Children's Linguistic Development Research Articles

Maternal responsivity in mothers of young children with Down syndrome

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine maternal responsivity and directive behaviors in mothers of children with Down syndrome (DS).Methods: Participants included 22 mothers with a young child with DS compared to 22 mothers of chronologically age-matched typically developing (TD) children using a cross-sectional design. The dyads participated in videotaped structured activities that were coded for responsive and directive behaviors.Results: Results indicated that the mothers of children with DS used a more facilitative style with the older children while these behaviors decreased with older children with TD; one directive behavior, request for behavioral comply, increased with the older children with DS.Conclusion: The mothers of children with DS adapted their parenting style to be facilitative of their children's linguistic development.

Effects of Preschool Education in Preparing Children for the First Grade in Terms of Linguistic and Mathematical Development

The purpose of this research is to determine the level of children’s readiness for the first grade, in terms of mathematical and linguistic development. This research is quantitative and includes 466 children who were enrolled in the first grade in September 2011, as well as their parents. They belong to various schools in towns and villages of Kosovo. The sample was randomly selected. Children are assessed for their intellectual readiness, separately in mathematical and linguistic development through standardized measuring instrument by the “Brainline” author Joey Du Plooy. The questionnaire was translated and adapted. In this paper it will be focused only mathematical and linguistic development of children who have just started the first grade. Children are evaluated by a team of pedagogy who have been previously trained in the use of this questionnaire. Each child is individually assessed and the questions that were impossible to take from the children are taken from their parents. The survey results raise awareness about the importance of preschool institutionalized education and provide advices of the importance of preparing children for starting the first grade without fear and with self-esteem.

Audiovisual integration: an introduction to behavioral and neuro-cognitive methods

Audiovisual integration: an introduction to behavioral and neuro-cognitive methods

The Changing Role of Gesture in Linguistic Development: A Developmental Trajectory and a Cross-Cultural Comparison Between British and Finnish Children

We studied how gesture use changes with culture, age and increased spoken language competence. A picture-naming task was presented to British (N =80) and Finnish (N =41) typically developing children aged 2-5years. British children were found to gesture more than Finnish children and, in both cultures, gesture production decreased after the age of two. Two-year-olds used more deictic than iconic gestures than older children, and gestured more before the onset of speech, rather than simultaneously or after speech. The British 3- and 5-year-olds gestured significantly more when naming praxic (manipulable) items than non-praxic items. Our results support the view that gesture serves a communicative and intrapersonal function, and the relative function may change with age. Speech and language therapists and psychologists observe the development of children's gestures and make predictions on the basis of their frequency and type. To prevent drawing erroneous conclusions about children's linguistic development, it is important to understand developmental and cultural variations in gesture use.

Desarrollo lingüístico de un caso de sordera prelocutiva más trastorno por déficit atencional (TDAH)

This article retrospectively describes language development in a prelocutive deaf girl who was enrolled in a long-term longitudinal study. The main aim was to study the effect of the simultaneous use of an early cochlear implant (CI) and cued speech (CS). From 15 months to 6 years old the child underwent rehabilitation in the complemented oral model [COM, Modelo Oral Complementado (MOC) in Spanish]. During this period, 159 sessions of 30-minutes each were videotaped, forming the MOC-CORPUS, available in the CHILDES database. Prelinguistic acquisitions (canonical babbling, phonetic inventory, and first words), and linguistic development (phonology, lexicon, grammar and pragmatics) were explored. As the child's linguistic development did not follow the expected course for a case of deafness with CI+CS, other hypotheses were investigated. After 4 years of CI use, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) was confirmed and was treated with methylphenidate. The data were reanalyzed from the perspective of deafness plus ADHD, assuming that both disorders were present from the beginning. The differential features in linguistic development in cases of typical deafness versus deafness plus ADHD are contrasted.

Chronic suppurative otitis media in children of Luanda, Angola

Evaluation of clinical characteristics, bacteriology and hearing in paediatric patients with and without chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM) in Luanda, Angola. Interview, clinical examination, ear-discharge culture, open air pure-tone audiometry and brainstem auditory-evoked potentials of 23 outpatients with CSOM and 23 controls in a paediatric hospital. Of the CSOM vs. control children, 35% vs. 26% had running water, 70% vs. 70% electricity, 64% vs. 0% HIV (p<0.0001) and 36% vs. 0% tuberculosis in history (p=0.002). Ten (43%) children had bilateral CSOM. The major ear-discharge pathogens were Proteus spp. (44%) and Pseudomonas (22%). Hearing impairment of >25 dB was present in 52% of CSOM-affected ears and bilateral hearing loss in 7 (30%) CSOM children vs. zero control child (p=0.009). Only one hearing-impaired child's family had previously detected the handicap. CSOM occurred in children with high co-morbidity. Persistent otorrhoea was usually caused by Proteus spp. or Pseudomonas, and often suggestive of either HIV or hearing impairment. In the developing countries, prompt diagnosis and treatment of CSOM would enhance the children's linguistic and academic development.

What do we know about sociocognitive development of children with pre/perinatal lesions?

There is a great deal of data on the cognitive and linguistic development of children with pre/perinatal lesions of the brain in literature, but there has been little research into their socio-cognitive development. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess early sociocognitive abilities in children with pre/perinatal brain lesions and compare the results with the sociocognitive abilities of children with typical development. The study included 12 children with peri-intraventricular haemorrhages and/or hypoxic-ischemic brain lesions (aged 12 months) and 12 children without neurodevelopmental risk who were involved in wider neuropediatric, speech and language and psychological follow-up. The children were assessed and recorded interacting with their parents in the Developmental Neurolinguistics Laboratory. Data regarding the child’s communicative behavior in everyday situations was gathered using structural interviews with the parents. The results indicate that children with early brain lesions show a normal pattern of development of social cognition but also that they reach the milestones of normal sociocognitive development somewhat later in early development.

Priming of Abstract Logical Representations in 4-Year-Olds

Though preschoolers in certain experimental contexts strongly prefer to interpret ambiguous sentences containing quantified NPs and negation on the basis of surface syntax (e.g., Musolino's 1998 “observation of isomorphism”), contextual manipulations can lead to more adult-like behavior. But is isomorphism a purely pragmatic phenomenon, as recently proposed? In Experiment 1, we begin by isolating the contextual factor responsible for children's improvement in Musolino & Lidz (2006). We then demonstrate in Experiment 2 that this factor can be used to prime inverse scope interpretations. To remove pragmatics from the equation to the extent possible, we show in Experiment 3 that the same effect can be achieved via semantic priming. Our results represent the first clear evidence for priming of the abstract logico-syntactic structures underlying these interpretations and, thus, highlight the importance of language processing alongside pragmatic reasoning during children's linguistic development.

Obtained General Competence of Students in Language Immersion Classes

Obtained General Competence of Students in Language Immersion ClassesOne of the key ideas of the language immersion methodology is to guarantee sustainable development for children from non-Estonian families in respect to their linguistic and social development. The most important conditions are creating flexible possibilities to participate in language immersion groups and classes and applying the language immersion methodology in everyday teaching process systematically. The present research seeks to highlight teachers' views on the sustainability of general competences of children who have completed the language immersion group in the kindergarten. The domain of general competences includes 32 sub-skills related to learning to learn and social skills, which were assessed by the teachers on a 5-point scale. For the sake of clear data analysis, the general competences have been divided into general competences fostering learning and learner-centred general competences. The present study showed that language immersion methodology favours applying child-centred pedagogy in the actual teaching process and supports the sustainability of children's linguistic and social development.

Social adaptation and communicative competence in children in care

This paper analyses the communicative competence and the degree of social adaptation of children in care. It provides further knowledge of the relationship between the children's social and linguistic skill and analyses the presence of difficulties in the different components of language (morphology, syntaxis, semantics and pragmatics). The research was carried out in children's homes in Extremadura (Spain). The sample consists of 74 children between 6 and 18 years of age. The study illustrates that the children's linguistic development is below what is considered to be normal for their chronological age. They have greater difficulties in pragmatics and morphology than in syntaxis and semantics. The relationship between the level of dominion in morphology, syntaxis and semantics and the children's degree of social maladjustment is evident. We call attention to such important aspects as intentionality in communication and the context in which the children's language is developed.

Comprehension of humor in children with nonverbal learning disabilities, reading disabilities, and without learning disabilities

The normal development of humor in children has been well documented with a predictable course that is tied to social, cognitive, and linguistic development in children. This study explored humor comprehension in children with nonverbal learning disabilities (NVLD). Children with NVLD were compared with children with reading disabilities and a comparison group of children with no learning disabilities to assess their comprehension of humor. The humor test was composed of a joke and cartoon section. No group differences in humor comprehension were found when the NVLD group was defined as having visual-spatial and visual reasoning deficits. However, when the NVLD group was divided into children with and without social perceptual difficulties as defined by a direct measure of social comprehension, significant group differences were found in the levels of humor comprehension. These results support the association of humor comprehension with social perception and lend tentative support to the hypothesis that children with NVLD may not be a homogenous group. Future study directions include further exploration into the nature of the association between humor comprehension and social perception as well as closer examination of the heterogeneity of NVLD.

The Role of Sign Language for Deaf Children with Cochlear Implants: Good Practice in Sign Bilingual Settings

A central feature of a sign bilingual approach is the use of sign language, and the associated role of deaf adults in deaf children's education. This project explores whether this approach is compatible with the goals of cochlear implantation, which are to maximise a deaf child's potential to hear and improve speech perception. There is no specific research into the of role sign language to support deaf children's linguistic and social emotional development post implantation and the notion of good practice has not been explored. This project focused on six sign bilingual educational settings to examine this issue in two phases. Phase 1 identified the distinctive features of sign bilingual provision in the UK. This provided a framework for phase 2 which investigated ways in which this type of provision addresses the language, learning and social needs of pupils with cochlear implants. Central to this was a focus on the participants' own perceptions of good sign bilingual practice for pupils with cochlear implants. The study provides examples of identified good practice and an insight into the benefits of the linguistic and cultural features of sign bilingual settings for pupils with cochlear implants. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Equity, quality and commitment in education: Interview with Luis C. Moll

Luis C. Moll, Puerto Rican by birth, is one of the most prominent researchers in Latino education in the United States. His avant-garde works on Hispanic children's linguistic development and bilingual literacy are well known and renowned for their implications in the research on the impact of culture and education on human development. He is also one of the most notable advocates of Vygotskian theory in the Hispanic world, and his labor in this field has played an important role as a meeting point between United States' and Hispanic scholars. This interview examines his formation as a researcher: the intention is to provide an account of his educational and human trajectory, as well as to relate those projects he is involved in at the moment and that can be considered the result of such trajectory.

The role of sign language for deaf children with cochlear implants: good practice in sign bilingual settings

AbstractA central feature of a sign bilingual approach is the use of sign language, and the associated role of deaf adults in deaf children's education. This project explores whether this approach is compatible with the goals of cochlear implantation, which are to maximise a deaf child's potential to hear and improve speech perception. There is no specific research into the of role sign language to support deaf children's linguistic and social emotional development post implantation and the notion of good practice has not been explored. This project focused on six sign bilingual educational settings to examine this issue in two phases. Phase 1 identified the distinctive features of sign bilingual provision in the UK. This provided a framework for phase 2 which investigated ways in which this type of provision addresses the language, learning and social needs of pupils with cochlear implants. Central to this was a focus on the participants' own perceptions of good sign bilingual practice for pupils with co...

Atypical language lateralization and early linguistic development in children with focal brain lesions

The effects of congenital, unilateral, focal brain lesions on early linguistic development and hemispheric lateralization for language were investigated longitudinally in 24 preschool children with hemiplegia(14 males, 10 females), 12 with left hemisphere damage (LHD) and 12 with right hemisphere damage (RHD). A comprehensive linguistic assessment was performed at 2 and 3 years of life; cerebral lateralization for language was measured by the Fused Dichotic Words Listening Test. An early left‐side specificity for language was indicated by the presence of lexical and grammatical delay in most children with LHD. In the dichotic listening test all 12 children with LHD showed a shift of language lateralization from the left to the right hemisphere. Atypical lateralization coefficients (lambda), i.e. values falling more than two standard deviations from the mean of a normative sample, were associated with a delay in lexical and grammatical development, especially after LHD. In addition, cortical‐subcortical‐periventricular lesions rather than solely periventricular damage, and larger lesions rather than small, were associated with the most atypical lateralization coefficients, irrespective of lesion side. Results of this study suggest that language and lateralization data are closely related and that reallocation of language functions in alternative regions of the brain has a cost in terms of a slow rate of language acquisition.

Atypical language lateralization and early linguistic development in children with focal brain lesions

The effects of congenital, unilateral, focal brain lesions on early linguistic development and hemispheric lateralization for language were investigated longitudinally in 24 preschool children with hemiplegia (14 males, 10 females), 12 with left hemisphere damage (LHD) and 12 with right hemisphere damage (RHD). A comprehensive linguistic assessment was performed at 2 and 3 years of life; cerebral lateralization for language was measured by the Fused Dichotic Words Listening Test. An early left-side specificity for language was indicated by the presence of lexical and grammatical delay in most children with LHD. In the dichotic listening test all 12 children with LHD showed a shift of language lateralization from the left to the right hemisphere. Atypical lateralization coefficients (lambda), i.e. values falling more than two standard deviations from the mean of a normative sample, were associated with a delay in lexical and grammatical development, especially after LHD. In addition, cortical-subcortical-periventricular lesions rather than solely periventricular damage, and larger lesions rather than small, were associated with the most atypical lateralization coefficients, irrespective of lesion side. Results of this study suggest that language and lateralization data are closely related and that reallocation of language functions in alternative regions of the brain has a cost in terms of a slow rate of language acquisition.

An investigation of language used by children to describe discomfort expected and experienced during dental treatment

A study of dental pulp testing has shown that children's linguistic comprehension and chronological age independently influence their descriptions of pain. The present study sought first to demonstrate this for expectations and experience of routine dental treatment, and secondly, to determine whether the effect of age was the result of previous dental and medical experience. Forty-six children between 6 and 17 years of age attending two paediatric dental clinics for routine invasive procedures comprised the study sample. To describe their expectations of forthcoming treatment, each child selected words from a published list, and gave ratings on scales describing the degree of severity as 'sore' or 'tingly'. They also completed the Child Dental Anxiety Scale and the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Scale for Children. After treatment, they described the treatment with the same list and scales, then completed the British Picture Vocabulary Scale and a dental-medical history questionnaire. The children, especially the most anxious ones, chose more words from the list for their expectations than for their experience of treatment, suggesting, as in previous studies, that they expected more discomfort than they experienced. Ratings of 'sore' and 'tingly' did not show this discrepancy. For both expectations and experience of treatment, the children with the largest vocabularies chose the fewest words, thus being more discriminating in their choices. However, vocabulary had no effect on ratings of 'sore' and 'tingly'. There were no significant relationships among age, estimates of discomfort and medical-dental histories. The results suggest that a list of adjectives provides the most discriminating measure of discomfort. They also show that it is necessary to take into account children's linguistic development to evaluate their estimates of pain so as not to entertain the belief of many clinicians that children exaggerate such reports.

The functions of maternal verbal responses to prelinguistic infants as predictors of early communicative and linguistic development

Maternal overall verbal responsiveness to prelinguistic infants at 0;10 was analysed by categorizing responses according to their function. In addition, the predictive validity of the response categories to the child’s communicative and linguistic development at 1;0 was examined. The participants were 27 Finnish-speaking mothers and their first-born infants. The results indicated several predictive relations between the functions of maternal verbal responses and child communicative and linguistic development, while maternal overall verbal responsiveness seemed to imply aspects of verbal style only modestly. Child contributions that may account for relationships between maternal interaction and child linguistic development were also considered. The results are discussed with reference to maternal interactional sensitivity.

Relationships Between Nonword Repetition Accuracy and Other Measures of Linguistic Development in Children With Phonological Disorders

A growing body of research has documented effects of phonotactic probability on young children's nonword repetition. This study extends this research in 2 ways. First, it compares nonword repetitions by 40 young children with phonological disorders with those by 40 same-age peers with typical phonological development on a nonword repetition task in which the frequency of embedded diphone sequences was varied. Second, it examines the relationship between the frequency effect in the nonword repetition task and other measures of linguistic ability in these children. Children in both groups repeated low-frequency sequences less accurately than high-frequency sequences. The children with phonological disorders were less accurate overall but showed no larger disadvantage for the low-frequency sequences than their age peers. Across the group, the size of the frequency effect was correlated with vocabulary size, but it was independent of measures of speech perception and articulatory ability. These results support the hypothesis that the production difficulty associated with low-frequency sequences is related primarily to vocabulary growth rather than to developments in articulatory or perceptual ability. By contrast, production problems experienced by children with phonological disorders do not appear to result from difficulties in making abstractions over known lexical items. Instead, they may be associated with difficulties in building representations in the primary sensory and motor domains.

Nativist versus constructivist goals in studying child language

Crain &amp; Thornton (1998: 5) are admirably clear in stating the aims of their research programme: they ‘hope to convince a greater number of students and researchers in child language of the correctness of the Innateness Hypothesis and the theory of Universal Grammar’. As Drozd notes, however, their assumptions under Modularity Matching ‘set the stage for a research programme unlike those typically adopted by developmental psycholinguists’. Whereas C&amp;T are avowedly committed to the continuity assumption (clearly preferring ‘special nativism’ over ‘general nativism’; O'Grady, 1997), constructivists are more interested in the question of how children ‘get from here to there’ (Tomasello, 2003) – that is, from immature levels of language comprehension and use to adultlike levels (and, it is important to note that adultlike levels are not always characterized in generativist terms). Most constructivists are also committed to studying the relations between language development and other simultaneously developing social and cognitive skills (Clark, 2003), whereas nativists tend to be interested in ‘pure’ linguistic ability uncontaminated by nonlinguistic influences. The main goal of nativists then is to verify a specific theory of linguistic competence that suggests that linguistic knowledge is innate and modular and to account for children's linguistic development in terms of UG, whereas the main goal for constructivists is to account for development (change) in the child's language system (beginning from perhaps no predetermined linguistic knowledge) and how it relates to other aspects of development. It is this fundamental difference in goals that makes one quite pessimistic that constructivist and nativist researchers in syntactic development can learn anything from one another; they are simply engaged in separate tasks.