Experience Language Difficulties Research Articles

Supporting the mental health needs of children with language and literacy difficulties

Supporting the mental health needs of children with language and literacy difficulties Professor Mark Boyes, Curtin enAble Institute, spotlights mental health in the context of language and literacy difficulties, including the urgent need for accessible mental health interventions. Both oral (spoken) and written (reading, writing) language are crucial for success in educational and social contexts. Up to 15% of children experience significant and persistent difficulties with oral and written language, representing approximately four children in a typical Australian classroom. These children are at substantially elevated risk of mental health problems, are overrepresented in our justice systems, and are more likely to develop suicidal thoughts and behaviours than children who do not experience language difficulties.

The quality of universal language supporting provision in maintained nursery classrooms in economically disadvantaged areas of England: Identifying strengths and areas for development

Background: Oral language competence provides children with an essential foundation for academic achievement and emotional well-being, yet many children enter school with delayed language and those living in economically disadvantaged areas are at disproportionate risk of experiencing language difficulties. A tiered system, offering high-quality language teaching for all children in early years classrooms, is widely acknowledged as an appropriate means of supporting language learning need. An understanding of the current quality of language supporting practices in English early years settings is essential to inform teaching practice and professional development, but evidence is limited. Methods: This study employed the Communication Supporting Classroom Observation tool in 39 nursery classrooms in economically disadvantaged areas of England to identify strengths of practice and key areas for development. Results: Observations revealed well-equipped physical learning environments and responsive teaching practices, but few structured opportunities for language learning and development. Variation in quality was observed across the nursery session. Conclusions: Findings suggest a need for adaptive professional development programmes supporting the more consistent use of structured language learning opportunities, the enhanced use of interaction promoting strategies and the provision of more complex and contingent language models. Further investigation of language supporting practice at a fine-grained level is desirable.

외국인 근로자의 건강정보 취득 어려움과 관련된 요인

Independent variables included sociodemographic characteristics such as country of origin, subjective health level, and health insurance subscription, length of stay in Korea, language difficulties when using medical care, experiences of discrimination, and social networks. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to identify factors associated with difficulty in acquiring health information. As a result of the analysis, 49.5% of the sample experienced difficulty in acquiring health information. Factors associated with relatively high difficulty in obtaining health information include having a spouse, country of origin (Cambodia, Philippines, Myanmar, China), low subjective health level, short total length of stay in Korea, experiencing language difficulties when using medical care, experiencing discrimination, and a lack of interaction with Korean colleagues. Based on the results of this study, we proposed measures such as developing an intercultural communication competency education program for medical personnel, institutional changes in the employment permit system, and development of visual online information materials to increase foreign workers' acquisition of health information.

외국인 근로자의 건강정보 취득 어려움과 관련된 요인

Independent variables included sociodemographic characteristics such as country of origin, subjective health level, and health insurance subscription, length of stay in Korea, language difficulties when using medical care, experiences of discrimination, and social networks. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to identify factors associated with difficulty in acquiring health information. As a result of the analysis, 49.5% of the sample experienced difficulty in acquiring health information. Factors associated with relatively high difficulty in obtaining health information include having a spouse, country of origin (Cambodia, Philippines, Myanmar, China), low subjective health level, short total length of stay in Korea, experiencing language difficulties when using medical care, experiencing discrimination, and a lack of interaction with Korean colleagues. Based on the results of this study, we proposed measures such as developing an intercultural communication competency education program for medical personnel, institutional changes in the employment permit system, and development of visual online information materials to increase foreign workers' acquisition of health information.

외국인 근로자의 건강정보 취득 어려움과 관련된 요인

Independent variables included sociodemographic characteristics such as country of origin, subjective health level, and health insurance subscription, length of stay in Korea, language difficulties when using medical care, experiences of discrimination, and social networks. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to identify factors associated with difficulty in acquiring health information. As a result of the analysis, 49.5% of the sample experienced difficulty in acquiring health information. Factors associated with relatively high difficulty in obtaining health information include having a spouse, country of origin (Cambodia, Philippines, Myanmar, China), low subjective health level, short total length of stay in Korea, experiencing language difficulties when using medical care, experiencing discrimination, and a lack of interaction with Korean colleagues. Based on the results of this study, we proposed measures such as developing an intercultural communication competency education program for medical personnel, institutional changes in the employment permit system, and development of visual online information materials to increase foreign workers' acquisition of health information.

The Combined Contributions of Newborn Stress and Parenting Stress on Toddler Language Development

ObjectiveTo examine the longitudinal associations between newborn neurobehavioral stress signs, maternal parenting stress, and several indices of toddler language development. Study designParticipants include 202 mother-infant dyads (104 girls). We measured stress signs in neonates in the hospital at least 24 hours after birth using the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Network Neurobehavioral Scale. At 7 months, parenting stress (competence, attachment, and role restriction) was assessed using the Parenting Stress Index. At 18 months, mothers completed the Communicative Development Inventories, which measured toddler gesturing, expressive vocabulary, and receptive vocabulary. Longitudinal path modeling was used to estimate associations between neonatal stress signs, parenting stress, and toddler language, and a model was generated for each language outcome. Child sex, birth weight, and family income were included as covariates. ResultsInfants who exhibited greater neurobehavioral stress signs at birth produced significantly fewer social-communicative gestures at 18-months of age. Among infants whose mothers reported low (but not high) levels of parenting stress during the first postnatal year, newborn stress signs were negatively associated with 18-month-olds’ receptive vocabulary size. Neither newborn stress signs nor parenting stress were significantly related to toddler expressive vocabulary size. ConclusionsOur findings uncover a negative association between newborn stress signs and toddler gesturing. Furthermore, our results suggest that caregiver stress and neonatal stress signs interact to predict toddler receptive vocabulary. Taken together, these results demonstrate that some neonates who exhibit increased neurobehavioral stress signs may be at heightened risk for experiencing language difficulties. These children may benefit from additional support in infancy.

Grammatical skills of Dutch children with 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome in comparison with children with Developmental Language Disorder: Evidence from spontaneous language and standardized assessment

BackgroundVirtually all children with 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome (22q11DS) experience language difficulties, next to other physical and psychological problems. However, the grammatical skills of children with 22q11DS are relatively unexplored, particularly in naturalistic settings. The present research filled this gap, including two studies with different age groups in which standardized assessment was complemented with spontaneous language analysis. In both studies, we compared children with 22q11DS to children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD), for whom the origin of language difficulties is unknown.MethodsThe first study included 187 preschool children (n = 44 with 22q11DS, n = 65 with DLD, n = 78 typically developing; TD). Standardized assessment consisted of grammar and vocabulary measures in both expressive and receptive modality. Spontaneous language during a play session was analyzed for a matched subsample (n = 27 per group). The second study included 29 school-aged children (n = 14 with 22q11DS, n = 15 with DLD). We administered standardized tests of receptive vocabulary and expressive grammar, and elicited spontaneous language with a conversation and narrative task. In both studies, spontaneous language measures indexed grammatical accuracy and complexity.ResultsSpontaneous language analysis in both studies did not reveal significant differences between the children with 22q11DS and peers with DLD. The preschool study showed that these groups produced less complex and more erroneous utterances than TD children, who also outperformed both groups on the standardized measures, with the largest differences in expressive grammar. The children with 22q11DS scored lower on the receptive language tests than the children with DLD, but no differences emerged on the expressive language tests.DiscussionExpressive grammar is weak in both children with 22q11DS and children with DLD. Skills in this domain did not differ between the groups, despite clear differences in etiology and cognitive capacities. This was found irrespective of age and assessment method, and highlights the view that there are multiple routes to (impaired) grammar development. Future research should investigate if interventions targeting expressive grammar in DLD also benefit children with 22q11DS. Moreover, our findings indicate that the receptive language deficits in children with 22q11DS exceed those observed in DLD, and warrant special attention.

Maternal responsive behaviours and child language outcomes in a cohort of mothers and children facing adversity

ABSTRACT Children facing adversity are at greater risk of experiencing language difficulties than their peers. This study aims to examine the association between specific maternal responsive behaviours at 24 months and language outcomes at the age of 5 years in a cohort of mothers and children facing adversity. Mother–child dyads (n = 138) facing adversity were observed and videoed at home at 24 months in mother–child free play. Four maternal responsive behaviours were coded from these videos: imitations, responsive questions, labels, and expansions. Child language was assessed using the CELF-4 at the age of 5 years. Linear regression was used to examine associations, in both adjusted and unadjusted models. In unadjusted models, imitations, responsive questions, and labels predicted better child language scores at age 5. Imitations continued to positively predict language scores after adjusting for confounding factors, including earlier communication skills. Findings demonstrate the importance of considering maternal responsive behaviours with respect to stages of child development.

Self-concepts of Adolescents who Experience Language Difficulties

Teens who experience language difficulties have difficulty communicating with their parents, peers and the community around them. In addition, language difficulties can affect adolescent self-concept, self-concept is an important thing in life, especially for adolescents, because adolescents' understanding of self-concept will determine and direct behavior in various situations. This study aims to determine the form of self-concept of adolescents who experience language difficulties and the impact of language difficulties on learning difficulties of adolescents in school. The objective of this study were three adolescents who were still in school and experiencing language difficulties with the classification according to DSM IV, namely, mixed receptive-expressive language disorders and the informants taken by the researcher were the biological mothers of each of the three respondents. The type of approach used is a qualitative phenomenological approach with a theoretical sampling technique. The results of this study indicate that respondents II and III form a positive self-concept in which both respondents accept their shortcomings and try to improve themselves. Meanwhile, respondent I formed a negative self-concept where respondent I did not accept his shortcomings and did not try to improve himself, respondent I was pessimistic about the competition and thought he was unable to fight. Respondents I, II and III experienced learning difficulties at school, however, respondents II and III had a solution to their learning difficulties by practicing before presenting the lesson, while respondent I preferred to be silent or angry because they could not express what they thought. So the study show that the three respondents form a self-concept and the impact on learning difficulties is different according to the influence of different aspects, factors and processes of self-concept formation.

Self-concepts of Adolescents who Experience Language Difficulties

Teens who experience language difficulties have difficulty communicating with their parents, peers and the community around them. In addition, language difficulties can affect adolescent self-concept, self-concept is an important thing in life, especially for adolescents, because adolescents' understanding of self-concept will determine and direct behavior in various situations. This study aims to determine the form of self-concept of adolescents who experience language difficulties and the impact of language difficulties on learning difficulties of adolescents in school. The objective of this study were three adolescents who were still in school and experiencing language difficulties with the classification according to DSM IV, namely, mixed receptive-expressive language disorders and the informants taken by the researcher were the biological mothers of each of the three respondents. The type of approach used is a qualitative phenomenological approach with a theoretical sampling technique. The results of this study indicate that respondents II and III form a positive self-concept in which both respondents accept their shortcomings and try to improve themselves. Meanwhile, respondent I formed a negative self-concept where respondent I did not accept his shortcomings and did not try to improve himself, respondent I was pessimistic about the competition and thought he was unable to fight. Respondents I, II and III experienced learning difficulties at school, however, respondents II and III had a solution to their learning difficulties by practicing before presenting the lesson, while respondent I preferred to be silent or angry because they could not express what they thought. So the study show that the three respondents form a self-concept and the impact on learning difficulties is different according to the influence of different aspects, factors and processes of self-concept formation.

Language Difficulties in School-Age Children With Developmental Dyslexia

Developmental dyslexia (DD) is a common reading disability, affecting 5% to 11% of children in North America. Children classified as having DD often have a history of early language delay (ELD) or language impairments. Nevertheless, studies have reported conflicting results as to the association between DD-ELD and the extent of current language difficulties in children with DD. To examine these relationships, we queried the parents of school-age children with reading difficulties on their child’s early and current language ability. Siblings were also examined. Children were directly assessed using quantitative tests of language and reading skills. To compare this study with the literature, we divided the sample (N = 674) into three groups: DD, intermediate readers (IR), and skilled readers (SR). We found a significant association between DD and ELD, with parents of children in the DD/IR groups reporting their children put words together later than the SR group. We also found a significant association between DD and language difficulties, with children with low reading skills having low expressive/receptive language abilities. Finally, we identified early language predicted current language, which predicted reading skills. These data contribute to research indicating that children with DD experience language difficulties, suggesting early recognition may help identify reading problems.

Infant Regulation: Associations with Child Language Development in a Longitudinal Cohort

To determine whether infants who have regulatory problems (eg, sleeping, crying, and feeding problems) at 1year of age are at increased risk of experiencing language difficulties at ages 5 and 11years, compared with settled infants. Parent survey and child assessment data (n=1131) were drawn from a longitudinal community cohort study. Latent Class Analysis identified 5 profiles of infant regulation including those who were settled (37%), had tantrums (21%), had sleep problems (25%), were moderately unsettled (13%), and severely unsettled (3%) at 12months of age. Adjusted regression analyses examined associations between infant regulatory profiles and language ability (Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals-fourth edition) at ages 5 and 11years. Infants who were moderately unsettled had lower language scores at age 5 (adjusted mean difference, -3.89; 95% CI, -6.92 to -0.86) and were more likely to have language difficulties (aOR, 2.71; 95% CI, 1.28-5.75), than infants who were settled. Infants who were severely unsettled at 12months of age, had lower language scores at ages 5 (adjusted mean difference, -7.71; 95% CI, -13.07 to -2.36) and 11 (adjusted mean difference, -6.50; 95% CI, -11.60 to -1.39), than infants who were settled. Severely unsettled infants were 5 times more likely to have language difficulties at age 5 than their settled counterparts (aOR, 5.01; 95% CI, 1.72-14.63). Children at 1year of age with multiple regulatory problems are at an increased risk for poorer language skills at ages 5 and 11years.

"It's the First Barrier" - Lack of Common Language a Major Obstacle When Accessing/Providing Healthcare Services Across Europe.

International migration is shaping and changing urban areas as well as impacting on healthcare access and provision in Europe. To investigate how residents of superdiverse neighborhoods put together their healthcare, we conducted qualitative interviews with 76 healthcare providers and 160 residents in four European cities - Bremen, Germany; Birmingham, UK; Lisbon, Portugal and Uppsala, Sweden, between September 2015 and April 2017. A common theme arising from the data was language and communication obstacles, with both healthcare providers and users experiencing language difficulties, despite all four countries having interpretation policies or guidelines to address language barriers in healthcare. Official interpreter services were seen to be unreliable and sometimes of poor quality, leading to a reliance on informal interpretation. Some coping strategies used by both service providers and users led to successful communication despite the lack of a common language. Where communication failed, this led to feelings of dissatisfaction and frustration among both users and providers. Language difficulties came up across all participating countries even though this was not prompted by interview questions, which highlights the widespread nature of language barriers and communication barriers and the need to address them in order to promote equal accessibility to good quality healthcare.

Gender Differences in Learning English as a Second Language among Primary Students in Brunei Darussalam

English is a major medium for learning in the Bruneian school system and is an important feature of Brunei’s bilingual education policy. There is a concern that students in Brunei have low literacy levels and experience language difficulties in the classroom. Bruneian students, who are second language learners of English encounter problems in communicating in the language due to lack of input at home and the school environment. Through qualitative interviews with young children, gender differences were found in language learning as early as the primary schools. Girls were keen to participate in activities which increased their literacy skills than boys.

Does a narrative retelling task improve the assessment of language proficiency in school-aged children born very preterm?

ABSTRACT Almost half of the children born very preterm (VP) experience language difficulties at school-age, specifically with more complex language tasks. Narrative retelling is such a task. Therefore, we explored the value of narrative retelling assessment in school-aged children born VP, compared to item-based language assessment. In 63 children born VP and 30 age-matched full-term (FT) controls Renfrew’s Bus Story Test and Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals were assessed. The retelling of the Bus Story was transcribed and language complexity and content measures were analyzed with Computerised Language Analysis software. Narrative outcomes of the VP group were worse than that of the FT group. Group differences were significant for the language complexity measures, but not for the language content measures. However, the mean narrative composite score of the VP group was significantly better than their mean item-based language score, while in the FT group the narrative score was worse than the item-based score. Significant positive correlations between narrative and item-based language scores were found only in the VP group. In conclusion, in VP children narrative retelling appears to be less sensitive to detecting academic language problems than item-based language assessment. This might be related to the mediating role of attention in item-based tasks, that appears not to affect more spontaneous language tasks such as retelling. Therefore, in school-aged children born VP we recommend using narrative assessment, in addition to item-based assessments, because it is more related to spontaneous language and less sensitive to attention problems.

Youths in foster care with language delays: Prevalence, causes, and interventions

AbstractChildren in the foster care system often face many educational challenges, including having an increased risk of language delays compared to the general population, with an estimated 35%–73% of the foster youth population experiencing language difficulties. Language delays are caused by many factors, but for children in foster care, one major antecedent is child abuse and neglect. Early delays greatly impact long‐term outcomes for children, including delays in their reading, writing, and social competence. This article explores possible causes of language delays for youths in foster care, describes the negative impact of language delays, and identifies evidence‐based practices for early intervention within the child welfare system and primary and secondary schools, specifically targeting practices for school psychologists, school counselors, school social workers, and speech pathologists.

Cognitive Empathy in Intercultural Interactions: The Roles of Lay Theories of Multiculturalism and Polyculturalism

The intergroup lay theories of polyculturalism and multiculturalism have been hypothesized to play an important role in facilitating better intergroup relations. In two studies, we investigate the consequences of polyculturalism and multiculturalism on participants’ cognitive empathy for actors in a hypothetical intercultural interaction. Study 1 involves a scenario with Korean student experiencing language difficulties in the classroom and a Filipino professor who willingly provided assistance. Study 2 involves the same scenario but with a Filipino professor who declines to extend help to the Korean student. Hierarchical regression analyses reveal that multiculturalism predicts cognitive empathy for the Korean student in Study 1 and polyculturalism predicts cognitive empathy for the professor in both studies. The findings provide support for the role of lay theories of culture and its impact on cognitions about groups, and more importantly, for the distinct relationships between the two lay theories that emphasize either cultural differences or cultural connections.

Individual Differences in Speech and Language Ability Profiles in Areas of High Deprivation

ABSTRACTSpeech and language ability is not a unitary concept; rather, it is made up of multiple abilities such as grammar, articulation and vocabulary. Young children from socio-economically deprived areas are more likely to experience language difficulties than those living in more affluent areas. However, less is known about individual differences in language difficulties amongst young children from socio-economically deprived backgrounds. The present research examined 172 four-year-old children from socio-economically deprived areas on standardised measures of core language, receptive vocabulary, articulation, information conveyed and grammar. Of the total sample, 26% had difficulty in at least one area of language. While most children with speech and language difficulty had generally low performance in all areas, around one in 10 displayed more uneven language abilities. For example, some children had generally good speech and language ability, but had specific difficulty with grammar. In such cases their difficulty is masked somewhat by good overall performance on language tests but they could still benefit from intervention in a specific area. The analysis also identified a number of typically achieving children who were identified as having borderline speech and language difficulty and should be closely monitored.

Language and memory abilities of internationally adopted children from China: evidence for early age effects

The goal of the present study was to examine if internationally adopted (IA) children from China (M = 10;8) adopted by French-speaking families exhibit lags in verbal memory in addition to lags in verbal abilities documented in previous studies (Gauthier & Genesee, 2011). Tests assessing verbal and non-verbal memory, language, non-verbal cognitive ability, and socio-emotional development were administered to thirty adoptees. Their results were compared to those of thirty non-adopted monolingual French-speaking children matched on age, gender, and socioeconomic status. The IA children scored significantly lower than the controls on language, verbal short-term memory, verbal working memory, and verbal long-term memory. No group differences were found on non-verbal memory, non-verbal cognitive ability, and socio-emotional development, suggesting language-specific difficulties. Despite extended exposure to French, adoptees may experience language difficulties due to limitations in verbal memory, possibly as a result of their delayed exposure to that language and/or attrition of the birth language.

Responding to academic dishonesty in universities: a restorative justice approach

The implementation of restorative approaches in schools has been commonly seen in elementary and high schools, yet the development of restorative approaches in post‐secondary institutions has not been fully explored. In respect to university education, a more restorative approach to student discipline can be a proactive educational response mediating the response of student discipline boards to instances of student wrongdoing. Existing practices are explored, and critiqued from a restorative justice perspective. The rationale behind moving to a restorative response is outlined, and the experiences of student discipline boards that currently employ restorative approaches are assessed to determine how effective this paradigm shift could be. How university responses to student misconduct might function if aspects of the academic environment were built on restorative values and principles is explored, in particular, through looking at the benefits accruing to the development of restorative practices in the classroom, in distance education and for students who experience language difficulties.