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Majorano M, Persici V, Santangelo M, Ferrari R, Bertelli B, Florit E, Lavelli M, Bastianello T, Guerzoni L, Cuda D. Narrative skills and language comprehension in preschool children with cochlear implants: A comparison with children with Developmental Language Disorder or typical development. JOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION DISORDERS 2024; 109:106424. [PMID: 38579544 DOI: 10.1016/j.jcomdis.2024.106424] [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: 05/19/2023] [Revised: 02/21/2024] [Accepted: 03/25/2024] [Indexed: 04/07/2024]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION The narrative skills of children with cochlear implants (CIs) are fragile, but the factors at play and whether these difficulties could be similar to those detected in language impairment are not clear. The present study aims to assess, at the microstructural level, narrative skills, comparing children with CIs with children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) or Typical Development (TD). Furthermore, the relationship between verbal (lexical and morphosyntactic) comprehension and narrative skills across groups is investigated. METHODS The narratives of 19 children with CIs (Mage = 62.42 months, SD = 6.83), 13 children with DLD (Mage = 65.38 months, SD = 4.27), and 18 preschool children with TD (Mage = 63.67 months, SD = 4.31) were assessed in a standardized task. Articles, prepositions, pronouns, gender and number agreement, accuracy in the use of verbs, and number of arguments in each sentence were analysed. Lexical and morphosyntactic comprehension were also assessed. Performance was compared across groups using ANOVAs or Kruskal-Wallis tests. The role of lexical and morphosyntactic comprehension in predicting each morphological and syntactic element in the narrative task was examined using linear regressions. RESULTS Data analysis showed that both children with CIs and DLD had fragilities in narration, both in the morphological and syntactic components. Although some differences between children with CIs and those with DLD emerged in descriptive analyses, these were not statistically significant. Regressions showed that morphosyntactic comprehension predicted the number of pronouns produced only in the TD group. CONCLUSIONS The scarce differences between CI and DLD groups and the absence of an effect of morphosyntactic comprehension on pronoun production may be due to their low production of these elements in the narrative task and/or to a difficulty in managing pronouns in an expressive task regardless of their ability to comprehend them. Potential implications of these results are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | - Elena Florit
- Department of Human Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy
| | - Manuela Lavelli
- Department of Human Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy
| | - Tamara Bastianello
- Department of Human Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy; Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialisation, University of Padua, Padova, Italy
| | - Letizia Guerzoni
- Otorhinolaryngology Unit, Guglielmo da Saliceto Hospital, Piacenza, Italy
| | - Domenico Cuda
- Otorhinolaryngology Unit, Guglielmo da Saliceto Hospital, Piacenza, Italy
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Zuccarini M, Guarini A, Gibertoni D, Suttora C, Aceti A, Corvaglia L, Bello A, Caselli MC, Sansavini A. Describing communication profiles of low-risk preterm and full-term late talkers. JOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION DISORDERS 2023; 104:106336. [PMID: 37257297 DOI: 10.1016/j.jcomdis.2023.106336] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2022] [Revised: 04/28/2023] [Accepted: 05/09/2023] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Late talkers represent a heterogeneous population. We aimed to describe communication profiles of low-risk preterm and full-term late talkers according to their receptive and expressive vocabulary size, considering communicative, linguistic, cognitive, and motor skills, as well as biological and environmental risk factors. METHODS Sixty-eight late talkers (33 born low-risk preterm and 35 full-term) were identified through a language screening at 30 months. Parents filled out the Italian Short Forms of the MacArthur Bates Communicative Development Inventories and the Socio Conversational Skills Rating Scales. Children were assessed with the Picture Naming Game test and the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development. RESULTS A two-step cluster analysis identified three distinct profiles among late talkers according to their receptive and expressive vocabulary size. Severe late talkers (25%) showed less frequent use of pointing, limited verbal imitation, receptive vocabulary size, lexical and sentence production, responsiveness and assertiveness, and lower cognitive scores than mild late talkers (40%). Moderate late talkers (35%) showed less frequent verbal imitation, limited lexical and sentence production and lower cognitive scores than mild late talkers. Male gender was significantly more represented in the severe late profile, whereas other biological and environmental factors did not differ among the three profiles. CONCLUSIONS Findings highlighted the relevance of assessing communicative, lexical, grammar, pragmatic, and cognitive skills to describe late talkers' profiles. A deeper investigation of phonological skills might also contribute to a further understanding of interindividual variability in this population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mariagrazia Zuccarini
- Department of Education Studies "Giovanni Maria Bertin", University of Bologna, Italy.
| | - Annalisa Guarini
- Department of Psychology "Renzo Canestrari", University of Bologna, Italy
| | - Dino Gibertoni
- Research and Innovation Unit, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Bologna, Italy
| | - Chiara Suttora
- Department of Psychology "Renzo Canestrari", University of Bologna, Italy
| | - Arianna Aceti
- Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Bologna, Italy; Department of Medical and Surgery Sciences, University of Bologna, Italy
| | - Luigi Corvaglia
- Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Bologna, Italy; Department of Medical and Surgery Sciences, University of Bologna, Italy
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Bello A, Ferraresi P, Caselli MC, Perucchini P. The Predictive Role of Quantity and Quality Language-Exposure Measures for L1 and L2 Vocabulary Production among Immigrant Preschoolers in Italy. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2023; 20:1966. [PMID: 36767333 PMCID: PMC9914832 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph20031966] [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: 11/21/2022] [Revised: 01/15/2023] [Accepted: 01/16/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
In this study, we investigated the lexical ability in L1 and L2 of 60 immigrant children who were 37 to 62 months old and exposed to minority languages (L1) and Italian (L2). Using the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories, we measured children's vocabulary production in L1 and L2. From interviews, we collected data on quantitative language exposure (parental input, child output, length of exposure to L2 at preschool, and parental oral fluency) and qualitative home-language exposure (HLE) practices (active, play, and passive) in L1 and L2. We conducted stepwise regression analyses to explore which factors predicted children's vocabulary production in L1 and L2. The child's chronological age and parental education were not predictors of vocabulary production. L2 parental input, L1 child output, and L1 HLE-active practices explained 42% of the variance in children's L1 vocabulary production. L2 child output and L2 HLE-active practices explained 47% of the variance in children's L2 vocabulary production, whereas length of L2 exposure in preschool was a predictor only when we included quantitative language-exposure factors in the model. The effects of the quantity and quality of language exposure on lexical ability among preschool immigrant children are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arianna Bello
- Department of Education, Roma Tre University, Via Castro Pretorio 20, 00186 Roma, Italy
| | - Paola Ferraresi
- Department of Education, Roma Tre University, Via Castro Pretorio 20, 00186 Roma, Italy
| | - Maria Cristina Caselli
- Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, National Research Council, Via Nomentana 56, 00161 Rome, Italy
| | - Paola Perucchini
- Department of Education, Roma Tre University, Via Castro Pretorio 20, 00186 Roma, Italy
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Zaretsky E, Lange BP, Hey C. Fit für die Schule? Der Sprachstand 5-jähriger Kinder in Hessen und seine soziodemografischen Korrelate. Monatsschr Kinderheilkd 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s00112-022-01568-8] [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]
Abstract
Zusammenfassung
Hintergrund
Der Sprachstand 5‑jähriger Kinder wird in Hessen nicht systematisch erfasst. Daher liegen keine Angaben zum Anteil sprachauffälliger Kinder in dieser wichtigen Altersgruppe kurz vor der Einschulung vor.
Fragestellung
Die Studie hatte zum Ziel, den Sprachstand 5‑jähriger Kinder zu beschreiben und soziodemografische Faktoren zu untersuchen, die mit sprachpädagogischem Förder- bzw. klinischem Abklärungsbedarf zusammenhängen.
Matherial und Methoden
Es wurden 263 monolingual deutschsprachige (MON) und 645 multilinguale Kitakinder (MULT) im Alter von 5;0–5;11 Jahren bezüglich ihrer Deutschkenntnisse mit dem Kurztest „Kindersprachscreening“ (KiSS.2) untersucht. KiSS.2-Normwerte für Fünfjährige wurden durch das Studienteam entwickelt. Soziodemografische Merkmale der Kinder und ihrer Familien wurden mit KiSS.2-basierten erweiterten Fragebogen für Eltern und KitaerzieherInnen erfasst.
Ergebnisse
Ein Fünftel der MON und über zwei Drittel der MULT zeigten sich in KiSS.2 als sprachlich auffällig, d. h., ihre Ergebnisse lagen unterhalb der Normwerte. Die große Mehrheit der MULT erwies sich als sprachpädagogisch förderbedürftig. Die Anteile klinisch Abklärungsbedürftiger waren bei MON und MULT vergleichbar. Sprachpädagogischer Förderbedarf war mit eingeschränktem Deutsch-Input außerhalb der Kita assoziiert. Unter den Sprachkontaktvariablen waren es ausbleibende sprachliche Äußerungen beim Spielen, an denen sich klinischer Abklärungsbedarf am besten erkennen ließ. Die meisten Sprachauffälligen, v. a. MULT, wurden weder sprachpädagogisch noch -therapeutisch versorgt.
Diskussion
Da MULT mehr als die Hälfte aller hessischen Vorschulkinder ausmachen, kann davon ausgegangen werden, dass kurz vor der Einschulung die meisten hessischen Kinder sprachauffällig bleiben (in der aktuellen Studie 57 %). Es liegen Hinweise auf eine sprachpädagogische und -therapeutische Unterversorgung von 5‑jährigen Kindern, in erster Linie MULT, vor.
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Alduais A, Qasem F, Alfadda H, Alfadda N, AlAmri L. Arabic Validation of the Pragmatic Language Skills Inventory to Assess Pragmatic Language Development in Preschoolers with and without Pragmatic Language Impairment. CHILDREN 2022; 9:children9060809. [PMID: 35740746 PMCID: PMC9222121 DOI: 10.3390/children9060809] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2022] [Revised: 05/20/2022] [Accepted: 05/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Objective: An individual’s articulation of pragmatic language development (PLD) signifies successful social interaction with others. Therefore, it is important to detect early pragmatic language impairment (PLI), whether as a primary disorder or as a symptom of other neurodevelopmental disorders. This study reports on validating the Arabic version of the Pragmatic Language Skills Inventory (A-PLSI). Methods: The PLSI was subjected to various validation stages before the A-PLSI was created. To assess PLD in preschoolers with and without psychiatric histories, 264 preschoolers were assessed in several cities in Saudi Arabia by their teachers and speech–language pathologists. Results: The results of this study included three key findings. First, the established psychometric features, including construct validity, criterion-related validity, and (confirmatory) factor analysis, all reported a high level of measurability to consider the A-PLSI a valid instrument for assessing PLD in school settings and diagnosing PLI in clinical settings. Second, the A-PLSI provided empirical evidence by identifying children with and without PLI, documenting their progress on pragmatic language ability, and distinguishing between preschool children in school and clinical settings. In addition, the A-PLSI approved the typical norm that the older the children, the higher their level of PLD: the data showed higher performance for children aged 6–7 compared to the lower PLD level of children aged 4–5. Conclusion: The present study contributes to the existing literature on PLD assessment in a school setting and PLI diagnosis in a clinical setting. More importantly, it adds a new validated tool to the few available instruments in Arabic to assess PLD and diagnose PLI in Arabian contexts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ahmed Alduais
- Department of Human Sciences (Psychology), University of Verona, Lungadige Porta Vittoria 17, 37129 Verona, Italy
- Correspondence: (A.A.); (H.A.)
| | - Fawaz Qasem
- Department of English, University of Bisha, Al-Namas 67714, Saudi Arabia;
| | - Hind Alfadda
- Department of Curriculum and Instruction, King Saud University, Riyadh 11362, Saudi Arabia
- Correspondence: (A.A.); (H.A.)
| | - Najla Alfadda
- Department of English Language and Translation, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia;
| | - Lujain AlAmri
- Speech Pathology Division, Jeddah Institute for Speech and Hearing and Medical Rehabilitation, Jeddah 23432, Saudi Arabia;
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Literacy Acquisition Trajectories in Bilingual Language Minority Children and Monolingual Peers with Similar or Different SES: A Three-Year Longitudinal Study. Brain Sci 2022; 12:brainsci12050563. [PMID: 35624950 PMCID: PMC9138630 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci12050563] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2022] [Revised: 04/23/2022] [Accepted: 04/25/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Bilingualism and socio-economic status (SES) differentially affect linguistic and cognitive development. However, less evidence has been collected regarding their impact on literacy trajectories. The present longitudinal study evaluated the literacy development of language minority bilingual children (LMBC) and monolingual peers with different SES. A group of LMBC with low-SES (n = 18) and monolingual peers with low (n = 18) or high (n = 14) SES were followed from 2nd to 5th grade through a set of tasks assessing decoding (words, nonwords, passage), reading, and listening comprehension, and spelling skills. The results showed that all groups achieved better performances over time in all measures, except listening comprehension. However, low-SES LMBC underperformed in spelling tasks compared to the monolingual groups. In reading comprehension, there was a time*group interaction that showed how low-SES LMBC reached similar performances of low-SES monolinguals in fifth grade, but both groups underperformed compared to the high SES monolingual group. The discussion is focused on the need for research and educational settings to consider the differential impact of bilingualism and SES. Bilingualism seems to be associated with a longer time in developing adequate spelling skills, whereas SES was the primary underpinning of the reading comprehension gap over time.
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Sanfelici E, Roch M. The Native Speaker in Italian-Dialects Bilingualism: Insights From the Acquisition of Vicentino by Preschool Children. Front Psychol 2021; 12:717639. [PMID: 34725545 PMCID: PMC8556152 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.717639] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2021] [Accepted: 08/31/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
This paper investigates the bilingualism originating from the native competence of a standard language (Italian) and a vernacular non-standardized local dialect (henceforth, bilectalism). We report results on the comprehension and production of narrative stories by 44 3- to 5-year-old typically developing children exposed to both Italian and Vicentino from birth. Our findings show that all children produced and comprehended Italian. As for the dialect, children can comprehend Vicentino, despite not producing any dialectal element. The study further revealed an implicational scale in dialectal competence: if a child exhibits some productions with dialectal syntax, s/he also produces dialects at the phonological, morphological, and lexical levels. These findings are in line with the dialectological studies on adult speakers: dialectal competence should be arranged along a fine-grained continuum and the dialectal speaker should be considered as a multi-factorial notion. Our study extends this observation to children's dialectal acquisition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emanuela Sanfelici
- Department of Linguistic and Literary Studies, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | - Maja Roch
- Department of Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
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Williams L, Parthasarathy P, Molnar M. Measures of Bilingual Cognition - From Infancy to Adolescence. J Cogn 2021; 4:45. [PMID: 34514316 PMCID: PMC8396129 DOI: 10.5334/joc.184] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2021] [Accepted: 08/11/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
An extensive literature exists regarding the effect of bilingualism on cognition in developing populations. However, the term 'cognition' is vague and applies to a large number of different abilities. We reviewed 60 publications examining cognition in simultaneous bilingual children to understand what aspects of cognition have been studied in this population and what tasks have been used, in addition to qualitatively assessing the results of bilingual/monolingual comparisons. Executive function was the most frequently assessed cognitive ability across all age groups, paralleling the adult bilingual literature, with memory flexibility and theory of mind also emerging as common targets within infant and preschool age groups. Results are discussed in light of developmental trajectories and assessment methodologies currently available for the cognitive abilities represented in this literature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lindsay Williams
- Department of Speech-Language Pathology, University of Toronto, CA
| | | | - Monika Molnar
- Department of Speech-Language Pathology, University of Toronto, CA
- Rehabilitation Sciences Institute, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, CA
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Dicataldo R, Roch M. Direct and Indirect Pathways of Variation in Length of Exposure to the Majority Language, Cognitive and Language Skills in Preschoolers' Listening Narrative Comprehension. CHILDREN (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2021; 8:636. [PMID: 34438527 PMCID: PMC8391907 DOI: 10.3390/children8080636] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2021] [Revised: 07/22/2021] [Accepted: 07/23/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Listening narrative comprehension, according to the theoretical framework of the multicomponent model for comprehension, involves numerous skills that interact dynamically between each other and have the potential to give rise to individual differences in comprehension. The purpose of the current work was to define a comprehensive and complete multicomponent model of listening narrative comprehension in preschool age. We investigated how variation in Length of Exposure to majority Language (i.e., how long children have been exposed to the Italian language), lower-order cognitive (WM, inhibitory control, attention shifting), language skills (receptive vocabulary, syntactic knowledge, rapid naming), and higher-order cognitive skills (inferences, TOM, knowledge of story-structure) are related to listening narrative comprehension in Italian of 111 preschool children (Mage = 61 months; SD = 6.8) growing in a monolingual or multilingual context. Structural equation modeling results showed that the model explained 60% variance in listening narrative comprehension in Italian of children aged four to six and predicted the outcome both through direct and mediated paths, coherently with the multicomponent model of comprehension.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raffaele Dicataldo
- Department of Development and Socialization Psychology, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Maja Roch
- Department of Development and Socialization Psychology, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy
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Childhood disadvantage, neurocognitive development and neuropsychiatric disorders: Evidence of mechanisms. Curr Opin Psychiatry 2021; 34:306-323. [PMID: 33587493 PMCID: PMC9458466 DOI: 10.1097/yco.0000000000000701] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW Children living in socioeconomically disadvantaged households have excess risks of neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric problems. The purpose of this review is to synthesize evidence for mechanisms that may contribute to these excess risks. RECENT FINDINGS The majority of the 60 studies included in our review focused on children's neurocognitive development and behavioural problems. About half conducted mediation analyses of factors in the family and neighbourhood environments, including access to resources (e.g. cognitive inputs within the home environment) and exposure to stressors (e.g. negative parenting practices), as well as neurobiological embedding of childhood disadvantage. In addition, many studies conducted moderation analyses of factors that were hypothesized to interact with (i.e. exacerbate or mitigate) the harmful effects of childhood disadvantage. SUMMARY Many of the factors that contribute to the excess risk of neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric problems among children in disadvantaged households are potentially modifiable (e.g. cognitively stimulating materials, parental language input, cultural resources, parental stress and psychopathology, negative parenting, neighbourhood violence). If their causality is ultimately established, they could be targets for the prevention and reduction of disparities. The continued search for mechanisms should not detract from work to reduce and hopefully eliminate children's exposure to disadvantage.
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