Children with Language Impairment: Prevalence, Associated Difficulties, and Ethnic Disproportionality in an English Population

Geoff Lindsay,Steve Strand

doi:10.3389/feduc.2016.00002

Geoff Lindsay, Steve Strand

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2016.00002

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Abstract

Language impairment (LI) is one of the most common types of special educational needs (SEN), not only as a child’s primary need but also as a secondary domain associated with other types of SEN. Language impairment is a risk factor for children’s later development, being associated with enhanced behavioural, emotional and social difficulties, in particular peer problems and emotional difficulties; literacy difficulties, including both reading and writing; and reduced levels of academic achievement. Risks arising from LI in early childhood may also have an impact through adolescence and into adult life. This study uses national data from the UK government’s annual census of all students aged 5-16 years attending state schools in England at four time periods between 2005-11, over 6 million students at each census. We analyse the data on students with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN), the Department for Education’s category for students with LI, to examine overall prevalence of SLCN, and the variations in prevalence associated with child factors namely, age, gender, ethnicity, socio-economic disadvantage, and having English as an additional language, and with contextual factors, namely the school and local authority. We also examine disproportionality of identification of SLCN for different ethnic groups, compared with White British children. We discuss the implications of our findings with respect to the current debates regarding the varied terminology for LI, including SLCN, and of a needs compared with diagnosis based approach to assessing and making provision for children and young people with SEN.

Highlights

Epidemiological studies of language impairment (LI) have reported high prevalence among children aged 5–6 years (Beitchman et al, 1986; Tomblin et al, 1997; Norbury et al, 2016)
We have examined the factors associated with identification as having SLCN, the category used for LI in the School Census of children and young people attending state-funded schools in England
Using the School Census category of SLCN, we have demonstrated that prevalence is strongly associated with several factors, namely gender, age, socioeconomic disadvantage, and ethnicity, and with the practices of schools and local authority (LA)

Summary

Introduction

Epidemiological studies of language impairment (LI) have reported high prevalence among children aged 5–6 years (Beitchman et al, 1986; Tomblin et al, 1997; Norbury et al, 2016). Follow-up studies of children with LI have shown that, as a group, they are at enhanced risk of a range of other developmental difficulties (Johnson et al, 1999, 2010). There is, a general consensus that children with LI are a heterogeneous group with respect to the language domain including level of severity, and the overlap with speech problems. The aim of this paper is to examine both prevalence and heterogeneity of the LI population in England by considering associations with age, severity of LI, and a range of demographic variables namely age, gender, ethnicity, and having English as an additional language (EAL). Because the term “language impairment” has been used to refer to different groups of children with developmental language difficulties, we discuss the issue of terminology.

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