Language Skills Of Adolescents Research Articles

Effects of physical activity interventions on cognitive outcomes and academic performance in adolescents and young adults: A meta-analysis

ABSTRACT The aim was to provide a meta-analysis of studies investigating the effects of physical activity interventions on cognitive outcomes and academic performance in adolescents or young adults. A systematic review with meta-analysis was performed using the following databases: Embase, ERIC, MEDLINE, PsycINFO and Web of Science. Studies had to meet the following criteria: controlled study design, investigating the effects of physical activity interventions on cognitive outcomes and academic performance in healthy adolescents or young adults (12–30 years). Results showed that acute interventions (n=44) significantly improved processing speed (ES=0.39), attention (ES=0.34) and, inhibition (ES=0.32). In a subsequent meta-regression, shorter duration of intervention was significantly associated with greater improvements in attention (β=−0.02) and cognitive flexibility (β=−0.04), whereas age, percentage of boys, intensity and dose were not. Chronic interventions (n=27) significantly improved processing speed (ES=0.30), attention (ES=0.50), cognitive flexibility (ES=0.19), working memory (ES=0.59) and language skills (ES=0.31). In the meta-regression, higher percentage of boys was significantly associated with greater improvements in attention (β=0.02) and working memory (β=0.01) whereas age, duration, frequency, dose and load were not. In conclusion, acute and chronic physical activity interventions might be a promising way to improve several cognitive outcomes and language skills in adolescents and young adults.

Proposed Standards for Assessing Language Skills of Adolescent Students

The aim of the study was to validate an instrument and propose standards to measure the language skills of school adolescents. 2270 adolescents (1134 males and 1136 females) in the region of Maule (Chile) was studied. The age range is between 10 to 18 years. The validated instrument has three categories (verbal, paralinguistic and non-verbal) and a total of 26 items. The instrument showed to be valid after the confirmatory analysis and Cronbach α (0.86 to 0.88) showed highly reliable values. The LMS method to develop percentiles, let p10, p50 and p90 calculated by age and sex. The instrument measures developed language skills valid and reliable also adopted cutoffs allow diagnose and adolescents by age and sex. These results suggest the use and application of the instrument as an everyday tool in social, cultural and educational contexts.

Assessing language skills in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder

Language abilities in adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are variable and can be challenging to ascertain with confidence. This study aimed to compare and evaluate different forms of language assessment: standardized language testing, narrative analysis and parent/teacher reports. 14 adolescents with ASD and 14 typically developing adolescents matched on age, gender and nonverbal ability were assessed using a number of standardized assessments for receptive and expressive language skills, a standardized narrative test, two experimental narrative assessments and a parent/teacher report measure of pragmatics. The findings were that, although adolescents with ASD scored within the normal range on expressive and receptive language, their performance on narrative tasks revealed difficulties with both structural and evaluative language. It should be noted that both teachers and parents rated the pragmatic language skills of the young people with ASD as significantly lower than those of the typically developing group but parents were more likely than teachers to additionally identify difficulties in speech and syntax. The implications of these results for professionals in terms of assessing the language skills of adolescents with ASD and for the planning of appropriate intervention are discussed.

Language skills of adolescents with Tourette Syndrome

A multiple single‐case study investigated language characteristics of adolescents with Tourette Syndrome (TS). Ten adolescent subjects with diagnosed TS were evaluated on a test battery sensitive to high level language and discourse impairment. Results were compared to established norms or, where no norms have been established, with results obtained by 15 non‐neurologically impaired adolescent subjects. Five subjects were differentiated from normal communicative performance by their test results. Although language profiles were variable, disorganized output, concreteness of language and poor language formulation abilities were apparent in these subjects. This symptomatology may reflect prefrontal disturbance and can possibly be explained by the pathogenesis of the disorder. This finding adds to literature regarding subcortical and frontal cortex language involvement and indicates further research.

A measure of preference for speaking rather than writing and its relationship to expressive language skills in adolescents.

A description is given of the development of a 15 item inventory for measuring the degree of preference for speaking versus writing (SWPI) in a variety of situations appropriate to secondary school students. Preference for speaking was correlated positively with sociability and with the quality of oral expression but not with the quality of written expression. There was no relationship between preference for speaking or writing and the following variables: sex, social class, intelligence level or capacity in listening and reading comprehension. It was concluded that a preference for speaking may arise from enjoyment of the company of people, but where this enjoyment is limited, or where oral competence is poor, a person will prefer to communicate in Writing.