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Jago LS, Alcock K, Meints K, Pine JM, Rowland CF. Language outcomes from the UK-CDI Project: can risk factors, vocabulary skills and gesture scores in infancy predict later language disorders or concern for language development? Front Psychol 2023; 14:1167810. [PMID: 37397291 PMCID: PMC10313203 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1167810] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2023] [Accepted: 05/19/2023] [Indexed: 07/04/2023] Open
Abstract
At the group level, children exposed to certain health and demographic risk factors, and who have delayed language in early childhood are, more likely to have language problems later in childhood. However, it is unclear whether we can use these risk factors to predict whether an individual child is likely to develop problems with language (e.g., be diagnosed with a developmental language disorder). We tested this in a sample of 146 children who took part in the UK-CDI norming project. When the children were 15-18 months old, 1,210 British parents completed: (a) the UK-CDI (a detailed assessment of vocabulary and gesture use) and (b) the Family Questionnaire (questions about health and demographic risk factors). When the children were between 4 and 6 years, 146 of the same parents completed a short questionnaire that assessed (a) whether children had been diagnosed with a disability that was likely to affect language proficiency (e.g., developmental disability, language disorder, hearing impairment), but (b) also yielded a broader measure: whether the child's language had raised any concern, either by a parent or professional. Discriminant function analyses were used to assess whether we could use different combinations of 10 risk factors, together with early vocabulary and gesture scores, to identify children (a) who had developed a language-related disability by the age of 4-6 years (20 children, 13.70% of the sample) or (b) for whom concern about language had been expressed (49 children; 33.56%). The overall accuracy of the models, and the specificity scores were high, indicating that the measures correctly identified those children without a language-related disability and whose language was not of concern. However, sensitivity scores were low, indicating that the models could not identify those children who were diagnosed with a language-related disability or whose language was of concern. Several exploratory analyses were carried out to analyse these results further. Overall, the results suggest that it is difficult to use parent reports of early risk factors and language in the first 2 years of life to predict which children are likely to be diagnosed with a language-related disability. Possible reasons for this are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lana S. Jago
- Department of Psychology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| | - Katie Alcock
- Department of Psychology, Lancaster University, Lancaster, United Kingdom
| | - Kerstin Meints
- School of Psychology, University of Lincoln, Lincoln, United Kingdom
| | - Julian M. Pine
- Department of Psychology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| | - Caroline F. Rowland
- Language Development Department, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, Netherlands
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Radboud, Netherlands
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Yoo J, Yim D. Relative Clause Sentence Processing in Korean-Speaking School-Aged Children With and Without Specific Language Impairment. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2021; 64:510-530. [PMID: 33417815 DOI: 10.1044/2020_jslhr-19-00373] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Purpose The goal of this study was to examine online and off-line sentence processing using Korean language relative clause sentences between children with specific language impairment (SLI) and children with typical development (TD). Method Twenty-four children with TD and 19 children with SLI participated in this study. Children completed online and off-line sentence-processing tasks using relative clause sentences. The response time (RT) data obtained from the online processing task were analyzed at each word position and between adjacent words for items answered both correctly and incorrectly on the off-line comprehension task. A linear mixed-effects model and a generalized linear mixed-effects model were used to analyze the performances on the online/off-line sentence-processing task between the two groups. Results The results revealed that the processing pattern of RTs on the online processing task differed between the two groups, such that the SLI group did not show the predicted RT increase while the TD group did. Also, the SLI group processed each word with comparable or faster reading rates than the TD group. On the off-line comprehension task, the SLI group performed poorly compared to the TD group. Conclusions Processing of syntactically complex sentences differed between the TD and SLI groups, such that the SLI group had lower accuracy on the off-line comprehension task and was less efficient on the online processing task as compared to the TD group. These results mainly support the syntactic deficit account in children with SLI.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeewon Yoo
- Soonchunhyang University Cheonan Hospital, South Korea
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Benson PJ, Wallace L, Beedie SA. Sensory auditory interval perception errors in developmental dyslexia. Neuropsychologia 2020; 147:107587. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2020.107587] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2019] [Revised: 08/15/2020] [Accepted: 08/17/2020] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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Impaired Recognition of Metrical and Syntactic Boundaries in Children with Developmental Language Disorders. Brain Sci 2019; 9:brainsci9020033. [PMID: 30764488 PMCID: PMC6407018 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci9020033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2018] [Revised: 01/23/2019] [Accepted: 01/31/2019] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
In oral language, syntactic structure is cued in part by phrasal metrical hierarchies of acoustic stress patterns. For example, many children's texts use prosodic phrasing comprising tightly integrated hierarchies of metre and syntax to highlight the phonological and syntactic structure of language. Children with developmental language disorders (DLDs) are relatively insensitive to acoustic stress. Here, we disrupted the coincidence of metrical and syntactic boundaries as cued by stress patterns in children's texts so that metrical and/or syntactic phrasing conflicted. We tested three groups of children: children with DLD, age-matched typically developing controls (AMC) and younger language-matched controls (YLC). Children with DLDs and younger, language-matched controls were poor at spotting both metrical and syntactic disruptions. The data are interpreted within a prosodic phrasing hypothesis of DLD based on impaired acoustic processing of speech rhythm.
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Antón-Méndez I, Cuetos F, Suárez-Coalla P. Independence of syntactic and phonological deficits in dyslexia: A study using the attraction error paradigm. DYSLEXIA (CHICHESTER, ENGLAND) 2019; 25:38-56. [PMID: 30407678 DOI: 10.1002/dys.1601] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2017] [Revised: 09/20/2018] [Accepted: 10/12/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
This paper addresses the question of whether dyslexic children suffer from syntactic deficits that are independent of limitations with phonological processing. We looked at subject-verb agreement errors after sentence subjects containing a second noun (the attractor) known to be able to attract incorrect agreement (e.g., "the owner(s) of the house(s) is/are away"). In the general population, attraction errors are not straightforwardly dependent on the presence or absence of morphophonological plural markers but on their syntactic configuration. The same would be expected for dyslexic children if their syntactic problems are not phonological in nature. We also looked at the possible effect of system overload on syntactic processing by comparing auditory and written presentation of stimuli and stimuli with high and low frequency attractors. Dyslexic children produced more agreement errors than age-matched controls, but their errors were distributed in the expected manner and did not align with the presence of morphophonological number markers in the subject overall. Furthermore, there was no effect of either presentation mode or attractor frequency on the number of agreement errors. Our results confirm the existence of syntactic difficulties in dyslexia and suggest that they are not due to a phonological deficit or to verbal working memory limitations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Inés Antón-Méndez
- Linguistics, University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales, Australia
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Hasselaar J, Letts C, McKean C. Case marking in German-speaking children with specific language impairment and with phonological impairment. CLINICAL LINGUISTICS & PHONETICS 2018; 33:117-134. [PMID: 30183450 DOI: 10.1080/02699206.2018.1505955] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2018] [Revised: 07/19/2018] [Accepted: 07/23/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Identification of children with specific language impairment (SLI, now known as Developmental Language Disorder) remains challenging. Morphosyntax difficulties have been proposed as potential linguistic 'markers' for SLI across a number of languages. This study investigates the existence of such a clinical marker in German-speaking children with SLI, looking in particular at German case marking, and makes comparisons with matched typically developing groups and a group with isolated phonological impairment (PI). A case-control study was completed with 66 pre-school children in four groups (1) SLI, (2) PI, (3) age-matched typically developing children (TD-A) (4) language-matched typically developing children (TD-L). Errors in nominative, accusative and dative marking were analysed from the production of articles in elicitation tasks and spontaneous language samples. The performance of the SLI group was poorer than the TD-A group across all three grammatical cases investigated, but there was little supportive evidence for this being a diagnostic marker. It is, however, suggested that poor case marking may alert clinicians to the need for further linguistic assessment. No significant differences were found between the SLI and PI groups; rather scores for the PI group suggested they fell on a gradient between the SLI TD-A groups. Findings are discussed in relation to the proposed new diagnostic category of developmental language disorder.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juliane Hasselaar
- a Department for Educational Counselling , Caritas , Freiburg im Breisgau , Germany
| | - Carolyn Letts
- b School of Education, Communication & Language Sciences , Newcastle University , Newcastle upon Tyne , UK
| | - Cristina McKean
- b School of Education, Communication & Language Sciences , Newcastle University , Newcastle upon Tyne , UK
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Jiang H, Logan JA, Jia R. Modeling the Nature of Grammar and Vocabulary Trajectories From Prekindergarten to Third Grade. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2018; 61:910-923. [PMID: 29642241 DOI: 10.1044/2018_jslhr-l-17-0090] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2017] [Accepted: 01/11/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE This study investigated the longitudinal development of 2 important contributors to reading comprehension, grammar, and vocabulary skills. The primary interest was to examine the trajectories of the 2 skill areas from preschool to 3rd grade. METHOD The study involved a longitudinal sample of 420 children from 4 sites. Language skills, including grammar and vocabulary, were assessed annually with multiple measures. Multivariate latent growth curve modeling was used to examine the developmental trajectories of grammar and vocabulary, to test the correlation between the 2 domains, and to investigate the effects of demographic predictors on language growth. RESULTS Results showed that both grammar and vocabulary exhibited decelerating growth from preschool to Grade 2. In Grade 3, grammar growth further flattened, whereas vocabulary continued to grow stably. Growth of vocabulary and grammar were positively correlated. Demographic characteristics, such as child gender and family socioeconomic status, were found to predict the intercept but not the slope of the growth trajectories. CONCLUSIONS Children's growth in grammar skills is differentiated in a number of important ways from their growth in vocabulary skills. Results of this study suggest the need to differentiate these dimensions of language when seeking to closely examine growth from preschool to primary grades.
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Schiff R, Nuri Ben-Shushan Y, Ben-Artzi E. Metacognitive Strategies. JOURNAL OF LEARNING DISABILITIES 2016; 50:143-157. [PMID: 26054726 DOI: 10.1177/0022219415589847] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
This study assessed the effect of metacognitive instruction on the spelling and word reading of Hebrew-speaking children with specific language impairment (SLI). Participants were 67 kindergarteners with SLI in a supported learning context. Children were classified into three spelling instruction groups: (a) metalinguistic instruction (ML), (b) ML that integrates metacognitive strategies (MCML), and (c) a control group. Letter naming, letter sounding, word spelling, and word recognition were assessed at pretest and posttest. Findings from spelling and reading tests as well as interviews indicated that both the ML and MCML groups made statistically significant gains in all measures, whereas the control group did not. However, children with SLI who received training in metacognitive strategies significantly outperformed those who received ML alone in spelling and reading skills. This study provides evidence that children with SLI benefit from applying of metacognitive strategies to spelling practices when acquiring early spelling and reading skills.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachel Schiff
- 1 Learning Disabilities Studies and Haddad Center for Dyslexia and Learning Disabilities, School of Education, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel
| | - Yohi Nuri Ben-Shushan
- 1 Learning Disabilities Studies and Haddad Center for Dyslexia and Learning Disabilities, School of Education, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel
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Jordan JA, Coulter L. Individual Differences in Speech and Language Ability Profiles in Areas of High Deprivation. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2016. [DOI: 10.1080/13575279.2016.1188759] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Lorraine Coulter
- Speech and Language Therapy, South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust, Belfast, UK
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Tambyraja SR, Schmitt MB, Farquharson K, Justice LM. Stability of Language and Literacy Profiles of Children With Language Impairment in the Public Schools. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2015; 58:1167-1181. [PMID: 25908014 DOI: 10.1044/2015_jslhr-l-14-0197] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2014] [Accepted: 04/19/2015] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE The present study focused on the identification and stability of language and literacy profiles of primary school children receiving school-based language therapy over the course of one academic year. METHOD Participants included 272 early elementary school-age children (144 boys, 128 girls) who had been clinically identified as having a language impairment. A latent profile analysis was used to identify distinct profiles on the basis of a battery of language and literacy assessments in the fall and spring of the academic year. RESULTS Four profiles were identified in both fall and spring that could be best described as representing high, average, and low overall abilities. Two average groups were identified that differentiated according to phonological awareness abilities. Children's profile membership was variable from fall to spring with nearly 60% of children shifting into a higher profile. The results of t tests comparing children who shifted into higher profiles from those who remained stable in profile membership revealed group differences regarding language severity, socio-economic status, and proportion of therapy sessions received in the classroom. CONCLUSION These results provide further evidence regarding the heterogeneity of children with language impairment served in the public schools, indicating that differences may be best conceptualized along a continuum of severity.
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Foorman BR, Koon S, Petscher Y, Mitchell A, Truckenmiller A. Examining General and Specific Factors in the Dimensionality of Oral Language and Reading in 4th-10th Grades. JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY 2015; 107:884-899. [PMID: 26346839 PMCID: PMC4557887 DOI: 10.1037/edu0000026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
The objective of this study was to explore dimensions of oral language and reading and their influence on reading comprehension in a relatively understudied population-adolescent readers in 4th through 10th grades. The current study employed latent variable modeling of decoding fluency, vocabulary, syntax, and reading comprehension so as to represent these constructs with minimal error and to examine whether residual variance unaccounted for by oral language can be captured by specific factors of syntax and vocabulary. A 1-, 3-, 4-, and bifactor model were tested with 1,792 students in 18 schools in 2 large urban districts in the Southeast. Students were individually administered measures of expressive and receptive vocabulary, syntax, and decoding fluency in mid-year. At the end of the year students took the state reading test as well as a group-administered, norm-referenced test of reading comprehension. The bifactor model fit the data best in all 7 grades and explained 72% to 99% of the variance in reading comprehension. The specific factors of syntax and vocabulary explained significant unique variance in reading comprehension in 1 grade each. The decoding fluency factor was significantly correlated with the reading comprehension and oral language factors in all grades, but, in the presence of the oral language factor, was not significantly associated with the reading comprehension factor. Results support a bifactor model of lexical knowledge rather than the 3-factor model of the Simple View of Reading, with the vast amount of variance in reading comprehension explained by a general oral language factor.
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Tuomainen O, Stuart NJ, van der Lely HKJ. Phonetic categorisation and cue weighting in adolescents with Specific Language Impairment (SLI). CLINICAL LINGUISTICS & PHONETICS 2015; 29:557-572. [PMID: 25970138 DOI: 10.3109/02699206.2015.1036464] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
This study investigates phonetic categorisation and cue weighting in adolescents and young adults with Specific Language Impairment (SLI). We manipulated two acoustic cues, vowel duration and F1 offset frequency, that signal word-final stop consonant voicing ([t] and [d]) in English. Ten individuals with SLI (14.0-21.4 years), 10 age-matched controls (CA; 14.6-21.9 years) and 10 non-matched adult controls (23.3-36.0 years) labelled synthetic CVC non-words in an identification task. The results showed that the adolescents and young adults with SLI were less consistent than controls in the identification of the good category representatives. The group with SLI also assigned less weight to vowel duration than the adult controls. However, no direct relationship between phonetic categorisation, cue weighting and language skills was found. These findings indicate that some individuals with SLI have speech perception deficits but they are not necessarily associated with oral language skills.
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Affiliation(s)
- Outi Tuomainen
- Department of Speech, Hearing and Phonetic Sciences, University College London , UK
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Zwitserlood R, Wijnen F, van Weerdenburg M, Verhoeven L. 'MetaTaal': enhancing complex syntax in children with specific language impairment--a metalinguistic and multimodal approach. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE & COMMUNICATION DISORDERS 2015; 50:273-297. [PMID: 25703047 PMCID: PMC4492443 DOI: 10.1111/1460-6984.12131] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2013] [Accepted: 07/19/2014] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Currently, most research on the effective treatment of morphosyntax in children with specific language impairment (SLI) pertains to younger children. In the last two decades, several studies have provided evidence that intervention for older school-age children with SLI can be effective. These metalinguistic intervention approaches teach grammatical rules explicitly and use shapes and colours as two-dimensional visual support. Reading or writing activities form a substantial part of these interventions. However, some children with SLI are poor readers and might benefit more from an approach that is less dependent on literacy skills. AIMS To examine the effectiveness of a combined metalinguistic and multimodal approach in older school-age children with SLI. The intervention was adapted to suit poor readers and targeted the improvement of relative clause production, because relative clauses still pose difficulties for older children with SLI. METHODS & PROCEDURES Participants were 12 monolingual Dutch children with SLI (mean age 11;2). All children visited a special school for children with speech and language disorders in the Netherlands. A quasi-experimental multiple-baseline design was chosen to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention. A set of tasks was constructed to test relative clause production and comprehension. Two balanced versions were alternated in order to suppress a possible learning effect from multiple presentations of the tasks. After 3 monthly baseline measurements, the children received individual treatment with a protocolled intervention programme twice a week during 5 weeks. The tests were repeated directly post-therapy and at a retention measurement 3 months later. During the intervention programme, the speech therapist delivering the treatment remained blind to the test results. OUTCOMES & RESULTS No significant changes were found during the baseline measurements. However, measurement directly post-therapy showed that 5 h of intervention produced significant improvement on the relative clause production tasks, but not on the relative clause comprehension task. The gains were also maintained 3 months later. CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS The motor and tactile/kinesthetic dimensions of the 'MetaTaal' metalinguistic intervention approach are a valuable addition to the existing metalinguistic approaches. This study supports the evidence that grammatical skills in older school-age children with SLI can be remediated with direct intervention using a metalinguistic approach. The current tendency to diminish direct intervention for older children with SLI should be reconsidered.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rob Zwitserlood
- Utrecht Institure of Linguistics (OTS), Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands; Royal Auris Group, Gouda, the Netherlands
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van der Lely HKJ, Pinker S. The biological basis of language: insight from developmental grammatical impairments. Trends Cogn Sci 2014; 18:586-95. [PMID: 25172525 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2014.07.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2014] [Accepted: 07/29/2014] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Heather K J van der Lely
- Department of Psychology, Harvard University, William James Hall 970, 33 Kirkland Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
| | - Steven Pinker
- Department of Psychology, Harvard University, William James Hall 970, 33 Kirkland Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
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Gallinat E, Spaulding TJ. Differences in the performance of children with specific language impairment and their typically developing peers on nonverbal cognitive tests: a meta-analysis. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2014; 57:1363-1382. [PMID: 24686912 DOI: 10.1044/2014_jslhr-l-12-0363] [Citation(s) in RCA: 74] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE This study used meta-analysis to investigate the difference in nonverbal cognitive test performance of children with specific language impairment (SLI) and their typically developing (TD) peers. METHOD The meta-analysis included studies (a) that were published between 1995 and 2012 of children with SLI who were age matched (and not nonverbal cognitive matched) to TD peers and given a norm-referenced nonverbal cognitive test and (b) that reported sufficient data for an effect size analysis. Multilevel modeling was used to examine the performance of children with SLI relative to their typically developing, age-matched peers on nonverbal IQ tests. RESULTS Across 138 samples from 131 studies, on average children with SLI scored 0.69 standard deviations below their TD peers on nonverbal cognitive tests after adjusting for the differences in the tests used, the low-boundary cutoff scores, the age of the participants, and whether studies matched the two groups on socioeconomic status. DISCUSSION The lower performance of children with SLI relative to TD children on nonverbal IQ tests has theoretical implications for the characterization of SLI and clinical and political implications regarding how nonverbal cognitive tests are used and interpreted for children with this disorder.
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Larkin RF, Williams GJ, Blaggan S. Delay or deficit? Spelling processes in children with specific language impairment. JOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION DISORDERS 2013; 46:401-412. [PMID: 23948495 DOI: 10.1016/j.jcomdis.2013.07.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2012] [Revised: 07/01/2013] [Accepted: 07/03/2013] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
UNLABELLED Few studies have explored the phonological, morphological and orthographic spellings skills of children with specific language impairment (SLI) simultaneously. Fifteen children with SLI (mean age=113.07 months, SD=8.61) completed language and spelling tasks alongside chronological-age controls and spelling-age controls. While the children with SLI showed a deficit in phonological spelling, they performed comparably to spelling-age controls on morphological spelling skills, and there were no differences between the three groups in producing orthographically legal spellings. The results also highlighted the potential importance of adequate non-word repetition skills in relation to effective spelling skills, and demonstrated that not all children with spoken language impairments show marked spelling difficulties. Findings are discussed in relation to theory, educational assessment and practice. LEARNING OUTCOMES As a result of this activity, readers will describe components of spoken language that predict children's morphological and phonological spelling performance. As a result of this activity, readers will describe how the spelling skills of children with SLI compare to age-matched and spelling age-matched control children. Readers will be able to interpret the variability in spelling performance seen in children with SLI.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca F Larkin
- Division of Psychology, Nottingham Trent University, United Kingdom.
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Collet G, Colin C, Serniclaes W, Hoonhorst I, Markessis E, Deltenre P, Leybaert J. Effect of phonological training in French children with SLI: perspectives on voicing identification, discrimination and categorical perception. RESEARCH IN DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES 2012; 33:1805-1818. [PMID: 22699254 DOI: 10.1016/j.ridd.2012.05.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2012] [Accepted: 05/01/2012] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of auditory training on voicing perception in French children with specific language impairment (SLI). We used an adaptive discrimination training that was centred across the French phonological boundary (0 ms voice onset time--VOT). One group of nine children with SLI attended eighteen twenty-minute training sessions with feedback, and a control group of nine children with SLI did not receive any training. Identification, discrimination and categorical perception were evaluated before, during and after training as well as one month following the final session. Phonological awareness and vocabulary were also assessed for both groups. The results showed that children with SLI experienced strong difficulties in the identification, discrimination and categorical perception of the voicing continuum prior to training. However, as early as after the first nine training sessions, their performance in the identification and discrimination tasks increased significantly. Moreover, phonological awareness scores improved during training, whereas vocabulary scores remained stable across sessions.
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Affiliation(s)
- G Collet
- Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique (FNRS), Brussels, Belgium.
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Marshall CR, van der Lely HKJ. Irregular past tense forms in English: how data from children with specific language impairment contribute to models of morphology. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2012. [DOI: 10.1007/s11525-011-9195-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Farrant BM, Maybery MT, Fletcher J. Language, Cognitive Flexibility, and Explicit False Belief Understanding: Longitudinal Analysis in Typical Development and Specific Language Impairment. Child Dev 2011; 83:223-35. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2011.01681.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 59] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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Noise on, voicing off: Speech perception deficits in children with specific language impairment. J Exp Child Psychol 2011; 110:362-72. [PMID: 21663919 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2011.05.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2010] [Revised: 05/09/2011] [Accepted: 05/09/2011] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Speech perception of four phonetic categories (voicing, place, manner, and nasality) was investigated in children with specific language impairment (SLI) (n=20) and age-matched controls (n=19) in quiet and various noise conditions using an AXB two-alternative forced-choice paradigm. Children with SLI exhibited robust speech perception deficits in silence, stationary noise, and amplitude-modulated noise. Comparable deficits were obtained for fast, intermediate, and slow modulation rates, and this speaks against the various temporal processing accounts of SLI. Children with SLI exhibited normal "masking release" effects (i.e., better performance in fluctuating noise than in stationary noise), again suggesting relatively spared spectral and temporal auditory resolution. In terms of phonetic categories, voicing was more affected than place, manner, or nasality. The specific nature of this voicing deficit is hard to explain with general processing impairments in attention or memory. Finally, speech perception in noise correlated with an oral language component but not with either a memory or IQ component, and it accounted for unique variance beyond IQ and low-level auditory perception. In sum, poor speech perception seems to be one of the primary deficits in children with SLI that might explain poor phonological development, impaired word production, and poor word comprehension.
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van der Lely HK, Jones M, Marshall CR. Who did Buzz see someone? Grammaticality judgement of wh-questions in typically developing children and children with Grammatical-SLI. LINGUA. INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF GENERAL LINGUISTICS. REVUE INTERNATIONALE DE LINGUISTIQUE GENERALE 2011; 121:408-422. [PMID: 21318176 PMCID: PMC3030106 DOI: 10.1016/j.lingua.2010.10.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2007] [Revised: 09/22/2010] [Accepted: 09/27/2010] [Indexed: 05/29/2023]
Abstract
This paper tests claims that children with Grammatical(G)-SLI are impaired in hierarchical structural dependencies at the clause level and in whatever underlies such dependencies with respect to movement, chain formation and feature checking; that is, their impairment lies in the syntactic computational system itself (the Computational Grammatical Complexity hypothesis proposed by van der Lely in previous work). We use a grammaticality judgement task to test whether G-SLI children's errors in wh-questions are due to the hypothesised impairment in syntactic dependencies at the clause level or lie in more general processes outside the syntactic system, such as working memory capacity. We compare the performance of 14 G-SLI children (aged 10-17 years) with that of 36 younger language-matched controls (aged 5-8 years). We presented matrix wh-subject and object questions balanced for wh-words (who/what/which) that were grammatical, ungrammatical, or semantically inappropriate. Ungrammatical questions contained wh-trace or T-to-C dependency violations that G-SLI children had previously produced in elicitation tasks. G-SLI children, like their language controls, correctly accepted grammatical questions, but rejected semantically inappropriate ones. However, they were significantly impaired in rejecting wh-trace and T-to-C dependency violations. The findings provide further support for the CGC hypothesis that G-SLI children have a core deficit in the computational system itself that affects syntactic dependencies at the clause level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heather K.J. van der Lely
- Centre for Developmental Language Disorders and Cognitive Neuroscience, DLDCN.org, London, United Kingdom
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Hestvik A, Schwartz RG, Tornyova L. Relative clause gap-filling in children with specific language impairment. JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLINGUISTIC RESEARCH 2010; 39:443-56. [PMID: 20549559 PMCID: PMC3017297 DOI: 10.1007/s10936-010-9151-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
Children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) have been observed to have production and perception difficulties with sentences containing long-distance dependencies, but it is unclear whether this is due to impairment in grammatical knowledge or in processing mechanisms. The current study addressed this issue by examining automatic on-line gap-filling in relative clauses, as well as off-line comprehension of the same stimulus sentences. As predicted by both knowledge impairment and processing impairment models, SLI children showed lack of immediate gap-filling after the relative clause verb, in comparison to a control group of typically developing children. However, on the off-line measure of comprehension of the same stimuli sentences, SLI children and TD children did not differ qualitatively. This finding is incompatible with knowledge impairment. We interpret the results to show that SLI children have impaired processing mechanisms (such as temporally delayed gap-filling) but are not impaired in their grammatical knowledge.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arild Hestvik
- Department of Linguistics and Cognitive Science, University of Delaware, 42 East Delaware Avenue, Newark, DE 19716, USA.
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van der Lely HK, Ullman MT. Past tense morphology in specifically language impaired and normally developing children. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2010. [DOI: 10.1080/01690960042000076] [Citation(s) in RCA: 85] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Michael T. Ullman
- b Department of Neuroscience, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA
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Chiat S. Mapping theories of developmental language impairment: Premises, predictions and evidence. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2010. [DOI: 10.1080/01690960042000012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 77] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Shula Chiat
- a Department of Human Communication Science, University College London, London, UK
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van der Lely HKJ, Marshall CR. Assessing component language deficits in the early detection of reading difficulty risk. JOURNAL OF LEARNING DISABILITIES 2010; 43:357-368. [PMID: 20479460 DOI: 10.1177/0022219410369078] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/29/2023]
Abstract
This article focuses on some of the linguistic components that underlie letter-sound decoding skills and reading comprehension: specifically phonology, morphology, and syntax. Many children who have reading difficulties had language deficits that were detectable before they began reading. Early identification of language difficulties will therefore help identify children at risk of reading failure. Using a developmental psycholinguistic framework, the authors provide a model of how syntax, morphology, and phonology break down in children with language impairments. The article reports on a screening test of these language abilities for preschool or young school-aged children that identifies those at risk for literacy problems and in need of further assessment.
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Botting N, Riches N, Gaynor M, Morgan G. Gesture production and comprehension in children with specific language impairment. BRITISH JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY 2010; 28:51-69. [PMID: 20306625 DOI: 10.1348/026151009x482642] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
Children with specific language impairment (SLI) have difficulties with spoken language. However, some recent research suggests that these impairments reflect underlying cognitive limitations. Studying gesture may inform us clinically and theoretically about the nature of the association between language and cognition. A total of 20 children with SLI and 19 typically developing (TD) peers were assessed on a novel measure of gesture production. Children were also assessed for sentence comprehension errors in a speech-gesture integration task. Children with SLI performed equally to peers on gesture production but performed less well when comprehending integrated speech and gesture. Error patterns revealed a significant group interaction: children with SLI made more gesture-based errors, whilst TD children made semantically based ones. Children with SLI accessed and produced lexically encoded gestures despite having impaired spoken vocabulary and this group also showed stronger associations between gesture and language than TD children. When SLI comprehension breaks down, gesture may be relied on over speech, whilst TD children have a preference for spoken cues. The findings suggest that for children with SLI, gesture scaffolds are still more related to language development than for TD peers who have out-grown earlier reliance on gestures. Future clinical implications may include standardized assessment of symbolic gesture and classroom based gesture support for clinical groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicola Botting
- Language and Communication Science, City University, London, UK.
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Marshall CR, van der Lely HKJ. The impact of phonological complexity on past tense inflection in children with Grammatical-SLI. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2009. [DOI: 10.1080/14417040701261509] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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Leonard LB, Miller CA, Finneran DA. Grammatical Morpheme Effects on Sentence Processing by School-Aged Adolescents with Specific Language Impairment. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2009; 24:450-478. [PMID: 19690626 DOI: 10.1080/01690960802229649] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
Sixteen-year-olds with specific language impairment (SLI), nonspecific language impairment (NLI), and those showing typical language development (TD) responded to target words in sentences that were either grammatical or contained a grammatical error immediately before the target word. The TD participants showed the expected slower response times (RTs) when errors preceded the target word, regardless of error type. The SLI and NLI groups also showed the expected slowing, except when the error type involved the omission of a tense/agreement inflection. This response pattern mirrored an early developmental period of alternating between using and omitting tense/agreement inflections that is characteristic of SLI and NLI. The findings could not be readily attributed to factors such as insensitivity to omissions in general or insensitivity to the particular phonetic forms used to mark tense/agreement. The observed response pattern may represent continued difficulty with tense/agreement morphology that persists in subtle form into adolescence.
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Rosen S, Adlard A, van der Lely HKJ. Backward and simultaneous masking in children with grammatical specific language impairment: no simple link between auditory and language abilities. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2009; 52:396-411. [PMID: 19252132 DOI: 10.1044/1092-4388(2009/08-0114)] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE We investigated claims that specific language impairment (SLI) typically arises from nonspeech auditory deficits by measuring tone-in-noise thresholds in a relatively homogeneous SLI subgroup exhibiting a primary deficit restricted to grammar (Grammatical[G]-SLI). METHOD Fourteen children (mostly teenagers) with G-SLI were compared to age-, vocabulary-, and grammar-matched control children on their abilities to detect a brief tone in quiet and in the presence of a masking noise. The tone occurred either simultaneously with the noise or just preceding it (backward masking). Maskers with and without a spectral notch allowed estimates of frequency selectivity. RESULTS Group thresholds for the G-SLI children were never worse than those obtained for younger controls but were higher in both backward and simultaneous masking than in age-matched controls. However, more than half of the G-SLI group (8/14) were within age-appropriate limits for all thresholds. Frequency selectivity in the G-SLI group was normal. Within control and G-SLI groups, no threshold correlated with measures of vocabulary, grammar, or phonology. Nor did the language deficit in the G-SLI children vary with the presence or absence of auditory deficits. CONCLUSION The auditory processing deficits sometimes found in children with SLI appear unlikely to cause or maintain the language impairment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stuart Rosen
- Speech, Hearing and Phonetic Sciences, University College London, London, England.
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Abstract
Cognitive scientists must understand not just what the mind does, but how it does what it does. In this paper, I consider four aspects of cognitive architecture: how the mind develops, the extent to which it is or is not modular, the extent to which it is or is not optimal, and the extent to which it should or should not be considered a symbol-manipulating device (as opposed to, say, an eliminative connectionist network). In each case, I argue that insights from developmental and evolutionary biology can lead to substantive and important compromises in historically vexed debates.
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Marini A, Tavano A, Fabbro F. Assessment of linguistic abilities in Italian children with Specific Language Impairment. Neuropsychologia 2008; 46:2816-23. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2008.05.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2007] [Revised: 04/01/2008] [Accepted: 05/16/2008] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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Law J, Tomblin JB, Zhang X. Characterizing the growth trajectories of language-impaired children between 7 and 11 years of age. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2008; 51:739-749. [PMID: 18506047 DOI: 10.1044/1092-4388(2008/052)] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND A number of different systems have been suggested for classifying language impairment in children but, to date, no one system has been widely accepted. METHOD This paper outlines an alternative system looking for distinct patterns of change in receptive language skills across time, involving a secondary analysis of children identified as having specific language impairment. Participants The participants were 184 children age-assessed at 3 time points--7, 8, and 11 years of age. RESULTS The pattern of receptive language development is highly predictable. The dominant pattern of growth is consistent with declining rates of growth over time for all children. The primary way in which the children differ is with respect to their initial severity. The testing of the 2 classification systems revealed some statistically significant differences among the subtypes with regard to the shape of the growth rates, but the effect sizes associated with these differences were very small. Thus, it is possible to conclude that beyond the dominant pattern of growth, some subtypes of language impairment at 7 years of age showed only subtle differences in receptive language change across time. The results are discussed in terms of the sample selection and the age of the children who were studied.
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Affiliation(s)
- James Law
- Department of Language and Communication Science, Queen Margaret University, Queen Margaret University Drive, Edinburgh EH21 6UU, United Kingdom.
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Froud K, van der Lely HKJ. The count-mass distinction in typically developing and grammatically specifically language impaired children: new evidence on the role of syntax and semantics. JOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION DISORDERS 2008; 41:274-303. [PMID: 18206904 DOI: 10.1016/j.jcomdis.2007.11.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2006] [Revised: 09/13/2007] [Accepted: 11/25/2007] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
UNLABELLED By the age of three, typically developing children can draw conceptual distinctions between "kinds of individual" and "kinds of stuff" on the basis of syntactic structures. They differ from adults only in the extent to which syntactic knowledge can be over-ridden by semantic properties of the referent. However, the relative roles of syntax and semantics in determining the nature of the count-mass distinction in language acquisition are still not well-understood. This paper contributes to this debate by studying novel noun acquisition in a subgroup of children, aged 8-15 years, with specific language impairment, whose core deficits are limited to within the grammatical system (G-SLI), We conducted two experiments: a production task and a word extension task. Such children might be expected to rely to a greater extent than their age-matched peers on semantic properties of referents in order to assign noun interpretations, since by hypothesis they have greater difficulty in accessing and utilizing syntactic category distinctions than typically developing children. In the production task, the Children with G-SLI demonstrated rigid over-application of a pluralization rule which masked even basic knowledge of semantic information about individuated objects versus non-individuated substances. Age-matched control children only performed in this way when all syntactic and conceptual/perceptual cues were neutralized. In the word extension task, which required a non-verbal response, the Children with G-SLI showed evidence of only very limited abilities to use syntactic or semantic information for word-learning. Thus, developmental deficits in the grammatical system can be seen to impact on lexical acquisition as well as syntactic development. LEARNING OUTCOMES As a result of this activity, the reader will be able to: (1) describe how syntactic (grammatical) impairment affects the ability to use syntactic cues for lexical acquisition, resulting in difficulties representing the structure of even simple phrases; (2) discuss the interaction between language components throughout development, and the cumulative impact of impairment in one or more aspect of language, which results in secondary impairments in other parts of the system; (3) consider the effects of an impairment in the ability to use syntactic cues for narrowing down word meanings, and how this can result in a much bigger problem affecting the subtle semantics of words and word classes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karen Froud
- Department of Biobehavioral Sciences, Teachers College, Columbia University, UK
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Fonteneau E, van der Lely HKJ. Electrical brain responses in language-impaired children reveal grammar-specific deficits. PLoS One 2008; 3:e1832. [PMID: 18347740 PMCID: PMC2268250 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0001832] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2008] [Accepted: 02/16/2008] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Scientific and public fascination with human language have included intensive scrutiny of language disorders as a new window onto the biological foundations of language and its evolutionary origins. Specific language impairment (SLI), which affects over 7% of children, is one such disorder. SLI has received robust scientific attention, in part because of its recent linkage to a specific gene and loci on chromosomes and in part because of the prevailing question regarding the scope of its language impairment: Does the disorder impact the general ability to segment and process language or a specific ability to compute grammar? Here we provide novel electrophysiological data showing a domain-specific deficit within the grammar of language that has been hitherto undetectable through behavioural data alone. Methods and Findings We presented participants with Grammatical(G)-SLI, age-matched controls, and younger child and adult controls, with questions containing syntactic violations and sentences containing semantic violations. Electrophysiological brain responses revealed a selective impairment to only neural circuitry that is specific to grammatical processing in G-SLI. Furthermore, the participants with G-SLI appeared to be partially compensating for their syntactic deficit by using neural circuitry associated with semantic processing and all non-grammar-specific and low-level auditory neural responses were normal. Conclusions The findings indicate that grammatical neural circuitry underlying language is a developmentally unique system in the functional architecture of the brain, and this complex higher cognitive system can be selectively impaired. The findings advance fundamental understanding about how cognitive systems develop and all human language is represented and processed in the brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elisabeth Fonteneau
- UCL Centre for Developmental Language Disorders and Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Heather K. J. van der Lely
- UCL Centre for Developmental Language Disorders and Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, United Kingdom
- * To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail:
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Abstract
This article reviews the normal pattern of language development in infants and young children. Classifications of childhood language disorders are presented and common clinical syndromes are described. Etiologic and comorbid factors associated with the development of language disorder are discussed in relation to current understanding of genetic and neuroanatomic aspects of brain development. Finally, the long-term outcome of individuals with childhood-onset language disorders is discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark D Simms
- Section of Developmental Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, Medical College of Wisconsin, 8701 Watertown Plank Road, Milwaukee, WI 53226, USA.
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Marshall CR, van der Lely HKJ. Derivational morphology in children with grammatical-specific language impairment. CLINICAL LINGUISTICS & PHONETICS 2007; 21:71-91. [PMID: 17364618 DOI: 10.1080/02699200600594491] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/14/2023]
Abstract
Although it is well-established that children with Specific Language Impairment characteristically optionally inflect forms that require tense and agreement marking, their abilities with regards to derivational suffixation are less well understood. In this paper we provide evidence from children with Grammatical-Specific Language Impairment (G-SLI) that derivational suffixes, unlike tense and agreement suffixes, are not omitted in elicitation tasks. We investigate two types of derivation - comparative/superlative formation and adjective-from-noun formation - and reveal that G-SLI children supply these suffixes at high rates, equivalent to their language matched peers. Moreover, increasing the phonological or morphological complexity of the stimulus does not trigger suffix omission, although it results in non-target forms that are not characteristic of typically developing children. We discuss what these results reveal about the nature of the deficit in G-SLI within the context of three hypotheses of SLI: the Extended Optional Infinitive, Implicit Rule and Computational Grammatical Complexity Hypotheses.
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Affiliation(s)
- C R Marshall
- Centre for Developmental Language Disorders and Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Human Communication Science, University College London, London, UK
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Assessment of grammar comprehension: Adaptation of TROG for Serbian language. PSIHOLOGIJA 2007. [DOI: 10.2298/psi0701111a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
In this study we present our adaptation and preliminary standardization of Test for Reception of Grammar TROG (Bishop, 1989) for Serbian language. TROG is a receptive test of grammatical structures, constructed primarily for an assessment of grammatical development and detection of children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI). Due to the lack of standardized tests for language development in our clinical community, TROG is selected for adaptation as a test which includes two components relevant for discrimination of children with language difficulties: a) measure of receptive abilities and b) distinguishing knowledge of grammar from semantic aspect of comprehension. Preliminary standardization was done on a sample of 335 participants between 4 and 7 years of age, divided into 8 age subsamples. Since dynamic of language change at early ages is faster, age samples covered range of 3 months at the ages 4;0-4;2, 4;3-4;5, 4;6-4;8, 4;9-4;11, and range of 6 months at the ages 5;0-5;5, 5;6-5;11, 6;00-6;05, 6;06-6;11. Analyses have revealed that the first version of Serbian TROG is discriminative for the differences between age samples, but discrimination is smaller then it was expected. The test discriminates three age-samples (4;0-4;8, 4;9-5;5, and 5;6-6;11). It is easier for the children older then 5 years, which causes statistical significance of discrimination to tilt within a narrow margin around 0,05. Reliability of the whole instrument is estimated very high - between 0,86 and 0,91, depending on the method of estimation. However, reliability estimated for particular blocks (grammatical structure) revealed that internal consistency of blocks is not homogeneous. This finding prevents reliable estimation of competence for particular structures, and makes difficult to define which contrast is understood by a child and which is not. Furthermore, internal inconsistency of blocks may also be additional source of low discrimination of test for children older then 5. Further improvement of test, balancing of items and inclusion of additional grammatical structures in order to get a wider range of age discrimination is required. This will be done in future research.
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Abstract
The neural correlates of early language development and language impairment are described, with the adult language-related brain systems as a target model. Electrophysiological and hemodynamic studies indicate that language functions to be installed in the child's brain are similar to those of adults, with lateralization being present at birth, phonological processes during the first months, semantic processes at 12 months, and syntactic processes around 30 months. These findings support the view that the brain basis of language develops continuously over time. Discontinuities are observed in children with language impairment. Here, the observed functional abnormalities are accompanied by structural abnormalities in inferior frontal and temporal brain regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angela D Friederici
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.
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Tomblin JB, Zhang X. The dimensionality of language ability in school-age children. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2006; 49:1193-208. [PMID: 17197490 DOI: 10.1044/1092-4388(2006/086)] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/13/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE This study asked if children's performance on language tests reflects different dimensions of language and if this dimensionality changes with development. METHOD Children were given standardized language batteries at kindergarten and at second, fourth, and eighth grades. A revised modified parallel analysis was used to determine the dimensionality of these items at each grade level. A confirmatory factor analysis was also performed on the subtest scores to evaluate alternate models of dimensionality. RESULTS The revised modified parallel analysis revealed a single dimension across items with evidence of either test specific or language area specific minor dimensions at different ages. The confirmatory factor analysis tested models involving modality (receptive or expressive) and domain (vocabulary or sentence use) against a single-dimension model. The 2-dimensional model involving domains of vocabulary and sentence use fit the data better than the single-dimensional model; however, the single-dimension model also fit the data well in the lower grades. CONCLUSIONS Much of the variance in standardized measures of language appears to be attributable to a single common factor or trait. There is a developmental trend during middle childhood for grammatical abilities and vocabulary abilities to become differentiated. These measures do not provide differential information concerning receptive and expressive abilities.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Bruce Tomblin
- Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA.
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Marcus G, Rabagliati H. What developmental disorders can tell us about the nature and origins of language. Nat Neurosci 2006; 9:1226-9. [PMID: 17001342 DOI: 10.1038/nn1766] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Few areas in the cognitive sciences evoke more controversy than language evolution, due in part to the difficulty in gathering relevant empirical data. The study of developmental disorders is well placed to provide important new clues, but has been hampered by a lack of consensus on the aims and interpretation of the research project. We suggest that the application of the Darwinian principle of 'descent with modification' can help to reconcile much apparently inconsistent data. We close by illustrating how systematic analyses within and between disorders, suitably informed by evolutionary theory-and ideally facilitated by the creation of an open-access database-could provide new insights into language evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gary Marcus
- Department of Psychology, New York University, 6 Washington Place, New York, New York 10003, USA.
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Gardner H, Froud K, McClelland A, van der Lely HKJ. Development of the Grammar and Phonology Screening (GAPS) test to assess key markers of specific language and literacy difficulties in young children. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE & COMMUNICATION DISORDERS 2006; 41:513-40. [PMID: 17050469 DOI: 10.1080/13682820500442644] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/12/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Despite a large body of evidence regarding reliable indicators of language deficits in young children, there has not been a standardized, quick screen for language impairment. The Grammar and Phonology Screening (GAPS) test was therefore designed as a short, reliable assessment of young children's language abilities. AIMS GAPS was designed to provide a quick screening test to assess whether pre- and early school entry children have the necessary grammar and pre-reading phonological skills needed for education and social development. This paper reports the theoretical background to the test, the pilot study and reliability, and the standardization. METHODS This 10-min test comprises 11 test sentences and eight test nonsense words for direct imitation and is designed to highlight significant markers of language impairment and reading difficulties. To standardize the GAPS, 668 children aged 3.4-6.6 were tested across the UK, taking into account population distribution and socio-economic status. The test was carried out by a range of health and education professionals as well as by students and carers using only simple, written instructions. RESULTS GAPS is effective in detecting a range of children in need of further in-depth assessment or monitoring for language difficulties. The results concur with those from much larger epidemiological studies using lengthy testing procedures. CONCLUSIONS The GAPS test (1) provides a successful screening tool; (2) is designed to be administered by professionals and non-professionals alike; and (3) facilitates identification of language impairment or at-risk factors of reading impairment in the early educational years. Thus, the test affords a first step in a process of assessment and targeted intervention to enable children to reach their potential.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hilary Gardner
- Department of Human Communication Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
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Marshall CR, van der Lely HKJ. A challenge to current models of past tense inflection: The impact of phonotactics. Cognition 2006; 100:302-20. [PMID: 16055110 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2005.06.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2005] [Revised: 05/31/2005] [Accepted: 06/01/2005] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
Is past tense production better modelled by a Single Mechanism or a Words and Rules model? We present data concerning a phenomenon that has not been considered by either model-regular past tense verbs with contrasting phonotactics. One set of verbs contains clusters at the inflected verb end that also occur in monomorphemic words ('monomorphemically legal clusters', MLC) whereas the other has clusters that can only occur in inflected forms ('monomorphemically illegal clusters', MIC). We argue that if children apply a morphological rule, phonotactics will not affect performance. Conversely, if children store past tense forms, they will perform better on verbs with MLCs because these clusters are more frequent. We investigated three populations--typically developing children, Grammatical-SLI (G-SLI) and Williams Syndrome (WS)--using past tense elicitation tasks. In Experiment 1 we reanalyse data from van der Lely and Ullman [van der Lely, H. K. J. & Ullman, M. (2001). Past tense morphology in specifically language impaired and normally developing children. Language and Cognitive Processes, 16: 177-217] and show that G-SLI children perform better on MLC verbs, whereas for typically developing children phonotactics do not affect performance. In Experiment 2 we replicate these findings in new groups of G-SLI and typically developing children. In Experiment 3 we reanalyse data from Thomas et al. [Thomas, M. S. C., Grant, J., Barham, Z., Gsodl, M., Laing, E., Lakusta, L., Tyler, L.K., Grice, S., Paterson, S. & Karmiloff-Smith, A. (2001) Past tense formation in Williams Syndrome. Language and Cognitive Processes, 16: 143-176] and show that phonotactics do not affect performance in individuals with WS. We argue that the results elucidate the underlying nature of morphology in these populations, and are better accommodated within a Words and Rules model of past tense acquisition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chloe R Marshall
- Centre for Developmental Language Disorders and Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Human Communication Science, University College London, Chandler House, 2 Wakefield Street, London WC1N 1PF, UK
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43
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Bishop DVM, Adams CV, Rosen S. Resistance of grammatical impairment to computerized comprehension training in children with specific and non-specific language impairments. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE & COMMUNICATION DISORDERS 2006; 41:19-40. [PMID: 16272001 DOI: 10.1080/13682820500144000] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Receptive language impairments in school-age children have a poor prognosis, yet there is a dearth of research on effective interventions. AIMS Children's responses to a computerized grammatical training program were evaluated to consider whether repeated responding to spoken sentences with variable semantic content and the same syntactic structure would lead to consistent and fluent comprehension. METHODS & PROCEDURES Children with receptive language impairments aged from 8 to 13 years were randomly assigned to three groups: Group S (n = 12) responded to reversible sentences in a computerized game, using speech stimuli with pauses before critical phrases. Group M (n = 12) had the same stimuli acoustically modified to lengthen and amplify dynamic portions of the signal. Group U (n = 9) was an untrained control group. On average, children in groups S and M completed over 1000 training trials, focusing on training comprehension of reversible sentences. OUTCOMES & RESULTS Although responses speeded up over the course of training, and most children performed well above chance, accuracy typically remained below 95% correct for constructions such as above/below and reversible active/passive. Trained groups did not differ from untrained children on language or auditory outcomes. There was no evidence that acoustically modified speech input enhanced comprehension. CONCLUSIONS Rote training of comprehension of reversible sentences does not seem to be an effective approach to remediating such problems. For most children, the pattern of performance suggested that the problem was not a lack of syntactic knowledge, bur rather limited processing capacity that led to failures of on-line computation of meaning.
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Affiliation(s)
- D V M Bishop
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
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44
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Ziegler JC, Pech-Georgel C, George F, Alario FX, Lorenzi C. Deficits in speech perception predict language learning impairment. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2005; 102:14110-5. [PMID: 16162673 PMCID: PMC1236551 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0504446102] [Citation(s) in RCA: 135] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Specific language impairment (SLI) is one of the most common childhood disorders, affecting 7% of children. These children experience difficulties in understanding and producing spoken language despite normal intelligence, normal hearing, and normal opportunities to learn language. The causes of SLI are still hotly debated, ranging from nonlinguistic deficits in auditory perception to high-level deficits in grammar. Here, we show that children with SLI have poorer-than-normal consonant identification when measured in ecologically valid conditions of stationary or fluctuating masking noise. The deficits persisted even in comparison with a younger group of normally developing children who were matched for language skills. This finding points to a fundamental deficit. Information transmission of all phonetic features (voicing, place, and manner) was impaired, although the deficits were strongest for voicing (e.g., difference between/b/and/p/). Children with SLI experienced perfectly normal "release from masking" (better identification in fluctuating than in stationary noise), which indicates a central deficit in feature extraction rather than deficits in low-level, temporal, and spectral auditory capacities. We further showed that speech identification in noise predicted language impairment to a great extent within the group of children with SLI and across all participants. Previous research might have underestimated this important link, possibly because speech perception has typically been investigated in optimal listening conditions using non-speech material. The present study suggests that children with SLI learn language deviantly because they inefficiently extract and manipulate speech features, in particular, voicing. This result offers new directions for the fast diagnosis and remediation of SLI.
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Affiliation(s)
- Johannes C Ziegler
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université de Provence, 13331 Marseille, France.
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45
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Ullman MT, Pierpont EI. Specific language impairment is not specific to language: the procedural deficit hypothesis. Cortex 2005; 41:399-433. [PMID: 15871604 DOI: 10.1016/s0010-9452(08)70276-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 419] [Impact Index Per Article: 22.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Specific Language Impairment (SLI) has been explained by two broad classes of hypotheses, which posit either a deficit specific to grammar, or a non-linguistic processing impairment. Here we advance an alternative perspective. According to the Procedural Deficit Hypothesis (PDH), SLI can be largely explained by the abnormal development of brain structures that constitute the procedural memory system. This system, which is composed of a network of inter-connected structures rooted in frontal/basal-ganglia circuits, subserves the learning and execution of motor and cognitive skills. Crucially, recent evidence also implicates this system in important aspects of grammar. The PDH posits that a significant proportion of individuals with SLI suffer from abnormalities of this brain network, leading to impairments of the linguistic and non-linguistic functions that depend on it. In contrast, functions such as lexical and declarative memory, which depend on other brain structures, are expected to remain largely spared. Evidence from an in-depth retrospective examination of the literature is presented. It is argued that the data support the predictions of the PDH, and particularly implicate Broca's area within frontal cortex, and the caudate nucleus within the basal ganglia. Finally, broader implications are discussed, and predictions for future research are presented. It is argued that the PDH forms the basis of a novel and potentially productive perspective on SLI.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael T Ullman
- Department of Neuroscience, Georgetown University, Washington, DC 20057-1664, USA.
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46
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Kovas Y, Hayiou-Thomas ME, Oliver B, Dale PS, Bishop DVM, Plomin R. Genetic Influences in Different Aspects of Language Development: The Etiology of Language Skills in 4.5-Year-Old Twins. Child Dev 2005; 76:632-51. [PMID: 15892783 DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2005.00868.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 90] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
The genetic and environmental etiologies of diverse aspects of language ability and disability, including articulation, phonology, grammar, vocabulary, and verbal memory, were investigated in a U.K. sample of 787 pairs of 4.5-year-old same-sex and opposite-sex twins. Moderate genetic influence was found for all aspects of language in the normal range. A similar pattern was found at the low end of the distribution with the exception of two receptive measures. Environmental influence was mainly due to nonshared factors, unique to the individual, with little influence from shared environment for most measures. Genetic and environmental influences on language ability and disability are quantitatively and qualitatively similar for males and females.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yulia Kovas
- Social, Genetic, and Developmental Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, London. England.
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47
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Pinker S, Jackendoff R. The faculty of language: what's special about it? Cognition 2005; 95:201-36. [PMID: 15694646 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2004.08.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 315] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2004] [Accepted: 08/31/2004] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
We examine the question of which aspects of language are uniquely human and uniquely linguistic in light of recent suggestions by Hauser, Chomsky, and Fitch that the only such aspect is syntactic recursion, the rest of language being either specific to humans but not to language (e.g. words and concepts) or not specific to humans (e.g. speech perception). We find the hypothesis problematic. It ignores the many aspects of grammar that are not recursive, such as phonology, morphology, case, agreement, and many properties of words. It is inconsistent with the anatomy and neural control of the human vocal tract. And it is weakened by experiments suggesting that speech perception cannot be reduced to primate audition, that word learning cannot be reduced to fact learning, and that at least one gene involved in speech and language was evolutionarily selected in the human lineage but is not specific to recursion. The recursion-only claim, we suggest, is motivated by Chomsky's recent approach to syntax, the Minimalist Program, which de-emphasizes the same aspects of language. The approach, however, is sufficiently problematic that it cannot be used to support claims about evolution. We contest related arguments that language is not an adaptation, namely that it is "perfect," non-redundant, unusable in any partial form, and badly designed for communication. The hypothesis that language is a complex adaptation for communication which evolved piecemeal avoids all these problems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Steven Pinker
- Department of Psychology, Harvard University, William James Hall, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
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48
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Morton JB, Munakata Y. What's the difference? Contrasting modular and neural network approaches to understanding developmental variability. J Dev Behav Pediatr 2005; 26:128-39. [PMID: 15827466 DOI: 10.1097/00004703-200504000-00010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Understanding why development differs across individuals is an important challenge for developmental theory. This paper evaluates two approaches to developmental variability observed in domains such as language processing and across populations such as typically developing children, children with developmental disorders, and typical adults. Modular accounts attribute developmental variability to delay, damage, or dysfunction in discrete underlying structures. Neural network approaches attribute developmental variability to emergent effects of graded variations in an interactive, developing system. The authors conclude that neural network approaches offer more formal and parsimonious accounts of the nature and sources of developmental variability.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Bruce Morton
- Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario N6A 5C2, Canada.
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49
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Abstract
Specific language-impairment (SLI) is a disorder of language acquisition in children who otherwise appear to be normally developing. Controversy surrounds whether SLI results from impairment to a "domain-specific" system devoted to language itself or from some more "domain-general" system. I compare these two views of SLI, and focus on three components of grammar that are good candidates for domain-specificity: syntax, morphology and phonology. I argue that the disorder is heterogeneous, and that deficits of different subgroups potentially stem from different underlying causes. Interestingly, although poor sensory or non-verbal abilities often co-occur with SLI, there is no evidence that these impairments cause the grammatical deficits found in SLI. Moreover, evidence suggests that impairment in at least one subgroup is specific to grammar.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heather K J van der Lely
- Centre for Developmental Language Disorders & Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Human Communication Science, University College London, 2 Wakefield Street, London WC1E 1PF, UK.
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50
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Dick F, Wulfeck B, Krupa-Kwiatkowski M, Bates E. The development of complex sentence interpretation in typically developing children compared with children with specific language impairments or early unilateral focal lesions. Dev Sci 2004; 7:360-77. [PMID: 15595375 DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2004.00353.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
This study compared sentence comprehension skills in typically developing children 5-17 years of age, children with language impairment (LI) and children with focal brain injuries (FL) acquired in the pre/perinatal period. Participants were asked to process sentences 'on-line', choosing the agent in sentences that varied in syntactic complexity (actives, passives, subject clefts and object clefts), and in the presence or absence of a subject-verb agreement contrast. Results revealed that accuracy and processing speeds vary with syntactic complexity in all groups, reflecting the frequency and regularity of sentence types. Developmental changes continued throughout childhood, as children became faster and more accurate at processing more complex sentence structures. Children with LI and children with FL were quite profoundly delayed, displaying profiles similar to, or more impaired than those of younger children, but there was no evidence in the FL group for a disadvantage in left- vs. right-hemisphere-damaged children. Children with LI showed one unique pattern: higher than normal costs (reflected in reaction times) in using converging information from subject-verb agreement, in line with studies suggesting special vulnerabilities in grammatical morphology in this group. Results are discussed in terms of the Competition Model, a theory of language processing designed to account for the statistical changes in performance that are observed during development, and the probabilistic deficits in children with language impairments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frederic Dick
- Center for Research in Language, University of California, San Diego, USA
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