Expressive Vocabulary Development Research Articles

Examining the relations between early language skills and environmental variables and literacy skills: A longitudinal study from 2 to 9 years

A 7-year longitudinal study was conducted as part of the French national cohort ELFE ( N = 1095). The aim was to identify how and why early language skills at 2 years might predict later literacy skills assessed successively at 5, 7, and 9 years (LitSk5y; 7y; 9y). Using one and the same model, we also examined the relations between literacy skills in the three sessions and the potential impact of three environmental variables: the home learning environment (HLE) and two variables related to socioeconomic status (SES), namely, parental education level (PEL) and household income (HInc). The main findings reveal that expressive vocabulary at 2 years is a significant predictor of LitSk5y. No significant link was found for HLE. The other significant links reveal that PEL is associated with LitSk5y and LitSk7y, and HInc with LitSk5y and LitSk9y. The differential impact of these two SES variables is discussed. Moreover, the restructuring lexical model is proposed to explain how the development of early expressive vocabulary is linked to the development of literacy skills via an implicit stimulation of phonemic awareness during the acquisition of new words.

Cognates are advantaged over non-cognates in early bilingual expressive vocabulary development.

Bilinguals need to learn two words for most concepts. These words are called translation equivalents, and those that also sound similar (e.g., banana-banane) are called cognates. Research has consistently shown that children and adults process and name cognates more easily than non-cognates. The present study explored if there is such an advantage for cognate production in bilinguals' early vocabulary development. Longitudinal expressive vocabulary data were collected from 47 English-French bilinguals starting at 16-20 months up to 27 months (a total of 219 monthly administrations in both English and French). Children produced a greater proportion of cognates than non-cognates, and the interval between producing a word and its translation equivalent was about 10-15 days shorter for cognates than for non-cognates. The findings suggest that cognate learning is facilitated in early bilingual vocabulary development, such that phonological overlap supports bilinguals in learning phonologically similar words across their two languages.

Visual Motor Reaction Times Predict Receptive and Expressive Language Development in Early School-Age Children.

Proficiency of multisensory processing and motor skill are often associated with early cognitive, social, and language development. However, little research exists regarding the relationship between multisensory motor reaction times (MRTs) to auditory, visual and audiovisual stimuli, and classical measures of receptive language and expressive vocabulary development in school-age children. Thus, this study aimed to examine the concurrent development of performance in classical tests of receptive (Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test; abbreviated as PPVT) and expressive vocabulary (Expressive Vocabulary Test; abbreviated as EVT), nonverbal intelligence (NVIQ) (determined with the aid of Raven's Colored Progressive Matrices; abbreviated as RCPM), speed of visual-verbal processing in the Rapid Automatic Naming (RAN) test, Eye-Hand Co-ordination (EHC) in the SLURP task, and multisensory MRTs, in children (n = 75), aged between 5 and 10 years. Bayesian statistical analysis showed evidence for age group differences in EVT performance, while PPVT was only different for the youngest group of children aged 5-6, supporting different developmental trajectories in vocabulary acquisition. Bayesian correlations revealed evidence for associations between age, NVIQ, and vocabulary measures, with decisive evidence and a higher correlation (r = 0.57 to 0.68) between EVT, MRT tasks, and EHC visuomotor processing. This was further supported by regression analyses indicating that EVT performance was the strongest unique predictor of multisensory MRTs, EHC, and RAN time. Additionally, visual MRTs were found to predict both receptive and expressive vocabulary. The findings of the study have important implications as accessible school-based assessments of the concurrent development of NVIQ, language, and multisensory processing; and hence as rapid and timely measures of developmental and neurodevelopmental status.

Development of Metaphor Reasoning Comprehension in Infants

Purpose: This study investigated the development of early metaphor comprehension based on gender and age in preschool children and measured its correlation with vocabulary acquisition.Methods: A total of forty-nine Korean preschoolers aged 4 to 6 years old (17 boys, 32 girls) with normal receptive and expressive vocabulary development were included in this study. Children were divided into three groups depending on age, their mean ages being 4;8, 5;4, 6;3, respectively. Metaphor reasoning comprehension was measured using MRAC(Metaphor and Reasoning Comprehension Test), and children were asked to listen to a sentence and point to one of the three pictures.Results: There was no significant difference among the groups in the metaphor reasoning score by age and gender of preschool children (<i>p</i>>0.05). In addition, the Pearson correlation showed a positive relationship between metaphor and reasoning comprehension scores, as well as receptive vocabulary scores (<i>r</i>=0.302, <i>p</i>=0.035) and a positive relationship between metaphor and reasoning comprehension scores and expressive vocabulary scores (<i>r</i>=0.314, <i>p</i>=0.028). In addition, most errors occur in understanding the literal meaning rather than the implied meaning or metaphor of the sentence.Conclusion: In early young children, vocabulary plays an essential role in the metaphor interpretation process. However, to better understand the development of metaphor language comprehension in preschool children, exploring other factors affecting their ability to understand metaphor language and investigating their relationships is necessary.

The Effects of Speech Sound Disorder on Vocabulary Development

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the role of speech sound disorders in the development of children’s vocabulary through longitudinal analysis. Methods: Three hundred and twenty-four 6-year-old children were assessed in severity groups with speech sound disorders (SSD: general level, a slight error, the recommendation for in-depth examination, and suspected speech sound disorder). This study examined whether the model of change in vocabulary (receptive, expressive) original score according to age (3, 5, and 7 years old) of four SSD groups was suitable for the Latent Growth Model. In addition, cross-analysis was used to examine whether there was a significant difference in the classification of receptive and expressive vocabulary development normality (abnormal, normal development, slight delay, and vocabulary development delay) according to age changes in the four groups. Results: Results found that the severity of SSD did not affect vocabulary development continuity, but had a significant effect on the classification of vocabulary development normality standards. The severity of SSD had a significant effect on the development delay of the 7-year-old receptive vocabulary and the development delay of the 3-year-old expressive vocabulary. Conclusion: It would be desirable to check the vocabulary development of children with SSD according to age, understanding that subjects with suspected SSD can show significant differences in expressive vocabulary at the age of 3 and receptive vocabulary development at the age of 7.

Early prelingual auditory and language development in children with simultaneous bilateral and unilateral cochlear implants.

This current study aimed to explore early prelingual auditory development (EPLAD) and early language development in Mandarin-speaking children who received simultaneous bilateral cochlear implants (BICI) during the first year of cochlear implantation and compare the performance of the children who received BICI with those received unilateral cochlear implant (UCI). 39 Mandarin-speaking children who received BICIs simultaneously and 36 children with UCIs were enrolled in this study. To access the EPLAD, the Infant-Toddler Meaningful Auditory Integration Scale (IT/MAIS) was conducted, and a subtest of the simplified short-form version of the Mandarin Communicative Development Inventory (SSF-MCDI) was used to evaluate the development of expressive and receptive vocabulary for the children at indicated time points after surgery. In both the simultaneous BICI and UCI groups, we observed significantly increased scores of the SSF-MCDI and IT/MAIS 1 year after the surgery. There are indications of early advantages in children with BICI in IT/MAIS scores (at 1, 3, and 6 months after activation). For early development of language, a great difference between the expressive vocabulary scores and the receptive vocabulary scores was observed in both groups. We found there were not significant differences between the two groups on expressive or receptive vocabulary scores, the use of more differentiated measures might be required in future research. We further found that the development of the receptive or expressive vocabulary is dramatically correlated with the age at implantation and the total scores of IT/MAIS for children with simultaneous BICIs. These results may supplement the skills development of early language and auditory in Mandarin-native children with simultaneous CIs. It is obvious that children with normal hearing have mastery of receptive vocabulary before that of expressive vocabulary, which is the same as children with unilateral and bilateral CIs in this research. IT/MAIS total scores and age at CI were important factors for early language performance in children with simultaneous BICIs.

Receptive and expressive vocabulary development in children learning English as an additional language: Converging evidence from multiple datasets.

Children learning English as an additional language (EAL) are a diverse and growing group of pupils in England's schools. Relative to their monolingual (ML) peers, these children tend to show lower receptive and expressive vocabulary knowledge in English, although interpretation of findings is limited by small and heterogeneous samples. In an effort to increase representativeness and power, the present study combined published and unpublished datasets from six cross-sectional and four longitudinal studies investigating the vocabulary development of 434 EAL learners and 342 ML peers (age range: 4;9-11;5) in 42 primary schools. Multilevel modelling confirmed previous findings of significantly lower English vocabulary scores of EAL learners and some degree of convergence in receptive but not expressive knowledge by the end of primary school. Evidence for narrowing of the gap in receptive knowledge was found only in datasets spanning a longer developmental period, hinting at the protracted nature of this convergence.

Moderating Effects of Early Pointing on Developmental Trajectories of Word Comprehension and Production.

The present study investigated the moderating role of early communicative pointing on the developmental trends of word comprehension and production over the second year of life. Seventy-seven infants were involved in an experimental pointing task (T-POINT) in sessions at 9 and 12 months, and the MB-CDI questionnaire was filled in by their parents at 15, 18 and 24 months. Based on the age at which the infants were seen to use pointing, they were classified into three groups: the ‘Early’ pointers, who first pointed during the 9-month session; the ‘Typical’ pointers, who first pointed in the 12-month session; and the ‘Late’ pointers, who never pointed in either of the sessions. Using multilevel modelling, we traced the developmental trajectories and individual differences for the two lexical domains of word comprehension and production according to the three pointing groups. The main results showed that compared to the Typical pointers: (i) the Early pointers were faster for word comprehension development, and were similar for word production; (ii) the Late pointers showed lexical delay before 18 months for word comprehension, and between 18 and 24 months for word production. These data are discussed in light of the different roles of early pointing on receptive compared to expressive vocabulary development.

Expressive vocabulary development in children with moderate hearing loss – the impact of auditory variables and early consonant production

ABSTRACT In this study, the early expressive vocabulary development was investigated in a group of children with moderate hearing loss (HL). Size and development of expressive vocabulary from 18 30 months were analyzed and compared to a group of children with normal hearing (NH). For the children with HL, the impact of auditory variables on number of words were examined. The relationship of early consonant production to number of words produced of both groups were examined and the phonological complexity of reported words was compared between the groups. The results showed that children with HL (n = 8) produced a similar number of words as the NH (n = 8) at 18 months, but fewer at 24 and 30 months. Hours of HA use showed significant correlations to number of words. The number of different true consonants at 18 months for the whole group showed a significant relationship to number of words produced at 24 months. No significant differences were found between children with HL and NH children regarding phonological complexity of reported words. The findings indicate that the children born with moderate HL who were fitted with hearing aids (HAs) before 6 months of age are at risk in their development of expressive vocabulary. Full-time use of HAs and monitoring of early consonant use should be encouraged in the early intervention of this target group.

Differences and Similarities in Predictors of Expressive Vocabulary Development between Children with Down Syndrome and Young Typically Developing Children.

The purpose of this study was to examine potential differences in the predictors of expressive vocabulary development between children with Down syndrome and typically developing children to support preparation for intervention development. An age cohort of 43 children with Down syndrome and 57 typically developing children with similar nonverbal mental age levels were assessed at three time points. Linear mixed models were used to investigate the predictors of expressive vocabulary over time. Both groups achieved progress in expressive vocabulary. The typically developing children had steeper growth than the children with Down syndrome (1.38 SD vs. 0.8 SD, p < 0.001). In both groups, receptive vocabulary, auditory memory, and the home literacy environment were significant predictors of development. In the children with Down syndrome, the phonological awareness and oral motor skills were also significant. Group comparisons showed that receptive vocabulary, auditory memory and oral motor skills were stronger predictors in the children with Down syndrome than in the typically developing children. These results indicate that children with Down syndrome are more vulnerable when it comes to risk factors that are known to influence expressive vocabulary than typically developing children. Children with Down syndrome therefore require early broad-based expressive vocabulary interventions.

2세 말 늦은 아동의 의사소통 제스처 특성과 표현어휘발달

연구목적: 본 연구에서는 말 늦은 아동의 의사소통 제스처 특성을 파악하고 의사소통 제스처와 표현어휘발달 간 관계를 살펴보고자 하였다. 연구방법: 한 낱말 이상의 자발적 산출이 가능한 만 2세 말 늦은 아동 15명과 생활연령일치 아동 15명을 대상으로 4가지 놀이 상황에서 의사소통 제스처와 표현어휘를 수집하였다. 의사소통 제스처는 발화 동반 여부에 따라 발화가 동반되지 않은 제스처(지시적 제스처, 표상적 제스처, 관습적 제스처)와 발화가 동반된 제스처(보완적 제스처, 추가적 제스처)로 나누고, 표현어휘는 전체낱말수(NTW), 서로다른낱말수(NDW)로 나누어 분석하였다. 연구결과: 말 늦은 아동이 생활연령 일치 아동보다 전체 의사소통 제스처와 발화가 동반되지 않은 제스처를 유의하게 많이 사용하였으나, 발화가 동반된 제스처는 유의하게 적게 사용하였다. 하위유형에서는 관습적 제스처를 제외한 모든 하위유형 제스처에서 유의한 차이가 있었다. 의사소통 제스처와 표현어휘발달 간 관계에서 말 늦은 아동과 생활연령 일치 아동 모두 전체 의사소통 제스처와 발화가 동반된 제스처와 NTW, NDW 간에 유의한 정적 상관이 있었다. 발화가 동반되지 않은 제스처 하위유형에서 말 늦은 아동의 지시적 제스처와 NTW, NDW 간에 부적 상관이 있었다. 발화가 동반된 제스처 하위유형에서는 말 늦은 아동의 보완적 제스처와 NTW, NDW, 추가적 제스처와 NTW 간에 유의한 정적 상관이 있었으며, 생활연령 일치 아동은 보완적 제스처와 NTW, 추가적 제스처와 NTW, NDW 간에 유의한 정적 상관이 있었다. 결론: 본 연구의 결과는 말 늦은 아동의 의사소통 제스처 특성이 표현어휘발달을 예측하는 중요한 변인이 될 수 있다는 선행연구들의 결과를 지지한다.

Fonološka svesnost, verbalna radna memorija i brzo automatsko imenovanje kao pokazatelji razvijenosti rečnika kod dece predškolskog uzrasta

Introduction. According to the lexical restructuring model, the development of vocabulary initiates the development of phonological representations. Therefore, it can be predicted that children with developed vocabulary will possess very specific phonological representations of words. Aim. The aim of this research was to determine the significance of phonological awareness, verbal working memory, and rapid automatic naming as indicators of the development of expressive and receptive vocabulary in preschool children. Method. The research included 86 children of typical development. For the assessment of phonological awareness, verbal working memory, rapid automatic naming, expressive and receptive vocabulary, the subtests of Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals -Fourth Edition battery were used. Results. The results showed that the model containing age, phonological awareness, verbal working memory, and rapid automatic naming predicted 51% of the achievement variance on expressive vocabulary tasks (F = 7.73, df1 = 2, df2 = 75, p &lt; .001) and 38% of the achievement variance on receptive vocabulary tasks (F = 4.65, df1 = 2, df2 = 75, p &lt; .001). In the final model, only the tasks of phoneme identification, phoneme substitution, and rapid automatic naming (p &lt; .05) stood out as statistically significant indicators of expressive vocabulary. On the other hand, statistically significant indicators of receptive vocabulary included analysis and synthesis of phonemes, verbal working memory, and rapid automatic naming (p &lt; .05). Conclusion. The results showed that age, phonological awareness, verbal working memory, and rapid automatic naming significantly contributed to vocabulary development in children before reading acquisition.

That’s hard! Item difficulty and word characteristics for bilinguals with and without developmental language disorder

ABSTRACT Research has investigated how lexical-semantic and participant factors impact word learning in young children and adults. However, limited information pertaining to expressive vocabulary development exists for school-aged bilinguals—particularly those with developmental language disorder (DLD). Cross-linguistic differences in the semantic characteristics of words may impact the types of cues available for constructing expressive vocabulary knowledge. To address this gap, we evaluated the relationships between intrinsic factors (age, language ability), extrinsic factors (L1 exposure), and word characteristics (e.g. imageability, concreteness) with item difficulty and expressive vocabulary knowledge in school-aged Spanish-English bilinguals with and without DLD. While we found similar patterns of associations between item difficulty and word characteristics across language ability groups, divergent predictive patterns emerged across languages and across ability groups. Educators supporting the development of bilingual students’ expressive vocabulary knowledge must account for not only cultural differences across students, but also characteristics inherent to words.

Αποκλίσεις στην ανάπτυξη του λεξιλογίου σε παιδιά βρεφικής και πρώιμης προσχολικής ηλικίας

The present research is a first investigation of the development of receptive and expressive vocabulary in Greek-speaking children, aged 0;6-3;6 years, who were characterized as late-talkers (LT) due to a significant deviation of their vocabulary scores from the mean score of their typically-developing peers (TD). The present work is part of a larger project concerning the greek adaptation of a parent questionnaire named Cypriot–Greek Lexical Acquisition Checklist (CYLEX) (Petinou, Hadzigeorgiou &amp; Minaidou, 1999). Within-group comparisons between receptive and expressive vocabulary are drawn for both LT and TD children. In addition, the influence of demographic factors on vocabulary scores, such as gender and parental education level, was examined. The comparison across type of vocabulary revealed that receptive vocabulary develops prior to expressive in both groups, however, late-talkers have a disproportionately low expressive lexical development as compared to receptive. Moreover, the differences in vocabulary scores among LT and TD children are discussed as a function of demographic characteristics.

Language exposure and phonological short-term memory as predictors of majority language vocabulary and phonological awareness in dual language learning

AbstractPrevious work suggests that child-internal and -external factors influence dual language learning (DLL), although more work is needed – to clarify the role of phonological short-term memory (PSTM) and language exposure in particular. Accordingly, we investigated the role of language exposure and PSTM in phonological awareness and receptive and expressive vocabulary development in the majority language in DLL. PSTM was measured with both a language-specific and language-universal nonword repetition task (NWR). Sixty-five DLL preschoolers were assessed twice, five months apart. Results show that maternal majority-language proficiency as well as language-specific and universal NWR predicted all outcomes, whereas length of exposure to the majority language only predicted receptive and expressive vocabulary. Current exposure did not predict any outcome. The findings extend previous research on child-internal and child-external factors as predictors of DLL to phonological awareness and language-universal NWR.

Development of expressive vocabulary in autistic children

Development of expressive vocabulary in autistic children

Patterns of Development in Spanish-English Conceptually Scored Vocabulary Among Elementary-Age Dual Language Learners.

Purpose Elementary-age dual language learners (DLLs) from Spanish-speaking homes in the United States are often characterized as at risk for low vocabulary in both Spanish and English. This longitudinal study examined conceptually scored receptive and expressive vocabulary development among DLLs from Spanish-speaking, low-income homes and investigated patterns of language responses on the conceptually scored measures. Method DLLs in kindergarten and second grade (N = 118) attending school in the Southeast region of the United States were followed for three consecutive academic years and assessed on measures of receptive and expressive conceptually scored vocabulary. Results Individual growth modeling, using raw scores, revealed positive vocabulary growth over time, with above average performance relative to national norms. However, initial conceptually scored receptive vocabulary scores were higher than conceptually scored expressive vocabulary scores. Furthermore, DLLs' conceptually scored receptive-but not expressive-vocabulary rate of growth was more rapid compared to national norms. Finally, DLLs' patterns of language responses revealed a shift toward more English over time, but Spanish continued to be used through fourth grade. Conclusion Results contradict deficit-driven views about DLLs' vocabulary skills and underscore the utility of conceptually scored vocabulary measures to assess vocabulary development among elementary-age DLLs to more comprehensively account for the linguistic assets they bring to learning.

The Relationship Between Lexical and Phonological Development in French-Speaking Children: A Longitudinal Study.

Purpose This study examines the influence of lexical and phonological factors on expressive lexicon size in 40 French-speaking children tested longitudinally from 22 to 48 months. The factors include those based on the lexical and phonological properties of words in the children's lexicons (phonetic complexity, word length, neighborhood density [ND], and word frequency [WF]) as well as variables measuring phonological production (percent consonants correct and phonetic inventory size). Specifically, we investigate the relative influence of these factors at individual ages, namely, 22, 29, 36, and 48 months, and which factors measured at 22 and 29 months influence lexicon size at 36 and 48 months. Method Children were selected based on parent-reported vocabulary size. We included children with low, medium, and high vocabulary scores. The children's lexicons were coded in terms of phonetic complexity, word length, ND, and WF, and their phonological production skills were based on measures of percent consonants correct and phonetic inventory size extracted from spontaneous speech samples at 29, 36, and 48 months. In the case of ND and WF, we focused on one- and two-syllable nouns. Results Across the age range, the most important factor that explained variance in lexicon size was the WF of nouns. Children who selected low-frequency nouns had larger vocabularies across all ages (22-48 months). The WF of two-syllable nouns and phonological production measured at 29 months influenced lexicon size at 36 months, whereas the WF (of one- and two-syllable words) influenced lexicon size at 48 months. Conclusions The findings support the role of WF and phonological production in explaining expressive vocabulary development. Children enlarge their vocabularies by adding nouns of increasingly lower frequency. Phonological production plays a role in accounting for vocabulary size up until the age of 36 months. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.12291074.

5개월 추적연구를 통한 말 늦은 아동의 표현어휘 발달 예측 요인

연구목적: 표현어휘 발달에 영향을 미치는 내적 요인(가계력, 빠른우연학습) 및 외적 요인(어머니 교육년수, 어머니의 발화 양)에서 말 늦은 아동과 늦게 말이 트인 아동 간 차이를 살펴보고, 말 늦은 아동의 5개월 후 표현어휘 능력을 유의미하게 예측하는 요인이 무엇인지 알아보고자 한다. 연구방법: 18-31개월 말 늦은 아동 31명이 본 연구에 참여하였다. 아동의 빠른 우연학습을 알아보기 위해 QUIL을 실시하였고, 언어장애의 가계력과 어머니 교육년수는 KBPR와 아동 배경정보지를 통해 수집하였으며, 어머니의 발화 양(MLU-w, TTR, 분당 NDW)을 알아보기 위해 어머니-아동의 자유놀이 상황에서 수집한 자발화를 분석하였다. 5개월 후 측정한 표현어휘를 기준으로 전체 말 늦은 아동 31명을 정상수준도달집단 14명과 정상수준미달집단 17명을 구분하여, 두 집단 간 내적 및 외적 요인의 차이와 말 늦은 아동의 5개월 후 표현어휘 능력을 유의미하게 예측하는 요인을 분석하였다. 연구결과: 두 집단 간 빠른우연학습에서 유의한 차이가 나타났다. 말 늦은 아동의 5개월 후 표현어휘 능력을 가장 잘 예측하는 요인은 MLU-w였다. 결론: 본 연구는 말늦은 아동의 표현어휘 발달에 영향을 미치는 요인에 대한 연구로 말 늦은 아동의 조기선별을 위한 기초자료를 제공하였다는 데에 임상적 의의가 있다.

Early Vocabulary in Children With Cochlear Implants: A Comparison Between Three Assessment Methods

In children with a hearing loss who receive cochlear implants (CIs) under the age of 2, regular assessments are conducted to monitor auditory and linguistic progress. However, the collection of authentic, representative, and reliable expressive language data on young children with CIs remains a challenge. The purpose of the study was to determine whether data from parental report, language diary, and spontaneous language sample are equally representative of the development of expressive vocabulary over the first 12 months of CI use. Nine French-speaking children and their families participated in the study. We collected data at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months post-implantation, and we measured parental satisfaction regarding the use of a language diary. All three methods showed a progression in the total number of different words expressed over time and captured grammatical diversity. The findings suggest that when vocabulary size is still small, the diary might provide a more comprehensive picture of development than a vocabulary checklist.