of physical play, play settings, play measures, and coding were examined. The meta-analysis found weak to moderate population effects for links between father-child physical play and child aggression, social competence, emotional skills, and self-regulation. Research investigating the effect of father-child physical play on children's development will be improved when definitions clearly identify the nature of play, settings facilitate boisterous play, and measures include frequency and quality of play interactions. This play shows promise as an enhancer of positive father-child relationships and a catalyst for child development. © 2017 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.

Child vocalization composition as discriminant information for automatic autism detection.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Dongxin; Gilkerson, Jill; Richards, Jeffrey; Yapanel, Umit; Gray, Sharmi

2009-01-01

Early identification is crucial for young children with autism to access early intervention. The existing screens require either a parent-report questionnaire and/or direct observation by a trained practitioner. Although an automatic tool would benefit parents, clinicians and children, there is no automatic screening tool in clinical use. This study reports a fully automatic mechanism for autism detection/screening for young children. This is a direct extension of the LENA (Language ENvironment Analysis) system, which utilizes speech signal processing technology to analyze and monitor a child's natural language environment and the vocalizations/speech of the child. It is discovered that child vocalization composition contains rich discriminant information for autism detection. By applying pattern recognition and machine learning approaches to child vocalization composition data, accuracy rates of 85% to 90% in cross-validation tests for autism detection have been achieved at the equal-error-rate (EER) point on a data set with 34 children with autism, 30 language delayed children and 76 typically developing children. Due to its easy and automatic procedure, it is believed that this new tool can serve a significant role in childhood autism screening, especially in regards to population-based or universal screening.

Patterns of Language Comprehension Deficit in Abused and Neglected Children.

Science.gov (United States)

Fox, Lynn; And Others

1988-01-01

A study of the relationship between child abuse/neglect and language disability compared 30 abused, generally neglected, or severely neglected children, aged 3-8, to 10 nonabused controls. Results on language comprehension tests suggest that abused and severely neglected children show greater difficulty with language comprehension tasks than their…

The impact of maternal post-partum depression on the language development of children at 12 months.

Science.gov (United States)

Quevedo, L A; Silva, R A; Godoy, R; Jansen, K; Matos, M B; Tavares Pinheiro, K A; Pinheiro, R T

2012-05-01

Language is one of the most important acquisitions made during childhood. Before verbal language, a child develops a range of skills and behaviours that allow the child to acquire all communication skills. Factors such as environmental factors, socio-economic status and interaction with parents can affect the acquisition of vocabulary in children. Post-partum depression can negatively affect the first interactions with the child and, consequently, the emotional, social and cognitive development of the child. To analyse the effect of the duration of the mother's depression on the language development of children at 12 months old. This was a longitudinal study. The participants of this study were mothers who had received prenatal care from the Brazilian National System of Public Health in Pelotas city, State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The mothers were interviewed at two different time points: from 30 to 90 days after delivery and at 12 months after delivery; the children were also evaluated at this later time point. To diagnose maternal depression, we used the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview, and to assess child development, we used the language scale of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development III. We followed 296 dyads. Maternal depression at both time points (post partum and at 12 months) was significantly associated with the language development of infants at 12 months of age. This impact was accentuated when related to the duration of the disorder. Older women and women with more than two children were more likely to have children with poorer language development, while women who were the primary caregiver had children with higher scores on the language test. The findings indicate that maternal age, parity, primary caregiver status and duration of post-partum depression are associated with the language development of the child. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Communication between mother and her visually imapired child

OpenAIRE

Kolarič, Mojca

2016-01-01

Communication between mother and child has a significant impact on the development of children's language skills. Blindness or visual impairment limits access to information from the environment, which may have a negative impact on the development of communication between mother and child. In my master's thesis I focused on how the communication between mother and child alters due to visual impairment. In the theoretical part I introduced the importance of visual input in communication and...

Caregiver talk to young Spanish-English bilinguals: Comparing direct observation and parent-report measures of dual-language exposure

Science.gov (United States)

Marchman, Virginia A.; Martínez, Lucía Z.; Hurtado, Nereyda; Grüter, Theres; Fernald, Anne

2016-01-01

In research on language development by bilingual children, the early language environment is commonly characterized in terms of the relative amount of exposure a child gets to each language based on parent report. Little is known about how absolute measures of child-directed speech in two languages relate to language growth. In this study of 3-year-old Spanish-English bilinguals (n = 18), traditional parent-report estimates of exposure were compared to measures of the number of Spanish and English words children heard during naturalistic audio recordings. While the two estimates were moderately correlated, observed numbers of child-directed words were more consistently predictive of children's processing speed and standardized test performance, even when controlling for reported proportion of exposure. These findings highlight the importance of caregiver engagement in bilingual children's language outcomes in both of the languages they are learning. PMID:27197746

THE CONCEPT OF LANGUAGE LEARNING IN BEHAVIORISM PERSPECTIVE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Khoiru Rakhman Abidin

2016-07-01

Full Text Available The aims of the study are (1 the concepts of language learning in behaviorism perspective, (2 the relation between language and learning in behaviorism perspective, (3 the influence of behaviorism in language learning. This is a descriptive qualitative study. The results showed that (1 behaviorism theories of languages also give good contribution in language learning process that describes a child can learn language from their environments, (2 behaviorism perspective defines as change of behavior through experience, it means human learn something from their environments, (3 human uses language for communication in the world and he also spreads his culture with his language so  human gets  knowledge of language through learning.

Language, Literacy, and the Needs of the Multilingual Child

Science.gov (United States)

Snow, Catherine E.

2013-01-01

In this article, I first take on the issue of standards and the degree to which they do or do not contribute to the improvement of language and literacy outcomes for children in multilingual societies. Then I consider the relation of standards to language and, finally, raise the vexed issue of content knowledge and its relation to standards, on…

Language Learning Actions in Two 1x1 Secondary Schools in Catalonia: The Case of Online Language Resources

Science.gov (United States)

Calvo, Boris Vázquez; Cassany, Daniel

2016-01-01

This paper identifies and describes current attitudes towards classroom digitization and digital language learning practices under the umbrella of EduCAT 1x1, the One-Laptop-Per-Child (OLPC or 1x1) initiative in place in Catalonia. We thoroughly analyze practices worked out by six language teachers and twelve Compulsory Secondary Education (CSE)…

CHILD COMPREHENSION OF ADULTS’ VERBAL INPUT: A CASE OF BILINGUAL ACQUISITION IN INFANCY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ni Luh Putu Sri Adnyani

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Research concerning comprehension in early simultaneous bilingualism is still very limited. Thus, this study focuses on describing a bilingual infant’s comprehension of adults’ verbal input addressed to the child in an Indonesian-German language environment, and the child’s understanding of translation equivalents (TEs. The child, who was exposed to Indonesian and German simultaneously from birth, was observed from age 0;9 to age 1;3 using a diary supplemented with weekly video recordings. A “one parent-one language” system was applied in which the child received Indonesian language from the mother and German language from the father from birth. Since the family live in Indonesia and have regular contact to the collective family members, the child received dominant exposure in Indonesian compared to German. The data was transcribed and analysed using ELAN. The results show that the adults’ verbal inputs in the form of speech addressed to the child were in the form of short utterances which very often had a high-pitched sound and were rich in repetition. The adults’ speech was able to be discriminated by the child. In the pre-production stage, the child could understand approximately 6 (six proper nouns, 18 (eighteen Indonesian words and 14 (fourteen German words. The result reveals that the child could comprehend more words in Indonesian than in German. It was also found that the child could understand some bilingual synonyms, which implies that at the pre-production stage, the child already went through a process of bilingual development.

Language Problems Among Abused and Neglected Children: A Meta-Analytic Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Sylvestre, Audette; Bussières, Ève-Line; Bouchard, Caroline

2016-02-01

Research data show that exposure to abuse and neglect has detrimental effects on a child's language development. In this meta-analysis, we analyze studies (k = 23), to compare the language skills (receptive language, expressive language, pragmatics) of children who have experienced abuse and/or neglect with the language skills of children who have not experienced abuse and/or neglect and to examine whether age or type of maltreatment moderate the relationship between maltreatment and language skills. Results confirm that the language skills of children who have experienced abuse and/or neglect are delayed when compared to children who have not experienced abuse and/or neglect. Compared to older children, young children seem particularly vulnerable to abuse and neglect. No significant differences were demonstrated concerning the type of maltreatment suffered by the child. These findings support the necessity of early detection of language problems in abused and neglected children as well as early intervention in order to implement interventions that will positively stimulate their development. © The Author(s) 2015.

The challenge of linguistic and cultural diversity: Does length of experience affect South African speech-language therapists’ management of children with language impairment?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Frenette Southwood

2015-02-01

Aims: To investigate whether length of clinical experience influenced: number of bilingual children treated, languages spoken by these children, languages in which assessment and remediation can be offered, assessment instrument(s favoured, and languages in which therapy material is required. Method: From questionnaires completed by 243 Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA-registered SLTs who treat children with language problems, two groups were drawn:71 more experienced (ME respondents (20+ years of experience and 79 less experienced (LE respondents (maximum 5 years of experience. Results: The groups did not differ significantly with regard to (1 number of children(monolingual or bilingual with language difficulties seen, (2 number of respondents seeing child clients who have Afrikaans or an African language as home language, (3 number of respondents who can offer intervention in Afrikaans or English and (4 number of respondents who reported needing therapy material in Afrikaans or English. However, significantly more ME than LE respondents reported seeing first language child speakers of English, whereas significantly more LE than ME respondents could provide services, and required therapymaterial, in African languages. Conclusion: More LE than ME SLTs could offer remediation in an African language, but there were few other significant differences between the two groups. There is still an absence of appropriate assessment and remediation material for Afrikaans and African languages, but the increased number of African language speakers entering the profession may contribute to better service delivery to the diverse South African population.

Effects of maternal sensitivity and cognitive and linguistic stimulation on cochlear implant users' language development over four years.

Science.gov (United States)

Quittner, Alexandra L; Cruz, Ivette; Barker, David H; Tobey, Emily; Eisenberg, Laurie S; Niparko, John K

2013-02-01

To examine the effects of observed maternal sensitivity (MS), cognitive stimulation (CS), and linguistic stimulation on the 4-year growth of oral language in young, deaf children receiving a cochlear implant. Previous studies of cochlear implants have not considered the effects of parental behaviors on language outcomes. In this prospective, multisite study, we evaluated parent-child interactions during structured and unstructured play tasks and their effects on oral language development in 188 deaf children receiving a cochlear implant and 97 normal-hearing children as controls. Parent-child interactions were rated on a 7-point scale using the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development's Early Childcare Study codes, which have well-established psychometric properties. Language was assessed using the MacArthur Bates Communicative Development Inventories, the Reynell Developmental Language Scales, and the Comprehensive Assessment of Spoken Language. We used mixed longitudinal modeling to test our hypotheses. After accounting for early hearing experience and child and family demographics, MS and CS predicted significant increases in the growth of oral language. Linguistic stimulation was related to language growth only in the context of high MS. The magnitude of effects of MS and CS on the growth of language was similar to that found for age at cochlear implantation, suggesting that addressing parenting behaviors is a critical target for early language learning after implantation. Copyright © 2013 Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Predictors of parent-child interaction style in dyads with autism.

Science.gov (United States)

Hudry, Kristelle; Aldred, Catherine; Wigham, Sarah; Green, Jonathan; Leadbitter, Kathy; Temple, Kathryn; Barlow, Katherine; McConachie, Helen

2013-10-01

Parent synchrony has been shown to be developmentally important for the growth of communication skills in young children with autism. Understanding individual-differences in parent synchrony and other associated features of dyadic interaction therefore presents as an important step toward the goal of appreciating how and why some parent-child dyads come to adopt more optimal interaction styles, while for others, parent interaction is more asynchronous and less developmentally facilitative. Within the large, well-characterized Preschool Autism Communication Trial (PACT) cohort, baseline parent-child interaction samples were coded for three key aspects of dyadic interaction style; - Parent Synchrony, Child Initiation, and Shared Attention. We explored associations among these measures, demographic characteristics and standardized child assessment scores. While various child factors were associated with each of the interaction measures, very few associations were observed with parent/familial factors. Child language age-equivalence was a significant positive predictor of variation in each interaction measure, while child repetitive symptoms predicted reduced Shared Attention. The three interaction measures were moderately positively inter-related. In the context of childhood autism, variation in dyadic interaction style appears to be driven more by child language and repetitive behaviors than age, social-communication symptoms and non-verbal ability. Parent/family factors contributed little to explaining variability in parent-child interaction, in the current study. Crown Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Issues on raising a bilingual child in Costa Rica: a myth or a reality?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Allen Quesada Pacheco

2011-01-01

Full Text Available This article deals with main issues concerning bilingualism and bilingual first language acquisition (BFLA. A review of the literature is presented on how children learn languages. In addition, this paper summarizes what bilingualism is and addresses how the One-parent One-language (OPOL and the Minority Language at Home (ML@H methods work. The paper includes sample testimonies of Itzel, a three-year-old child, raised with these methods. It also illustrates samples of her code-switching and code-mixing as part of her evolution in bilingual first language acquisition. Based on this evolution, there is some evidence that a child can become bilingual under foreign language conditions. Finally, the article reflects on the decisive role that dedication, consistency and effort have as crucial components to accomplish BFLA.

Parents' Role in the Early Head Start Children's Language Development

Science.gov (United States)

Griswold, Cecelia Smalls

2014-01-01

The development of language during a child's early years has been linked to parental involvement. While Early Head Start (EHS) researchers have theorized that parental involvement is an important factor in language development, there has been little research on how parents view their roles in the language development process. The purpose of this…

Issues in Vertical Scaling of a K-12 English Language Proficiency Test

Science.gov (United States)

Kenyon, Dorry M.; MacGregor, David; Li, Dongyang; Cook, H. Gary

2011-01-01

One of the mandates of the No Child Left Behind Act is that states show adequate yearly progress in their English language learners' (ELLs) acquisition of English language proficiency. States are required to assess ELLs' English language proficiency annually in four language domains (listening, reading, writing, and speaking) to measure their…

Validation of the Chinese-language brief sensation seeking scale: implications for risky riding behaviors of parental motorcyclists and their child passengers.

Science.gov (United States)

Fan, Hsiu-Ping; Lin, Mau-Roung; Bai, Chyi-Huey; Huang, Ping-Wen; Chiang, Yung-Hsiao; Chiu, Wen-Ta

2014-12-01

Motorcycles are the leading cause of road traffic deaths in the Western Pacific and Southeast Asia, where Mandarin Chinese is the most commonly used language. Sensation seeking (SS) is reported to correlate with many risky motor vehicle behaviors, and therefore a culture-adapted Chinese instrument is needed to assess this personality trait in Chinese-speaking motorcycling populations. The standard front and blinded-backward process was carried out to formulate the Chinese-language Brief Sensation Seeking Scale (C-BSSS). 193 parental motorcyclists who rode with their young children were interviewed concerning their SS levels, demographics, riding behaviors, and the driving/riding experiences. A random sample of 30 subjects was re-interviewed 1-2 weeks later to examine the test-retest reliability. Psychometric analyses revealed satisfactory item characteristics, internal consistency, intraobserver reliability, and interobserver reliability. Additionally, parental motorcyclists who had the following characteristics were more likely to be the high sensation seekers (SSers), including male, younger age, presenting risky motor vehicle behaviors of themselves (e.g., higher riding speeds, operating after drinking, using a mobile phone while operating, and receiving a traffic ticket), and carrying child passengers who demonstrated dangerous motorcycling behaviors (e.g., a younger age, non-helmeted, and overloaded). We conclude that the C-BSSS is a useful and reliable measure of SS for ethnic Chinese populations. This instrument may be helpful to develop the future prevention strategy of motorcycle injuries in Chinese parental motorcyclists and their young child passengers. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Accelerating Early Language Development with Multi-Sensory Training

Science.gov (United States)

Bjorn, Piia M.; Kakkuri, Irma; Karvonen, Pirkko; Leppanen, Paavo H. T.

2012-01-01

This paper reports the outcome of a multi-sensory intervention on infant language skills. A programme titled "Rhyming Game and Exercise Club", which included kinaesthetic-tactile mother-child rhyming games performed in natural joint attention situations, was intended to accelerate Finnish six- to eight-month-old infants' language development. The…

A case study of the language in education complaints received by ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies ... have his child's language in education rights acknowledged and implemented within the ... to the School Governing Body (SGB), the provincial Department of Education and finally ...

281 Igbo Symbols: Developing Aesthetic Values on the Igbo Child ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

child has lost the grip of the meaning and value of these symbols. It is difficult for .... language has equally reduced the use of indigenous language (Igbo as the case may .... body of Christ on July22, 1999 as quoted by Nwaorgu (200 1:243).

Teaching Your Child about Asthma

Science.gov (United States)

... the first steps toward asthma control and your peace of mind. But are you ready to explain this complex disease in terms that your child can understand? Keep It Simple for Young Children Use language that is appropriate for your child’s age to ...

The influence of maternal acculturation on child body mass index at age 24 months.

Science.gov (United States)

Sussner, Katarina M; Lindsay, Ana C; Peterson, Karen E

2009-02-01

Obesity rates in preschool-aged children are greatest among Latinos. Studies of the relationship of acculturation to obesity among Latino immigrants have primarily focused on adults and adolescents. We examined the influence of maternal acculturation on child body mass index (BMI) at age 24 and 36 months among predominantly Latino, low-income mother-child pairs enrolled in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children. Maternal characteristics were obtained from interviewer-administered surveys conducted in English or Spanish at 6 to 20 weeks postpartum among 679 participants in a randomized controlled trial of a health promotion intervention in two urban areas in the Northeast. Acculturation measures included: nativity (born in the United States vs foreign born), parents' nativity, years of US residence ( or =8 years), and exclusive use of native language vs nonexclusive use (mixed or English only). Following repeated mailings and telephone calls requesting permission to obtain their child's height and weight from Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children records, informed consent was obtained from 108 mothers. Multivariable linear regression models of maternal acculturation and child BMI z score at age 24 months and age 36 months were estimated among all mother-child pairs and within immigrant-only mother-child pairs, adjusting for relevant maternal characteristics. At age 24 months, children of mothers with exclusive use of native language had higher BMI z scores compared to children of mothers with nonexclusive use among 91 mother-child pairs (beta=.74, P=0.02) and within 63 immigrant-only mother-child pairs (beta=.92, P=0.009). Exclusive use of native language was associated with greater BMI in children as young as age 24 months. Future research should examine the mechanisms by which mothers' language acculturation may affect proximal determinants of energy balance in preschool children, including

There's no language like our language, like no language we know. But how did it evolve?

CERN Multimedia

Wim de Geest

2011-01-01

Every normal child will rapidly acquire the native language to which it is exposed. It will do so with little teaching or coaching. A chimpanzee will fail to do so. Yet, chimpanzees are closer to humans, in genetic and evolutionary terms, than they are to gorillas. The only obvious and important deficit in the ape’s innate intelligence, as compared with man’s, is a missing faculty for using and understanding language. To determine how humans developed this unique capacity for language is the hardest problem in science. It is this problem the talk will address. The approach will be three pronged. In the first part Wim de Geest will attempt to present a couple of innovative insights made possible by the new Evo-Devo and the modern linguistics perspective. In the second part he shall illustrate what is specific for the human faculty of language in its narrow sense. Human linguistic communication is markedly discrete and recursive, to a degree that is obviously absent in other types ...

Skype me! Socially contingent interactions help toddlers learn language.

Science.gov (United States)

Roseberry, Sarah; Hirsh-Pasek, Kathy; Golinkoff, Roberta M

2014-01-01

Language learning takes place in the context of social interactions, yet the mechanisms that render social interactions useful for learning language remain unclear. This study focuses on whether social contingency might support word learning. Toddlers aged 24-30 months (N = 36) were exposed to novel verbs in one of three conditions: live interaction training, socially contingent video training over video chat, and noncontingent video training (yoked video). Results suggest that children only learned novel verbs in socially contingent interactions (live interactions and video chat). This study highlights the importance of social contingency in interactions for language learning and informs the literature on learning through screen media as the first study to examine word learning through video chat technology. © 2013 The Authors. Child Development © 2013 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Pre-service teachers’ awareness of child abuse

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nihal TUNCA

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study is to determine the awareness of pre-service teachers from different departments related to the concept of child abuse. This study aims to determine pre-service teachers’ awareness of child abuse as a qualitative study, conducted in line with phenomenological design. In the study, one of the purposeful sampling methods, maximum diversity sampling method, was employed. The participants of the study are 15 pre-service teachers attending the departments of Psychological Counseling and Guidance, Teacher Education for the Intellectually Disabled, Pre-school Teacher Education, Social Studies, Art Teaching, Computer and Instructional Technologies, German Language Teaching, French Language Teaching, and Teacher Education for the Hearing Impaired, all within the Education Faculty of Anatolian University, Turkey. The data of the study was collected through the focus-group interview technique. The data collected from two different focus-group interviews were analyzed by content analysis technique using the NVivo 8 data analysis program. As a result of the analysis of the data, it was concluded that the pre-service teachers explained the concept of child abuse by most strongly emphasizing emotional abuse and least strongly by emphasizing economic abuse. In light of the pre-service teachers’ opinions, it was also concluded that the culture constructed by society through the meanings attached to genders, society’s view of sexuality, child marriage, proverbs and idioms specific to the local society and superstitions lead to incidences of child abuse. The current study revealed that child abuse can be prevented by providing training to raise the awareness of child abuse primarily for families then children, teachers and other concerned people. It was also found that the majority of pre-service teachers do not have enough information about how to act in the face of an incidence of child abuse.

Speech and Language Problems in Children

Science.gov (United States)

Children vary in their development of speech and language skills. Health care professionals have lists of milestones ... normal. These milestones help figure out whether a child is on track or if he or she ...

Gender Differences in Children's Language: A Meta-Analysis of Slovenian Studies

Science.gov (United States)

Marjanovic-Umek, Ljubica; Fekonja-Peklaj, Urška

2017-01-01

Child gender has been proved to affect toddlers'/children's language development in several studies, but its effect was not found to be stable across different ages or various aspects of language ability. The effect of gender on toddler's, children's and adolescents' language ability was examined in the present meta-analysis of ten Slovenian…

Limited english proficiency, primary language at home, and disparities in children's health care: how language barriers are measured matters.

Science.gov (United States)

Flores, Glenn; Abreu, Milagros; Tomany-Korman, Sandra C

2005-01-01

Approximately 3.5 million U.S. schoolchildren are limited in English proficiency (LEP). Disparities in children's health and health care are associated with both LEP and speaking a language other than English at home, but prior research has not examined which of these two measures of language barriers is most useful in examining health care disparities. Our objectives were to compare primary language spoken at home vs. parental LEP and their associations with health status, access to care, and use of health services in children. We surveyed parents at urban community sites in Boston, asking 74 questions on children's health status, access to health care, and use of health services. Some 98% of the 1,100 participating children and families were of non-white race/ethnicity, 72% of parents were LEP, and 13 different primary languages were spoken at home. "Dose-response" relationships were observed between parental English proficiency and several child and parental sociodemographic features, including children's insurance coverage, parental educational attainment, citizenship and employment, and family income. Similar "dose-response" relationships were noted between the primary language spoken at home and many but not all of the same sociodemographic features. In multivariate analyses, LEP parents were associated with triple the odds of a child having fair/poor health status, double the odds of the child spending at least one day in bed for illness in the past year, and significantly greater odds of children not being brought in for needed medical care for six of nine access barriers to care. None of these findings were observed in analyses of the primary language spoken at home. Individual parental LEP categories were associated with different risks of adverse health status and outcomes. Parental LEP is superior to the primary language spoken at home as a measure of the impact of language barriers on children's health and health care. Individual parental LEP

How Children Learn to Use Language - An Overview of R ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Home; Journals; Resonance – Journal of Science Education; Volume 13; Issue 5. How Children Learn to Use Language - An Overview of R. Narasimhan's Ideas on Child Language Acquisition. Raman Chandrasekar. General Article Volume 13 Issue 5 May 2008 pp 430-439 ...

Predictors of growth or attrition of the first language in Latino children with specific language impairment

Science.gov (United States)

Simon-Cereijido, Gabriela; Gutiérrez-Clellen, Vera F.; Sweet, Monica

2012-01-01

We investigated the factors that may help understand the differential rates of language development in the home language (i.e., Spanish) of Latino preschoolers with specific language impairment (SLI). Children were randomly assigned to either bilingual or English-only small group interventions and followed from preschool to kindergarten. Predictors of Spanish growth included the language of intervention, the child’s level of language development or severity, the child’s socio-emotional skills, and the child’s level of English use. Spanish performance outcomes were assessed over time using a series of longitudinal models with baseline and post-treatment measures nested within child. Children demonstrated growth on Spanish outcomes over time. The language of instruction and the child’s level of vocabulary and socio-emotional development at baseline were significant predictors of differences in rates of growth in the home language. Clinicians may need to take into consideration these factors when making clinical recommendations. PMID:24489415

Parent Stress and Perceptions of Language Development: Comparing Down Syndrome and Other Developmental Disabilities

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Ashlyn L.; Romski, MaryAnn; Sevcik, Rose A.; Adamson, Lauren B.; Barker, R. Michael

2013-01-01

This study extended research on the Down syndrome advantage by examining differences in parent stress and parent perceptions of language development between 29 parents of young children with Down syndrome and 82 parents of children with other developmental disabilities. Parents of children with Down syndrome reported lower levels of total stress, child-related stress, and stress surrounding the parent-child interaction. Parents of children in both groups reported that they felt successful in their ability to impact their children’s communication development but did differ on perceptions of difficulty such that parents of children with Down syndrome perceived their children’s communication difficulties as less severe despite the children exhibiting similar language skills. Finally, after accounting for potential explanatory confounding variables, child diagnosis remained a significant predictor of parent stress and perceptions of language development. Results highlight the importance of considering etiology when assisting families raising a child with a disability. PMID:24753637

[First language acquisition research and theories of language acquisition].

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, S; Jungheim, M; Ptok, M

2014-04-01

In principle, a child can seemingly easily acquire any given language. First language acquisition follows a certain pattern which to some extent is found to be language independent. Since time immemorial, it has been of interest why children are able to acquire language so easily. Different disciplinary and methodological orientations addressing this question can be identified. A selective literature search in PubMed and Scopus was carried out and relevant monographies were considered. Different, partially overlapping phases can be distinguished in language acquisition research: whereas in ancient times, deprivation experiments were carried out to discover the "original human language", the era of diary studies began in the mid-19th century. From the mid-1920s onwards, behaviouristic paradigms dominated this field of research; interests were focussed on the determination of normal, average language acquisition. The subsequent linguistic period was strongly influenced by the nativist view of Chomsky and the constructivist concepts of Piaget. Speech comprehension, the role of speech input and the relevance of genetic disposition became the centre of attention. The interactionist concept led to a revival of the convergence theory according to Stern. Each of these four major theories--behaviourism, cognitivism, interactionism and nativism--have given valuable and unique impulses, but no single theory is universally accepted to provide an explanation of all aspects of language acquisition. Moreover, it can be critically questioned whether clinicians consciously refer to one of these theories in daily routine work and whether therapies are then based on this concept. It remains to be seen whether or not new theories of grammar, such as the so-called construction grammar (CxG), will eventually change the general concept of language acquisition.

The Impact of Early Social Interactions on Later Language Development in Spanish-English Bilingual Infants

Science.gov (United States)

Ramírez-Esparza, Nairán; García-Sierra, Adrián; Kuhl, Patricia K.

2017-01-01

This study tested the impact of child-directed language input on language development in Spanish-English bilingual infants (N = 25, 11- and 14-month-olds from the Seattle metropolitan area), across languages and independently for each language, controlling for socioeconomic status. Language input was characterized by social interaction variables,…

Promoting language and social communication development in babies through an early storybook reading intervention.

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Michelle I; Westerveld, Marleen F; Trembath, David; Gillon, Gail T

2017-12-15

This study examined the effectiveness of low- and high-intensity early storybook reading (ESR) intervention workshops delivered to parents for promoting their babies language and social communication development. These workshops educated parents on how to provide a stimulating home reading environment and engage in parent-child interactions during ESR. Parent-child dyads (n = 32); child age: 3-12 months, were assigned into two intervention conditions: low and high intensity (LI versus HI) groups. Both groups received the same ESR strategies; however, the HI group received additional intervention time, demonstrations and support. Outcome measures were assessed pre-intervention, one and three months post-intervention and when the child turned 2 years of age. A significant time-group interaction with increased performance in the HI group was observed for language scores immediately post-intervention (p = 0.007) and at 2-years-of-age (p = 0.022). Significantly higher broader social communication scores were associated with the HI group at each of the time points (p = 0.018, p = 0.001 and p = 0.021, respectively). Simple main effect revealed that both groups demonstrated a significant improvement in language, broader social communication and home reading practices scores. ESR intervention workshops may promote language and broader social communication skills. The HI ESR intervention workshop was associated with significantly higher language and broader social communication scores.

Parents' Spatial Language Mediates a Sex Difference in Preschoolers' Spatial-Language Use.

Science.gov (United States)

Pruden, Shannon M; Levine, Susan C

2017-11-01

Do boys produce more terms than girls to describe the spatial world-that is, dimensional adjectives (e.g., big, little, tall, short), shape terms (e.g., circle, square), and words describing spatial features and properties (e.g., bent, curvy, edge)? If a sex difference in children's spatial-language use exists, is it related to the spatial language that parents use when interacting with children? We longitudinally tracked the development of spatial-language production in children between the ages of 14 and 46 months in a diverse sample of 58 parent-child dyads interacting in their homes. Boys produced and heard more of these three categories of spatial words, which we call "what" spatial types (i.e., unique "what" spatial words), but not more of all other word types, than girls. Mediation analysis revealed that sex differences in children's spatial talk at 34 to 46 months of age were fully mediated by parents' earlier spatial-language use, when children were 14 to 26 months old, time points at which there was no sex difference in children's spatial-language use.

Language and Speech Improvement for Kindergarten and First Grade. A Supplementary Handbook.

Science.gov (United States)

Cole, Roberta; And Others

The 16-unit language and speech improvement handbook for kindergarten and first grade students contains an introductory section which includes a discussion of the child's developmental speech and language characteristics, a sound development chart, a speech and hearing language screening test, the Henja articulation test, and a general outline of…

Improving Latino Children's Early Language and Literacy Development: Key Features of Early Childhood Education within Family Literacy Programmes

Science.gov (United States)

Jung, Youngok; Zuniga, Stephen; Howes, Carollee; Jeon, Hyun-Joo; Parrish, Deborah; Quick, Heather; Manship, Karen; Hauser, Alison

2016-01-01

Noting the lack of research on how early childhood education (ECE) programmes within family literacy programmes influence Latino children's early language and literacy development, this study examined key features of ECE programmes, specifically teacher-child interactions and child engagement in language and literacy activities and how these…

Medical and biologic factors of speech and language development in children (part 2

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chernov D.N.

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The recent data shows that medico-biological aspects of the study of speech and language development in children should be expanded to include an analysis of various socio-cultural factors as the problem requires an interdisciplinary approach. The review stresses the necessity of methodological approach to study of bio- socio-cultural conditions of emerging speech and language abilities in ontogenesis. Psycho-pedagogical aspect involves: informing parents about the medical and biological aspects of speech and language development in childhood; the active involvement of parents in the remedial and preventive activities carried out by specialists; activities to improve the quality and quantity of child-parent interaction depending on the severity and nature of deviations in child speech and language development.

Quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the school and home language environments of preschool-aged children with ASD.

Science.gov (United States)

Burgess, Sloane; Audet, Lisa; Harjusola-Webb, Sanna

2013-01-01

The purpose of this research was to begin to characterize and compare the school and home language environments of 10 preschool-aged children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Naturalistic language samples were collected from each child, utilizing Language ENvironment Analysis (LENA) digital voice recorder technology, at 3-month intervals over the course of one year. LENA software was used to identify 15-min segments of each sample that represented the highest number of adult words used during interactions with each child for all school and home language samples. Selected segments were transcribed and analyzed using Systematic Analysis of Language Transcripts (SALT). LENA data was utilized to evaluate quantitative characteristics of the school and home language environments and SALT data was utilized to evaluate quantitative and qualitative characteristics of language environment. Results revealed many similarities in home and school language environments including the degree of semantic richness, and complexity of adult language, types of utterances, and pragmatic functions of utterances used by adults during interactions with child participants. Study implications and recommendations for future research are discussed. The reader will be able to, (1) describe how two language sampling technologies can be utilized together to collect and analyze language samples, (2) describe characteristics of the school and home language environments of young children with ASD, and (3) identify environmental factors that may lead to more positive expressive language outcomes of young children with ASD. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The relationship between mother narrative style and child memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Kayıran, Sinan Mahir; Cure, Sena

2011-07-26

The question of whether children and infants have memory capabilities similar to adults has long been of interest. Until recently, it was thought that compared to adults, infants have very limited memory processing abilities. Knowledge about factors affecting a child's memory abilities can help families (specifically mothers) behave in a manner that best benefits their children in language and memory skills. The present study examines one factor that may underlie a child's memory capabilities; namely the mother's narrative style. Convenience sampling was used to select participants. Forty healthy children (mean age of 31.55 months, range 25-37 months) and their mothers were entered into the study. All participants were native Turkish speakers, from similar socioeconomic status backgrounds. Memory was assessed by a modified version of the Magic Shrinking Machine. Narrative style was assessed by the mother "reading" a Frog Story; a picture book with no words in it. Children were then grouped according to their mother's level of narrative style. Children's language skills were measured via the Turkish form of the CDI (Communicative Development Inventory) which was translated to Turkish as TIGE. To explore the relationships between mothers' narrative styles and children's memory and language skills and between children's language skills and memory capabilities, linear regressions were run. There were no significant correlations among any comparisons (P > 0.05). Children's language skills do not improve according to their mothers' narrative styles, and children do not show better memory abilities when mothers use more words and longer sentences. In order to have a better understanding of these relationships, future research that includes several more variables is needed. Child; Mother; Memory; Narrative style.

Does socioeconomic level have an effect on school-age language ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Socioeconomic status (SES) has been reported in several contexts as a predictor of child language skills. This study questions whether this holds true for New Zealand, a developed country in which government provides funding for additional academic support to low-SES schoolchildren. The language of 67 ...

Language Learning as Culture Keeping: Family Language Policies of Transnational Adoptive Parents

Science.gov (United States)

Shin, Sarah J.

2014-01-01

This study investigates how parents of international adoptees explain their decision to pursue birth-language education for their children and how they go about achieving their goals. It focuses on the perspectives of 16 White U.S. parents who have at least one adopted school-aged child (ages 5 to 18) either currently or previously enrolled in a…

Socioeconomic Status and Parent-Child Relationships Predict Metacognitive Questions to Preschoolers

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, R. Bruce; Foster, Brandon J.

2014-01-01

The importance of metacognitive language exposure to early educational achievement is widely recognized in the development literature. However, few studies have explored parents' metacognitive language, while accounting for family SES and stress within the parent-child relationship. This is a preliminary descriptive study to explore…

A New Language for Child Psychotherapy: A Response to Jerald Kay

Science.gov (United States)

Clark, James J.; Borden, William

2009-01-01

Jerald Kay's article in this issue reviews important research in the areas of adult psychotherapy and neuroscience, and their implications for child psychotherapy. We respond by exploring some of the strengths and limitations of these lines of research and their implications for child psychotherapy development and research. The paper closes with…

The challenge of linguistic and cultural diversity: Does length of experience affect South African speech-language therapists’ management of children with language impairment?

Science.gov (United States)

Southwood, Frenette; van Dulm, Ondene

2015-01-01

Background South African speech-language therapists (SLTs) currently do not reflect the country's linguistic and cultural diversity. The question arises as to who might be better equipped currently to provide services to multilingual populations: SLTs with more clinical experience in such contexts, or recently trained SLTs who are themselves linguistically and culturally diverse and whose training programmes deliberately focused on multilingualism and multiculturalism? Aims To investigate whether length of clinical experience influenced: number of bilingual children treated, languages spoken by these children, languages in which assessment and remediation can be offered, assessment instrument(s) favoured, and languages in which therapy material is required. Method From questionnaires completed by 243 Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA)-registered SLTs who treat children with language problems, two groups were drawn: 71 more experienced (ME) respondents (20+ years of experience) and 79 less experienced (LE) respondents (maximum 5 years of experience). Results The groups did not differ significantly with regard to (1) number of children (monolingual or bilingual) with language difficulties seen, (2) number of respondents seeing child clients who have Afrikaans or an African language as home language, (3) number of respondents who can offer intervention in Afrikaans or English and (4) number of respondents who reported needing therapy material in Afrikaans or English. However, significantly more ME than LE respondents reported seeing first language child speakers of English, whereas significantly more LE than ME respondents could provide services, and required therapy material, in African languages. Conclusion More LE than ME SLTs could offer remediation in an African language, but there were few other significant differences between the two groups. There is still an absence of appropriate assessment and remediation material for Afrikaans and African

The challenge of linguistic and cultural diversity: Does length of experience affect South African speech-language therapists' management of children with language impairment?

Science.gov (United States)

Southwood, Frenette; Van Dulm, Ondene

2015-02-10

South African speech-language therapists (SLTs) currently do not reflect the country's linguistic and cultural diversity. The question arises as to who might be better equipped currently to provide services to multilingual populations: SLTs with more clinical experience in such contexts, or recently trained SLTs who are themselves linguistically and culturally diverse and whose training programmes deliberately focused on multilingualism and multiculturalism? To investigate whether length of clinical experience influenced: number of bilingual children treated, languages spoken by these children, languages in which assessment and remediation can be offered, assessment instrument(s) favoured, and languages in which therapy material is required. From questionnaires completed by 243 Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA)-registered SLTs who treat children with language problems, two groups were drawn:71 more experienced (ME) respondents (20+ years of experience) and 79 less experienced (LE) respondents (maximum 5 years of experience). The groups did not differ significantly with regard to (1) number of children(monolingual or bilingual) with language difficulties seen, (2) number of respondents seeing child clients who have Afrikaans or an African language as home language, (3) number of respondents who can offer intervention in Afrikaans or English and (4) number of respondents who reported needing therapy material in Afrikaans or English. However, significantly more ME than LE respondents reported seeing first language child speakers of English, whereas significantly more LE than ME respondents could provide services, and required therapy material, in African languages. More LE than ME SLTs could offer remediation in an African language, but there were few other significant differences between the two groups. There is still an absence of appropriate assessment and remediation material for Afrikaans and African languages, but the increased number of African

The Words Children Hear: Picture Books and the Statistics for Language Learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Montag, Jessica L; Jones, Michael N; Smith, Linda B

2015-09-01

Young children learn language from the speech they hear. Previous work suggests that greater statistical diversity of words and of linguistic contexts is associated with better language outcomes. One potential source of lexical diversity is the text of picture books that caregivers read aloud to children. Many parents begin reading to their children shortly after birth, so this is potentially an important source of linguistic input for many children. We constructed a corpus of 100 children's picture books and compared word type and token counts in that sample and a matched sample of child-directed speech. Overall, the picture books contained more unique word types than the child-directed speech. Further, individual picture books generally contained more unique word types than length-matched, child-directed conversations. The text of picture books may be an important source of vocabulary for young children, and these findings suggest a mechanism that underlies the language benefits associated with reading to children. © The Author(s) 2015.

Analysis on the Difficulties Faced by a Bilingual Child in Reading and Writing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rizki Hardiyanti

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Bilingual child ability in two languages is become popular issue in the comparison of those two languages. In this paper, the Indonesian bilingual child has parent, school and course using English actively, then his environment using Bahasa Indonesia. This research was conducted to measure ability and difficulties faced by bilingual child in reading and writing in two languages Bahasa Indonesia- English. This journal applied a qualitative research design. Qualitative research is stated as naturalistic study that has the natural setting, as the direct source of data and the researcher is the key instrument  (Bogdan and Biklen, 1992. To specify the design in this journal, this qualitative method was used to analyze a specific person of Bilingual Child. The data were taken from observation, interview, video recording of the child’s reading the English and Bahasa Indonesia textbook story and written test of the child’s writing the English and Bahasa Indonesia summary of textbook story. In both English and Bahasa Indonesia, the reading difficulties appear related to pronunciation, intonation, expression and word stress and the writing difficulties appear related to relevance, organization, vocabulary and grammar.

Can language acquisition be facilitated in cochlear implanted children? Comparison of cognitive and behavioral psychologists' viewpoints.

Science.gov (United States)

Monshizadeh, Leila; Vameghi, Roshanak; Yadegari, Fariba; Sajedi, Firoozeh; Hashemi, Seyed Basir

2016-11-08

To study how language acquisition can be facilitated for cochlear implanted children based on cognitive and behavioral psychology viewpoints? To accomplish this objective, literature related to behaviorist and cognitive psychology prospects about language acquisition were studied and some relevant books as well as Medline, Cochrane Library, Google scholar, ISI web of knowledge and Scopus databases were searched. Among 25 articles that were selected, only 11 met the inclusion criteria and were included in the study. Based on the inclusion criteria, review articles, expert opinion studies, non-experimental and experimental studies that clearly focused on behavioral and cognitive factors affecting language acquisition in children were selected. Finally, the selected articles were appraised according to guidelines of appraisal of medical studies. Due to the importance of the cochlear implanted child's language performance, the comparison of behaviorist and cognitive psychology points of view in child language acquisition was done. Since each theoretical basis, has its own positive effects on language, and since the two are not in opposition to one another, it can be said that a set of behavioral and cognitive factors might facilitate the process of language acquisition in children. Behavioral psychologists believe that repetition, as well as immediate reinforcement of child's language behavior help him easily acquire the language during a language intervention program, while cognitive psychologists emphasize on the relationship between information processing, memory improvement through repetitively using words along with "associated" pictures and objects, motor development and language acquisition. It is recommended to use a combined approach based on both theoretical frameworks while planning a language intervention program.

Assessing recall in mothers' retrospective reports: concerns over children's speech and language development.

Science.gov (United States)

Russell, Ginny; Miller, Laura L; Ford, Tamsin; Golding, Jean

2014-01-01

Retrospective recall about children's symptoms is used to establish early developmental patterns in clinical practice and is also utilised in child psychopathology research. Some studies have indicated that the accuracy of retrospective recall is influenced by life events. Our hypothesis was that an intervention: speech and language therapy, would adversely affect the accuracy of parent recall of early concerns about their child's speech and language development. Mothers (n = 5,390) reported on their child's speech development (child male to female ratio = 50:50) when their children were aged 18 or 30 months, and also reported on these early concerns retrospectively, 10 years later, when their children were 13 years old. Overall reliability of retrospective recall was good, 86 % of respondents accurately recalling their earlier concerns. As hypothesised, however, the speech and language intervention was strongly associated with inaccurate retrospective recall about concerns in the early years (Relative Risk Ratio = 19.03; 95 % CI:14.78-24.48). Attendance at speech therapy was associated with increased recall of concerns that were not reported at the time. The study suggests caution is required when interpreting retrospective reports of abnormal child development as recall may be influenced by intervening events.

The Sounds of Picturebooks for English Language Learning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Teresa Fleta Guillén

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Picturebooks have long been recognised to aid language development in both first and second language acquisition. This paper investigates the relevance of the acoustic elements of picturebooks to raise phonological awareness and to fine-tune listening. In order to enhance the learners’ aural and oral skills for English language development, the paper proposes that listening to stories from picturebooks plays a most important role for raising awareness of the sound system of English in child second-language learners. To provide practical advice for teachers of young learners, this article describes the ways that picturebooks promote listening and speaking and develops criteria to select picturebooks for English instruction focusing on the acoustic elements of language.

[Influence of home nurture environment on language development and social emotion in children with developmental language disorder].

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Guo-Kai; Liu, Gui-Hua; Qian, Qin-Fang; Ge, Pin; Xie, Yan-Qin; Yang, Min-Yan; Wang, Zhang-Qiong; Ou, Ping

2017-05-01

To investigate the influence of home nurture environment on language development and social emotion in children with developmental language disorder (DLD). The 1-3 Years Child Home Nurture Environment Scale, Gesell Developmental Scale, and Infant-Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment Scale were used for the evaluation of 125 children with DLD. A total of 130 children with normal language development matched for age and sex were enrolled as control group. Compared with the control group, the DLD group had a significantly higher proportion of children in a bad home nurture environment and significantly lower scores of all domains of home nurture environment (Pnurture environment score was positively correlated with the level of language development (r=0.536, Pnurture environment had direct influence on language development in children with DLD and affected their language development via the mediating effect of social emotion. Home nurture environment influences language development and social emotion in children with DLD, and social emotion has a partial mediating effect between home nurture environment and language development.

Language and the Developing Child: Pivotal Ideas of Katrina de Hirsch.

Science.gov (United States)

Jansky, Jeannette Jefferson

1986-01-01

The paper examines the contributions of Katrina de Hirsch to the understanding of developmental language disabilities, particularly in the areas of neurophysiological immaturity, the cluttering syndrome, the prediction of reading failure, and normal language development. (Author/DB)

A experiência da maternidade e a dialogia mãe-filho com distúrbio de linguagem Maternal experience and language impairment mother-child dialogics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anelise Henrich Crestani

2012-04-01

Full Text Available TEMA: a experiência da maternidade e dialogia mãe-filho com distúrbio de linguagem. PROCEDIMENTOS: o objetivo de investigar as possíveis relações entre a constituição da experiência da maternidade e a dialogia mãe-filho com distúrbio de linguagem. A amostra desta pesquisa foi constituída por 4 crianças, entre 2 e 4 anos, com distúrbio de linguagem, e suas mães. As mães foram submetidas a uma entrevista semi-estruturada acerca da experiência materna e a possibilidade de a mesma ter passado por alterações emocionais tais como a depressão e/ou ansiedade. Coletou-se uma interação mãe-filho, e em um caso avó-neta, através da filmagem da díade em atividade lúdica para analisar o modo como a dialogia e a interação aconteciam na díade. RESULTADOS: demonstraram que as quatro crianças estiveram sujeitas a interações com mães e avó com índices de ansiedade (dois casos e depressão (dois casos. Apenas uma mãe não possuía tais índices e esta possuía dialogia adequada com a filha. CONCLUSÃO: os dados demonstraram relações entre a dialogia mãe-filho e a experiência materna. Houve distinções na dialogia e no brincar relacionados aos estados emocionais das mães e, em um caso, da avó.BACKGROUND: the maternal experience and language impairment mother-child dialogics. PROCEDURES: the aim was to research the possible relations between maternal experience and mother-child dialogics, in language impairment children cases. The sample was made up with four children, between two and four year old with language impairment and their mothers.The mothers answered a semi-structured interview about the maternal experience and possible mothers' emotional signs like anxiety and depression. The pairs engaged in interaction were videotaped in order to interpret the mother's speech, in one case grand-mother, and the interaction process. RESULTS: the results showed that the children were in interactions with mothers and a grandmother

Parent-Child Gesture Use during Problem Solving in Autistic Spectrum Disorder

Science.gov (United States)

Medeiros, Kristen; Winsler, Adam

2014-01-01

This study examined the relationship between child language skills and parent and child gestures of 58 youths with and without an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis. Frequencies and rates of total gesture use as well as five categories of gestures (deictic, conventional, beat, iconic, and metaphoric) were reliably coded during the…

Imitative Production of Regular Past Tense -Ed by English-Speaking Children with Specific Language Impairment

Science.gov (United States)

Dalal, Rinky Harish; Loeb, Diane Frome

2005-01-01

Background: Language intervention procedures often involve the speech-language pathologist highlighting or making more salient forms that are problematic for the child with a language impairment. According to limited processing accounts of specific language impairment (SLI), one way to increase the saliency of a form is to manipulate its sentence…

A new measure of child vocal reciprocity in children with autism spectrum disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Harbison, Amy L; Woynaroski, Tiffany G; Tapp, Jon; Wade, Joshua W; Warlaumont, Anne S; Yoder, Paul J

2018-03-06

Children's vocal development occurs in the context of reciprocal exchanges with a communication partner who models "speechlike" productions. We propose a new measure of child vocal reciprocity, which we define as the degree to which an adult vocal response increases the probability of an immediately following child vocal response. Vocal reciprocity is likely to be associated with the speechlikeness of vocal communication in young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Two studies were conducted to test the utility of the new measure. The first used simulated vocal samples with randomly sequenced child and adult vocalizations to test the accuracy of the proposed index of child vocal reciprocity. The second was an empirical study of 21 children with ASD who were preverbal or in the early stages of language development. Daylong vocal samples collected in the natural environment were computer analyzed to derive the proposed index of child vocal reciprocity, which was highly stable when derived from two daylong vocal samples and was associated with speechlikeness of vocal communication. This association was significant even when controlling for chance probability of child vocalizations to adult vocal responses, probability of adult vocalizations, or probability of child vocalizations. A valid measure of children's vocal reciprocity might eventually improve our ability to predict which children are on track to develop useful speech and/or are most likely to respond to language intervention. A link to a free, publicly-available software program to derive the new measure of child vocal reciprocity is provided. Autism Res 2018. © 2018 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Children and adults often engage in back-and-forth vocal exchanges. The extent to which they do so is believed to support children's early speech and language development. Two studies tested a new measure of child vocal reciprocity using computer-generated and real

Parent-child reading interactions among English and English as a second language speakers in an underserved pediatric clinic in Hawai'i.

Science.gov (United States)

Kitabayashi, Kristyn M; Huang, Gary Y; Linskey, Katy R; Pirga, Jason; Bane-Terakubo, Teresa; Lee, Meta T

2008-10-01

The purpose of this study was to compare reading patterns between English-speaking and English as a Second Language (ESL) families in a health care setting in Hawai'i. A cross-sectional study was performed at an underserved pediatric primary care clinic in Hawai'i. Caregivers of patients between the ages of 6 months to 5 years were asked questions regarding demographics and parent-child reading interactions. Respondents were categorized into English-speaking or ESL groups based on primary language spoken at home. Pearson chi2 tests and Fisher exact tests were performed to compare demographic differences, reading frequency, and reading attitudes between groups. One-hundred three respondents completed the survey Fifty percent were ESL. All ESL respondents were of Asian-Pacific Islander (API) or mixed Asian ethnicity. All Caucasians in the study (n = 9) were in the English-speaking group. Between the English-speaking (n = 52) and ESL (n = 51) groups, there were no significant statistical differences in age or gender of the child, reading attitudes, or parent's educational status. Parents in the ESL group read to their children significantly fewer days per week than their English-speaking counterparts, had significantly fewer books in the home, and lived significantly fewer years in the United States. The findings suggest that API immigrant families share similar attitudes about reading as English-speaking families in Hawai'i but have significantly fewer books in their household and read significantly less frequently Physicians working with API populations should be aware that immigrant children may have fewer reading interactions and should counsel parents on the importance of reading daily.

Creating Awareness of a Second Language and Another Culture in Elementary Children.

Science.gov (United States)

Vabulas, Lani; Yono, Tara; Zach, Rebecca

This study examined why preschool, kindergarten, and 4th grade students had poor comprehension of a second language. The reasons for this were threefold: learning a second language is not essential to a child's life at these ages; they are not motivated to learn a second language on their own; and it was widely thought that learning a second…

Cumulative environmental risk in substance abusing women: early intervention, parenting stress, child abuse potential and child development.

Science.gov (United States)

Nair, Prasanna; Schuler, Maureen E; Black, Maureen M; Kettinger, Laurie; Harrington, Donna

2003-09-01

To assess the relationship between cumulative environmental risks and early intervention, parenting attitudes, potential for child abuse and child development in substance abusing mothers. We studied 161 substance-abusing women, from a randomized longitudinal study of a home based early intervention, who had custody of their children through 18 months. The intervention group received weekly home visits in the first 6 months and biweekly visits from 6 to 18 months. Parenting stress and child abuse potential were assessed at 6 and 18 months postpartum. Children's mental and motor development (Bayley MDI and PDI) and language development (REEL) were assessed at 6, 12, and 18 months postpartum. Ten maternal risk factors were assessed: maternal depression, domestic violence, nondomestic violence, family size, incarceration, no significant other in home, negative life events, psychiatric problems, homelessness, and severity of drug use. Level of risk was recoded into four categories (2 or less, 3, 4, and 5 or more), which had adequate cell sizes for repeated measures analysis. Repeated measures analyses were run to examine how level of risk and group (intervention or control) were related to parenting stress, child abuse potential, and children's mental, motor and language development over time. Parenting stress and child abuse potential were higher for women with five risks or more compared with women who had four or fewer risks; children's mental, motor, and language development were not related to level of risk. Children in the intervention group had significantly higher scores on the PDI at 6 and 18 months (107.4 vs. 103.6 and 101.1 vs. 97.2) and had marginally better scores on the MDI at 6 and 12 months (107.7 vs. 104.2 and 103.6 vs. 100.1), compared to the control group. Compared to drug-abusing women with fewer than five risks, women with five or more risks found parenting more stressful and indicated greater inclination towards abusive and neglectful behavior

Keyboarding, Language Arts, and the Elementary School Child.

Science.gov (United States)

Balajthy, Ernest

1988-01-01

Discusses benefits of keyboarding instruction for elementary school students, emphasizing the integration of keyboarding with language arts instruction. Traditional typing and computer-assisted instruction are discussed, six software packages for adapting keyboarding instruction to the classroom are reviewed, and suggestions for software selection…

Predictors of spoken language development following pediatric cochlear implantation.

Science.gov (United States)

Boons, Tinne; Brokx, Jan P L; Dhooge, Ingeborg; Frijns, Johan H M; Peeraer, Louis; Vermeulen, Anneke; Wouters, Jan; van Wieringen, Astrid

2012-01-01

Although deaf children with cochlear implants (CIs) are able to develop good language skills, the large variability in outcomes remains a significant concern. The first aim of this study was to evaluate language skills in children with CIs to establish benchmarks. The second aim was to make an estimation of the optimal age at implantation to provide maximal opportunities for the child to achieve good language skills afterward. The third aim was to gain more insight into the causes of variability to set recommendations for optimizing the rehabilitation process of prelingually deaf children with CIs. Receptive and expressive language development of 288 children who received CIs by age five was analyzed in a retrospective multicenter study. Outcome measures were language quotients (LQs) on the Reynell Developmental Language Scales and Schlichting Expressive Language Test at 1, 2, and 3 years after implantation. Independent predictive variables were nine child-related, environmental, and auditory factors. A series of multiple regression analyses determined the amount of variance in expressive and receptive language outcomes attributable to each predictor when controlling for the other variables. Simple linear regressions with age at first fitting and independent samples t tests demonstrated that children implanted before the age of two performed significantly better on all tests than children who were implanted at an older age. The mean LQ was 0.78 with an SD of 0.18. A child with an LQ lower than 0.60 (= 0.78-0.18) within 3 years after implantation was labeled as a weak performer compared with other deaf children implanted before the age of two. Contralateral stimulation with a second CI or a hearing aid and the absence of additional disabilities were related to better language outcomes. The effect of environmental factors, comprising multilingualism, parental involvement, and communication mode increased over time. Three years after implantation, the total multiple

Effect of socioeconomic status disparity on child language and neural outcome: how early is early?

Science.gov (United States)

Hurt, Hallam; Betancourt, Laura M

2016-01-01

It is not news that poverty adversely affects child outcome. The literature is replete with reports of deleterious effects on developmental outcome, cognitive function, and school performance in children and youth. Causative factors include poor nutrition, exposure to toxins, inadequate parenting, lack of cognitive stimulation, unstable social support, genetics, and toxic environments. Less is known regarding how early in life adverse effects may be detected. This review proposes to elucidate "how early is early" through discussion of seminal articles related to the effect of socioeconomic status on language outcome and a discussion of the emerging literature on effects of socioeconomic status disparity on brain structure in very young children. Given the young ages at which such outcomes are detected, the critical need for early targeted interventions for our youngest is underscored. Further, the fiscal reasonableness of initiating quality interventions supports these initiatives. As early life adversity produces lasting and deleterious effects on developmental outcome and brain structure, increased focus on programs and policies directed to reducing the impact of socioeconomic disparities is essential.

Maternal cell phone use in early pregnancy and child’s language, communication and motor skills at 3 and 5 years: the Norwegian mother and child cohort study (MoBa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eleni Papadopoulou

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Cell phone use during pregnancy is a public health concern. We investigated the association between maternal cell phone use in pregnancy and child’s language, communication and motor skills at 3 and 5 years. Methods This prospective study includes 45,389 mother-child pairs, participants of the MoBa, recruited at mid-pregnancy from 1999 to 2008. Maternal frequency of cell phone use in early pregnancy and child language, communication and motor skills at 3 and 5 years, were assessed by questionnaires. Logistic regression was used to estimate the associations. Results No cell phone use in early pregnancy was reported by 9.8% of women, while 39%, 46.9% and 4.3% of the women were categorized as low, medium and high cell phone users. Children of cell phone user mothers had 17% (OR = 0.83, 95% CI: 0.77, 0.89 lower adjusted risk of having low sentence complexity at 3 years, compared to children of non-users. The risk was 13%, 22% and 29% lower by low, medium and high maternal cell phone use. Additionally, children of cell phone users had lower risk of low motor skills score at 3 years, compared to children of non-users, but this association was not found at 5 years. We found no association between maternal cell phone use and low communication skills. Conclusions We reported a decreased risk of low language and motor skills at three years in relation to prenatal cell phone use, which might be explained by enhanced maternal-child interaction among cell phone users. No evidence of adverse neurodevelopmental effects of prenatal cell phone use was reported.

Measles: Make Sure Your Child Is Fully Immunized

Science.gov (United States)

... this? Submit What's this? Submit Button Past Emails Measles: Make Sure Your Child is Fully Immunized Language: ... also become infected if they are not protected. Measles in the U.S. From January 2 to March ...

Bilateral versus unilateral cochlear implants in children: a study of spoken language outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Sarant, Julia; Harris, David; Bennet, Lisa; Bant, Sharyn

2014-01-01

Although it has been established that bilateral cochlear implants (CIs) offer additional speech perception and localization benefits to many children with severe to profound hearing loss, whether these improved perceptual abilities facilitate significantly better language development has not yet been clearly established. The aims of this study were to compare language abilities of children having unilateral and bilateral CIs to quantify the rate of any improvement in language attributable to bilateral CIs and to document other predictors of language development in children with CIs. The receptive vocabulary and language development of 91 children was assessed when they were aged either 5 or 8 years old by using the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (fourth edition), and either the Preschool Language Scales (fourth edition) or the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals (fourth edition), respectively. Cognitive ability, parent involvement in children's intervention or education programs, and family reading habits were also evaluated. Language outcomes were examined by using linear regression analyses. The influence of elements of parenting style, child characteristics, and family background as predictors of outcomes were examined. Children using bilateral CIs achieved significantly better vocabulary outcomes and significantly higher scores on the Core and Expressive Language subscales of the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals (fourth edition) than did comparable children with unilateral CIs. Scores on the Preschool Language Scales (fourth edition) did not differ significantly between children with unilateral and bilateral CIs. Bilateral CI use was found to predict significantly faster rates of vocabulary and language development than unilateral CI use; the magnitude of this effect was moderated by child age at activation of the bilateral CI. In terms of parenting style, high levels of parental involvement, low amounts of screen time, and more time spent

Bilateral Versus Unilateral Cochlear Implants in Children: A Study of Spoken Language Outcomes

Science.gov (United States)

Harris, David; Bennet, Lisa; Bant, Sharyn

2014-01-01

Objectives: Although it has been established that bilateral cochlear implants (CIs) offer additional speech perception and localization benefits to many children with severe to profound hearing loss, whether these improved perceptual abilities facilitate significantly better language development has not yet been clearly established. The aims of this study were to compare language abilities of children having unilateral and bilateral CIs to quantify the rate of any improvement in language attributable to bilateral CIs and to document other predictors of language development in children with CIs. Design: The receptive vocabulary and language development of 91 children was assessed when they were aged either 5 or 8 years old by using the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (fourth edition), and either the Preschool Language Scales (fourth edition) or the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals (fourth edition), respectively. Cognitive ability, parent involvement in children’s intervention or education programs, and family reading habits were also evaluated. Language outcomes were examined by using linear regression analyses. The influence of elements of parenting style, child characteristics, and family background as predictors of outcomes were examined. Results: Children using bilateral CIs achieved significantly better vocabulary outcomes and significantly higher scores on the Core and Expressive Language subscales of the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals (fourth edition) than did comparable children with unilateral CIs. Scores on the Preschool Language Scales (fourth edition) did not differ significantly between children with unilateral and bilateral CIs. Bilateral CI use was found to predict significantly faster rates of vocabulary and language development than unilateral CI use; the magnitude of this effect was moderated by child age at activation of the bilateral CI. In terms of parenting style, high levels of parental involvement, low amounts of

Altered functional connectivity of the language network in ASD: Role of classical language areas and cerebellum☆

Science.gov (United States)

Verly, Marjolein; Verhoeven, Judith; Zink, Inge; Mantini, Dante; Peeters, Ronald; Deprez, Sabine; Emsell, Louise; Boets, Bart; Noens, Ilse; Steyaert, Jean; Lagae, Lieven; De Cock, Paul; Rommel, Nathalie; Sunaert, Stefan

2014-01-01

The development of language, social interaction and communicative skills is remarkably different in the child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Atypical brain connectivity has frequently been reported in this patient population. However, the neural correlates underlying their disrupted language development and functioning are still poorly understood. Using resting state fMRI, we investigated the functional connectivity properties of the language network in a group of ASD patients with clear comorbid language impairment (ASD-LI; N = 19) and compared them to the language related connectivity properties of 23 age-matched typically developing children. A verb generation task was used to determine language components commonly active in both groups. Eight joint language components were identified and subsequently used as seeds in a resting state analysis. Interestingly, both the interregional and the seed-based whole brain connectivity analysis showed preserved connectivity between the classical intrahemispheric language centers, Wernicke's and Broca's areas. In contrast however, a marked loss of functional connectivity was found between the right cerebellar region and the supratentorial regulatory language areas. Also, the connectivity between the interhemispheric Broca regions and modulatory control dorsolateral prefrontal region was found to be decreased. This disruption of normal modulatory control and automation function by the cerebellum may underlie the abnormal language function in children with ASD-LI. PMID:24567909

Social communication disorder outside autism? A diagnostic classification approach to delineating pragmatic language impairment, high functioning autism and specific language impairment.

Science.gov (United States)

Gibson, Jenny; Adams, Catherine; Lockton, Elaine; Green, Jonathan

2013-11-01

Developmental disorders of language and communication present considerable diagnostic challenges due to overlapping of symptomatology and uncertain aetiology. We aimed to further elucidate the behavioural and linguistic profile associated with impairments of social communication occurring outside of an autism diagnosis. Six to eleven year olds diagnosed with pragmatic language impairment (PLI), high functioning autism (HFA) or specific language impairment (SLI) were compared on measures of social interaction with peers (PI), restricted and repetitive behaviours/interests (RRBIs) and language ability. Odds ratios (OR) from a multinomial logistic regression were used to determine the importance of each measure to diagnostic grouping. MANOVA was used to investigate differences in subscale scores for the PI measure. Greater degrees of PI difficulties (OR = 1.22, 95% CI = 1.05-1.41), RRBI (OR = 1.23, 95% CI = 1.06-1.42) and expressive language ability (OR = 1.16, 95% CI = 1.03-1.30) discriminated HFA from PLI. PLI was differentiated from SLI by elevated PI difficulties (OR = 0.82, 95% CI = 0.70-0.96) and higher expressive language ability (OR = 0.88, 95% CI = 0.77-0.98), but indistinguishable from SLI using RRBI (OR = 1.01, 95% CI=0.94-1.09). A significant effect of group on PI subscales was observed (θ = 1.38, F(4, 56) = 19.26, p communication disorder' in DSM-5. © 2013 The Authors Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry © 2013 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

Music Training Program: A Method Based on Language Development and Principles of Neuroscience to Optimize Speech and Language Skills in Hearing-Impaired Children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Samaneh Sadat Dastgheib

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Introduction: In recent years, music has been employed in many intervention and rehabilitation program to enhance cognitive abilities in patients. Numerous researches show that music therapy can help improving language skills in patients including hearing impaired. In this study, a new method of music training is introduced based on principles of neuroscience and capabilities of Persian language to optimize language development in deaf children after implantation.    Materials and Methods: The candidate children are classified in three groups according to their hearing age and language development. The music training program is established and centered on four principles, as follows: hearing and listening to music (with special attention to boost hearing, singing, rhythmic movements with music and playing musical instruments.   Results: Recently much research has demonstrated that even after cochlear implant operation, a child cannot acquire language to the same level of detail as a normal child. As a result of this study music could compensate this developmental delay .It is known that the greater the area of the brain that is activated, the more synaptic learning and plasticity changes occur in that specific area. According to the principles of neural plasticity, music could improve language skills by activating the same areas for language processing in the brain.   Conclusion:  In conclusion, the effects of music on the human brain seem to be very promising and therapeutic in various types of disorders and conditions, including cochlear implantation.

The Phonological-Distributional Coherence Hypothesis: Cross-Linguistic Evidence in Language Acquisition

Science.gov (United States)

Monaghan, Padraic; Christiansen, Morten H.; Chater, Nick

2007-01-01

Several phonological and prosodic properties of words have been shown to relate to differences between grammatical categories. Distributional information about grammatical categories is also a rich source in the child's language environment. In this paper we hypothesise that such cues operate in tandem for developing the child's knowledge about…

Child language assessment and intervention in multilingual and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Research worldwide suggests that service delivery by speech-language therapists (SLTs) to bilingual children is problematic and largely unsatisfactory. In multicultural South Africa, the majority of SLTs speak either only English or only Afrikaans and English. The current state of service delivery to bilingual children, ...

About using serious games to teach (Portuguese) sign language

OpenAIRE

Gameiro, João Manuel Ferreira

2014-01-01

Sign language is the form of communication used by Deaf people, which, in most cases have been learned since childhood. The problem arises when a non-Deaf tries to contact with a Deaf. For example, when non-Deaf parents try to communicate with their Deaf child. In most cases, this situation tends to happen when the parents did not have time to properly learn sign language. This dissertation proposes the teaching of sign language through the usage of serious games. Currently, similar soluti...

Parent-child cultural orientations and child adjustment in Chinese American immigrant families

OpenAIRE

Chen, SH; Hua, M; Zhou, Q; Tao, A; Lee, EH; Ly, J; Main, A

2014-01-01

Direct and indirect/mediated relations of (a) children's and parents' cultural orientations and (b) parent-child gaps in cultural orientations to children's psychological adjustment were examined in a socioeconomically diverse sample of 258 Chinese American children (age 6-9 years) from immigrant families. Parents reported on children's and their own Chinese and American orientations in language proficiency, media use, and social relationships. Parents and teachers rated children's externaliz...

Dummy auxiliaries in child and adult second language acquisition of Dutch

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Blom, W.B.T.; de Korte, S.

2011-01-01

In previous research it has been observed that second language (L2) learners of Dutch and German use analytic verbs in contexts where the target language requires synthetic verbs. These analytic verbs consist of a semantically empty auxiliary (dummy auxiliary) that selects a lexical infinitive. In

Language specific bootstraps for UG categories

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Kampen, N.J.

2005-01-01

This paper argues that the universal categories N/V are not applied to content words before the grammatical markings for reference D(eterminers) and predication I(nflection) have been acquired (van Kampen, 1997, contra Pinker, 1984). Child grammar starts as proto-grammar with language-specific

School Climate, Teacher-Child Closeness, and Low-Income Children’s Academic Skills in Kindergarten

Science.gov (United States)

Lowenstein, Amy E.; Friedman-Krauss, Allison H.; Raver, C. Cybele; Jones, Stephanie M.; Pess, Rachel A.

2015-01-01

In this study we used data on a sample of children in the Chicago Public Schools in areas of concentrated poverty-related disadvantage to examine associations between school climate and low-income children’s language/literacy and math skills during the transition to kindergarten. We also explored whether teacher-child closeness moderated these associations. Multilevel modeling analyses conducted using a sample of 242 children nested in 102 elementary schools revealed that low adult support in the school was significantly associated with children’s poorer language/literacy and math skills in kindergarten. Teacher-child closeness predicted children’s higher language/literacy and math scores and moderated the association between low adult support and children’s academic skills. Among children who were high on closeness with their teacher, those in schools with high levels of adult support showed stronger language/literacy and math skills. There were no significant associations between adult support and the academic skills of children with medium or low levels of teacher-child closeness. Results shed light on the importance of adult support at both school and classroom levels in promoting low-income children’s academic skills during the transition to kindergarten. PMID:26925186

A study of syllable codas in South African Sign Language

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Kate H

A South African Sign Language Dictionary for Families with Young Deaf Children (SLED 2006) was used with permission ... Figure 1: Syllable structure of a CVC syllable in the word “bed”. In spoken languages .... often than not, there is a societal emphasis on 'fixing' a child's deafness and attempting to teach deaf children to ...

The Dutch version of the self-report Child Activity and Limitations Interview in adolescents with chronic pain

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Vries, Janneke E.; Dekker, Carolien; Bastiaenen, Carolien H. G.; Goossens, Mariëlle E. J. B.; Engelbert, Raoul H. H.; Verbunt, Jeanine A. M. C. F.

2017-01-01

To assess the factor structure, related constructs and internal consistency of the Child Activity Limitation Interview 21-Child version for use in Dutch-language countries. Cross-sectional validation study: After forward and back translation of the Dutch version of the Child Activity Limitation

Ramathibodi Language Development Questionnaire: A Newly Developed Screening Tool for Detection of Delayed Language Development in Children Aged 18-30 Months.

Science.gov (United States)

Chuthapisith, Jariya; Wantanakorn, Pornchanok; Roongpraiwan, Rawiwan

2015-08-01

To develop a parental questionnaire for screening children with delayed language development in primary care settings. Ramathibodi Language Development (RLD) questionnaire was developed and completed by groups of 40 typically developing children age 18 to 30 months old and 30 children with delayed language development. The mean score was significantly lower in the delay language group (6.7 ± 1.9), comparing with the typically developing group (9.6 ± 0.7). The optimal ROC curve cut-off score was 8 with corresponding sensitivity and specificity were 98% and 72%, respectively. The corresponding area under the curve was 0.96 (95% CI = 0.92-0.99). The RLD questionnaire was the promising language developmental screening instrument that easily utilized in well-child examination settings.

PEDAGOGICAL CONDITIONS OF THE INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT OF PRESCHOOL CHILDREN BY MEANS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V N Kartashova

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The article describes the conditions of intellectual development of preschool children during foreign language teaching in the developmental subject-spatial environment of a preschool educational institution. The creation of developing educational and subject-spatial environment gives the opportunity to implement different programs. When creating the developing educational environment a particular emphasis is given to the foreign language. Teaching a foreign language helps reach the goals not only of the formation of foreign language communicative skills of preschool children, of introduction to a foreign culture, but also solve challenges of his intellectual development. Several types of interaction of the child with objects of the surrounding world are identified. They are latent, real and mediated. The main ways to stimulate intellectual development of the preschool child are described (the creation of a favorable psychological environment; ensuring the opportunity to actively ask questions of divergent type due to the enrichment of meaningful context of a child’s life; the widespread use of questions relating to the most diverse areas with the aim of developing children’s observation. These methods can be considered as pedagogical conditions which will allow us to create the environment for the personal development of the child. The article presents the experience of their implementation. The main approach is integrative-game. This approach supposes the inclusion the integration of different types of children’s activities (visual, musical-rhythmic, theatrical for the joint execution of tasks focused on the development of the child in the process of foreign language teaching.

Convergence between parent report and direct assessment of language and attention in culturally and linguistically diverse children.

Science.gov (United States)

Ebert, Kerry Danahy

2017-01-01

Parent report is commonly used to assess language and attention in children for research and clinical purposes. It is therefore important to understand the convergent validity of parent-report tools in comparison to direct assessments of language and attention. In particular, cultural and linguistic background may influence this convergence. In this study a group of six- to eight-year old children (N = 110) completed direct assessments of language and attention and their parents reported on the same areas. Convergence between assessment types was explored using correlations. Possible influences of ethnicity (Hispanic or non-Hispanic) and of parent report language (English or Spanish) were explored using hierarchical linear regression. Correlations between parent report and direct child assessments were significant for both language and attention, suggesting convergence between assessment types. Ethnicity and parent report language did not moderate the relationships between direct child assessments and parent report tools for either attention or language.

Early Language and Reading Development of Bilingual Preschoolers From Low-Income Families.

Science.gov (United States)

Hammer, Carol Scheffner; Miccio, Adele W

2006-01-01

Learning to read is a complex process and a number of factors affect a child's success in beginning reading. This complexity increases when a child's home language differs from that of the school and when the child comes from a home with limited economic resources. This article discusses factors that have been shown to contribute to children's success in early reading, namely-phonological awareness, letter-word identification, oral language, and the home literacy environment. Preliminary evidence suggests that bilingual children from low-income backgrounds initially perform poorly on phonological awareness and letter identification tasks, but appear to acquire these abilities quickly in kindergarten once these abilities are emphasized in early reading instruction. In addition, the findings show that bilingual preschoolers' receptive language abilities in English and Spanish positively impact their early letter-word identification abilities at the end of kindergarten. A positive relationship between bilingual preschoolers' home literacy environment and early reading outcomes has not been found to date. Educational implications for serving young, bilingual children from programs such as Head Start are discussed.

THE INFLUENCE OF CULTURAL VALUES ON THE PARENT-CHILD INTERACTION PATTERNS OF FAMILIES FROM AN ASIAN BACKGROUND

OpenAIRE

NADINE AWDE

2009-01-01

The objective of this paper is to critically review previous studies of intervention programs that focus on parent-child interaction, in order to pinpoint deficiencies in this area of study and to recommend further research. Indeed, more interventionists and speech and language therapists must identify parent-child interaction patterns, especially when following a family-centred approach in the treatment of speech impairments or language delays. This review stresses that the cultural ...

Building Oral Language and Vocabulary through the Use of Literature

Science.gov (United States)

McCorquodale, Gwenyth J.; Kirkland, Lynn

2006-01-01

Children are coming to classrooms across the United States with a need to develop their oral language. With the increased promotion of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, commercialized programs are being provided for teachers to use to build oral language in their students. The authors believe that schools and teachers can best enhance…

Toddlers, Electronic Media, and Language Development: What Researchers Know So Far

Science.gov (United States)

Guernsey, Lisa

2013-01-01

Electronic media--whether child-oriented videos and games or background television--is increasingly embedded in young children's lives, raising questions of its impact on children's language skills. New research presents a multitextured picture of how different types of e-media--depending on content, context, and a child's age--can help and hurt.…

Mother and Infant Talk about Mental States Relates to Desire Language and Emotion Understanding

Science.gov (United States)

Taumoepeau, Mele; Ruffman, Ted

2006-01-01

This study assessed the relation between mother mental state language and child desire language and emotion understanding in 15--24-month-olds. At both times point, mothers described pictures to their infants and mother talk was coded for mental and nonmental state language. Children were administered 2 emotion understanding tasks and their mental…

Maternal Elaborative Reminiscing Mediates the Effect of Child Maltreatment on Behavioral and Physiological Functioning

Science.gov (United States)

Valentino, Kristin; Hibel, Leah C; Cummings, E. Mark; Nuttall, Amy K.; Comas, Michelle; McDonnell, Christina G.

2016-01-01

Theoretical and empirical evidence suggest that the way in which parents discuss everyday emotional experiences with their young children (i.e., elaborative reminiscing) has significant implications for child cognitive and socio-emotional functioning, and that maltreating parents have a particularly difficult time in engaging in this type of dialogue. This dyadic interactional exchange, therefore, has the potential to be an important process variable linking child maltreatment to developmental outcomes at multiple levels of analysis. The current investigation evaluated the role of maternal elaborative reminiscing in associations between maltreatment and child cognitive, emotional, and physiological functioning. Participants included 43 maltreated and 49 nonmaltreated children (aged 3–6) and their mothers. Dyads participated in a joint reminiscing task about four past emotional events, and children participated in assessments of receptive language and emotion knowledge. Child salivary cortisol was also collected from children three times a day (waking, midday, and bedtime) on two consecutive days to assess daily levels and diurnal decline. Results indicated that maltreating mothers engaged in significantly less elaborative reminiscing than nonmaltreating mothers. Maternal elaborative reminiscing mediated associations between child maltreatment and child receptive language and child emotion knowledge. Additionally, there was support for an indirect pathway between child maltreatment and child cortisol diurnal decline through maternal elaborative reminiscing. Directions for future research are discussed and potential clinical implications are addressed. PMID:26535941

Investigation of Speech Impairments in A Child with HIV: The Study of Phonological Processes: Case Report

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zahra Ilkhani

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV is a viral disease with immunodeficiency in human. So, it can involve different areas such as language, speech, motor and memory. The present research, as a case report, introducing the characteristics of phonological processes of a child who had Aids and lived in a nursery through referring and professional assessing in a speech therapy clinic. The child was a 4 year old boy who was in HIV base on blood test. Speech skills was assessed based on DEAP and language assessment was analyzed according to TOLD-P3. He talked with single word. He used two words sentences rarely. According to language assessment (TOLD-P3, semantic, syntax and phonology features were tested. So he was in emerging language stage. Also his expressive language was lower than his perceive language. In addition, based on DEAP-P test, phonological process of substitution type has been recognized most. Also, the most of the substitution phonological process which accrued have been velar fronting. This study showed that the most phonological process in a child with HIV was the process of substitution. It may be a risk factor for decreasing speech intelligibility. With regard to the results of the present research that showed that the subject had the disorder and there are limited researches in this area,

Altered functional connectivity of the language network in ASD: Role of classical language areas and cerebellum

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marjolein Verly

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The development of language, social interaction and communicative skills is remarkably different in the child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD. Atypical brain connectivity has frequently been reported in this patient population. However, the neural correlates underlying their disrupted language development and functioning are still poorly understood. Using resting state fMRI, we investigated the functional connectivity properties of the language network in a group of ASD patients with clear comorbid language impairment (ASD-LI; N = 19 and compared them to the language related connectivity properties of 23 age-matched typically developing children. A verb generation task was used to determine language components commonly active in both groups. Eight joint language components were identified and subsequently used as seeds in a resting state analysis. Interestingly, both the interregional and the seed-based whole brain connectivity analysis showed preserved connectivity between the classical intrahemispheric language centers, Wernicke's and Broca's areas. In contrast however, a marked loss of functional connectivity was found between the right cerebellar region and the supratentorial regulatory language areas. Also, the connectivity between the interhemispheric Broca regions and modulatory control dorsolateral prefrontal region was found to be decreased. This disruption of normal modulatory control and automation function by the cerebellum may underlie the abnormal language function in children with ASD-LI.

Acculturation differences in communicating information about child mental health between Latino parents and primary care providers.

Science.gov (United States)

Lê Cook, Benjamin; Brown, Jonathan D; Loder, Stephen; Wissow, Larry

2014-12-01

Significant Latino-white disparities in youth mental health care access and quality exist yet little is known about Latino parents' communication with providers about youth mental health and the role of acculturation in influencing this communication. We estimated regression models to assess the association between time in the US and the number of psychosocial issues discussed with the medical assistant (MA) and doctor, adjusting for child and parent mental health and sociodemographics. Other proxies of acculturation were also investigated including measures of Spanish and English language proficiency and nativity. Parent's length of time in the US was positively associated with their communication of: their child's psychosocial problems with their child's MA, stress in their own life with their child's MA, and their child's school problems with their child's doctor. These differences were especially apparent for parents living in the US for >10 years. Parent-child language discordance, parent and child nativity were also significantly associated with communication of psychosocial problems. Greater provider and MA awareness of variation in resistance to communicating psychosocial issues could improve communication, and improve the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of youth mental illness.

Efficacy of the Direct Instruction Language for Learning (DI-LL) Program to Promote Expressive and Receptive Language in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Science.gov (United States)

2016-07-01

Evaluator on PLP & CGI 1-3 Train staff on DOSL 1-3 Purchase child materials ( toys , stickers) 1-3 Purchase testing materials 1-3 Purchase DI-LL...been developed to address language delay including intensive treatment using applied behavior analysis (ABA). Although often effective for severe...to severe. Many interventions have been developed to address language delay including intensive treatment using applied behavior analysis (ABA

Selenium status during pregnancy and child psychomotor development-Polish Mother and Child Cohort study.

Science.gov (United States)

Polanska, Kinga; Krol, Anna; Sobala, Wojciech; Gromadzinska, Jolanta; Brodzka, Renata; Calamandrei, Gemma; Chiarotti, Flavia; Wasowicz, Wojciech; Hanke, Wojciech

2016-06-01

The studies on the impact of selenium (Se) levels in different pregnancy periods on child psychomotor functions are limited. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of prenatal Se on child neurodevelopment. The study population consisted of 410 mother-child pairs from Polish Mother and Child Cohort. Se levels were measured in each trimester of pregnancy, at delivery, and in cord blood by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry. Psychomotor development was assessed in children at the age of 1 and 2 y using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development. Plasma Se levels decreased through pregnancy (from 48.3 ± 10.6 µg/l in the first trimester to 38.4 ± 11.8 µg/l at delivery; P development (β = 0.2, P = 0.002) at 1 y of age, and language development (β = 0.2, P = 0.03) at 2 y of age was observed. The positive effect of Se levels on cognitive score at 2 y of age was of borderline significance (β = 0.2, P = 0.05). Prenatal selenium status was associated with child psychomotor abilities within the first years of life. Further epidemiological and preclinical studies are needed to confirm the association and elucidate the underlying mechanisms of these effects.

The acquisition of the Latvian language as the Second language at preschool age in theory and practice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ingēra Tomme-Jukēvica

2014-09-01

Full Text Available In Latvia there are no substantial studies on bilingual preschool children’s Latvian language as the second language. The article provides an overview of the 20th–21st century linguistic theories in the context of child second language acquisition as well as raises awareness about their influence on and use in the learning of preschoolers whose second language is Latvian, carrying out content analysis of the Minority Preschool Education Program (with instruction in Russian, the Latvian Language Program of X preschool education establishment, teaching resources (teaching aid kits, didactic handouts as well as the Latvian language as the second language study content. The conclusion is drawn that the theory of communicative competence and the systemic functional grammar theory prevail as well as the basic principles of the behavioral theory can be discerned. In the teaching resources and learning process it is advisable to more often incorporate the same language material repetition in different situations and new combinations. Consideration must be given to more positive and negative transfer (interference emphasis. To prevent children’s errors it is advisable to provide and incorporate special exercises in the teaching resources as well as methodological recommendations for the Latvian language teachers.

Mothers’ labor market choices and child development outcomes in Chile

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sarah A. Reynolds

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This paper examines associations between labor market participation of Chilean mothers and the cognitive, language, and socio-economic development of their children. Using a nationally-representative sample of 3-year-old children, we test if mothers’ work intensity in the two previous years is associated with child development outcomes; data were collected in 2010 when children were one year old, and again in 2012, when they were three years old. We find that children who were three years old with mothers who worked for higher fractions of their children’s lives in the previous two years perform significantly better on all tests (cognitive, language, socio-emotional than children whose mothers had worked less, while controlling for baseline test performance. These main effects did not remain significant with the inclusion of a wide range of socio-economic, demographic control variables, however. Our results were similarly null when using an IV analysis or a propensity score matching approach. We provide descriptive information on theoretical pathways by which maternal work may influence child development. Though several of these pathways (e.g. preschool, toys, maternal stress seem to be associated with both maternal work and child development outcomes, the pathways are not sufficiently strong to generate an association between maternal work and child development. We conclude that Chilean mothers’ employment in early childhood generally does not have an effect on child development.

Music Education as a Key Factor in the Full Development of a Child

OpenAIRE

Kłysz-Sokalska, Natalia

2016-01-01

Music education is a field of pedagogy dedicated to the development of the individual through artistic action, which is manifested in various forms and activities. Properly conducted music education has a beneficial effect on the right development of child. Research shows that music education stimulates the competence of child's language and mathematical skills, affect the development of creative child's personality and its socialization. Neurodidactics points to the significance of playing t...

Parents' and speech and language therapists' explanatory models of language development, language delay and intervention.

Science.gov (United States)

Marshall, Julie; Goldbart, Juliet; Phillips, Julie

2007-01-01

Parental and speech and language therapist (SLT) explanatory models may affect engagement with speech and language therapy, but there has been dearth of research in this area. This study investigated parents' and SLTs' views about language development, delay and intervention in pre-school children with language delay. The aims were to describe, explore and explain the thoughts, understandings, perceptions, beliefs, knowledge and feelings held by: a group of parents from East Manchester, UK, whose pre-school children had been referred with suspected language delay; and SLTs working in the same area, in relation to language development, language delay and language intervention. A total of 24 unstructured interviews were carried out: 15 with parents whose children had been referred for speech and language therapy and nine with SLTs who worked with pre-school children. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and coded using Atlas/ti. The data were analysed, subjected to respondent validation, and grounded theories and principled descriptions developed to explain and describe parents' and SLTs' beliefs and views. Parent and SLT data are presented separately. There are commonalities and differences between the parents and the SLTs. Both groups believe that language development and delay are influenced by both external and internal factors. Parents give more weight to the role of gender, imitation and personality and value television and videos, whereas the SLTs value the 'right environment' and listening skills and consider that health/disability and socio-economic factors are important. Parents see themselves as experts on their child and have varied ideas about the role of SLTs, which do not always accord with SLTs' views. The parents and SLTs differ in their views of the roles of imitation and play in intervention. Parents typically try strategies before seeing an SLT. These data suggest that parents' ideas vary and that, although parents and SLTs may share some

The Impact of Input Quality on Early Sign Development in Native and Non-Native Language Learners

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Jenny; Jones, Anna; Morgan, Gary

2016-01-01

There is debate about how input variation influences child language. Most deaf children are exposed to a sign language from their non-fluent hearing parents and experience a delay in exposure to accessible language. A small number of children receive language input from their deaf parents who are fluent signers. Thus it is possible to document the…

Learning difficulties or learning English difficulties? Additional language acquisition: an update for paediatricians.

Science.gov (United States)

Clifford, Vanessa; Rhodes, Anthea; Paxton, Georgia

2014-03-01

Australia is a diverse society: 26% of the population were born overseas, a further 20% have at least one parent born overseas and 19% speak a language other than English at home. Paediatricians are frequently involved in the assessment and management of non-English-speaking-background children with developmental delay, disability or learning issues. Despite the diversity of our patient population, information on how children learn additional or later languages is remarkably absent in paediatric training. An understanding of second language acquisition is essential to provide appropriate advice to this patient group. It takes a long time (5 years or more) for any student to develop academic competency in a second language, even a student who has received adequate prior schooling in their first language. Refugee students are doubly disadvantaged as they frequently have limited or interrupted prior schooling, and many are unable to read and write in their first language. We review the evidence on second language acquisition during childhood, describe support for English language learners within the Australian education system, consider refugee-background students as a special risk group and address common misconceptions about how children learn English as an additional language. © 2013 The Authors. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health © 2013 Paediatrics and Child Health Division (Royal Australasian College of Physicians).

Language development in the early school years: The importance of close relationships with teachers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Spilt, J.L.; Koomen, H.M.Y.; Harrison, L.J.

2015-01-01

This longitudinal study examined developmental links between closeness in teacher-child relationships and children’s receptive language ability from the end of the preschool years into the early elementary years, while controlling for changes in peer interaction quality and child behavioral

10-year effect of Oportunidades, Mexico's conditional cash transfer programme, on child growth, cognition, language, and behaviour: a longitudinal follow-up study.

Science.gov (United States)

Fernald, Lia C H; Gertler, Paul J; Neufeld, Lynnette M

2009-12-12

Mexico's conditional cash transfer programme, Oportunidades, was started to improve the lives of poor families through interventions in health, nutrition, and education. We investigated the effect of Oportunidades on children almost 10 years after the programme began. From April, 1998, to October, 1999, low-income communities were randomly assigned to be enrolled in Oportunidades immediately (early treatment, n=320) or 18 months later (late treatment, n=186). In 2007, when 1093 children receiving early treatment and 700 late treatment in these communities were aged 8-10 years, they were assessed for outcomes including physical growth, cognitive and language development, and socioemotional development. The primary objective was to investigate outcomes associated with an additional 18 months in the programme. We used cluster-adjusted t tests and multivariate regressions to compare effects of programme participation for height-for-age, body-mass index (BMI), and cognitive language and behavioural assessment scores in early versus late treatment groups. Early enrolment reduced behavioural problems for all children in the early versus late treatment group (mean behaviour problem score -0.09 [SD 0.97] vs 0.13 [1.03]; p=0.0024), but we identified no difference between groups for mean height-for-age Z scores (-1.12 [0.96] vs -1.14 [0.97]; p=0.88), BMI-for-age Z scores (0.14 [0.99] vs 0.17 [1.06]; p=0.58), or assessment scores for language (98.8 [13.8] vs 98.4 [14.6] p=0.90) or cognition (98.8 [12.9] vs 100.2 [13.2]; p=0.26). An additional 18 months of the programme before age 3 years for children aged 8-10 years whose mothers had no education resulted in improved child growth of about 1.5 cm assessed as height-for-age [corrected] Z score (beta 0.23 [0.023-0.44] p=0.029), independently of cash received. An additional 18 months in the Oportunidades programme has independent beneficial effects other than money, especially for women with no formal education. The money itself

"Languagizing" Their World: Why Talking, Reading, and Singing Are So Important

Science.gov (United States)

Hirsh-Pasek, Kathryn; Golinkoff, Roberta Michnick

2018-01-01

Language is the single best predictor of later success in school and beyond. Using new findings in the science of learning, this article outlines 6 basic principles that will help parents and caregivers interact with children in ways that grow important language skills. Creating environments that nurture these principles gives every child a chance…

Extensive Reading of Children’s Literature in First, Second, and Foreign Language Vocabulary Acquisition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dominic Cheetham

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Extensive reading of children’s literature can be seen as one of the most powerful means to acquiring a large working vocabulary for both first language learners and second language learners. However, for foreign language learners, children’s literature has a less positive image. For foreign language learners the most commonly recommended reading is of graded readers. Corpus research has shown that work for children has a wide range of rare words, comparable to adult literature, and this leads to the argument that children’s literature puts too great a comprehension and memory strain on foreign language learners, and is an inefficient learning tool compared to graded readers. This paper reviews existing research and examines the arguments for children’s literature in language learning in terms of some features of naturalistic child reading behaviour, and the stylistic choices of writers for children. Replication of child reading behaviours in conjunction with the aid to comprehension and memory inherent in stylistic choices, combined with motivational and practical considerations, are argued to make children’s literature an equal, if not superior choice as extended reading material for foreign language learners.

The impact of reading on language development in the preschool children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ljubica Marjanovič Umek

2002-02-01

Full Text Available The importance of the role played by children's literature in the child's mental, social and linguistic development and in the development of his or her basic academic skills, such as reading andwriting, has been confirmed by numerous studies. A central issue in developmental psychology is what activities related to children's books exert an influence on the child's development and in what ways. Thisinterest in children's books and in child language development places our research into two scientific disciplines, viz. psychology and linguistics. The study explores the impact of systematic and regular readingof selected children's books in preschool institutions on the development of language competences in children aged four to six years, boys and girls. Other contributing factors whose relevance for languagedevelopment has been either postulated by theories or highlighted by empirical studies, are also observed - e.g. parents' education, number of books in the family, quality of education in the family (frequencyof conversations, visits to cultural events, reading books together, etc.. The children included in the study all attend a preschool institution with an educational program which is based on the national curriculumand which targets also the language area. The children in the experimental group are submitted to additional reading of selected children's literature. The development of children's linguistic competences isfollowed using two methods: analysis of answers on The Vane evaluation of language scale (The Vane-L and analysis of transcripts of story retelling after the child has been read H. Ch. Andersen's fairy taleThe Princess and the Pea. The results show, that the children who were systematically read selected children's books in their preschool groups, achieved significantly higher scores on the standardized Vanelanguage development scale and on the unstandardized test of retelling a story. Correlations between some of the

Will They Ever Speak with Authority? Race, Post-Coloniality and the Symbolic Violence of Language

Science.gov (United States)

Ibrahim, Awad

2011-01-01

Intersecting authority-language-and-symbolic power, this article tells the story of a group of continental Francophone African youth who find themselves in an urban French-language high school in southwestern Ontario, Canada. Through their narrative, one is confronted by the trauma of one's own language being declared an illegitimate child, hence…

Measures for Determining English Language Proficiency and the Resulting Implications for Instructional Provision and Intervention

Science.gov (United States)

Albers, Craig A.; Kenyon, Dorry M.; Boals, Timothy J.

2009-01-01

Although numerous English language proficiency (ELP) measures currently exist, many were developed prior to the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB). These pre-NCLB measures typically focused on social language proficiency, whereas post-NCLB measures are linked to ELP standards and focus on academic language proficiency (ALP). ELP measures are…

Parents' Assessment of Their Preschool Children's Bilingual Development in the Context of Family Language Policy

Science.gov (United States)

Schwartz, Mila; Moin, Victor

2012-01-01

Parents' assessment of children's development in the first and the second language is an essential part of their family language policy (FLP) and an important component of parent-child communication. This paper presents a pilot study focused on Russian-speaking immigrant parents' assessment of their children's language knowledge in Russian as a…

Serial auditory-evoked potentials in the diagnosis and monitoring of a child with Landau-Kleffner syndrome.

Science.gov (United States)

Plyler, Erin; Harkrider, Ashley W

2013-01-01

A boy, aged 2 1/2 yr, experienced sudden deterioration of speech and language abilities. He saw multiple medical professionals across 2 yr. By almost 5 yr, his vocabulary diminished from 50 words to 4, and he was referred to our speech and hearing center. The purpose of this study was to heighten awareness of Landau-Kleffner syndrome (LKS) and emphasize the importance of an objective test battery that includes serial auditory-evoked potentials (AEPs) to audiologists who often are on the front lines of diagnosis and treatment delivery when faced with a child experiencing unexplained loss of the use of speech and language. Clinical report. Interview revealed a family history of seizure disorder. Normal social behaviors were observed. Acoustic reflexes and otoacoustic emissions were consistent with normal peripheral auditory function. The child could not complete behavioral audiometric testing or auditory processing tests, so serial AEPs were used to examine central nervous system function. Normal auditory brainstem responses, a replicable Na and absent Pa of the middle latency responses, and abnormal slow cortical potentials suggested dysfunction of auditory processing at the cortical level. The child was referred to a neurologist, who confirmed LKS. At age 7 1/2 yr, after 2 1/2 yr of antiepileptic medications, electroencephalographic (EEG) and audiometric measures normalized. Presently, the child communicates manually with limited use of oral information. Audiologists often are one of the first professionals to assess children with loss of speech and language of unknown origin. Objective, noninvasive, serial AEPs are a simple and valuable addition to the central audiometric test battery when evaluating a child with speech and language regression. The inclusion of these tests will markedly increase the chance for early and accurate referral, diagnosis, and monitoring of a child with LKS which is imperative for a positive prognosis. American Academy of Audiology.

Normal Language Skills and Normal Intelligence in a Child with de Lange Syndrome.

Science.gov (United States)

Cameron, Thomas H.; Kelly, Desmond P.

1988-01-01

The subject of this case report is a two-year, seven-month-old girl with de Lange syndrome, normal intelligence, and age-appropriate language skills. She demonstrated initial delays in gross motor skills and in receptive and expressive language but responded well to intensive speech and language intervention, as well as to physical therapy.…

LEAPing on with language: An on-line language programme to support classroom teachers and parents of primary school children (aged 5-11 years).

Science.gov (United States)

Clare Allen, M; Kendrick, Andrew; Archbold, Sue; Harrigan, Suzanne

2014-05-01

The Leaping on with Language programme provides a combination of strategies and activities to accelerate children's spoken language use from simple sentences to complex language. Using a conversational philosophy it expands the building blocks of language (vocabulary, grammar, speech), whilst emphasising the importance of developing independent social communication and acknowledging a child's developing self esteem and self identity between the ages of 4-11. Three pilot projects evaluated the programme with a total of 51 delegates. The outcomes were hugely positive. Changes in behaviour were reported from the 3rd pilot 1 month later. Comments regarding the length of training, practical strategies and more film clips were implemented. Leaping on with language is now a free to access resource available on line.

Child Rearing Study in Brunei Darussalam.

Science.gov (United States)

Rosberg, Marilee A.

In order to gather data on children's lives, language, and religious activities, and to gather data on child rearing practices in Brunei, a study interviewed parents from 38 Malaysian families having one or more children 3-8 years old. Results indicated that 92 percent of the children crawled when they were between 6-9 months old; 63 percent were…

Developing Relationships between Language and Behaviour in Preschool Children from the Early Language in Victoria Study: Implications for Intervention

Science.gov (United States)

Bretherton, Lesley; Prior, Margot; Bavin, Edith; Cini, Eileen; Eadie, Patricia; Reilly, Sheena

2014-01-01

Following a biopsychosocial model, the study investigated the role of child factors (gender, IQ), maternal factors (psychological distress, maternal education and vocabulary, maternal distress) and environmental factors (SES) in the relationship between language impairment and behaviour problems in preschool children. Participants were drawn from…

Caregivers' suffix frequencies and suffix acquisition by language impaired, late talking, and typically developing children.

Science.gov (United States)

Warlaumont, Anne S; Jarmulowicz, Linda

2012-11-01

Acquisition of regular inflectional suffixes is an integral part of grammatical development in English and delayed acquisition of certain inflectional suffixes is a hallmark of language impairment. We investigate the relationship between input frequency and grammatical suffix acquisition, analyzing 217 transcripts of mother-child (ages 1 ; 11-6 ; 9) conversations from the CHILDES database. Maternal suffix frequency correlates with previously reported rank orders of acquisition and with child suffix frequency. Percentages of children using a suffix are consistent with frequencies in caregiver speech. Although late talkers acquire suffixes later than typically developing children, order of acquisition is similar across populations. Furthermore, the third person singular and past tense verb suffixes, weaknesses for children with language impairment, are less frequent in caregiver speech than the plural noun suffix, a relative strength in language impairment. Similar findings hold across typical, SLI and late talker populations, suggesting that frequency plays a role in suffix acquisition.

Word Play: Scaffolding Language Development through Child-Directed Play

Science.gov (United States)

Wasik, Barbara A.; Jacobi-Vessels, Jill L.

2017-01-01

Play is an important activity in young children's lives. It is how children explore their world and build knowledge. Although free play, which is play that is totally child directed, contributes to children's learning, self-regulation and motivation, adults' participation in children's play is critical in their development, especially their…

Early identification: Language skills and social functioning in deaf and hard of hearing preschool children.

Science.gov (United States)

Netten, Anouk P; Rieffe, Carolien; Theunissen, Stephanie C P M; Soede, Wim; Dirks, Evelien; Korver, Anna M H; Konings, Saskia; Oudesluys-Murphy, Anne Marie; Dekker, Friedo W; Frijns, Johan H M

2015-12-01

Permanent childhood hearing impairment often results in speech and language problems that are already apparent in early childhood. Past studies show a clear link between language skills and the child's social-emotional functioning. The aim of this study was to examine the level of language and communication skills after the introduction of early identification services and their relation with social functioning and behavioral problems in deaf and hard of hearing children. Nationwide cross-sectional observation of a cohort of 85 early identified deaf and hard of hearing preschool children (aged 30-66 months). Parents reported on their child's communicative abilities (MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory III), social functioning and appearance of behavioral problems (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire). Receptive and expressive language skills were measured using the Reynell Developmental Language Scale and the Schlichting Expressive Language Test, derived from the child's medical records. Language and communicative abilities of early identified deaf and hard of hearing children are not on a par with hearing peers. Compared to normative scores from hearing children, parents of deaf and hard of hearing children reported lower social functioning and more behavioral problems. Higher communicative abilities were related to better social functioning and less behavioral problems. No relation was found between the degree of hearing loss, age at amplification, uni- or bilateral amplification, mode of communication and social functioning and behavioral problems. These results suggest that improving the communicative abilities of deaf and hard of hearing children could improve their social-emotional functioning. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Pre-School Attendance and Child Development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bauchmüller, Robert; Gørtz, Mette; Rasmussen, Astrid Würtz

Earlier research suggests that children's development is shaped in their early years of life. This paper examines whether differences in day-care experiences during pre-school age are important for children's cognitive and language development at the age of 15. The analysis is based on class...... performance at the end of elementary schooling. We assess the effects of attended types and qualities of day-care institutions on various child outcomes as measured by school grades in mathematics, science, English and Danish for the whole Danish population as well as outcomes from the 2006 PISA Denmark...... survey and a 2007 PISA Copenhagen survey. We use administrative registries to generate indicators such as child-staff ratios, child-pedagogues ratios, and the share of male staff and of staff with non-Danish origins. Furthermore, we use information on the average levels of educational attainments...

Day-care attendance and child development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bauchmüller, Robert; Gørtz, Mette; Rasmussen, Astrid Würtz

Earlier research suggests that children’s development is shaped in their early years of life. This paper examines whether differences in day-care experiences during pre-school age are important for children’s cognitive and language development at the age of 15. The analysis is based on class...... performance at the end of elementary schooling. We assess the effects of attended types and qualities of day-care institutions on various child outcomes as measured by school grades in mathematics, science, English and Danish for the whole Danish population as well as outcomes from the 2006 PISA Denmark...... survey and a 2007 PISA Copenhagen survey. We use administrative registries to generate indicators such as child-staff ratios, child-pedagogues ratios, and the share of male staff and of staff with non-Danish origins. Furthermore, we use information on the average levels of educational attainments...

Maternal communicative behaviours and interaction quality as predictors of language development: findings from a community-based study of slow-to-talk toddlers.

Science.gov (United States)

Conway, Laura J; Levickis, Penny A; Smith, Jodie; Mensah, Fiona; Wake, Melissa; Reilly, Sheena

2018-03-01

Identifying risk and protective factors for language development informs interventions for children with developmental language disorder (DLD). Maternal responsive and intrusive communicative behaviours are associated with language development. Mother-child interaction quality may influence how children use these behaviours in language learning. To identify (1) communicative behaviours and interaction quality associated with language outcomes; (2) whether the association between a maternal intrusive behaviour (directive) and child language scores changed alongside a maternal responsive behaviour (expansion); and (3) whether interaction quality modified these associations. Language skills were assessed at 24, 36 and 48 months in 197 community-recruited children who were slow to talk at 18 months. Mothers and 24-month-olds were video-recorded playing at home. Maternal praise, missed opportunities, and successful and unsuccessful directives (i.e., whether followed by the child) were coded during a 10-min segment. Interaction quality was rated using a seven-point fluency and connectedness (FC) scale, during a 5-min segment. Linear regressions examined associations between these behaviours/rating and language scores. Interaction analysis and simple slopes explored effect modification by FC. There was no evidence that missed opportunities or praise were associated with language scores. Higher rates of successful directives in the unadjusted model and unsuccessful directives in the adjusted model were associated with lower 24-month-old receptive language scores (e.g., unsuccessful directives effect size (ES) = -0.41). The association between unsuccessful directives and receptive language was weaker when adjusting for co-occurring expansions (ES = -0.34). Both types of directives were associated with poorer receptive and expressive language scores in adjusted models at 36 and 48 months (e.g., unsuccessful directive and 48-month receptive language, ES = -0.66). FC was

Quantifying repetitive speech in autism spectrum disorders and language impairment.

Science.gov (United States)

van Santen, Jan P H; Sproat, Richard W; Hill, Alison Presmanes

2013-10-01

We report on an automatic technique for quantifying two types of repetitive speech: repetitions of what the child says him/herself (self-repeats) and of what is uttered by an interlocutor (echolalia). We apply this technique to a sample of 111 children between the ages of four and eight: 42 typically developing children (TD), 19 children with specific language impairment (SLI), 25 children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) plus language impairment (ALI), and 25 children with ASD with normal, non-impaired language (ALN). The results indicate robust differences in echolalia between the TD and ASD groups as a whole (ALN + ALI), and between TD and ALN children. There were no significant differences between ALI and SLI children for echolalia or self-repetitions. The results confirm previous findings that children with ASD repeat the language of others more than other populations of children. On the other hand, self-repetition does not appear to be significantly more frequent in ASD, nor does it matter whether the child's echolalia occurred within one (immediate) or two turns (near-immediate) of the adult's original utterance. Furthermore, non-significant differences between ALN and SLI, between TD and SLI, and between ALI and TD are suggestive that echolalia may not be specific to ALN or to ASD in general. One important innovation of this work is an objective fully automatic technique for assessing the amount of repetition in a transcript of a child's utterances. © 2013 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Parent-child interaction in motor speech therapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Namasivayam, Aravind Kumar; Jethava, Vibhuti; Pukonen, Margit; Huynh, Anna; Goshulak, Debra; Kroll, Robert; van Lieshout, Pascal

2018-01-01

This study measures the reliability and sensitivity of a modified Parent-Child Interaction Observation scale (PCIOs) used to monitor the quality of parent-child interaction. The scale is part of a home-training program employed with direct motor speech intervention for children with speech sound disorders. Eighty-four preschool age children with speech sound disorders were provided either high- (2×/week/10 weeks) or low-intensity (1×/week/10 weeks) motor speech intervention. Clinicians completed the PCIOs at the beginning, middle, and end of treatment. Inter-rater reliability (Kappa scores) was determined by an independent speech-language pathologist who assessed videotaped sessions at the midpoint of the treatment block. Intervention sensitivity of the scale was evaluated using a Friedman test for each item and then followed up with Wilcoxon pairwise comparisons where appropriate. We obtained fair-to-good inter-rater reliability (Kappa = 0.33-0.64) for the PCIOs using only video-based scoring. Child-related items were more strongly influenced by differences in treatment intensity than parent-related items, where a greater number of sessions positively influenced parent learning of treatment skills and child behaviors. The adapted PCIOs is reliable and sensitive to monitor the quality of parent-child interactions in a 10-week block of motor speech intervention with adjunct home therapy. Implications for rehabilitation Parent-centered therapy is considered a cost effective method of speech and language service delivery. However, parent-centered models may be difficult to implement for treatments such as developmental motor speech interventions that require a high degree of skill and training. For children with speech sound disorders and motor speech difficulties, a translated and adapted version of the parent-child observation scale was found to be sufficiently reliable and sensitive to assess changes in the quality of the parent-child interactions during

Comparison of Parent Report and Direct Assessment of Child Skills in Toddlers.

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Lauren E; Perkins, Kayla A; Dai, Yael G; Fein, Deborah A

2017-09-01

There are unique challenges associated with measuring development in early childhood. Two primary sources of information are used: parent report and direct assessment. Each approach has strengths and weaknesses, particularly when used to identify and diagnose developmental delays. The present study aimed to evaluate consistency between parent report and direct assessment of child skills in toddlers with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) across receptive language, expressive language, and fine motor domains. 109 children were evaluated at an average age of two years; data on child skills were collected via parent report and direct assessment. Children were classified into three groups (i.e., ASD, Other Developmental Disorder, or Typical Development) based on DSM-IV-TR diagnosis. Mixed design ANOVAs, with data source as a within subjects factor and diagnostic group as a between subjects factor, were used to assess agreement. Chi square tests of agreement were then used to examine correspondence at the item level. Results suggested that parent report of language and fine motor skills did not significantly differ from direct assessment, and this finding held across diagnostic groups. Item level analyses revealed that, in most cases of significant disagreement, parents reported a skill as present, but it was not seen on direct testing. Results indicate that parents are generally reliable reporters of child language and fine motor abilities in toddlerhood, even when their children have developmental disorders such as ASD. However, the fullest picture may be obtained by using both parent report and direct assessment.

Theory of Mind in Children With Specific Language Impairment: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Nilsson, Kristine Kahr; de López, Kristine Jensen

2016-01-01

The relation between language and theory of mind (ToM) has been debated for more than two decades. In a similar vein, ToM has been examined in children with specific language impairment (SLI), albeit with inconsistent results. This meta-analysis of 17 studies with 745 children between the ages of 4 and 12 found that children with SLI had substantially lower ToM performance compared to age-matched typically developing children (d = .98). This effect size was not moderated by age and gender. By revealing that children with SLI have ToM impairments, this finding emphasizes the need for further investigation into the developmental interface between language and ToM as well as the extended consequences of atypical language development. © 2015 The Authors. Child Development © 2015 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Language Deficits in a Bilingual Child with Cerebral Cysticercosis.

Science.gov (United States)

McMenamin, Jerry

1984-01-01

Presents a case report of cysticercosis (a parasitic infestation which results in inflammation of the brain, eye, muscles, liver, and lung tissues) and the resulting language pathology in a nine-year-old Mexican American girl who is bilingual in Spanish and English. (SED)

Developmental Asynchrony in the Acquisition of Subject Properties in Child L2 English and Spanish

Science.gov (United States)

Pladevall-Ballester, Elisabet

2016-01-01

Given that L1A of subject properties in non-null subject languages emerges later than that of null subject languages, this study aims at determining to what extent the same pattern of acquisition is observed in early child L2A in bilingual immersion settings where English and Spanish are both source and target languages. Using an elicited oral…

Communication, language and expression body in physical education

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eliane Gomes da Silva

2005-01-01

Full Text Available This paper intends to give basis for understanding corporal expression as a language, which would enable the child to produce information/knowledge within the physical education. Based on the concepts of childhood, language and comunication, we understand that the phsysical education must promove the establishment of comunicative relationships, in which corporal expresion apears as a special manifestation. Based on Peirce Semiotics, the corporal expression is conceive as a language in itself, constitude by spontan gests, which ar produced by diversous stimuli. This enable the children to construct interpretating/interpretative relations in this signs fluxe, and, because of it, to produce knowledge.

Parental mode of communication is essential for speech and language outcomes in cochlear implanted children

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Percy-Smith, Lone; Cayé-Thomasen, Per; Breinegaard, Nina

2010-01-01

The present study demonstrates a very strong effect of the parental communication mode on the auditory capabilities and speech/language outcome for cochlear implanted children. The children exposed to spoken language had higher odds of scoring high in all tests applied and the findings suggest...... a very clear benefit of spoken language communication with a cochlear implanted child....

Mothers' questionnaire of preschoolers' language and motor skills: a validation study.

Science.gov (United States)

Gudmundsson, E; Gretarsson, S J

2013-03-01

Parent questionnaires of child motor and language skills are useful in many contexts. This study validates one such measure, the Preschool Child Development Inventory (PCDI), a mother-answered standardized measure of motor (fine and gross) and language (expression and comprehension) skills of 3-6-year-old children. Eighty-one mothers answered the inventory and their children were concurrently tested on six verbal subtests of WPPSI-R(IS). The six language and motor subtests of the PCDI revealed the predicted convergent and divergent correlations with the verbal subtests of the WPPSI-R(IS). As predicted, the motor subtests diverged and the language subtests converged with the expected WPPSI-R(IS) subtests. Principal components analysis of all the measures (the PCDI and the WPPSI-R(IS) subtests) revealed two components, verbal and motor in content. The findings support the validity of a mother-answered inventory to assess language and motor development. It is pointed out that such inventories are a viable brief and cost effective alternative to individual testing, both to supplement such measures in clinical practice and as main information in research, for example on determinants of development. Some suggestions are made for future research and applications. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Reliability of the Dutch-language version of the Communication Function Classification System and its association with language comprehension and method of communication.

Science.gov (United States)

Vander Zwart, Karlijn E; Geytenbeek, Joke J; de Kleijn, Maaike; Oostrom, Kim J; Gorter, Jan Willem; Hidecker, Mary Jo Cooley; Vermeulen, R Jeroen

2016-02-01

The aims of this study were to determine the intra- and interrater reliability of the Dutch-language version of the Communication Function Classification System (CFCS-NL) and to investigate the association between the CFCS level and (1) spoken language comprehension and (2) preferred method of communication in children with cerebral palsy (CP). Participants were 93 children with CP (50 males, 43 females; mean age 7y, SD 2y 6mo, range 2y 9mo-12y 10mo; unilateral spastic [n=22], bilateral spastic [n=51], dyskinetic [n=15], ataxic [n=3], not specified [n=2]; Gross Motor Function Classification System level I [n=16], II [n=14], III, [n=7], IV [n=24], V [n=31], unknown [n=1]), recruited from rehabilitation centres throughout the Netherlands. Because some centres only contributed to part of the study, different numbers of participants are presented for different aspects of the study. Parents and speech and language therapists (SLTs) classified the communication level using the CFCS. Kappa was used to determine the intra- and interrater reliability. Spearman's correlation coefficient was used to determine the association between CFCS level and spoken language comprehension, and Fisher's exact test was used to examine the association between the CFCS level and method of communication. Interrater reliability of the CFCS-NL between parents and SLTs was fair (r=0.54), between SLTs good (r=0.78), and the intrarater (SLT) reliability very good (r=0.85). The association between the CFCS and spoken language comprehension was strong for SLTs (r=0.63) and moderate for parents (r=0.51). There was a statistically significant difference between the CFCS level and the preferred method of communication of the child (pcommunication in children with CP. Preferably, professionals should classify the child's CFCS level in collaboration with the parents to acquire the most comprehensive information about the everyday communication of the child in various situations both with familiar and

Factors Affecting Delayed Referral for Speech Therapy in Iranian children with Speech and Language Disorders

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roshanak Vameghi

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Objective: Early detection of children who are at risk for speech and language impairment and those at early stages of delay is crucial for provision of early intervention services. However, unfortunately in Iran, this disorder is not identified or referred for proper treatment and rehabilitation at early critical stages. Materials & Methods: This study was carried out in two phases. The first phase which was qualitative in nature was meant to identify all potentially affective factors through literature review as well as by acquiring the viewpoints of experts and families on this issue. Twelve experts and 9 parents of children with speech and language disorders participated in semi-structured in-depth interviews, thereby completing the first draft of potentially affective factors compiled through literature review. The completed list of factors finally led to the design of a questionnaire for identifying “factors affecting late referral in childhood speech and language impairment”. The questionnaire was approved for face and content validity. The cronbach’s alpha was determined to be 0.81. Two groups of parents were asked to complete the questionnaire: the parents of children who had attended speech and language clinics located on the west and central regions of Tehran city, after their child was 3 years old and those who had attended before their child was 3 years old, as the case and control group, respectively. Results: According to the results, among the seven factors which showed significant difference between the two groups of children before definite diagnosis of speech and language disorders was arrived for the child, 3 factors were related to the type of guidance and consultation received by the family from physicians, 2 factors were related to parents’ lack of awareness and knowledge, and 2 factors were related to the screening services received. All six factors showing significant difference between the two groups after

The Effects of Educational Tools in Reducing Code-Switching in Child Simultaneous Bilingual Education

Science.gov (United States)

Jalilian, Sahar; Rahmatian, Rouhollah; Safa, Parivash; Letafati, Roya

2016-01-01

Simultaneous bilingual education of a child is a dynamic process. Construction of linguistic competences undeniably depends on the conditions of the linguistic environment of the child. This education in a monolingual family, requires the practice of parenting tactics to increase the frequency of the language use in minority, during which,…

Language and communication in people who are deafblind

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vervloed, M.P.J.; Damen, S.; Marschark, M.; Spencer, P.E.

2016-01-01

The development of language and communication in people who are deafblind requires child rearing, interaction, and teaching methods that match each individual's cognitive development, level of functioning, and interest; that can be perceived on a sensory level; that provoke responses that match the

Child care and our youngest children.

Science.gov (United States)

Phillips, D; Adams, G

2001-01-01

Studies of child development confirm that experiences with people mold an infant's mind and personality. Caregiving is, therefore, central to development, whether the caregiver is a parent, a grandmother, or a teacher in a child care center. This article uses data from new, national studies of families to examine the state of child care for infants and toddlers. The story it tells is complex, as the authors outline the overlapping impacts that diverse child care settings and home situations have on children. Early exposure to child care can foster children's learning and enhance their lives, or it can leave them at risk for troubled relationships. The outcome that results depends largely on the quality of the child care setting. Responsive caregivers who surround children with language, warmth, and chances to learn are the key to good outcomes. Other quality attributes (like training and staff-to-child ratios) matter because they foster positive caregiving. Diversity and variability are hallmarks of the American child care supply. Both "wonderful and woeful" care can be found in all types of child care but, overall, settings where quality is compromised are distressingly common. Children whose families are not buoyed by good incomes or government supports are the group most often exposed to poor-quality care. Given this balanced but troubling look at the status of child care for infants and toddlers, the authors conclude that there is a mismatch between the rhetoric of parental choice and the realities facing parents of young children in the United States. They call on communities, businesses, foundations, and government to play a larger role in helping parents secure good care for their infants and toddlers.

Language Development in the Early School Years: The Importance of Close Relationships with Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Spilt, Jantine L.; Koomen, Helma M. Y.; Harrison, Linda J.

2015-01-01

This longitudinal study examined developmental links between closeness in teacher-child relationships and children's receptive language ability from the end of the preschool years into the early elementary years, while controlling for changes in peer interaction quality and child behavioral functioning. The sample included children and their…

The Language Question in Cameroon

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Echu, George

2004-01-01

Full Text Available In multilingual Cameroon, 247 indigenous languages live side by side with English and French (the two official languages and Cameroon Pidgin English (the main lingua franca. While the two official languages of colonial heritage dominate public life in the areas of education, administration, politics, mass media, publicity and literature, both the indigenous languages and Cameroon Pidgin English are relegated to the background. This paper is a critique of language policy in Cameroon revealing that mother tongue education in the early years of primary education remains a distant cry, as the possible introduction of an indigenous language in the school system is not only considered unwanted by educational authorities but equally combated against by parents who believe that the future of their children lies in the mastery of the official languages. This persistent disregard of indigenous languages does not only alienate the Cameroonian child culturally, but further alienates the vast majority of Cameroonians who are illiterate (in English and French since important State business is carried out in the official languages. As regards the implementation of the policy of official language bilingualism, there is clear imbalance in the use of the two official languages as French continues to be the dominant official language while English is relegated to a second place within the State. The frustration that ensues within the Anglophone community has led in recent years to the birth of Anglophone nationalism, a situation that seems to be widening the rift between the two main components of the society (Anglophones and Francophones, thereby compromising national unity. The paper is divided into five major parts. After a brief presentation of the country, the author dwells on multilingualism and language policy since the colonial period. The third, fourth and last parts of the paper focus on the critique of language policy in Cameroon with emphasis first on

Conversational Dynamics in a Longitudinal Corpus of Caregiver-Child Interactions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Weed, Ethan; Fusaroli, Riccardo; Tranbjerg, Jonas

Background:  Conversational turn-taking provides a scaffold that helps children learn the elements and rules of language (Dale & Spivey 2006, Yurofsky et al 2016). This relies heavily on social feedback and engagement (Fusaroli et al 2014), and thus conversations involving children with ASD are e...... their conversational turns to the child they are speaking with. This highlights the importance of investigating language acquisition in children with ASD within the context of dyadic interaction...

Echolalia, Mitigation and Autism: Indicators from Child Characteristics for the Use of Sign Language and Other Augmentative Language Systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Bebko, James M.

1990-01-01

Review of literature on indicators of the effectiveness of language intervention programs for autistic children showed that mitigation in echolalia was a critical characteristic, as it implied that the prerequisites for language were accessible through speech. Children whose speech ranged from mutism to unmitigated echolalia had a more negative…

[Prosody, speech input and language acquisition].

Science.gov (United States)

Jungheim, M; Miller, S; Kühn, D; Ptok, M

2014-04-01

In order to acquire language, children require speech input. The prosody of the speech input plays an important role. In most cultures adults modify their code when communicating with children. Compared to normal speech this code differs especially with regard to prosody. For this review a selective literature search in PubMed and Scopus was performed. Prosodic characteristics are a key feature of spoken language. By analysing prosodic features, children gain knowledge about underlying grammatical structures. Child-directed speech (CDS) is modified in a way that meaningful sequences are highlighted acoustically so that important information can be extracted from the continuous speech flow more easily. CDS is said to enhance the representation of linguistic signs. Taking into consideration what has previously been described in the literature regarding the perception of suprasegmentals, CDS seems to be able to support language acquisition due to the correspondence of prosodic and syntactic units. However, no findings have been reported, stating that the linguistically reduced CDS could hinder first language acquisition.

The effect of vitamin D auxiliary rehabilitation therapy in children with cerebral palsy and language dysfunction.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, X; Jiao, R; Tu, M; Wang, W; Wen, X; Song, B

2015-09-11

To observe the clinical efficacy of vitamin D auxiliary rehabilitation therapy in children with cerebral palsy and language dysfunction. Eighty-two cases of children with cerebral palsy and language dysfunction in our hospital from March 2011 to June 2014 were selected for this study. They were divided into two groups: the rehabilitation treatment group (simple group, 39 cases) and the vitamin D auxiliary rehabilitation therapy group (combination group, 43 cases). After three months of treatment, language development, Gesell Child Development Scale, Bayley Infant Development Scale score and vitamin D and calcium levels were compared. The language development, Gesell Child Development Scale, Bayley Infant Development Scale score and vitamin D and calcium levels for two of the groups, after treatment, are improved compared to before treatment. The difference was statistically significant (P language development in the combination group was obviously higher than the simple group. The difference was significant (95.3% vs. 74.4%, X2 = 2.486, P = 0.032). The Gesell Child Development Scale improved in the combination group compared to the simple group. The difference was statistically significant [(70.4 ± 11.3) vs (53.3 ±10.5), t = 3.127, P = 0.026]. The proportion of normal children was significantly higher than the rehabilitation treatment group, and the difference was statistically significant (30.2% vs. 20.5%, X2 = 3.016, P = 0.029). In the combination group, the vitamin D and calcium levels were statistically increased compared to the rehabilitation treatment group. It had statistical differences between the two groups (Pauxiliary rehabilitation therapy could improve the language function and the language development status in children with cerebral palsy and language dysfunction.

Television viewing associates with delayed language development.

Science.gov (United States)

Chonchaiya, Weerasak; Pruksananonda, Chandhita

2008-07-01

To identify impact of television viewing on language development. The case-control study included 56 new patients with language delay and 110 normal children, aged 15-48 months. Language delay was diagnosed by reviewing language milestones and Denver-II. Television viewing variables and child/parental characteristics between both groups were interviewed. The data were analyzed by ANOVA and chi-square test. Adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated from multivariate logistic regression model. Forty-six boys and 10 girls; mean [+/-SD] age, 2.11+/-0.47 years of the case group and 59 boys and 51 girls; mean [+/-SD] age, 2.23+/-0.80 years of the control group were enrolled. Children who had language delay usually started watching television earlier at age 7.22+/-5.52 months vs. 11.92+/-5.86 months, p-valuetelevision than normal children (3.05+/-1.90 h/day vs. 1.85+/-1.18 h/day; p-valuetelevision attelevision>2 h/day were approximately six times more likely to have language delays. There is a relationship between early onset and high frequency of TV viewing and language delay.

Early Pragmatic Differentiation in Japanese and German: A Case Study of a Developing Trilingual Child in Australia

Science.gov (United States)

Nibun, Yukari; Wigglesworth, Gillian

2014-01-01

While acquisition of more than one language from birth is a relatively common phenomenon, whether children under two years of age use their languages in a differentiated manner has not yet been established. The current study investigates the pragmatic differentiation of a child who lives in Australia and was acquiring two minority languages,…

Language Arts/Arts: Adopt-a-Letter

Science.gov (United States)

Soloway, Rhoda K.

1978-01-01

Describes a five-week project in which elementary students chose a favorite letter as the main character of a 25- to 30-page book for practice in language skills. The book each child made was composed of more than 20 learning activities that stimulated students to review and practice skills, parts of speech, synonyms, antonyms and alliteration as…

Regularisation of irregular verbs in child English second language ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Data was collected from the language of English medium preschool children. The study concludes that when the Blocking Principle interferes, children resort to a novel interlanguage rule that regularises irregular verbs. This interlanguage rule applies in a similar way to all irregular verbs, thus children produce utterances ...

Longitudinal study of symptom severity and language in minimally verbal children with autism.

Science.gov (United States)

Thurm, Audrey; Manwaring, Stacy S; Swineford, Lauren; Farmer, Cristan

2015-01-01

A significant minority of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are considered 'minimally verbal' due to language development stagnating at a few words. Recent developments allow for the severity of ASD symptoms to be examined using Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) Social Affect (SA) and Restricted and Repetitive Behaviors (RRB) domain severity scores. The aim of the current study was to explore language outcomes in a cohort of minimally verbal children with autism evaluated through the preschool years and determine if and how ASD symptom severity in core domains predicts the development of spoken language by age 5. The sample consisted of 70 children with autism aged 1-5 years at the first evaluation who were examined at least 1 year later, during their fifth year of age. The ADOS overall level of language item was used to categorize children as minimally verbal or having phrase speech, and the Mullen Scales of Early Learning was used as a continuous measure of expressive language. At Time 1, 65% (n = 47) of children in the sample were minimally verbal and by Time 2, 36% (n = 17 of 47) of them had developed phrase speech. While the Time 1 ADOS calibrated severity scores did not predict whether or not a child remained minimally verbal at Time 2, change in the SA calibrated severity score (but not RRB) was predictive of the continuous measure of expressive language. However, change in SA severity no longer predicted continuous expressive language when nonverbal cognitive ability was added to the model. Findings indicate that the severity of SA symptoms has some relationship with continuous language outcome, but not categorical. However, the omnipresent influence of nonverbal cognitive ability was confirmed in the current study, as the addition of it to the model rendered null the predictive utility of SA severity. © 2014 The Authors. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. © 2014 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

Language and Communication in People Who are Deafblind

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vervloed, Mathijs; Damen, Saskia; Marshark, M.; Spencer, E.

The development of language and communication in people who are deafblind requires child rearing, interaction, and teaching methods that match each individual’s cognitive development, level of functioning, and interest; that can be perceived on a sensory level; that provoke responses that match the

Parent-child cultural orientations and child adjustment in Chinese American immigrant families.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Stephen H; Hua, Michelle; Zhou, Qing; Tao, Annie; Lee, Erica H; Ly, Jennifer; Main, Alexandra

2014-01-01

Direct and indirect/mediated relations of (a) children's and parents' cultural orientations and (b) parent-child gaps in cultural orientations to children's psychological adjustment were examined in a socioeconomically diverse sample of 258 Chinese American children (age = 6-9 years) from immigrant families. Parents reported on children's and their own Chinese and American orientations in language proficiency, media use, and social relationships. Parents and teachers rated children's externalizing and internalizing problems and social competence. Using structural equation modeling, we found evidence for both the effects of children's and parents' cultural orientations and the effects of parent-child gaps. Specifically, children's American orientations across domains were associated with their better adjustment (especially social competence). These associations were partly mediated by authoritative parenting. Parents' English and Chinese media use were both associated with higher authoritative parenting, which in turn was associated with children's better adjustment. Furthermore, greater gaps in parent-child Chinese proficiency were associated with children's poorer adjustment, and these relations were partly mediated by authoritative parenting. Together, the findings underscore the complex relations between immigrant families' dual orientations to the host and heritage cultures and children's psychological adjustment. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Do maternal interaction and early language predict phonological awareness in 3- to 4-year-olds?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Silvén, M.; Niemi, P.; Voeten, M.J.M.

2002-01-01

The present study reports longitudinal data on how phonological awareness is affected by mother-child interaction and the child's language development. Sixty-six Finnish children were videotaped at 12 and 24 months of age with their mother, during joint play episodes, to assess maternal sensitivity

The development of executive function and language skills in the early school years.

Science.gov (United States)

Gooch, Debbie; Thompson, Paul; Nash, Hannah M; Snowling, Margaret J; Hulme, Charles

2016-02-01

The developmental relationships between executive functions (EF) and early language skills are unclear. This study explores the longitudinal relationships between children's early EF and language skills in a sample of children with a wide range of language abilities including children at risk of dyslexia. In addition, we investigated whether these skills independently predict children's attention/behaviour skills. Data are presented from 243 children at four time points. Children were selected for being at risk of reading difficulties either because of a family history of dyslexia (FR; N = 90) or because of concerns regarding their language development (LI; N = 79) or as typically developing controls (TD; N = 74). The children completed tasks to assess their executive function and language skills at ages 4, 5 and 6 years. At 6 (T4) and 7 years (T5) parents and teachers rated the children's attention/behaviour skills. There was a strong concurrent relationship between language and EF at each assessment. Longitudinal analyses indicated a considerable degree of stability in children's language and EF skills: the influence of language on later EF skills (and vice versa) was weak and not significant in the current sample. Children's EF, but not language, skills at T3 predicted attention/behaviour ratings at T4/T5. There is a strong concurrent association between language and EF skills during the preschool and early school years, when children with language impairment show persistent EF deficits. Latent variables measuring language and EF show high longitudinal stability with little evidence of significant or strong reciprocal influences between these constructs. EF, but not language, skills predict later ratings of children's attention and behaviour. © 2015 The Authors. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

Interaction between the Opioid Receptor OPRM1 Gene and Mother-Child Language Style Matching Prospectively Predicts Children's Separation Anxiety Disorder Symptoms.

Science.gov (United States)

Boparai, Sameen; Borelli, Jessica L; Partington, Lindsey; Smiley, Patricia; Jarvik, Ella; Rasmussen, Hannah F; Seaman, Lauren C; Nurmi, Erika L

2018-03-22

Recent research suggests that lower mother-child language style matching (LSM) is associated with greater physiological reactivity and insecure attachment in school-aged children, but to date no studies have explored this measure of parent-child behavioral matching for its association with children's anxiety symptoms, a well-known correlate of attachment insecurity and heightened physiological reactivity. There is also considerable evidence of genetic risk for anxiety, including possession of the OPRM1 minor allele, 118G. In the current study (N = 44), we expand upon what is known about children's genetic and environmental risk for anxiety by examining the unique and interactive effects of mother-child LSM and the OPRM1 polymorphism A118G on school-aged children's separation anxiety disorder (SAD) symptoms. SAD symptoms were measured both concurrently with LSM and OPRM1 genotype and two years later through self-report. No significant associations emerged between LSM or OPRM1 and concurrent Time 1 SAD symptoms. However, lower LSM and 118G minor allele possession were both associated with greater SAD symptoms at Time 2; further, the interaction between LSM and OPRM1 genotype significantly predicted SAD symptoms beyond the main effects of the two variables. Possession of the minor allele was only associated with greater SAD symptoms among children in low LSM dyads, whereas children with the minor allele in high LSM dyads showed non-significantly lower SAD symptoms. These findings and a proportion affected analysis provide support for a differential susceptibility model of gene by environment interactions for the OPRM1 gene. We discuss the implications for predicting children's separation anxiety across development. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The role of preschool teacher-child interactions in academic adjustment: An intervention study with Playing-2-gether.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Craeyevelt, Sanne; Verschueren, Karine; Vancraeyveldt, Caroline; Wouters, Sofie; Colpin, Hilde

2017-09-01

Social relationships can serve as important risk or protective factors for child development in general, and academic adjustment in particular. This study investigated the role of teacher-child interactions in academic adjustment among preschool boys at risk of externalizing behaviour, using a randomized controlled trial study with Playing-2-gether (P2G), a 12-week indicated two-component intervention aimed at improving the affective quality of the teacher-child relationship and teacher behaviour management. In a sample of 175 preschool boys showing signs of externalizing behaviour (M age  = 4 years, 9 months, SD age  = 7 months) and their teachers, we investigated P2G effects on academic engagement as well as on language achievement. Academic engagement was rated by teachers at three occasions within one school year (T1 = pretest, T3 = post-test, and T2 = in-between intervention components). Language achievement was assessed by researchers at pre- and post-test, using a standardized test. Cross-lagged path analyses revealed a direct intervention effect of P2G on academic engagement at Time 2. In addition, a significant indirect intervention effect was found on academic engagement at Time 3 through academic engagement at Time 2. Finally, academic engagement at Time 2 was found to predict language achievement at post-test. A marginally significant indirect intervention effect was found on language achievement at Time 3, through academic engagement at Time 2. This intervention study suggests that teacher-child interactions predict academic engagement over time, which in turn improves language achievement among preschool boys at risk of externalizing behaviour. © 2017 The British Psychological Society.

Object Pragmatics and Language Development.

Science.gov (United States)

Béguin, Marie

2016-12-01

The purpose of this contribution is to investigate the advent of language in the light of the appropriation of the cultural uses of the material objects related to material culture and the constitution of their public and shared meanings linked to their uses. First, we suggest that the Object Pragmatics paradigm offers a framework which allows us to take into account the uses of objects in daily life as a site of social conventions, communication and public and shared meanings. Second, we would like to underline the key role of the adult's mediations in the child's ability to evolve towards linguistic development. This contribution will discuss the notion of scenario involving primarily the object, as a possible semiotic tool to support the child's transition to language. We will finally illustrate that it is possible to take into consideration the mastery of conventional uses of the object in the child's ability to engage in a scenario and then to move towards communication and speech development. These issues will be addressed in the context of a research project which focuses on the observation of children interacting with an adult at 16, 20 and 24 months. These longitudinal data were collected by video in a semi-experimental triadic interaction design. The triadic interaction is considered as a relevant unit for the observation and analysis of the role of material culture in speech development, suggesting the existence of new mechanisms to be taken into account in addition to the interactive conditions largely mentioned in literature.

Child-Parent Interactions in Families Raising Children with Hearing Impairment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nikitina Yu.V.

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Article reveals communication (information exchange between parents and their deaf children. The effectiveness of information exchange in different communication means between parents and children having hearing loss was investigated. Effectiveness here is an opportunity of fast understanding of the information given by one participant to another. Special experimental situation was constructed to measure the effectiveness. This situation was divided in two parts: at first parent was giving instructions to the child, then – child was giving instructions to the parent. The time that was needed to follow the instructions was measured, and communication means were registered. 17 deaf children and their mothers participated in the study. 5 of those mothers also have hearing impairment and do know sign language. Control group was represented by 10 regular developing children and their parents. Experimental results allows us to make the conclusion that there are significant difficulties in information exchange between parent and child in families raising deaf children. These difficulties are more shown in situations when children have to understand parents’ instructions and are the result of not very efficient communication means that parents use in several cases. The most efficient communication means that allow receiving information faster, accurately and fully is Russian sign language. That is shown by the best results of information exchange in pairs of mother and child both having hearing loss.

Maternal depressive symptoms, mother-child interactions, and children's executive function.

Science.gov (United States)

Gueron-Sela, Noa; Camerota, Marie; Willoughby, Michael T; Vernon-Feagans, Lynne; Cox, Martha J

2018-01-01

This study examined the independent and mediated associations between maternal depression symptoms (MDS), mother-child interaction, and child executive function (EF) in a prospective longitudinal sample of 1,037 children (50% boys) from predominantly low-income and rural communities. When children were 6, 15 and 24 months of age, mothers reported their level of depressive symptomatology. At 24 and 36 months of age, mother-child interactions during play were rated for warmth-sensitivity and harsh-intrusiveness, and dyadic joint attention and maternal language complexity were assessed from a book sharing activity. Children's EF (i.e., inhibitory control, working memory, and set shifting) were assessed at ages 36 and 48 months using a battery of six tasks. Results indicated that MDS at ages 15 and 24 months were negatively associated with children's EF at age 48 months. Additionally, harsh-intrusive mother-child interactions partially mediated this link. Although warmth-sensitivity, dyadic joint attention and maternal language complexity were all longitudinally related to EF, they did not serve as mediating mechanisms between MDS and EF. These results were obtained while controlling for multiple demographic factors, children's earlier cognitive abilities, maternal general distress and childcare experiences. Findings from this study identify 1 mechanism through which early exposure to MDS could be related to children's EF. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Cognitive assessment of refugee children: Effects of trauma and new language acquisition.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaplan, Ida; Stolk, Yvonne; Valibhoy, Madeleine; Tucker, Alan; Baker, Judy

2016-02-01

Each year, approximately 60,000 children of refugee background are resettled in Western countries. This paper reviews the effects of the refugee experience on cognitive functioning. The distinctive influences for these children include exposure to traumatic events and the need to acquire a new language, factors that need to be considered to avoid overdiagnosis of learning disorders and inappropriate educational placements. Prearrival trauma, psychological sequelae of traumatic events, developmental impact of trauma, and the quality of family functioning have been found to influence cognitive functioning, learning, and academic performance. In addition, the refugee child may be semiproficient in several languages, but proficient in none, whilst also trying to learn a new language. The influence that the child's limited English proficiency, literacy, and school experience may have on academic and test performance is demonstrated by drawing on the research on refugees' English language acquisition, as well as the more extensive literature on bilingual English language learners. Implications for interventions are drawn at the level of government policy, schools, and the individual. The paper concludes with the observation that there is a major need for longitudinal research on refugee children's learning and academic performance and on interventions that will close the academic gap, thereby enabling refugee children to reach their educational potential. © The Author(s) 2015.

Avoidance and Overuse of Indonesian Language among Balinese Children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wayan Pageyasa

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The use of Indonesian language by children who speak the Balinese language, especially for children who live in rural areas is quite difficult. This is because their Balinese language is much different from Indonesian language. If they speak Indonesian language, they have to fall back to the language first. That is, language transfer process will take place from Balinese language to Indonesian language. This research aims to describe two phenomena of the language transfer process, namely avoidance and overuse (excessive use. Qualitative data were obtained from one Balinese child, namely Gede. Gede’s daily conversations were recorded to be analyzed. The researcher also used field notes. The results show that there is indeed avoidance and overuse in the use of Indonesian language by Gede.  The teachers must be aware of the student's avoidance and overuse of Indonesian language, then the teacher can choose a contextual teaching method that best fits their students’ need in order to enable them to cope with the avoidance and overuse in learning the second language. In conclusion, the Balinese child’s avoidance and overuse, displayed in his use of Indonesian Language, is a concequence of his prior knowledge of his first language (L1 as well as his cultural awareness.  Teachers should facilitate their students’ second language (L2 learning by being aware of their L1 prior knowledge and culture.

How Bilingual Is Bilingual? Mother-Tongue Proficiency and Learning through a Second Language

Science.gov (United States)

Yazici, Zeliha; Ilter, Binnur Genc; Glover, Philip

2010-01-01

In a bilingual context, the mother tongue plays a key role in a child's social and personal development, in education and in second-language learning. There is a complex relationship between these three areas. Support for children receiving education through a second language is often in the form of additional learning opportunities in the second…

Assessment of English Language Learners in the Era of New Academic Content Standards

Science.gov (United States)

Bailey, Alison L.; Carroll, Patricia E.

2015-01-01

The purpose of this chapter is twofold: (1) to provide a detailed review of current language assessment policies and practices with English language learner (ELL) students under the federal requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB; 2001) and relevant research in order to evaluate their technical quality and validity, and (2) to examine…

Language choice in bimodal bilingual development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Diane eLillo-Martin

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Bilingual children develop sensitivity to the language used by their interlocutors at an early age, reflected in differential use of each language by the child depending on their interlocutor. Factors such as discourse context and relative language dominance in the community may mediate the degree of language differentiation in preschool age children.Bimodal bilingual children, acquiring both a sign language and a spoken language, have an even more complex situation. Their Deaf parents vary considerably in access to the spoken language. Furthermore, in addition to code-mixing and code-switching, they use code-blending – expressions in both speech and sign simultaneously – an option uniquely available to bimodal bilinguals. Code-blending is analogous to code-switching sociolinguistically, but is also a way to communicate without suppressing one language. For adult bimodal bilinguals, complete suppression of the non-selected language is cognitively demanding. We expect that bimodal bilingual children also find suppression difficult, and use blending rather than suppression in some contexts. We also expect relative community language dominance to be a factor in children’s language choices.This study analyzes longitudinal spontaneous production data from four bimodal bilingual children and their Deaf and hearing interlocutors. Even at the earliest observations, the children produced more signed utterances with Deaf interlocutors and more speech with hearing interlocutors. However, while three of the four children produced >75% speech alone in speech target sessions, they produced <25% sign alone in sign target sessions. All four produced bimodal utterances in both, but more frequently in the sign sessions, potentially because they find suppression of the dominant language more difficult.Our results indicate that these children are sensitive to the language used by their interlocutors, while showing considerable influence from the dominant

What's in the input? Frequent frames in child-directed speech offer distributional cues to grammatical categories in Spanish and English.

Science.gov (United States)

Weisleder, Adriana; Waxman, Sandra R

2010-11-01

Recent analyses have revealed that child-directed speech contains distributional regularities that could, in principle, support young children's discovery of distinct grammatical categories (noun, verb, adjective). In particular, a distributional unit known as the frequent frame appears to be especially informative (Mintz, 2003). However, analyses have focused almost exclusively on the distributional information available in English. Because languages differ considerably in how the grammatical forms are marked within utterances, the scarcity of cross-linguistic evidence represents an unfortunate gap. We therefore advance the developmental evidence by analyzing the distributional information available in frequent frames across two languages (Spanish and English), across sentence positions (phrase medial and phrase final), and across grammatical forms (noun, verb, adjective). We selected six parent-child corpora from the CHILDES database (three English; three Spanish), and analyzed the input when children were aged 2 ; 6 or younger. In each language, frequent frames did indeed offer systematic cues to grammatical category assignment. We also identify differences in the accuracy of these frames across languages, sentences positions and grammatical classes.

A Bibliography of English as a Second Language Materials: Grades K-3.

Science.gov (United States)

National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education, Arlington, VA.

This annotated bibliography of English as a second language (ESL) materials for grades K-3 is divided into four parts. The first part, ESL texts, lists a number of series or single texts that are designed to teach the spoken language and reading to the elementary school child. The second part is a list of readers that, although were mostly…

Relationships between Early Child Factors and School Readiness Skills in Young Children with Hearing Loss

Science.gov (United States)

Harrington, Marjorie; DesJardin, Jean L.; Shea, Lynn C.

2010-01-01

The goal of this longitudinal study is to examine the relationships between early child factors (i.e., age at identification, enrollment in early intervention, oral language skills) and school readiness skills (i.e., conceptual knowledge) in a group of young children with hearing loss (HL). Standardized language, cognition, and conceptual…

A Micro-Ethnographic Study of the Communication/Language Development in a Japanese Child with Profound Hearing Loss Before and After Cochlear Implantation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Richard R. Kretschmer

2010-10-01

Full Text Available This study described the communication and spoken language development of a Japanese girl with profound hearing loss who used a cochlear implant from 19 months of age. The girl, Akiko, was born in Belgium where her family was living at that time. After she was identified as deaf at birth, she and her parents were provided with support services. The family relocated to Japan when Akiko was 1 year 5 months of age. When she was 1 year 6 months of age Akiko underwent cochlear implantation. The cochlear implant device was activated when Akiko was 1 year 7 months of age. The parents routinely made video recordings of Akiko interacting with family members and teachers at home and at school. The video recordings taken by the parents used as the data for this study contained scenes of Akiko from the time she was 3 months of age until she was 4 years 11 months of age. Micro-ethnographic methods were used to analyze the dynamics and development of selected communicative interactions over this age span of fifty-six months. The original pool of video recordings contained 213 scenes.As a result of video viewing and editing, Akiko’s communication development was found to follow expected patterns of development as described by other child language researchers of children with normal hearing. There were seven demarcations that represent Akiko’s communication and spoken language development: 1 perlocutionary, 2 transition of perlocutionary to illocutionary, 3 illocutionary, 4 transition of illocutionary to locutionary, 5 locutionary, 6 dialogue, and 7 narrative.

Social Interaction Affects Neural Outcomes of Sign Language Learning As a Foreign Language in Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Yusa, Noriaki; Kim, Jungho; Koizumi, Masatoshi; Sugiura, Motoaki; Kawashima, Ryuta

2017-01-01

Children naturally acquire a language in social contexts where they interact with their caregivers. Indeed, research shows that social interaction facilitates lexical and phonological development at the early stages of child language acquisition. It is not clear, however, whether the relationship between social interaction and learning applies to adult second language acquisition of syntactic rules. Does learning second language syntactic rules through social interactions with a native speaker or without such interactions impact behavior and the brain? The current study aims to answer this question. Adult Japanese participants learned a new foreign language, Japanese sign language (JSL), either through a native deaf signer or via DVDs. Neural correlates of acquiring new linguistic knowledge were investigated using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The participants in each group were indistinguishable in terms of their behavioral data after the instruction. The fMRI data, however, revealed significant differences in the neural activities between two groups. Significant activations in the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) were found for the participants who learned JSL through interactions with the native signer. In contrast, no cortical activation change in the left IFG was found for the group who experienced the same visual input for the same duration via the DVD presentation. Given that the left IFG is involved in the syntactic processing of language, spoken or signed, learning through social interactions resulted in an fMRI signature typical of native speakers: activation of the left IFG. Thus, broadly speaking, availability of communicative interaction is necessary for second language acquisition and this results in observed changes in the brain.

Speech Language Assessments in Te Reo in a Primary School Maori Immersion Unit

Science.gov (United States)

Naidoo, Kershni

2012-01-01

This research originated from the need for a speech and language therapy assessment in te reo Maori for a particular child who attended a Maori immersion unit. A Speech and Language Therapy te reo assessment had already been developed but it needed to be revised and normative data collected. Discussions and assessments were carried out in a…

Parental Support for Language Development during Joint Book Reading for Young Children with Hearing Loss

Science.gov (United States)

DesJardin, Jean L.; Doll, Emily R.; Stika, Carren J.; Eisenberg, Laurie S.; Johnson, Karen J.; Ganguly, Dianne Hammes; Colson, Bethany G.; Henning, Shirley C.

2014-01-01

Parent and child joint book reading (JBR) characteristics and parent facilitative language techniques (FLTs) were investigated in two groups of parents and their young children; children with normal hearing (NH; "n" = 60) and children with hearing loss (HL; "n" = 45). Parent-child dyads were videotaped during JBR interactions,…

A Demonstration Project of Speech Training for the Preschool Cleft Palate Child. Final Report.

Science.gov (United States)

Harrison, Robert J.

To ascertain the efficacy of a program of language and speech stimulation for the preschool cleft palate child, a research and demonstration project was conducted using 137 subjects (ages 18 to 72 months) with defects involving the soft palate. Their language and speech skills were matched with those of a noncleft peer group revealing that the…

Story discourse and use of mental state language between mothers and school-aged children with and without visual impairment.

Science.gov (United States)

Tadić, Valerija; Pring, Linda; Dale, Naomi

2013-01-01

Lack of sight compromises insight into other people's mental states. Little is known about the role of maternal language in assisting the development of mental state language in children with visual impairment (VI). To investigate mental state language strategies of mothers of school-aged children with VI and to compare these with mothers of comparable children with typically developing vision. To investigate whether the characteristics of mother-child discourse were associated with the child's socio-communicative competence. Mother-child discourse with twelve 6-12-year-old children with VI was coded during a shared book-reading narrative and compared with 14 typically sighted children matched in age and verbal ability. Mothers of children with VI elaborated more and made significantly more references to story characters' mental states and descriptive elaborations than mothers of sighted children. Mental state elaborations of mothers in the VI group related positively with the level produced by their children, with the association remaining after mothers' overall verbosity and children's developmental levels were controlled for. Frequency of maternal elaborations, including their mental state language, was related to socio-communicative competence of children with VI. The findings offer insights into the potential contribution of maternal verbal scaffolding to mentalistic language and social-communicative competences of children with VI. © 2013 Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.

Language balance and switching ability in children acquiring English as a second language.

Science.gov (United States)

Goriot, Claire; Broersma, Mirjam; McQueen, James M; Unsworth, Sharon; van Hout, Roeland

2018-09-01

This study investigated whether relative lexical proficiency in Dutch and English in child second language (L2) learners is related to executive functioning. Participants were Dutch primary school pupils of three different age groups (4-5, 8-9, and 11-12 years) who either were enrolled in an early-English schooling program or were age-matched controls not on that early-English program. Participants performed tasks that measured switching, inhibition, and working memory. Early-English program pupils had greater knowledge of English vocabulary and more balanced Dutch-English lexicons. In both groups, lexical balance, a ratio measure obtained by dividing vocabulary scores in English by those in Dutch, was related to switching but not to inhibition or working memory performance. These results show that for children who are learning an L2 in an instructional setting, and for whom managing two languages is not yet an automatized process, language balance may be more important than L2 proficiency in influencing the relation between childhood bilingualism and switching abilities. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Language in Comparative Perspective. Chapter 11

Science.gov (United States)

Rumbaugh, Duane M.; Savage-Rumbaugh, E. Sue

1994-01-01

The twentieth century will be noted for a wide variety of scientific and technological advancements, including powered flight, antibiotics, space travel, and the breaking of the genetic code. It also should be noted as the century in which major psychological, as well as biological, continuities between animal and human have been defined. Charles Darwin (1859) was quite right when he anticipated continuity in mental processes, some of which provide for language. Though none will argue that any animal has the full capacity of humans for language, none should deny that at least some animals have quite impressive competencies for language skills, including speech comprehension. The finding that the language skills in the bonobo and the chimpanzee are likely more fully and efficiently developed as a result of early rearing than by formal training at a later age declares a continuity even stronger than that defined by the language acquisition potential of the ape. To clarify, because early rearing facilitates the emergence of language in ape as well as in child, a naturalness to the familiar course of language acquisition, whereby comprehension precedes production, is also corroborated. In turn, the continuity and the shared naturalness of language acquisition serve jointly to define an advanced and critical point of linkage between the genera Pan and Homo - and, as concluded by Domjan (1993), one worthy of contributing to the series of reconceptions of ourselves as anticipated by Ploog and Melnechuk (1971).

Language acquisition for deaf children: Reducing the harms of zero tolerance to the use of alternative approaches

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Humphries Tom

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Children acquire language without instruction as long as they are regularly and meaningfully engaged with an accessible human language. Today, 80% of children born deaf in the developed world are implanted with cochlear devices that allow some of them access to sound in their early years, which helps them to develop speech. However, because of brain plasticity changes during early childhood, children who have not acquired a first language in the early years might never be completely fluent in any language. If they miss this critical period for exposure to a natural language, their subsequent development of the cognitive activities that rely on a solid first language might be underdeveloped, such as literacy, memory organization, and number manipulation. An alternative to speech-exclusive approaches to language acquisition exists in the use of sign languages such as American Sign Language (ASL, where acquiring a sign language is subject to the same time constraints of spoken language development. Unfortunately, so far, these alternatives are caught up in an "either - or" dilemma, leading to a highly polarized conflict about which system families should choose for their children, with little tolerance for alternatives by either side of the debate and widespread misinformation about the evidence and implications for or against either approach. The success rate with cochlear implants is highly variable. This issue is still debated, and as far as we know, there are no reliable predictors for success with implants. Yet families are often advised not to expose their child to sign language. Here absolute positions based on ideology create pressures for parents that might jeopardize the real developmental needs of deaf children. What we do know is that cochlear implants do not offer accessible language to many deaf children. By the time it is clear that the deaf child is not acquiring spoken language with cochlear devices, it might already be

Early Language Learning and the Social Brain.

Science.gov (United States)

Kuhl, Patricia K

2014-01-01

Explaining how every typically developing child acquires language is one of the grand challenges of cognitive neuroscience. Historically, language learning provoked classic debates about the contributions of innately specialized as opposed to general learning mechanisms. Now, new data are being brought to bear from studies that employ magnetoencephalograph (MEG), electroencephalograph (EEG), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) studies on young children. These studies examine the patterns of association between brain and behavioral measures. The resulting data offer both expected results and surprises that are altering theory. As we uncover what it means to be human through the lens of young children, and their ability to speak, what we learn will not only inform theories of human development, but also lead to the discovery of neural biomarkers, early in life, that indicate risk for language impairment and allow early intervention for children with developmental disabilities involving language. Copyright © 2014 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press; all rights reserved.

influence of environment on a child's acquisition of english

African Journals Online (AJOL)

USER

Department of Linguistics and Communication Studies. University of Port ... The analysis of data collected showed that parents of the children under ... environmental factors is the acquisition of English by the Nigerian child and the ... language will be moribund if children are not speaking them now. ..... 'Book in the house'.

A Nonverbal Intervention for the Severely Language Disordered Young Child: An Intensive Approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Fraser, Diane Lynch

Designing therapeutic approaches for language-disordered young children calls for the coordination of communication skills across the three developmental pathways: motor, social-emotional, and language-cognitive. The case study presented in this document examines the effectiveness of a dance-movement therapy intervention conducted over a 2-year…

Internal and External Factors That Support Children's Minority First Language and English.

Science.gov (United States)

Pham, Giang; Tipton, Timothy

2018-05-22

Sequential bilingual children in the United States often speak 2 languages that have different social statuses (minority-majority) and separate contexts for learning (home-school). Thus, distinct factors may support the development of each language. This study examined which child internal and external factors were related to vocabulary skills in a minority language versus English. Participants included 69 children, aged 5-8 years, who lived in Southern California, spoke Vietnamese as the home language, and received school instruction in English. All participants had at least 1 foreign-born parent, and most mothers reported limited English proficiency. Parents completed a telephone survey, and children completed measures of receptive and expressive vocabulary in each language. Using correlations and stepwise regression, we examined predictors of vocabulary skills in each language that were internal to the child (age, gender, analytical reasoning, phonological memory) or that pertained to the surrounding environment (cumulative exposure, quantity and quality of input/output). Vietnamese vocabulary outcomes were related to multiple external factors, of which input and enrichment activities were the best predictors. In contrast, English vocabulary outcomes were related to internal factors, of which age and phonological memory were the best predictors. Parental use of Vietnamese contributed to children's Vietnamese vocabulary outcomes but was not related to children's English vocabulary outcomes. Vietnamese exposure does not hinder English development. Children from immigrant families are learning English with or without familial support. Rich and frequent exposure and opportunities for practice are essential for the continued development of a minority first language.

Following the Yellow Brick Road: Next Steps in the Synthesis of Pediatric Bioethics and Child Rights.

Science.gov (United States)

Goldhagen, Jeffrey

2016-01-01

The Symposium on "The Interface of Child Rights and Pediatric Bioethics in the Clinical Setting" brought together a diverse group of pediatric bioethicists and child rights advocates to explore how the junction of these disciplines could inform their respective work. In retrospect, it is clear how the diversity of personal histories, professional disciplines, knowledge, experience, language, culture, and politics of the participants influenced the outcomes of the Symposium and provided both challenges and opportunities for further collaboration. Several themes emerged from the meeting, including the relevance of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the role of the family, and consideration of the best interests of the child to complex medical decision-making; research ethics; and the applicability of the principles of bioethics and child rights to the social determinants of health. This essay poses questions related to each of these themes that can serve as a framework for further collaboration. It concludes with a statement by Da Silva and his coauthors that the CRC and the principles of child rights can provide "increased conceptual clarity and a widely endorsed language that can assist pediatric bioethicists in clinical, organizational, and international consultations, as well as in education and policy development."

Story interpretation and its influence to child in early school

OpenAIRE

Kitanova, Irena

2015-01-01

One of the most beautiful reading-pice for education with ethical and esthetical value for the children in the early child education at the family and in the kindergarten is the story. The story has big importance for education process in early childhood and for the school period of child development. As a meter of fact on that age with specifically language and statement the story offers possibility to see the beauty of art expression, to wake up the esthetical sense and with that procedure ...

A Case of Specific Language Impairment in a Deaf Signer of American Sign Language.

Science.gov (United States)

Quinto-Pozos, David; Singleton, Jenny L; Hauser, Peter C

2017-04-01

This article describes the case of a deaf native signer of American Sign Language (ASL) with a specific language impairment (SLI). School records documented normal cognitive development but atypical language development. Data include school records; interviews with the child, his mother, and school professionals; ASL and English evaluations; and a comprehensive neuropsychological and psychoeducational evaluation, and they span an approximate period of 7.5 years (11;10-19;6) including scores from school records (11;10-16;5) and a 3.5-year period (15;10-19;6) during which we collected linguistic and neuropsychological data. Results revealed that this student has average intelligence, intact visual perceptual skills, visuospatial skills, and motor skills but demonstrates challenges with some memory and sequential processing tasks. Scores from ASL testing signaled language impairment and marked difficulty with fingerspelling. The student also had significant deficits in English vocabulary, spelling, reading comprehension, reading fluency, and writing. Accepted SLI diagnostic criteria exclude deaf individuals from an SLI diagnosis, but the authors propose modified criteria in this work. The results of this study have practical implications for professionals including school psychologists, speech language pathologists, and ASL specialists. The results also support the theoretical argument that SLI can be evident regardless of the modality in which it is communicated. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Lenguaje audiovisual y lenguaje escolar: dos cosmovisiones en la estructuración lingüística del niño Audiovisual language and school language: two cosmo-visions in the structuring of children linguistics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lirian Astrid Ciro

2007-06-01

Full Text Available En el presente texto se pretende analizar la compleja red relacional existente entre el lenguaje audiovisual (partiendo de la televisión como uno de sus soportes y el lenguaje escolar, para vislumbrar sus efectos en el lenguaje infantil. La idea es mostrar el lenguaje audiovisual como un mecanismo potencialmente educativo, por cuanto es una forma de resignificar el mundo y de socialización lingüística; tal característica hace necesario entablar una relación estratégica entre él y el lenguaje escolar. De este modo, el lenguaje infantil se instaura como un punto intermedio en donde confluyen esos distintos lenguajes, y permite al niño tener cosmovisiones abiertas y flexibles de diversas realidades. Todo esto llevará a la configuración de seres creativos, novedosos y atentos a escuchar opciones... a la estructuración de una nueva sociedad, en donde la multiplicidad de códigos (entendidos como sistemas de simbolización vayan haciendo más fácil la expresión de lo que se es y se quiere ser.This paper analyzes the complex relationship between audiovisual language (TV being one of its main supports and school language in order to observe their effects on child language. In this way, audiovisual language is a potentially educational mechanism because it is both a new way of resignifying the world and a mechanism of linguistic socialization. Hence, it is necessary to establish a strategic relationship between audiovisual language and school language. In this way, child language is an intermediate point between these two languages and it allows the child to have open and flexible views of different realities and to be willing to weigh options. In short, it is the structuring of a new society where multiplicity of codes will contribute to facilitating free expression.

Does the speaker's voice quality influence children's performance on a language comprehension test?

Science.gov (United States)

Lyberg-Åhlander, Viveka; Haake, Magnus; Brännström, Jonas; Schötz, Susanne; Sahlén, Birgitta

2015-02-01

A small number of studies have explored children's perception of speakers' voice quality and its possible influence on language comprehension. The aim of this explorative study was to investigate the relationship between the examiner's voice quality, the child's performance on a digital version of a language comprehension test, the Test for Reception of Grammar (TROG-2), and two measures of cognitive functioning. The participants were (n = 86) mainstreamed 8-year old children with typical language development. Two groups of children (n = 41/45) were presented with the TROG-2 through recordings of one female speaker: one group was presented with a typical voice and the other with a simulated dysphonic voice. Significant associations were found between executive functioning and language comprehension. The results also showed that children listening to the dysphonic voice achieved significantly lower scores for more difficult sentences ("the man but not the horse jumps") and used more self-corrections on simpler sentences ("the girl is sitting"). Findings suggest that a dysphonic speaker's voice may force the child to allocate capacity to the processing of the voice signal at the expense of comprehension. The findings have implications for clinical and research settings where standardized language tests are used.

Effect of Vestibulo-Proprioceptive Stimulations in a Child with Agenesis of the Corpus Callosum

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hamid Dalvand

2010-06-01

Full Text Available Background and Aim: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of vestibulo-proprioceptive stimulations of sensory integration theory on the development of gross and fine motor, language and personal-social functions in a child with agenesis of the corpus callosum.Case: We report a 10.5 month old boy with agenesis of the corpus callosum. The intervention was administered based on sensory integration theory an hour a week for 20 weeks. The exercise intervention consisted of proprioceptive and linear, sustained and low frequency vestibular stimulations on suspension device and physio roll. A Denver Developmental Screening- II and milestones skill testing was completed pre-intervention and monthly. Post-intervention, age of gross motor, fine motor adaptive, language, and personal-social functions significantly improved. Based on milestones skills, maintenance of gross motor functions (e.g. sitting and quadruped position improved. The child could roll from side to side and released objects voluntarily. The reaction time to auditory stimulations became less than 2 seconds.Conclusion: vestibulo-proprioceptive stimulations using the neuroplasticity ability of the central nervous system is effective for development of gross and fine motor, language, and personal-social functions. These exercises can be administered for a child with agenesis of the corpus callosum.

Facilitating vocabulary acquisition of young English language learners.

Science.gov (United States)

Lugo-Neris, Mirza J; Jackson, Carla Wood; Goldstein, Howard

2010-07-01

This study examined whether English-only vocabulary instruction or English vocabulary instruction enhanced with Spanish bridging produced greater word learning in young Spanish-speaking children learning English during a storybook reading intervention while considering individual language characteristics. Twenty-two Spanish-speaking children learning English (ages 4-6) who participated in a summer education program for migrant families were randomly assigned to receive 2 weeks of each instruction: (a) word expansions in English or (b) English readings with word expansions in Spanish. Researcher-created measures of target vocabulary were administered, as were English and Spanish standardized measures of language proficiency and vocabulary. Results revealed significant improvement in naming, receptive knowledge, and expressive definitions for those children who received Spanish bridging. Spanish expansions produced the greatest gains in the children's use of expressive definitions. Initial language proficiency in both languages was found to affect participants' gains from intervention, as those with limited skills in both languages showed significantly less vocabulary growth than those with strong skills in Spanish. Additional benefits to using Spanish expansions in vocabulary instruction were observed. Future research should explore additional ways of enhancing the vocabulary growth of children with limited skills in both languages in order to support and strengthen the child's first language and promote second language acquisition.

Can teacher-child relationships support human rights to freedom of opinion and expression, education and participation?

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Cen; Harrison, Linda J; McLeod, Sharynne; Walker, Sue; Spilt, Jantine L

2018-02-01

This study explored how teacher-child relationships change over the early school years, in terms of closeness and conflict, whether these trajectories differ in type and frequency for children with typical development and children with speech and language concern (SLC), and whether the trajectories are associated with school outcomes at 12-13 years. Participants were children, parents and teachers in the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. Parents identified 2890 children with typical communication and 1442 children with SLC. Teacher-rated teacher-child closeness and conflict were collected biennially over six years. Academic and social-emotional outcomes were reported by teachers and children. Growth mixture modelling was conducted to generate teacher-child relationship trajectories and Wald's chi-square analyses were used to test the association between trajectories and school outcomes at 12-13 years, after controlling for a range of covariates including child's sex, language background, Indigenous status, age and socio-economic position. In both groups, the majority of children had teacher-child relationship trajectories with sustained high closeness and low conflict that predicted positive outcomes at age 12-13, but the SLC group was more at risk of less positive trajectories and poorer school outcomes. Close, less conflicted relationships with teachers may provide a supportive context for later language, literacy and social-emotional development. This study highlights the role of teachers in supporting children in their development of communication and academic skills that will optimise their capacity for freedom of opinions and expression, education and participation, as enshrined in Articles 19, 26 and 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Article Omission in Headlines and Child Language: A Processing Approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Lange, J.

2008-01-01

The results of the crosslinguistic (Dutch, Italian and German) database analysis and experiments presented in my study show that there are interesting similarities between the pattern of article omission by adults in newspaper headlines and the pattern of article omission observed in language

Story time turbocharger? Child engagement during shared reading and cerebellar activation and connectivity in preschool-age children listening to stories.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John S Hutton

Full Text Available Expanding behavioral and neurobiological evidence affirms benefits of shared (especially parent-child reading on cognitive development during early childhood. However, the majority of this evidence involves factors under caregiver control, the influence of those intrinsic to the child, such as interest or engagement in reading, largely indirect or unclear. The cerebellum is increasingly recognized as playing a "smoothing" role in higher-level cognitive processing and learning, via feedback loops with language, limbic and association cortices. We utilized functional MRI to explore the relationship between child engagement during a mother-child reading observation and neural activation and connectivity during a story listening task, in a sample of 4-year old girls. Children exhibiting greater interest and engagement in the narrative showed increased activation in right-sided cerebellar association areas during the task, and greater functional connectivity between this activation cluster and language and executive function areas. Our findings suggest a potential cerebellar "boost" mechanism responsive to child engagement level that may contribute to emergent literacy development during early childhood, and synergy between caregiver and child factors during story sharing.

Building the Bridge as You Walk on It: Didactic Behaviors of Elementary Teachers in a Dual Language Program

Science.gov (United States)

Ray, Juliet M.

2008-01-01

While there is evidence that the dual language model has the potential to raise the academic achievement of English language learners (ELLs), the policies mandated through the No Child Left Behind Act do not support maintenance of the student's heritage language which is an integral part of the model. Using symbolic interactionism as a framework,…

Signs of Resistance: Peer Learning of Sign Languages within "Oral" Schools for the Deaf

Science.gov (United States)

Anglin-Jaffe, Hannah

2013-01-01

This article explores the role of the Deaf child as peer educator. In schools where sign languages were banned, Deaf children became the educators of their Deaf peers in a number of contexts worldwide. This paper analyses how this peer education of sign language worked in context by drawing on two examples from boarding schools for the deaf in…

Performance of African American Preschool Children from Low-Income Families on Expressive Language Measures

Science.gov (United States)

Qi, Cathy H.; Kaiser, Ann P.; Marley, Scott C.; Milan, Stephanie

2012-01-01

The purposes of the study were to determine (a) the ability of two spontaneous language measures, mean length of utterance in morphemes (MLU-m) and number of different words (NDW), to identify African American preschool children at low and high levels of language ability; (b) whether child chronological age was related to the performance of either…

Speech, Language, and Audiology Services in Public Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Sunderland, L.C.

2004-01-01

The prevalence of communication disorders (speech, language, and hearing) among school-age children continues to increase, making it imperative that the classroom teacher be able to identify children in need of services. This article provides information that will enable all teachers to recognize when a child is exhibiting signs of a communication…

Maternal Communicative Behaviours and Interaction Quality as Predictors of Language Development: Findings from a Community-Based Study of Slow-to-Talk Toddlers

Science.gov (United States)

Conway, Laura J.; Levickis, Penny A.; Smith, Jodie; Mensah, Fiona; Wake, Melissa; Reilly, Sheena

2018-01-01

Background: Identifying risk and protective factors for language development informs interventions for children with developmental language disorder (DLD). Maternal responsive and intrusive communicative behaviours are associated with language development. Mother-child interaction quality may influence how children use these behaviours in language…

Tense Marking and Spontaneous Speech Measures in Spanish Specific Language Impairment: A Discriminant Function Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Grinstead, John; Baron, Alisa; Vega-Mendoza, Mariana; De la Mora, Juliana; Cantu-Sanchez, Myriam; Flores, Blanca

2013-01-01

Purpose: To test the proposal that the tense deficit that has been demonstrated for children with specific language impairment (SLI) in other languages is also found in child Spanish and that low performance on tense-related measures can distinguish Spanish-speaking children with SLI from those without. Method: The authors evaluated evidence from…

An experience in Language Teaching Seminar of Primary Education Degree through the Seventh Art

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ángela GARCÍA-MANSO

2018-01-01

Full Text Available This study describes the Seminar «Language Skills and Seventh Art» developed at the University of Extremadura in the course 2015-2016. Through the analysis of ten films, we deal with professional competences of future Primary teachers from unique situations, for example disabilities such as blind and deaf people, autism or dyslexia, questions about the origin of the language and artificial languages, or cultural issues such as the wild child or within situations of isolation or loneliness. In addition to the specific considerations of each film, the active use of Cinema in different areas of learning foreign languages and ELE (Spanish as Foreign Language is postulated

Language Outcomes in Children Who Are Deaf and Hard of Hearing: The Role of Language Ability Before Hearing Aid Intervention.

Science.gov (United States)

Daub, Olivia; Bagatto, Marlene P; Johnson, Andrew M; Cardy, Janis Oram

2017-11-09

Early auditory experiences are fundamental in infant language acquisition. Research consistently demonstrates the benefits of early intervention (i.e., hearing aids) to language outcomes in children who are deaf and hard of hearing. The nature of these benefits and their relation with prefitting development are, however, not well understood. This study examined Ontario Infant Hearing Program birth cohorts to explore predictors of performance on the Preschool Language Scale-Fourth Edition at the time of (N = 47) and after (N = 19) initial hearing aid intervention. Regression analyses revealed that, before the hearing aid fitting, severity of hearing loss negatively predicted 19% and 10% of the variance in auditory comprehension and expressive communication, respectively. After hearing aid fitting, children's standard scores on language measures remained stable, but they made significant improvement in their progress values, which represent individual skills acquired on the test, rather than standing relative to same-age peers. Magnitude of change in progress values was predicted by a negative interaction of prefitting language ability and severity of hearing loss for the Auditory Comprehension scale. These findings highlight the importance of considering a child's prefitting language ability in interpreting eventual language outcomes. Possible mechanisms of hearing aid benefit are discussed. https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.5538868.

"The child can remember your voice": parent-child communication about sexuality in the South African context.

Science.gov (United States)

Vilanculos, Esmeralda; Nduna, Mzikazi

2017-03-01

There is a wealth of research on parent-child communication about sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and its influence on young people's sexual behaviours. However, most of it is from the global North. The aim of this study was to explore parent-child communication in three South African provinces: Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) and Mpumalanga. Nine, peer, focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted with young and adult black African men and women in their spoken languages. Data were analysed thematically. Findings revealed that cultural and religious constructions of taboo silenced direct communication and restricted the discussed topics. Parents' older age, low educational level, lack of knowledge, and discomfort in talking about sexuality matters were reported to restrict conversations with children about sex and sexuality. The influence of these factors differed for parents residing in an urban setting who were more liberal than their counterparts residing in more rural areas. The child's age and gender were also reported to be a consideration in approaching these conversations. There is a need for interventions to assist parents on how to communicate with their children about SRHR topics beyond pregnancy and HIV/AIDS. These interventions should take into account and address factors that seem to influence parent-child communication.

Partners in Language: A Guide for Parents. (Companeros En El Idioma: Guia para Los Padres).

Science.gov (United States)

American Speech and Hearing Association, Washington, DC.

This is a bilingual book about language development of the young child. It is written for parents, with the objective of providing them with skills to help their children learn to talk. Emphasis is on maintaining communication between parent and child from infancy in a non-pressured, accepting, and positive environment. Developmental (normative)…

Is mommy talking to daddy or to me? Exploring parental estimates of child language exposure using the Multilingual Infant Language Questionnaire

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Liu, L.; Kager, R.W.J.

2017-01-01

Language input is a key factor in bi-/multilingual research. It roots in the definition of bi-/multilingualism and influences infant cognitive development since and even before birth. The methods used to assess language exposure among bi-/multilingual infants vary across studies. This paper

Heritability of specific language impairment depends on diagnostic criteria.

Science.gov (United States)

Bishop, D V M; Hayiou-Thomas, M E

2008-04-01

Heritability estimates for specific language impairment (SLI) have been inconsistent. Four twin studies reported heritability of 0.5 or more, but a recent report from the Twins Early Development Study found negligible genetic influence in 4-year-olds. We considered whether the method of ascertainment influenced results and found substantially higher heritability if SLI was defined in terms of referral to speech and language pathology services than if defined by language test scores. Further analysis showed that presence of speech difficulties played a major role in determining whether a child had contact with services. Childhood language disorders that are identified by population screening are likely to have a different phenotype and different etiology from clinically referred cases. Genetic studies are more likely to find high heritability if they focus on cases who have speech difficulties and who have been referred for intervention.

Musicality in the Language of Picture Books

Science.gov (United States)

Heald, Robin

2008-01-01

The authors of picture books who write especially melodic language are doing more than simply offering up work that is pleasing to the ear. They are accessing more of the whole child. In this article five picture books will be discussed for their musical attributes: "Now One Foot, Now the Other", by Tomie dePaola, "The Cat in the Hat", by Dr.…

The impact of language barriers and immigration status on the care experience for Spanish-speaking caregivers of patients with pediatric cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Zamora, Eduardo R; Kaul, Sapna; Kirchhoff, Anne C; Gwilliam, Vannina; Jimenez, Ornella A; Morreall, Deborah K; Montenegro, Roberto E; Kinney, Anita Y; Fluchel, Mark N

2016-12-01

An increasing proportion of pediatric cancer patients in the United States are Latino and many have Spanish-speaking immigrant parents with limited English proficiency (LEP). Little is known about how language or undocumented immigration status impacts their care experience. A cross-sectional survey was administered to English (N = 310) and Spanish-speaking LEP (N = 56) caregivers of pediatric cancer patients. To assess differences in healthcare experiences between the language groups, t-tests and chi-square statistics were used. Multivariable logistic regression evaluated associations between primary language and knowledge of clinical trial status. Spanish-speaking caregivers were more likely to report higher rates of quitting or changing jobs as a direct result of their child's cancer, and their children were more likely to experience a delay in education. Although Spanish-speaking caregivers reported higher satisfaction with care, 32% reported feeling that their child would have received better care if English was their primary language. Spanish-speaking caregivers were more likely to incorrectly identify whether their child was on a clinical trial compared with English-speaking caregivers. The majority of Spanish-speaking caregivers reported at least one undocumented caregiver in the household and 11% of them avoided or delayed medical care for their child due to concerns over their undocumented immigration status. Language barriers and undocumented immigration status may negatively impact the quality of informed decision-making and the care experience for Spanish-speaking LEP caregivers of pediatric cancer patients. These families may benefit from culturally appropriate Spanish language resources to improve communication and open a dialogue regarding undocumented immigration status. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Entre quatro paredes: atendimento fonoaudiológico a crianças e adolescentes vítimas de violência Speech-language therapy for abused and neglected child

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Milica Satake Noguchi

2004-12-01

Full Text Available Buscou-se levantar o conhecimento e a experiência de fonoaudiólogos da cidade do Rio de Janeiro sobre o problema da violência familiar contra a criança e o adolescente. Foi efetuado um survey via correio, com duplo envio de questionários, a uma amostra de profissionais registrados no Conselho Regional de Fonoaudiologia. Foram enviados 500 questionários sendo obtidas 224 respostas. Os resultados indicam que, dos 71% dos entrevistados que trabalham em consultório ou clínica particular, 25,8% já tiveram clientes infanto-juvenis que sofreram violência familiar. Apesar de somente 12,9% dos fonoaudiólogos trabalharem em centro/posto de saúde, quase a metade desses profissionais já atendeu vítimas de violência familiar (48,3%. Dos fonoaudiólogos que atenderam pelo menos um caso de violência, 88,9% indicaram o Conselho Tutelar para encaminhamento dos casos, mas somente quatro fonoaudiólogos afirmaram ter efetuado a notificação. Os resultados sugerem que, além da falta de informação sobre o tema, a configuração do trabalho deste profissional, em que predomina a atuação em consultórios particulares, dificulta a realização da notificação, já que não contam com um apoio institucional no enfrentamento deste grave problema.The objective of this work was to appraise the knowledge and experience of Rio de Janeiro's speech-language pathologist and audiologist about child abuse and neglect. We sent a survey form by mail to a sample of professionals registered at the Speech-Language Pathologist and Audiologist Local Council. The forms were sent twice to each professional. Five hundred forms were sent and 224 professionals responded, of which 71% worked in private clinics. Among these professionals, 25.8% had had child clients who suffered some type of abuse. Only 12.9% of interviewees worked in public health services and almost half of them (43.8% had cared of clients who suffered abuse and/or neglect. Even though 88.9% of

Interaction between lexical and grammatical language systems in the brain

Science.gov (United States)

Ardila, Alfredo

2012-06-01

This review concentrates on two different language dimensions: lexical/semantic and grammatical. This distinction between a lexical/semantic system and a grammatical system is well known in linguistics, but in cognitive neurosciences it has been obscured by the assumption that there are several forms of language disturbances associated with focal brain damage and hence language includes a diversity of functions (phoneme discrimination, lexical memory, grammar, repetition, language initiation ability, etc.), each one associated with the activity of a specific brain area. The clinical observation of patients with cerebral pathology shows that there are indeed only two different forms of language disturbances (disturbances in the lexical/semantic system and disturbances in the grammatical system); these two language dimensions are supported by different brain areas (temporal and frontal) in the left hemisphere. Furthermore, these two aspects of the language are developed at different ages during child's language acquisition, and they probably appeared at different historical moments during human evolution. Mechanisms of learning are different for both language systems: whereas the lexical/semantic knowledge is based in a declarative memory, grammatical knowledge corresponds to a procedural type of memory. Recognizing these two language dimensions can be crucial in understanding language evolution and human cognition.

Telehealth language assessments using consumer grade equipment in rural and urban settings: Feasible, reliable and well tolerated.

Science.gov (United States)

Sutherland, Rebecca; Trembath, David; Hodge, Antoinette; Drevensek, Suzi; Lee, Sabrena; Silove, Natalie; Roberts, Jacqueline

2017-01-01

Introduction Telehealth can be an effective way to provide speech pathology intervention to children with speech and language impairments. However, the provision of reliable and feasible standardised language assessments via telehealth to establish children's needs for intervention and to monitor progress has not yet been well established. Further, there is limited information about children's reactions to telehealth. This study aimed to examine the reliability and feasibility of conducting standardised language assessment with school-aged children with known or suspected language impairment via a telehealth application using consumer grade computer equipment within a public school setting. Method Twenty-three children (aged 8-12 years) participated. Each child was assessed using a standardised language assessment comprising six subtests. Two subtests were administered by a speech pathologist face-to-face (local clinician) and four subtests were administered via telehealth. All subtests were completed within a single visit to the clinic service, with a break between the face to face and telehealth sessions. The face-to-face clinician completed behaviour observation checklists in the telehealth and face to face conditions and provided feedback on the audio and video quality of the application from the child's point of view. Parent feedback about their child's experience was elicited via survey. Results There was strong inter-rater reliability in the telehealth and face-to-face conditions (correlation coefficients ranged from r = 0.96-1.0 across the subtests) and good agreement on all measures. Similar levels of attention, distractibility and anxiety were observed in the two conditions. Clinicians rated only one session of 23 as having poor audio quality and no sessions were rated as having poor visual quality. Parent and child reactions to the use of telehealth were largely positive and supportive of using telehealth to assess rural children. Discussion The

A Case Study of Tactile Language and its Possible Structure

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dammeyer, Jesper Herup; Nielsen, Anja; Strøm, Emilie

2015-01-01

Few published research papers concern the study of communication and language development among children with congenital deafblindness. The aim of this study is to explore and discuss linguistic features of what may be considered as tactile languages. By analysing one pilot video observation of a...... on direction, speed and acceleration of movements, pressure, and body position. It is discussed how tactile languages, if they exist, can be studied from its unique bodily-tactile nature and not as a modification of visual sign languages.......Few published research papers concern the study of communication and language development among children with congenital deafblindness. The aim of this study is to explore and discuss linguistic features of what may be considered as tactile languages. By analysing one pilot video observation...... of a five year old congenital deafblind child communicating with his mother about a slide experience tactile linguistic features of phonology, morphology, semantics and syntax were explored. The linguistic features of tactile language were found to involve a potential unique and complex structure based...

Growing up with Frisian and Dutch: The role of language input in the early development of Frisian and Dutch among preschool children in Friesland

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dijkstra, J.E.

2013-01-01

Bilingual acquisition largely depends on the input that children receive in each language. The more input in a language, the more proficient a child becomes in that language. The current project studied the role of language input among bilingual Frisian-Dutch preschool children (age 2.5-4 years) in

Biopsychosocial Factors, Life Course Perspective, and Their Influences on Language Development in Children

OpenAIRE

Latifah Safriana; Harsono Salimo; Yulia Lanti Retno Dewi

2017-01-01

Background: Speech and language disorder if untreated may cause deficiency in reading, verbal, psychosocial, behavioral, and academic abilities. Studies have shown that birthweight, body length at birth, maternal education, parenting style, maternal stress, income at pregnancy, and current income can influence child development. This study aimed to determine the biopsychosocial factors, life course perspective, and their influences on language development in children. Subject and Method: This...

A Qualitative Exploration of Therapeutic Relationships from the Perspective of Six Children Receiving Speech-Language Therapy

Science.gov (United States)

Fourie, Robert; Crowley, Niamh; Oliviera, Ana

2011-01-01

Although some studies have explored the adult therapeutic relationship in speech-language pathology, few, if any, have examined it with regard to children. This study aimed to explore the therapeutic relationship in pediatric speech and language therapy, focusing on the child's experience. Accordingly, the study was qualitative and involved the…

High prevalence/low severity language delay in preschool children born very preterm.

Science.gov (United States)

Foster-Cohen, Susan H; Friesen, Myron D; Champion, Patricia R; Woodward, Lianne J

2010-10-01

To examine the language development at corrected age 4 years of a regionally representative cohort of children born very preterm (VPT). Of particular interest was the identification of biological and socioenvironmental risk and protective factors that influence VPT children's early language development. Data were collected as part of a prospective longitudinal study of 110 VPT (VPT: ≤ 33 weeks gestation) and 113 full-term children (full term: 37-41 weeks gestation) born in Canterbury, New Zealand from 1998 to 2000. At corrected age 4 years, all children were assessed with the preschool version of the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals. Extensive information was also collected about children's family social background, perinatal health, childrearing environment, education/intervention exposures, and neurodevelopmental progress from birth to age 4. At the age of 4 years, VPT children were characterized by poorer receptive and expressive language development than full-term children. These differences persisted after exclusion of children with neurosensory impairment as well as statistical adjustment for the effects of social risk. Within the VPT group, the key predictors of children's overall language development were family social risk at birth (p =.05), severity of white matter abnormalities on neonatal magnetic resonance imaging (p =.49), observed parent-child synchrony (p =.001), and concurrent child cognitive ability (p =.001). Together, these factors accounted for 45% of the variance in children's total Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals-Preschool scores. By preschool age, children born VPT show early emerging mild to moderate language delays that are likely to affect their school success and longer-term developmental progress. Findings highlight the importance of potentially modifiable factors such as early brain injury and parenting quality in predicting the language outcomes of children born VPT.

Is Mommy Talking to Daddy or to Me? Exploring Parental Estimates of Child Language Exposure Using the Multilingual Infant Language Questionnaire

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Liquan; Kager, René

2017-01-01

Language input is a key factor in bi-/multilingual research. It roots in the definition of bi-/multilingualism and influences infant cognitive development since and even before birth. The methods used to assess language exposure among bi-/multilingual infants vary across studies. This paper discusses the parental report patterns of the…

The Development of the Causative Construction in Persian Child Language

Science.gov (United States)

Family, Neiloufar; Allen, Shanley E. M.

2015-01-01

The acquisition of systematic patterns and exceptions in different languages can be readily examined using the causative construction. Persian allows four types of causative structures, including one productive multiword structure (i.e. the light verb construction). In this study, we examine the development of all four structures in Persian child…

Clinical assessment of early language development: a simplified short form of the Mandarin communicative development inventory.

Science.gov (United States)

Soli, Sigfrid D; Zheng, Yun; Meng, Zhaoli; Li, Gang

2012-09-01

The purpose of this study was to develop a practical mean for clinical evaluation of early pediatric language development by establishing developmental trajectories for receptive and expressive vocabulary growth in children between 6 and 32 months of age using a simple, time-efficient assessment tool. Simplified short form versions of the Words and Gestures and Words and Sentences vocabulary inventories in the Mandarin Communicative Development Inventory [1] were developed and used to assess early language development in developmentally normal children from 6 to 32 months of age during routine health checks. Developmental trajectories characterizing the rate of receptive and expressive vocabulary growth between 6 and 32 months of age are reported. These trajectories allow the equivalent age corresponding to a score to be determined after a brief structured interview with the child's parents that can be conducted in a busy clinical setting. The simplified short forms of the Mandarin Communicative Development Inventories can serve as a clinically useful tool to assess early child language development, providing a practical mean of objectively assessing early language development following early interventions to treat young children with hearing impairment as well as speech and language delays. Objective evidence of language development is essential for achievement of effective (re)habilitation outcomes. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Critical perspectives on language planning and policy in Africa ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Africa, except for South Africa. However, even in South Africa there has been a pre- occupation with the mother tongue debate, rather than with establishing how African languages can be harnessed into an integrated multilingual teaching programme. As regards the former (i.e. speakers' mother tongues), an African child is ...

Effects of Language of Implementation on Functional Analysis Outcomes

Science.gov (United States)

Rispoli, Mandy; O'Reilly, Mark; Lang, Russell; Sigafoos, Jeff; Mulloy, Austin; Aguilar, Jeannie; Singer, George

2011-01-01

This study evaluated the influence of language of implementation on functional analysis outcomes for a child with a severe intellectual disability from a Spanish-speaking home. Challenging behavior was assessed during 5-min sessions under 4 conditions; attention, play-verbal, play-nonverbal, and demand and across 2 phases; implementation in…

Using Hierarchical Linear Modeling to Examine How Individual SLPs Differentially Contribute to Children's Language and Literacy Gains in Public Schools.

Science.gov (United States)

Farquharson, Kelly; Tambyraja, Sherine R; Logan, Jessica; Justice, Laura M; Schmitt, Mary Beth

2015-08-01

The purpose of this study was twofold: (a) to determine the unique contributions in children's language and literacy gains, over 1 academic year, that are attributable to the individual speech-language pathologist (SLP) and (b) to explore possible child- and SLP-level factors that may further explain SLPs' contributions to children's language and literacy gains. Participants were 288 kindergarten and 1st-grade children with language impairment who were currently receiving school-based language intervention from SLPs. Using hierarchical linear modeling, we partitioned the variance in children's gains in language (i.e., grammar, vocabulary) and literacy (i.e., word decoding) that could be attributed to their individual SLP. Results revealed a significant contribution of individual SLPs to children's gains in grammar, vocabulary, and word decoding. Children's fall language scores and grade were significant predictors of SLPs' contributions, although no SLP-level predictors were significant. The present study makes a first step toward incorporating implementation science and suggests that, for children receiving school-based language intervention, variance in child language and literacy gains in an academic year is at least partially attributable to SLPs. Continued work in this area should examine the possible SLP-level characteristics that may further explicate the relative contributions of SLPs.

The reality of every day communication for a deaf child using sign ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Background: Research that focuses on the communication between deaf children and ... texts of a deaf child who uses South African Sign Language (SASL) and who is born into a ..... a single case study, it allowed the researcher to obtain in-.

The Temporal Impact of Economic Insecurity on Child Maltreatment: A Systematic Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Conrad-Hiebner, Aislinn; Byram, Elizabeth

2018-01-01

Economically insecure children experience 3-9 times more maltreatment than economically secure children. Although economic insecurity is associated with child physical abuse, neglect, and psychological maltreatment, there have been no systematic reviews dedicated to the relation between familial economic insecurity and child maltreatment. This is problematic because multiple forms of familial economic insecurity-including debt, material hardship, income, unemployment, and income transfers-are related to child maltreatment. These findings, however, are not causal or reliably replicated across studies. Until we identify the state of the evidence concerning the temporal association between economic insecurity and child maltreatment, our ability to reduce child maltreatment may be limited. In this systematic review (PROSPERO registration # CRD42017081445), we searched PsycINFO, PubMed, Scopus, ProQuest Dissertations, and the gray literature for English-language, peer-reviewed articles and dissertations published between 1970 and 2016. We synthesized evidence from 26 longitudinal studies on the temporal relation between economic insecurity and child maltreatment. Income losses, cumulative material hardship, and housing hardship were the most reliable predictors of child maltreatment. Implications for research, policy, and practice are discussed.

Language development and everyday functioning of children with hearing loss assessed at 3 years of age

OpenAIRE

Ching, Teresa Y. C.; Crowe, Kathryn; Martin, Vivienne; Day, Julia; Mahler, Nicole; Youn, Samantha; Street, Laura; Cook, Cassandra; Orsini, Julia

2010-01-01

This paper reports language ability and everyday functioning of 133 children with hearing impairment who were evaluated at 3 years of age, as part of the Longitudinal Outcomes of Children with Hearing Impairment (LOCHI) study. The language abilities of children were evaluated using the Preschool Language Scale (PLS-4), Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT), Diagnostic Evaluation of Articulation and Phonology (DEAP) and Child Development Inventory (CDI). Everyday functioning of children was e...

The multiple languages in the daily of the children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cristiane Januário Gonçalves

2008-04-01

Full Text Available The language permeates the work in the infantile education and with the game and the interaction, constitutes one of the axes of the pedagogic action close to the children. When we spoke in language it is common we send ourselves to the verbal language and writing that, without a doubt, is fundamental for the infantile development, however, some pedagogic proposals end up just prioritizing those two language forms in the work with the children, in detriment of another possibilities.So, they end up depriving them of new existences and new experiences that favor the amplification of their knowledge. In that sense, they exist proposed in infantile education that have been looking for to just overcome the most restricted understanding of language as oral and writing, trying to enlarge it face to the perception that the child communicates and expressed himself by means of multiple languages, “a hundred languages”, as writes Loris Malaguzzi in his poetry. The content of that article seeks to present and to promote the reflection on some of the multiple present languages in the children's expression. It approaches the importance and the possibilities of working those communication forms and expression as possible languages in the small children's education.

Phonologic Abilities of a Preschool Child with Prader-Willi Syndrome.

Science.gov (United States)

Dyson, Alice T.; Lombardino, Linda J.

1989-01-01

A case study follows the development of phonologic abilities in a child with Prader-Willi syndrome, during her enrollment in language and phonologic remediation from age 2:7 to 6:1. Changes in her phonetic inventory, in the set of phonemes used correctly, and in phonologic processes are described. (Author/JDD)

The Influence of Child-Directed Speech in Early Trilingualism

Science.gov (United States)

Barnes, Julia

2011-01-01

Contexts of limited input such as trilingual families where a language is not spoken in the wider community but only by a reduced number of speakers in the home provide a unique opportunity to examine closely the relationship between a child's input and what she learns to say. Barnes reported on the relationship between maternal input and a…

The development and psychometric properties of the American sign language proficiency assessment (ASL-PA).

Science.gov (United States)

Maller, S; Singleton, J; Supalla, S; Wix, T

1999-01-01

We describe the procedures for constructing an instrument designed to evaluate children's proficiency in American Sign Language (ASL). The American Sign Language Proficiency Assessment (ASL-PA) is a much-needed tool that potentially could be used by researchers, language specialists, and qualified school personnel. A half-hour ASL sample is collected on video from a target child (between ages 6 and 12) across three separate discourse settings and is later analyzed and scored by an assessor who is highly proficient in ASL. After the child's language sample is scored, he or she can be assigned an ASL proficiency rating of Level 1, 2, or 3. At this phase in its development, substantial evidence of reliability and validity has been obtained for the ASL-PA using a sample of 80 profoundly deaf children (ages 6-12) of varying ASL skill levels. The article first explains the item development and administration of the ASL-PA instrument, then describes the empirical item analysis, standard setting procedures, and evidence of reliability and validity. The ASL-PA is a promising instrument for assessing elementary school-age children's ASL proficiency. Plans for further development are also discussed.

Cross-Linguistic Transfer Effects after Phonologically Based Cognate Therapy in a Case of Multilingual Specific Language Impairment (SLI)

Science.gov (United States)

Kambanaros, Maria; Michaelides, Michalis; Grohmann, Kleanthes K.

2017-01-01