Child Language Research Articles

Predictors of Early Intervention Referral after a Positive Developmental Screen in Community Primary Care Clinics

BackgroundPrimary care physicians (PCPs) may rely upon factors other than screening test scores in making referral decisions to developmental services. This study investigated which patient, provider, and screening test factors predict a PCP’s IDEA Part C Early Intervention (EI) referral after a positive screening test result. MethodsChild demographics, developmental screening test results and EI referral decisions were collected via medical record review of 2,756 15-, 18-, 24- and 30-month well-child checks conducted at 7 community primary care clinics in 4 Oregon counties, in 2020-2021. A provider survey collected PCP demographic and professional characteristics. We tested the association of receipt of EI referral with screening test (Ages & Stages-3 [ASQ-3] and Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers – Revised [MCHAT-R]) scores, provider demographic information, child demographic data (sex, language, race/ ethnicity), using multivariable logistic regression. Results54.1% of children with positive MCHAT-R screens, and 42% of children with positive ASQ-3 screens received EI referrals. Multivariable analyses showed that MCHAT-R score, ASQ-3 Communication and Gross Motor scores were associated with referral after a positive screen. Child sex, race, ethnicity, and language, and provider demographics had no multivariable association with referral. Referral rates varied substantially by site and individual provider. ConclusionThe majority of toddlers with positive developmental screens were not receiving EI referrals from their PCP during the COVID-19 pandemic. Screening test thresholds and clinical thresholds for EI referral differ substantially, and some portions of the ASQ-3 do not seem to impact provider referral decisions. These findings may help inform physician training on developmental screening in primary care, specifically during times of unprecedented healthcare challenges.

Early parenting styles and children’s social skills in China: a longitudinal exploration of mediating mechanism

ABSTRACT This study examines the development of children's social skills during the crucial transition from kindergarten to grade school. It explores the long-term connection between parenting styles and children's social skills. This study conducted a three-year longitudinal survey involving 121 children and their parents. The results show that early authoritative parenting styles were significant positive associated with children's social skills in second grade, and early authoritarian parenting styles were significant negative associated with children's social skills in second grade. Child-parent relationship closeness and receptive language skills mediate the association between early parenting styles and second-grade children's social skills. We propose that improving the closeness of the child-parent relationship and enhancing children's receptive language skills could effectively enhance children's social skills. This provides theoretical support for intervention programmes aimed at improving children's social skills.

The gender gap in early language development among children from peri-urban China

In rural China, there exists a gender gap in academic achievement where girls outperform boys, suggesting similar differences in early language development. Moreover, recent research has revealed that children in peri-urban communities have worse language outcomes than children in rural communities. This study examines the impact of gender on early language development in low-SES, peri-urban Chinese communities. Data from 81 children (56.79% boys) aged 18-24 months (Mage = 21.16) living in peri-urban China were collected using two caregiver-reported tests for child language development and ability, and language environment analysis technology for measuring the home language environment. Results show that in peri-urban communities, girls were generally exposed to more adult-child conversations and showed higher counts of vocalizations than did boys; girls scored higher on language development measures than did boys. The implications of these findings on the gender gap and child development are discussed.

The Use of Language Sample Analysis to Differentiate Developmental Language Disorder From Typical Language in Bilingual Children: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Language sample analysis (LSA) is a commonly recommended method of assessment for bilingual children. This systematic review and meta-analysis provides a comprehensive overview of the literature on the use of LSA to differentiate between developmental language disorder (DLD) and typical language (TL) in bilingual children. We conducted a search of several large electronic databases along with forward and backward searches and applied abstract and full-text screening procedures to identify all relevant studies. We then estimated standardized mean differences, representing the ability of LSA to differentiate between DLD and TL, using multilevel model and subgroup and moderator analyses to identify characteristics of LSA that may be associated with differences in effect size magnitude. We conducted assessments of publication bias and risk of bias by examining quality indicators for each study. The search yielded 35 articles that met the inclusion criteria. Participants ranged in age from 2;0 (years;months) to 11;9, with over 40 languages represented. Across studies, the pooled standardized mean difference indicated that children with DLD performed 0.78 SD lower on LSA measures than those with TL. Measures of morphosyntactic accuracy exhibited the largest pooled effect size. Elicitation method, language of task, and age were not associated with differences in effect size. Results of this study provide evidence of the clinical utility of LSA in differentiating between DLD and TL in bilingual children. Further research is needed to examine classification accuracy as well as task characteristics that may improve its diagnostic utility.

How parenting styles affect the development of language skills and reading comprehension in primary school students.

This study examined how parenting styles influence children's language skills and reading comprehension. Six hundred and eighty-five Chinese-speaking third graders (Mage = 9.23 years, SD = .66; 341 girls) were randomly recruited from eight primary schools. We measured students' primary caregivers' parenting styles, parental education, family income, migration status, number of children's extracurricular books in the home and family cohesion at Wave 1 (i.e. grade 3). We also assessed students' reading motivation, language skills (i.e. vocabulary knowledge and syntactic awareness) and reading comprehension at Wave 2 (i.e. grade 4). The structural equation model analysis revealed that parenting styles indirectly affect language and reading comprehension development, with authoritative and authoritarian parenting exerting different influences on the two outcomes. Specifically, authoritative parenting was positively related to the number of children's books, which in turn was directly, or indirectly through reading motivation, associated with children's language skills and reading comprehension. In contrast, authoritarian parenting was negatively related to family cohesion, which was associated with children's reading motivation, and consequently, their language skills and reading comprehension. The multigroup analysis showed that the indirect pathways varied slightly across parental migration statuses. These findings enhance the global understanding of the pathways linking parenting styles to children's language skills and reading comprehension, suggesting that educators and researchers should not overly emphasize the direct role of parenting styles in children's academic performance.

Bilingualism – between Family and Educational System. Case Study – Romanian Nationality in Méhkerék

This study examines the linguistic and cultural dynamics of the Romanian-speaking community in Méhkerék, Hungary, focusing on the impact of bilingualism within families and educational settings. The research investigates how bilingual families influence their children's language use in various contexts, including school, society, and social interactions. Through a survey of 110 parents in the village, the study explores language preferences, the choice of bilingual or nationality schools, and the perceived advantages of bilingualism. Results show that while Romanian remains significant in family and cultural contexts, there is a notable shift towards Hungarian among younger generations. The findings highlight the importance of family-school collaboration in promoting and preserving bilingualism, as well as the cognitive, social, and educational benefits it offers. The study emphasizes the evolving role of bilingualism in maintaining cultural identity and fostering linguistic diversity.

Strategi Efektif Orang Tua Dalam Merangsang Perkembangan Bahasa Arab Anak

<em>This study aims to describe and explain about children's language development and its stages. Factors of children's language development, as well as effective strategies for parents in helping children's language development. The research method used is descriptive qualitative research using a literature approach in an effort to describe, record and analyze and interpret the current conditions. The data sources in this study are literature such as books, journals, articles, or documents that discuss effective strategies or the role of parents in stimulating children's language development. Data analysis is done by data reduction, data presentation, and conclusion drawing. The results of this study show that there are two factors that influence children's language development, namely internal and external. And explained that there are several effective strategies that can be used by parents in helping stimulate children's language development such as talking and interacting actively, reading books together, singing, creating a language-rich environment, using educational media, using rich and varied language, and consistency in learning and language development</em>

The effect of speech and non-speech noise on comprehension of storybook reading for elementary school children

Children are generally more affected by surrounding noise than are adults, and are more disturbed by speech than by non-speech noise. Storybook reading, which is one of the main activities in school curricula, is known to improve children's language skills, social abilities, and behavior. However, classrooms are generally noisy environments, and the effectiveness of storybook reading in noise is unclear. This study aimed to investigate how noise affects storybook reading comprehension among elementary schoolchildren. A practiced speaker read picture books to 11 elementary school schoolchildren (age range, 6-9 years) under three listening conditions: quiet, speech noise (babble noise), and non-speech noise (noise recorded in a boiler room). A comprehension test (e.g., story flow, character behaviors, keywords) was conducted after each book was read. No significant difference in story comprehension scores was found among the listening conditions, likely because the visual information helped the children understand the stories even in noise. However, the story comprehension score under the speech noise condition was significantly higher for children who frequently played outside as compared with inside. These results suggest that children's comprehension of storybook reading in noise is affected by not only surrounding noise, but also the play area.

Hearing Screening of Infant and Children Suspected of Congenital Hearing Loss at Dustira Cimahi Hospital

Hearing problems in children impact development, especially speech and language. Some risk factors are known to influence the occurrence of congenital deafness. For the last five years, screening with Otoacoustic Emissions (OAE) and Brainstem Evoked Response Audiometry (BERA) examinations has been used at Dustira Hospital to make a diagnosis and intervene as early as possible. This study aims to obtain the prevalence, risk factors, and OAE and BERA examination results at Dustira Cimahi Hospital. A retrospective descriptive study was conducted on children who underwent the OAE and BERA examination by collecting subject data for the period of January 2020– December 2022. The OAE examination uses distortion product otoacoustic emissions, while the BERA examination is based on the International Standard Organization (ISO). Of the 42 patients who were screened for hearing loss, the 3–5-year-old group was the most dominant (40.4%). Most of the patients were male (66%). While the prenatal risk factor was a history of TORCH infection (12%), the perinatal risk factor was low birth weight (14.2%) and the postnatal risk factor was hyperbilirubinemia (19%). The majority of the OAE examination results were refers found at 32 people (76.1%). The results of the BERA click examination were the presence of wave V found in 38 people (90.4%)). Patients with suspected congenital deafness who underwent hearing screening were in the age range of 3–5 years and were all male. The risk factors found were a history of TORCH infection, low birth weight, and hyperbilirubinemia. The majority of the results of the OAE examination was refer and that of the BERA was wave V. Keywords: BERA, children, congenital deafness, OAE

Childhood language development and alexithymia in adolescence: an 8-year longitudinal study.

Alexithymia (difficulties identifying and describing feelings) predicts increased risks for psychopathology, especially during the transition from childhood to adolescence. However, little is known of the early contributors to alexithymia. The language hypothesis of alexithymia suggests that language deficits play a primary role in predisposing language-impaired groups to developing alexithymia; yet longitudinal data tracking prospective relationship between language function and alexithymia are scarce. Leveraging data from the Surrey Communication and Language in Education cohort (N = 229, mean age at time point 1 = 5.32 years, SD = 0.29, 51.1% female), we investigated the prospective link between childhood language development and alexithymic traits in adolescence. Results indicated that boys with low language function at ages 4-5 years, and those who later met the diagnostic criteria for language disorders at ages 5-6 years, reported elevated alexithymic traits when they reached adolescence. Parent-reported child syntax abilities at ages 5-6 years revealed a dimensional relationship with alexithymic traits, and this was consistent with behavioral assessments on related structural language abilities. Empirically derived language groups and latent language trajectories did not predict alexithymic traits in adolescence. While findings support the language hypothesis of alexithymia, greater specificity of the alexithymia construct in developmental populations is needed to guide clinical interventions.

Chinese mothers use idioms in shared book reading: A predictor for children's Chinese vocabulary growth?

Idioms play an important role in language; however, little research has examined idioms in children's natural language settings. This study explored idioms usage in maternal talk during mother-child shared book reading and its relation to children's vocabulary development. Thirty-three Chinese children in Norway (aged 3;0-5;5) and their mothers participated. We observed shared reading at the onset of the study and assessed children's receptive and expressive vocabulary in Chinese three times across one year. Results demonstrated that mothers used an average of 1.8 idioms and explained one-third of the idioms. Maternal idiom usage was correlated with their talk amount and lexical diversity. Individual growth modeling revealed that the number of idioms mothers used predicted the growth of children's receptive vocabulary in Chinese. We speculate that idiom usage could be an effective and understudied marker of parental linguistic sophistication. This study underscores the importance of idiom exposure in children's language environment.

THE PSYCHOEDUCATION OF LANGUAGE DISORDERS IN EARLY CHILDHOOD FOR PARENTS AND TEACHERS AT ECC DEWI SARTIKA MOJOKERTO

Introduction: Based on an initial survey conducted among parents, prospective parents, and educators at ECC Dewi Sartika, Mojokerto, it was found that 19% of people did not know about language disorders in early childhood. In addition, 29.3% of respondents did not know about the impact and urgency of handling language disorders in children. A total of 36.2% of respondents did not know about the symptoms or indications of language disorders in children, and as many as 58.6% of respondents did not know about how to treat children with language disorders, especially in early childhood. The purpose of giving psychoeducation is increasing knowledge and attitude of those directly involved in the child's growth and development process, so they can find out an overview of the development of language and speech in children. Methods: The psychoeducation program is in the form of an interactive talk show conducted online through one of the video conference platforms. The target participants consisted of 8 teachers, 30 parents or caregivers, and 10 other parties who are directly or indirectly involved in the care and guidance of early childhood. Participants were given a pretest and post test to measure their knowledge and attitude towards language disorders in early childhood. The results obtained will be analyzed using a t-test with the Jamovi version 2.2.5 application. Results: The difference in the mean score is 16,842 (CI95 = [∞, 14,135]), the delivery of promotive interventions in the form of psychoeducation has a significant effect on increasing knowledge and attitudes towards language disorders in early childhood (t(48) = 10,495, p=<.001 , Cohen's d=1,702). Conclusion: This psychoeducation program is able to increase participants' understanding and attitude towards of language disorders in early childhood.

Examining Parents' Views on Parental Involvement in Preschool English Teaching

This study aims to examine parents' views on parental involvement in preschool English language teaching. Today, as parents realize their roles, they have started to play a more active role in their children's educational process. In this period when children need their parents' support the most, parents need to turn this situation into an opportunity and contribute to their children's foreign language acquisition process. For this reason, this study examined the views of parents on their participation in this process in the preschool period, which is considered to be very important in terms of foreign language acquisition. It is predicted that this study will shed light on parents' thoughts about their participation in the preschool foreign language education process and will benefit the studies to be carried out to make English language teaching more effective in the preschool period. In this study, the case study design, one of the qualitative research designs, was used to obtain parents' views on their involvement in preschool English language teaching. A total of 15 parents, consisting of eight fathers and seven mothers, whose children received preschool English education in different schools in Afyonkarahisar province in Turkey, voluntarily participated in the study. In this study, the parents' opinions about their involvement in English language teaching were obtained through semi-structured interview forms. As a result of the study, it was found that although almost all the parents adopted the view that parental involvement was necessary when the situation of supporting their children's English learning at home was examined, it was found that they could not support their children in their English learning process due to limited time, insufficient English level, the view that school alone is sufficient and similar reasons. It is concluded that parents who thought that their English level was insufficient for their children's participation in the English language learning process, remained passive in this process and were not informed about how they could participate in the foreign language teaching process of their children.

Frequency of Hebrew word usage by children with intellectual and developmental disabilities: implications for AAC core vocabulary

Appropriate vocabulary selection for augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) intervention is crucial to support communication and language development in children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Core vocabulary lists are commonly used to guide this process, and there is a need for language-specific consideration. This paper aimed to develop a wordlist for selecting the core vocabulary for AAC intervention for young Hebrew-speaking children with IDD. Five children (age 3;5–8;4) were audio-recorded in naturalistic interactions with an interviewer and family members. Using Levy’s clinical corpus in the Child Language Data Exchange System (CHILDES) and Child Phonology Analyzer (CPA) tools and preestablished codes, wordlists with usage frequencies were extracted and coded for lexeme, lexical categories and functions or content. The percentages of the 20, 50, 100, and 200 most frequent lexemes were calculated for each child and for the five children combined. The top 200 most frequently used lexemes constituted 85% of the composite lexicon. A comparison was made between this study list and a previous list derived from language samples of typically developing (TD). Lexemes representing function words dominated, albeit with a slight preference for content words in children with IDD. Among the content words, children with IDD used more adverbs, while children with TD used more verbs. Implications for AAC core vocabulary are discussed.

DNA methylation signatures of prenatal socioeconomic position associated with 36-month language outcomes

BackgroundSocioeconomic position (SEP), which reflects one’s position in society and access to resources, is strongly tied to neurodevelopment and is associated with epigenetic changes. AIM: This study examined whether DNA methylation signatures of prenatal SEP, measured in birth samples, are associated with child neurodevelopmental outcomes at 36 months of age. METHODS: Prenatal SEP DNA methylation scores were derived using 97 placenta and 127 cord blood biospecimens in the Early Autism Risk Longitudinal Investigation cohort. Participants completed the Mullen Scales of Early Learning (MSEL) and Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (VABS) at 36 months of age. Generalized regression analyses, adjusting for maternal age and race, were performed to test the association between SEP methylation score, for each birth biospecimen type, and MSEL and VABS scores. RESULTS: Significant associations were observed between placenta SEP methylation score and MSEL Expressive Language outcomes (beta = −2.7, p = 0.046, 95 % CI [- 5.43, −0.05]) and Receptive Language outcomes (beta = −2.5, p = 0.037, 95 % CI [-4.82, −0.16]). In cord blood, methylation-SEP scores were significantly associated with Receptive Language outcomes (beta = −2.0, p = 0.037, 95 % CI [-3.85, −0.12]). No significant associations were observed with VABS scores. CONCLUSION: Our results confirm associations between prenatal SEP and early childhood language development using a novel empiric DNA methylation measure of exposure

놀이중심 교육과정의 놀이기록에서 전문적 시각으로 살펴본 교사의 PCK

Objectives This study aims to explore the Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) of teachers in the context of play-based early childhood education. The focus is on how teachers observe, document, and support play activities in educational settings that demand a high level of professional expertise. By analyzing teachers' play documentation from a professional vision perspective, the study seeks to identify what aspects teachers focus on during play situations and how their PCK is manifested. Methods This study analyzed 19 play documentation cases from the 2019 revised Nuri Curriculum to examine teachers' selective attention and knowledge-based reasoning. The analysis of selective attention focused on the specific elements of play that teachers observed, the aspects of children they concentrated on, the areas they emphasized to support and suggest during play, and the experiences and learnings they highlighted. For knowledge-based reasoning, the study assessed teachers' inferential actions based on observational evidence, their professional knowledge, and educational theories. Results First, the analysis revealed that teachers focused on the transformation of play through chance encounters and on all the relationships children form. Second, in the interplay of play and activities, the teachers' PCK was evident in their attuned listening to children's language and behavior while implementing their educational plans, as well as their pedagogical PCK in responding spontaneously to children's needs and supporting their learning. Conclusions The examination of teachers' PCK in play documentation indicated that it is an intertwining of educational knowledge, contextual (practical) knowledge, and knowledge about children. This results in the manifestation of PCK through planning, observation, support, and interpretation by teachers. The study highlighted the importance of teachers’ roles in implementing a play-based curriculum that aims to deepen, expand, and reorganize educational content and experiences to promote higher levels of learning and support.

아동의 표현어휘 지연 예측 요인 연구: 3세 말늦은 아동과 정상 언어발달 아동의 가정환경의 질 차이를 중심으로

The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of home environment quality on children’s expressive vocabulary development by comparing the home environments of 3-year-old late talkers and typically developing children. The study used the data of 1,723 3-year-old children from the Korean Children’s Panel Study 4th wave data (2011) of the Korea Institute of Child Care and Education (KICCE). Frequency analysis, t-test, and logistic regression were performed to analyze the data. The Early Childhood HOME(ECHOME) was used to measure the quality of home environment and a new variable ‘overall home environment’ was created to represent the average of the six sub-domains of home environment quality. T-test results indicated significant differences in the overall home environment quality and every sub-domain between 3-year-old late talking children and typically developing children. Logistic regression analysis revealed that the overall home environment quality at the age of 3 was a significant predictor distinguishing the two groups. When all six sub-domains were included as an independent variable, learning materials and diversity demonstrated significant influences. This study emphasizes the significance of home environment quality as a predictor of expressive vocabulary delay and identifies specific sub-domains that influence children's language development.

A language-agnostic model of child language acquisition

This work reimplements a recent semantic bootstrapping child language acquisition (CLA) model, which was originally designed for English, and trains it to learn a new language: Hebrew. The model learns from pairs of utterances and logical forms as meaning representations, and acquires both syntax and word meanings simultaneously. The results show that the model mostly transfers to Hebrew, but that a number of factors, including the richer morphology in Hebrew, makes the learning slower and less robust. This suggests that a clear direction for future work is to enable the model to leverage the similarities between different word forms.

Good Practices in using Instructional Images to Enhance Young Children's Linguistic Skills from the Viewpoint of Language Education Experts

The increasing emphasis on improving early childhood language education necessitates a deeper exploration of effective pedagogical tools, particularly visual aids. This study aims to examine the perspectives of language education specialists regarding best practices for employing images to enhance language development in early childhood settings. A targeted sample of 33 experts in language teaching, all working in early childhood education institutions in northern Jordan, was selected for the study. Qualitative research methodology was adopted, utilizing semi-structured interviews and grounded theory for data analysis. The findings identified a series of best practices for the use of instructional images to foster language development in young learners. Key practices included avoiding overly explicit interpretations of images by teachers, cultivating teachers’ confidence in children’s ability to interpret and engage with images independently, providing immediate feedback after children view images, allowing ample opportunities for children to articulate their interpretations of image content, ensuring clear and visible image presentation, selecting images that resonate with children’s real-life experiences, and accommodating individual differences among children. Based on these results, the study put forth several recommendations aimed at enhancing language acquisition through the strategic use of visual aids. The research highlights the critical role of creating a learning environment that effectively integrates images as a tool for promoting language skills in early childhood, encouraging a more interactive and engaging approach to language education.

The Application and Challenges of ChatGPT in Preschool Education

At present, the application of ChatGPT in education has been widely discussed. However, further research and discussion are needed on how to better integrate artificial intelligence in preschool education for young children aged 3-7 years. This paper analyzes the existing research on the application of AI in young children and concludes that the benefits of AI in preschool education can not only help improve and enrich curriculum design but also contribute to the development of artificial intelligence education. However, there are several challenges associated with AI in preschool children. First, artificial intelligence has limitations in children's language understanding. Second, children's emotional needs may not be satisfied. Last, there are doubts about the rationality of the suggestions made for young children. Based on the Pre-operational Stage of Piaget's children's cognitive development, this paper provides the following insights for the integration of ChatGPT and preschool education. One of the future works for ChatGPT is to combine the multimode to understand children's language. Another approach is to be used as a virtual partner to develop young learners' interpersonal communication and emotional management through scene simulation. Additionally, ChatGPT should provide simple and specific suggestions, according to the cognitive development characteristics of young learners.