Maternal input to children with specific language impairment during shared book reading: is mothers' language in tune with their children's production?

Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Associations Between Quality of Parent-Child Interaction and Language Ability in Preschool-Age Children With Developmental Language Disorder

PURPOSE

This study explores whether the quality of parent-child interaction is associated with language abilities cross-sectionally and longitudinally up to preschool-age among children with developmental language disorder (DLD).

METHOD

Participants were 97 monolingual children with DLD and their parents from the Helsinki Longitudinal SLI study, HelSLI (baseline, age in years;months, M = 4;3, SD = 0;10), of which 71 pairs were followed longitudinally (age in years;months, M = 6;6, SD = 0;5). Video recordings from three play sessions were scored for child, parent, and dyadic behavior using Erickson's sensitivity scale protocol and mutually responsive orientation at baseline. Children's expressive and receptive language and language reasoning ability were assessed at baseline, and expressive and receptive language were assessed at follow-up.

RESULTS

At baseline, engaged child behavior, parent's supportive guidance, and fluent and attuned dyadic behavior were associated with better receptive language ability, and engaged child behavior and dyadic synchrony were positively associated with language reasoning ability in 3- to 6-year-olds. The child's positive engagement and fluent and attuned dyadic behavior at baseline were associated with better expressive and receptive language abilities at follow-up in 6- to 7-year-olds, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Fluent and attuned dyadic behavior is associated with better receptive language ability in preschool-age children. Parent behavior alone was not associated with language ability. A connected and mutually attuned parent-child relationship could be a protective factor for language development for children with DLD.

A Longitudinal Study of Language Use During Early Mother-Child Interactions in Spanish-Speaking Families Experiencing Low Income

PURPOSE

This longitudinal study assessed continuity and stability of productive language (vocabulary and grammar) and discourse features (turn-taking; asking and responding to questions) during mother-child play.

METHOD

Parent-child language use in 119 Spanish-speaking, Mexican immigrant mothers and their children at two ages (M = 2.5 and 3.6 years) was evaluated from transcriptions of interactions.

RESULTS

Child productive language significantly increased over the year, whereas mothers showed commensurate increases in vocabulary diversity but very little change in grammatical complexity. Mother-child discourse was characterized by discontinuity: Mothers decreased their turn length and asked fewer questions while children increased on both measures. Rates of responding to questions remained high for both mothers and children even as children increased and mothers decreased over time. Mothers and children showed significant rank-order stability in productive language and measures of discourse. Mothers' rate of asking questions and children's responses to questions during the first interaction predicted children's receptive vocabulary a year later.

CONCLUSIONS

As children become more sophisticated communicators, language input remains important, with discourse features growing in relevance. Children's early opportunities to respond to parents' questions in the context of play benefit their language skills. This work extends the evidence base from monolingual English-speaking families and is interpreted in the context of prior research on parenting practices in U.S. families of Mexican origin.

Preverbal Production and Early Lexical Development in Children With Cochlear Implants: A Longitudinal Study Following Pre-implanted Children Until 12 Months After Cochlear Implant Activation

Studies have shown that children vary in the trajectories of their language development after cochlear implant (CI) activation. The aim of the present study is to assess the preverbal and lexical development of a group of 20 Italian-speaking children observed longitudinally before CI activation and at three, 6 and 12 months after CI surgery (mean age at the first session: 17.5 months; SD: 8.3; and range: 10–35). The group of children with CIs (G-CI) was compared with two groups of normally-hearing (NH) children, one age-matched (G-NHA; mean age at the first session: 17.4 months; SD: 8.0; and range: 10–34) and one language-matched (G-NHL; n = 20; mean age at the first session: 11.2 months; SD: 0.4; and range: 11–12). The spontaneous interactions between children and their mothers during free-play were transcribed. Preverbal babbling production and first words were considered for each child. Data analysis showed significant differences in babbling and word production between groups, with a lower production of words in children with CIs compared to the G-NHA group and a higher production of babbling compared to the G-NHL children. Word production 1 year after activation was significantly lower for the children with CIs than for language-matched children only when maternal education was controlled for. Furthermore, latent class growth analysis showed that children with CIs belonged mainly to classes that exhibited a low level of initial production but also progressive increases over time. Babbling production had a statistically significant effect on lexical growth but not on class membership, and only for groups showing slower and constant increases. Results highlight the importance of preverbal vocal patterns for later lexical development and may support families and speech therapists in the early identification of risk and protective factors for language delay in children with CIs.

Impacts of a shared book-reading intervention for Italian-speaking children with developmental language disorder

BACKGROUND

The regular practice of shared book reading (SBR) at home may play a key role in fostering the linguistic development of children with developmental language disorder (DLD). However, more evidence is needed of the benefits of home-based SBR interventions on the parents' conversational strategies and on the communicative and linguistic production of children with DLD.

AIMS

To examine the impacts of a parent-based SBR intervention on the parent's use of conversational strategies, and on the engagement, conversational participation and linguistic production of Italian-speaking children with DLD. The mothers trained in the use of SBR strategies were expected to increase their use of these strategies. The children were expected to show gains in their level of engagement and conversational participation during SBR; in turn, moderate increments of the indices of language production were expected.

METHODS & PROCEDURES

Thirty-two preschool children with DLD participated in the study; all were receiving speech language therapy. Using a non-randomized pre-post-test control trial, 20 mother-child dyads implemented an 8-week SBR programme (the SBR intervention group), while 12 dyads acted as a comparison group. Based on the 'dialogic reading' method, eight verbal and non-verbal SBR strategies were employed during individual and small-group parent training sessions. Speech-language therapists were involved in the individual parent training sessions to provide suggestions focused on the specific characteristics of each mother-child dyad. Measures of parents' intervention strategies, children's engagement, conversational participation and oral language were included.

OUTCOMES & RESULTS

At post-test, mothers in the SBR intervention group used three of the eight SBR strategies-Shared Book Handling, Captivating Talking, and Utterances with a familiar topic-significantly more than the comparison group. Children whose mothers implemented the intervention showed significant gains in terms of time spent in engagement and amount of verbal production during shared reading. No effects were found for the children's communicative initiatives and answers, or for indices of language complexity and diversity.

CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS

The present parent-based SBR intervention for Italian-speaking preschoolers with DLD showed effects, albeit modest, on both maternal and child communicative behaviours. The results suggest that extralinguistic strategies may be implemented successfully by parents and may be effective in enhancing children's engagement and language production in the short term. Further investigations are needed that provide a longer intervention period and examine the joint impact of therapist- and parent-based intervention for children with DLD.

Language development and disorders: Possible genes and environment interactions

Language development requires both basic cognitive mechanisms for learning language and a rich social context from which learning takes off. Disruptions in learning mechanisms, processing abilities, and/or social interactions increase the risks associated with social exclusion or developmental delays. Given the complexity of language processes, a multilevel approach is proposed where both cognitive mechanisms, genetic and environmental factors need to be probed together with their possible interactions. Here we review and discuss such interplay between environment and genetic predispositions in understanding language disorders, with a particular focus on a possible endophenotype, the ability for statistical sequential learning.

Communication dynamics between mothers and their children with cochlear implants: Effects of maternal support for language production

This study examined (a) the functions and modalities of maternal and child communication during interaction between mothers and children with cochlear implants (CIs), comparing them with mothers and normally hearing (NH) children, and (b) the effectiveness of maternal support strategies in eliciting adequate answers in children with CI. Twenty preschoolers with CIs (M = 40 months) and 40 NH children - 20 matched by chronological age (CANH, M = 40 months) and 20 matched by hearing age (HANH, M = 25 months) - were videotaped during shared book reading and toy play with their mothers. Child and maternal utterances were coded for communicative functions and modalities (vocal, gestural, bimodal), including gesture types; maternal repairs were examined for type of support provided, and child answers for adequacy. Mothers in the CI group and in the CANH group displayed higher proportions of Informative Repairs than mothers of HANH children. However, unlike the mothers of NH children, mothers of children with CIs used bimodal utterances significantly more than vocal utterances. Sequential analysis revealed that maternal Informative Repairs elicited the production of Adequate Answers in both children with CIs and CANH. Interestingly, in the CI group this association was found only when Informative Repairs were accompanied by gestures. These findings offer suggestions for intervention programs focused on parent-child conversation.

Spontaneous language production of Italian children with cochlear implants and their mothers in two interactive contexts

BACKGROUND

In recent years many studies have shown that the use of cochlear implants (CIs) improves children's skills in processing the auditory signal and, consequently, the development of both language comprehension and production. Nevertheless, many authors have also reported that the development of language skills in children with CIs is variable and influenced by individual factors (e.g., age at CI activation) and contextual aspects (e.g., maternal linguistic input).

AIMS

To assess the characteristics of the spontaneous language production of Italian children with CIs, their mothers' input and the relationship between the two during shared book reading and semi-structured play.

METHODS & PROCEDURES

Twenty preschool children with CIs and 40 typically developing children, 20 matched for chronological age (CATD group) and 20 matched for hearing age (HATD group), were observed during shared book reading and semi-structured play with their mothers. Samples of spontaneous language were transcribed and analysed for each participant. The numbers of types, tokens, mean length of utterance (MLU) and grammatical categories were considered, and the familiarity of each mother's word was calculated.

OUTCOMES & RESULTS

The children with CIs produced shorter utterances than the children in the CATD group. Their mothers produced language with lower levels of lexical variability and grammatical complexity, and higher proportions of verbs with higher familiarity than did the mothers in the other groups during shared book reading. The children's language was more strongly related to that of their mothers in the CI group than in the other groups, and it was associated with the age at CI activation.

CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS

The findings suggest that the language of children with CIs is related both to their mothers' input and to age at CI activation. They might prompt suggestions for intervention programs focused on shared-book reading.

The Home Literacy Environment Is a Correlate, but Perhaps Not a Cause, of Variations in Children's Language and Literacy Development

The home literacy environment is a well-established predictor of children's language and literacy development. We investigated whether formal, informal, and indirect measures of the home literacy environment predict children's reading and language skills once maternal language abilities are taken into account. Data come from a longitudinal study of children at high risk of dyslexia (N = 251) followed from preschool years. Latent factors describing maternal language were significant predictors of storybook exposure but not of direct literacy instruction. Maternal language and phonological skills respectively predicted children's language and reading/spelling skills. However, after accounting for variations in maternal language, storybook exposure was not a significant predictor of children's outcomes. In contrast, direct literacy instruction remained a predictor of children's reading/spelling skills. We argue that the relationship between early informal home literacy activities and children's language and reading skills is largely accounted for by maternal skills and may reflect genetic influences.

The Home Literacy Environment as a Predictor of the Early Literacy Development of Children at Family-Risk of Dyslexia

The home literacy environment (HLE) predicts language and reading development in typically developing children; relatively little is known about its association with literacy development in children at family-risk of dyslexia. We assessed the HLE at age 4 years, precursor literacy skills at age 5, and literacy outcomes at age 6, in a sample of children at family-risk of dyslexia (n = 116) and children with no known risk (n = 72). Developmental relationships between the HLE and literacy were comparable between the groups; an additional effect of storybook exposure on phoneme awareness was observed in the family-risk group only. The effects of socioeconomic status on literacy were partially mediated by variations in the HLE; in turn, effects of the HLE on literacy were mediated by precursor skills (oral language, phoneme awareness, and emergent decoding) in both groups. Findings are discussed in terms of possible gene-environment correlation mechanisms underpinning atypical literacy development.

Spontaneous Gesture Production and Lexical Abilities in Children With Specific Language Impairment in a Naming Task

PURPOSE

The purpose of the study was to investigate the role that cospeech gestures play in lexical production in preschool-age children with expressive specific language impairment (E-SLI).

METHOD

Fifteen preschoolers with E-SLI and 2 groups of typically developing (TD) children matched for chronological age (n = 15, CATD group) and for language abilities (n = 15, LATD group) completed a picture-naming task. The accuracy of the spoken answers (coded for types of correct and incorrect answers), the modality of expression (spoken and/or gestural), types of gestures, and semantic relationship between gestures and speech produced by children in the different groups were compared.

RESULTS

Children with SLI produced higher rates of phonological simplifications and unintelligible answers than CATD children, but lower rates of semantic errors than LATD children. They did not show a significant preference for spoken answers, as TD children did. Similarly to LATD children, they used gestures at higher rates than CATD, both deictic and representational, and both reinforcing the information conveyed in speech and adding correct information to co-occurring speech.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings support the hypotheses that children with SLI rely on gestures for scaffolding their speech and do not have a clear preference for the spoken modality, as TD children do, and have implications for educational and clinical practice.

The use of sophisticated words with children with specific language impairment during shared book reading

In the context of the use of sophisticated (i.e., low-frequency) words with children with specific language impairment (SLI), the present study investigates the relationship between maternal interactive support for meaning and both conversational responsiveness and lexical development of children with SLI. Fifteen Italian-speaking children with SLI (age range: 3;4-5;6) and two groups of typically developing children--15 chronological age (CA)-matched (3;8-5;8) and 15 language age (LA)-matched (1;10-3;5)--were videotaped during shared book reading with their mothers. Maternal utterances which included or were related to a sophisticated word were coded on the basis of informativeness and scaffolding provided; child utterances were coded for complexity. In addition, child's lexical development was assessed three months later. Mothers of children with SLI produced a higher percentage of directly informative utterances with gestural scaffolding than did mothers of CA-matched children, and only in the SLI group this kind of utterances were significantly followed by child's extended utterances. Child's lexical development (production) was related to direct maternal informativeness in both the SLI- and CA-matched groups, and to gestural scaffolding only in the SLI group. On the whole, these findings suggest that mothers of children with SLI attune their language to their children's linguistic limitations and that the gestural quality of the interactive scaffolding is related to these children's conversational participation and their level of lexical progress.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The reader will recognize the importance of maternal support for the meaning of low-frequency words in promoting the child's conversational responsiveness and lexical development, particularly with children with SLI. These children seem to benefit when provided with direct information accompanied by gestural scaffolding. These findings, if replicated with a larger group of participants, could help clinicians develop improved strategies for teaching parents.