Differences In Language Development Research Articles

Enhanced sensitivity to pitch perception and its possible relation to language acquisition in autism

Background and aims Fascinations for or aversions to particular sounds are a familiar feature of autism, as is an ability to reproduce another person's utterances, precisely copying the other person's prosody as well as their words. Such observations seem to indicate not only that autistic people can pay close attention to what they hear, but also that they have the ability to perceive the finer details of auditory stimuli. This is consistent with the previously reported consensus that absolute pitch is more common in autistic individuals than in neurotypicals. We take this to suggest that autistic people have perception that allows them to pay attention to fine details. It is important to establish whether or not this is so as autism is often presented as a deficit rather than a difference. We therefore undertook a narrative literature review of studies of auditory perception, in autistic and nonautistic individuals, focussing on any differences in processing linguistic and nonlinguistic sounds. Main contributions We find persuasive evidence that nonlinguistic auditory perception in autistic children differs from that of nonautistic children. This is supported by the additional finding of a higher prevalence of absolute pitch and enhanced pitch discriminating abilities in autistic children compared to neurotypical children. Such abilities appear to stem from atypical perception, which is biased toward local-level information necessary for processing pitch and other prosodic features. Enhanced pitch discriminating abilities tend to be found in autistic individuals with a history of language delay, suggesting possible reciprocity. Research on various aspects of language development in autism also supports the hypothesis that atypical pitch perception may be accountable for observed differences in language development in autism. Conclusions The results of our review of previously published studies are consistent with the hypothesis that auditory perception, and particularly pitch perception, in autism are different from the norm but not always impaired. Detail-oriented pitch perception may be an advantage given the right environment. We speculate that unusually heightened sensitivity to pitch differences may be at the cost of the normal development of the perception of the sounds that contribute most to early language development. Implications The acquisition of speech and language may be a process that normally involves an enhanced perception of speech sounds at the expense of the processing of nonlinguistic sounds, but autistic children may not give speech sounds this same priority.

The Bilingual Is Not Two Monolinguals of Same Age: Normative Testing Implications for Multilinguals.

A fundamental concept in psychological and intelligence testing involves the assumption of comparability in which performance on a test is compared to a normative standard derived from prior testing on individuals who are comparable to the examinee. When evaluating cognitive abilities, the primary variable used for establishing comparability and, in turn, validity is age, given that intellectual abilities develop largely as a function of general physical growth and neuromaturation. When an individual has been raised only in the language of the test, language development is effectively controlled by age. For example, when measuring vocabulary, a 12-year-old will be compared only to other 12-year-olds, all of whom have been learning the language of the test for approximately 12 years-hence, they remain comparable. The same cannot be said when measuring the same or other abilities in a 12-year-old who has been raised only in a different language or raised partly with a different language and partly with the language of the test. In such cases, a 12-year-old may have been learning the language of the test at some point shortly after birth, or they might have just begun learning the language a week ago. Their respective development in the language of the test thus varies considerably, and it can no longer be assumed that they are comparable in this respect to others simply because they are of the same age. Psychologists noted early on that language differences could affect test performance, but it was viewed mostly as an issue regarding basic comprehension. Early efforts were made to address this issue, which typically involved simplification of the instructions or reliance on mostly nonverbal methods of administration and measurement. Other procedures that followed included working around language via test modifications or alterations (e.g., use of an interpreter), testing in the dominant language, or use of tests translated into other languages. None of these approaches, however, have succeeded in establishing validity and fairness in the testing of multilinguals, primarily because they fail to recognize that language difference is not the same as language development, much like cultural difference is not the same as acquisition of acculturative knowledge. Current research demonstrates that the test performance of multilinguals is moderated primarily by the amount of exposure to and development in the language of the test. Moreover, language development, specifically receptive vocabulary, accounts for more variance in test performance than age or any other variable. There is further evidence that when the influence of differential language development is examined and controlled, historical attributions to race-based performance disappear. Advances in fairness in the testing of multilinguals rest on true peer comparisons that control for differences in language development within and among multilinguals. The BESA and the Ortiz PVAT are the only two examples where norms have been created that control for both age and degree of development in the language(s) of the test. Together, they provide a blueprint for future tests and test construction wherein the creation of true peer norms is possible and, when done correctly, exhibits significant influence in equalizing test performance across diverse groups, irrespective of racial/ethnic background or language development. Current research demonstrates convincingly that with deliberate and careful attention to differences that exist, not only between monolinguals and multilinguals of the same age but also among multilinguals themselves, tests can be developed to support claims of validity and fairness for use with individuals who were in fact not raised exclusively in the language or the culture of the test.

Evaluating “Meaningful Differences” in Learning and Communication Across SES Backgrounds

Socioeconomic status (SES) differences in language development are ubiquitous, but existing research has yet to wrestle with how language gaps reflect ( a) differences in relevant concepts for communication, ( b) comprehension strategies to access meanings, and ( c) production practices that express social identity. In child-directed input, parents use verbs to describe similar concepts across SES, and the largest gaps emerge when frequent meanings are being conveyed. During comprehension, children acquire infrequent aspects of grammar across SES but differ in context-specific strategies for interpreting likely meanings. In production, children are sensitive to sociolinguistic implications and adopt context-specific strategies to signal social identity. This suggests that language is a flexible medium for communicating thoughts and that SES effects signal latent differences in meanings and identities across social classes. Whether language gaps contribute to achievement gaps may depend on the extent to which learning and communication draw on these meanings and value these identities.

Building a foundation for reading success: early American Sign Language and academic literacy outcomes among deaf and hard of hearing adolescents

ABSTRACT Although there is evidence that academic registers of English are important for hearing monolingual and multilingual learners as they develop through adolescence, there has been less research in this area with deaf and hard of hearing students. The current study sought to determine whether students who were exposed to American Sign Language (ASL) before age 5 experienced a different relationship between language and literacy skills (e.g. reading comprehension, reading fluency, academic English, ASL proficiency) as compared to students who learned ASL after age 5. Findings suggested that academic English was a predictor of reading comprehension across all students, though differences in language development seemed to exist between those who had early ASL and deaf parents as compared to students with later ASL exposure and/or hearing parents. Findings indicate the need to continued research in these areas and for increased opportunities for language learning during the earliest years of life.

Language and Aggression in Preschool Children. Gender Differences

The present study has two objectives. Firstly to analyze the gender differences in language development in preschool children and secondly to analyze the relationships between language development on the one hand and aggression, prosocial behavior on the other hand. The study involved 155 preschool children aged between 36 and 71 months (M = 52.61, SD = 10.40) enrolled in a kindergarten in Bucharest. The instruments used were the Adaptive Behavior Assessment System, ABAS-II (Harrison et al., 2012) and Preschool Social Behavior Scale - Teacher Form (Crick, 1996). To determine the gender differences, a series of independent samples t tests and Mann-Whitney U nonparametric test were performed and for the relationships among variables, regression and moderation analyzes were performed. The results showed that girls have higher levels of language development than boys, in all measured dimensions. At the same time, the level of language development was negatively associated with physical and relational aggression and positively with prosocial behavior. Contrary to our expectations, gender has not moderated the relationship between language development and aggression or prosocial behavior. The practical implications of the study address the need to capture and treat early delays in language development in order to prevent aggressive behaviors among preschoolers.

Sex differences in language competence of 4-year-old children: Female advantages are mediated by phonological short-term memory

AbstractFor some time now, psycholinguistic research has involved the study of sex differences in language development. Overall, girls seem to have an early advantage over boys, mainly in regard to vocabulary, which appears to decrease and, eventually, vanish with age. While there are numerous studies on sex differences in the acquisition of vocabulary as well as grammar, early sex differences in phonological short-term memory (PSTM) have been mostly neglected, or if research was conducted, it resulted in null findings, for the most part. In the present study, we examined sex differences in language competence (in a wide array of linguistic domains) of German children 4 years of age. Several tests were administered to assess articulation, vocabulary, grammar, speech comprehension, and, most importantly, PSTM (by means of the repetition of non-words and sentences). Girls performed better than boys in all domains, although some effect sizes were small. Most importantly, we found evidence for a female advantage in PSTM performance. Furthermore, mediation analyses revealed that the obtained sex differences in articulation, vocabulary, grammar, and comprehension were partially or fully mediated by (sex differences in) PSTM.

Early developmental trajectories of expressive vocabulary and gesture production in a longitudinal cohort of Italian infants at high-risk for Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Delays in language are a hallmark feature of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). However, little is known about the predictive role of language developmental trajectories on ASD. The present study aimed at identifying early different language developmental profiles of infants at high familial risk for ASD (HR-ASD) and testing their predictive role on ASD symptoms at 2 years. The role of gestures on socio-communicative skills has also been explored. Trajectories of expressive vocabulary were investigated in 137 HR-ASD infants at 12, 18, and, 24 months of age. Parents were requested to complete the Italian version of the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory and ASD symptoms were measured by ADOS-2. Latent class growth analysis defined four trajectories: above average language development group (above-average LD, 18.2%), normal language development group (NLD, 38.7%), late-onset language development group (late-onset LD, 11.7%), and a group of children with stable language delay (SLD, 31.4%). Results showed that the SLD group obtained higher communicative difficulties and restricted/repetitive behavior compared to the other groups. Examining early increase of produced gestures in the different language classes, we found fewer produced gestures between 12 and 18 months in the SLD group compared to the late-onset LD group. The results identified clusters of HR infants who follow similar estimated trajectories based on individual differences in language development. These patterns of early language acquisition, together with produced gestures, may be predictive of later ASD symptoms and useful for planning prompt intervention. LAY SUMMARY: Language/gesture deficits are hallmark features of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), but the predictive role of communicative trajectories on ASD remains unclear. In a longitudinal Italian sample of infants at high familial risk for ASD (HR-ASD), we tested if language trajectories and their link with gestures can predict ASD symptoms. We found four trajectories and HR infants with a stable language delay (SLD) trajectory showed more ASD symptoms later on. SLD infants produced fewer gestures compared to late-onset language development group that show more typical communicative skills.

Use of Monolingual English Guidelines to Assess Stuttering in Bilingual Speakers:

Speech-language pathologists can identify stuttering in multiple languages,even if they do not speak the language. However, due to differences in languagedevelopment, multilingual speakers have been documented with higherlevels of typical disfluencies in their speech than monolingual speakers. Thesehigher levels of disfluency put multilingual speakers at greater risk of misdiagnosis as individuals who stutter, due to poor understanding of the nature of the manifestation of stuttering in two or more languages and reliance on monolingual-English diagnostic criteria. The purpose of the present systematic review is to explore how stuttering is identified in multilingual speakers who are described as participants who stutter, and whether monolingual English-speaking guidelines were the most commonly used reference for determining the presence of stuttering.

Contributors

Contributors

Procedural and declarative memory brain systems in developmental language disorder (DLD)

The aim of the current study was to examine microstructural differences in white matter relevant to procedural and declarative memory between adolescents/young adults with and without Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). The findings showed atypical age-related changes in white matter structures in the corticostriatal system, in the corticocerebellar system, and in the medial temporal region in individuals with DLD. Results highlight the importance of considering the age factor in research on DLD. Future studies are needed to examine the developmental relationship between long-term memory and individual differences in language development and learning.

Audibility-Based Hearing Aid Fitting Criteria for Children With Mild Bilateral Hearing Loss.

Purpose Because of uncertainty about the level of hearing where hearing aids should be provided to children, the goal of the current study was to develop audibility-based hearing aid candidacy criteria based on the relationship between unaided hearing and language outcomes in a group of children with hearing loss who did not wear hearing aids. Method Unaided hearing and language outcomes were examined for 52 children with mild-to-severe hearing losses. A group of 52 children with typical hearing matched for age, nonverbal intelligence, and socioeconomic status was included as a comparison group representing the range of optimal language outcomes. Two audibility-based criteria were considered: (a) the level of unaided hearing where unaided children with hearing loss fell below the median for children with typical hearing and (b) the level of unaided hearing where the slope of language outcomes changed significantly based on an iterative, piecewise regression modeling approach. Results The level of unaided audibility for children with hearing loss that was associated with differences in language development from children with typical hearing or based on the modeling approach varied across outcomes and criteria but converged at an unaided speech intelligibility index of 80. Conclusions Children with hearing loss who have unaided speech intelligibility index values less than 80 may be at risk for delays in language development without hearing aids. The unaided speech intelligibility index potentially could be used as a clinical criterion for hearing aid fitting candidacy for children with hearing loss.

Probing the Internal Validity of the LLAMA Language Aptitude Tests

AbstractOver the past decade, the LLAMA language aptitude test battery has come to play an increasingly important role as an instrument in research on individual differences in language development. However, a potentially serious problem that has been pointed out by several scholars is that the LLAMA has not yet been carefully validated. We addressed this issue by examining the internal validity of this test battery. We collected LLAMA data from 350 participants and assessed these data using classical item analysis, Rasch analysis, and principal component analysis within a framework of best practices in educational and psychological test validation. The results show that only one out of the four subtests (LLAMA B) produced scores that fit a latent trait model with sufficient accuracy. This suggests that researchers using the LLAMA battery must treat their results with appropriate carefulness and also that there is potential for refining the LLAMA further.

Perbedaan Perkembangan Bahasa Anak Pra Sekolah yang Mengikuti dan Tidak Mengikuti PAUD

Background: Delay in language development can affect subsequent development in children. Research comparing language development of pre-school age children who participated and did not participated in PAUD had never been done before. The purpose of this study was to analyze differences in language development of pre-schoolers who attended Early Childhood Education (PAUD) and did not attend Early Childhood Education (PAUD).Methods: This research was a quantitative research with comparative descriptive method. The sampling technique was proportionate random sampling and involved of 82 children in Bulusan Village, Tembalang District, Semarang City. Data analysis used Kolmogorov-Smirnov test.Results: The results showed that the language development of pre-schoolers attending the early childhood was better than the non-attending pre-schoolers with p-value from non-parametric test Kolmogorov Smirnov (0.032) <α (0.005).Conclusion: There are differences of preschool language development who attended and did not attend PAUD. Based on the results of the study, it is advisable for parents of children to provide stimulation appropriate to the stage of language development of children according to their age and to include children in PAUD.

Language development and intelligence in midlife.

Individual differences in early language skills have been found to be associated with other cognitive outcomes in childhood and adolescence. However, research is limited on whether these associations persist into adulthood. In this study, we examined potential associations of the timing of early language milestones with cognitive ability in a prospective cohort study of 938 singletons from the Copenhagen Perinatal Cohort (CPC), who participated in a 50-year follow-up examination in 2009-2011. Later attainment of a number of milestones was associated with lower midlife IQ with the strongest associations found for 'Naming objects/animals in pictures', 'Forming a sentence', and 'Sharing experiences'. Milestones related to language explained 6.7% of the variance in midlife IQ, while milestones related to social interaction explained 3.1%. Thestudy provides evidence that individual differences in language development during the first years of life are associated with intelligence in midlife. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Differences in early language skills are associated with other cognitive skills in childhood and adolescence. No study has examined this association from childhood through midlife in a large community-based sample. What does this study add? Early language development is associated with intelligence in midlife. A total of 6.7% of the variance in midlife IQ is explained by milestones related to language. Adjustment for potentially confounding factors did not change the associations.

The processing of English which-questions in adult L2 learners: Effects of L1 transfer and proficiency

Abstract In a visual-world eye-tracking study, we investigate the on-line comprehension of subject and object which-questions in 60 German-English adult second-language (L2) learners at various stages of proficiency. In particular, we examine whether adult L2 learners follow the same acquisitional trajectories as children or whether L1 transfer dictates a different development. Previous research on monolingual English children shows that child learners initially commit to a strong subject preference and use inflectional cues, i.e. number marking, to overcome structural biases (e.g. Contemori and Marinis 2014b). The adult data on comprehension accuracy show strong effects of proficiency. Intermediate-proficiency L2 learners have an overwhelming structural preference for subject questions, and they are not sensitive to inflectional cues that disambiguate towards object readings. High-intermediate learners come to exploit inflectional cues for revising an initial subject-preference to the target object reading. Finally, advanced learners display native-like comprehension patterns. In contrast to the off-line accuracy data, the analysis of the eye movements shows that all groups of L2 adults make incremental use of inflectional cues in on-line comprehension. These findings indicate that inflectional cues are integrated in the course of L2 development in similar ways as in monolingual development. We discuss the results in the context of current approaches to L2 processing and child-adult differences in language development.

Preschoolers' Performance on the Brazilian Adaptation of the Preschool Language Assessment Instrument - Second Edition

Purpose: The objective was to test whether the Brazilian version of the Preschool Language Assessment Instrument - Second Edition (PLAI-2) has the potential to assess and identify differences in typical language development of Portuguese-speaking preschoolers. Methods: The study included 354 children of both genders with typical language development who were between the ages of 3 years and 5 years 11 months. The version of the PLAI-2 previously translated into Brazilian Portuguese was used to assess the communication skills of these preschool-age children. Results: Statistically significant differences were found between the age groups, and the raw score tended to increase as a function of age. With nonstandardized assessments, the performances of the younger groups revealed behavioral profiles (e.g., nonresponsive, impulsive behavior) that directly influenced the evaluation. Conclusions: The findings of this study show that the PLAI-2 is effective in identifying differences in language development among Brazilian children of preschool age. Future research should include studies validating and standardizing these findings.

Common Genetic Variants in FOXP2 Are Not Associated with Individual Differences in Language Development.

Much of our current knowledge regarding the association of FOXP2 with speech and language development comes from singleton and small family studies where a small number of rare variants have been identified. However, neither genome-wide nor gene-specific studies have provided evidence that common polymorphisms in the gene contribute to individual differences in language development in the general population. One explanation for this inconsistency is that previous studies have been limited to relatively small samples of individuals with low language abilities, using low density gene coverage. The current study examined the association between common variants in FOXP2 and a quantitative measure of language ability in a population-based cohort of European decent (n = 812). No significant associations were found for a panel of 13 SNPs that covered the coding region of FOXP2 and extended into the promoter region. Power analyses indicated we should have been able to detect a QTL variance of 0.02 for an associated allele with MAF of 0.2 or greater with 80% power. This suggests that, if a common variant associated with language ability in this gene does exist, it is likely of small effect. Our findings lead us to conclude that while genetic variants in FOXP2 may be significant for rare forms of language impairment, they do not contribute appreciably to individual variation in the normal range as found in the general population.

Effect of Early Intervention on Language Development in Hearing-Impaired Children.

Hearing loss from birth up to the age of 3 years has a negative effect on speech/language development and results in sensory, cognitive, emotional, and academic defects in adulthood by causing delayed development of communicative-linguistic abilities. The present study was performed in order to assess the effect of early intervention on language development in Persian children aged 6-7 years with severe sensorineural hearing loss. Thirty boys and girls aged 6-7 years participated in this study, all of them had severe congenital sensorineural hearing loss in both ears. All children were using bilateral behind-the-ear hearing aid, and had similar economic/socio-cultural backgrounds. Subjects were categorized into two groups based on the age of identification/intervention of hearing loss (3-6 and 12-15 months of age). The Persian TOLD-P3 test was used to evaluate language development in all subjects. Data collection was accomplished by observation, completion of questionnaires, and speech recording. There was a significant difference in language development in 11 sub-tests and five lingual gains on the Persian TOLD-P3 test between early (3-6 months of age) and late identified/intervened (12-15 months of age) hearing-impaired children (P[Formula: see text]0.05). Early identified/intervened hearing-impaired children had a notable preference in all assessed sub-tests and lingual gains. Early identification/intervention of hearing loss before the age of 6 months has a significant positive effect on a child's language development in terms of picture/relational/oral vocabulary, grammatical comprehension, sentence combining, grammatical completion, phonologic analysis, word differentiation, word production, semantics, and syntax. Moreover, early identification/ intervention of hearing loss develops the hearing-impaired child's lingual gains in visual vocabulary, grammatical completion, word differentiation, phonologic analysis, and word production.

Language development in rural and urban Russian-speaking children with and without developmental language disorder

Using a newly developed Assessment of the Development of Russian Language (ORRIA), we investigated differences in language development between rural vs. urban Russian-speaking children (n=100 with a mean age of 6.75) subdivided into groups with and without developmental language disorders. Using classical test theory and item response theory approaches, we found that while ORRIA displayed overall satisfactory psychometric properties, several of its items showed differential item functioning favoring rural children, and several others favoring urban children. After the removal of these items, rural children significantly underperformed on ORRIA compared to urban children. The urbanization factor did not significantly interact with language group. We discuss the latter finding in the context of the multiple additive risk factors for language development and emphasize the need for future studies of the mechanisms that underlie these influences and the implications of these findings for our understanding of the etiological architecture of children's language development.

A genome-wide sib-pair scan for quantitative language traits reveals linkage to chromosomes 10 and 13.

Although there is considerable evidence that individual differences in language development are highly heritable, there have been few genome-wide scans to locate genes associated with the trait. Previous analyses of language impairment have yielded replicable evidence for linkage to regions on chromosomes 16q, 19q, 13q (within lab) and at 13q (between labs). Here we report the first linkage study to screen the continuum of language ability, from normal to disordered, as found in the general population. 383 children from 147 sib-ships (214 sib-pairs) were genotyped on the Illumina(®) Linkage IVb Marker Panel using three composite language-related phenotypes and a measure of phonological memory (PM). Two regions (10q23.33; 13q33.3) yielded genome-wide significant peaks for linkage with PM. A peak suggestive of linkage was also found at 17q12 for the overall language composite. This study presents two novel genetic loci for the study of language development and disorders, but fails to replicate findings by previous groups. Possible reasons for this are discussed.