Lower Language Skills Research Articles

ANALISIS KEBUTUHAN PENGEMBANGAN MEDIA PEMBELAJARAN DARING PADA MATA KULIAH LITTÉRATURE FRANÇAISE BERBASIS CANVA

Abstract Learning the Littérature Française course online is relatively monotonous and less interesting. This is indicated by the stunted attention and participation of students in attending lectures. This has an impact on the poor learning achievement for the subject which in turn is one of the causes of the low language skills of students. To overcome these problems, it is necessary to develop an interesting and a creative online learning media based on Canva application in order to increase student’s learning outcomes in the Littérature Française course. This article discusses the result of need analysis of developing the Canva-based online learning media in Littérature Française course which is the basis for the importance of this development research.Keywords: developing, media, online, canva, need analysis

Preschool Children’s Engagement and School Readiness Skills: Exploring Differences between Spanish-speaking Dual Language Learners and Monolingual English-speaking Preschoolers

ABSTRACT Research Findings: The study examined the relationship between Spanish-speaking DLL children’s engagement within the preschool classroom with teachers, peers, and tasks and their school readiness skills compared to monolingual English-speaking peers. Results suggested that DLL children had lower language skills and phonological awareness by the end of the preschool year. However, children’s positive engagement with teachers mediated the relationship between DLL status and children’s language skills. Finally, the relationship between children’s engagement and school readiness outcomes differed by whether children are DLL or monolingual; for DLL children, positively engaging with teachers, peers, and tasks were positively associated with their receptive and expressive vocabulary, phonological awareness, and print knowledge skills. Practice or Policy: The findings highlight how children’s classroom engagement, particularly DLLs, is associated with their school readiness outcomes. That is, DLL and monolingual children are experiencing different levels of engagement expose potential inequities in the levels of quality experienced within classrooms. Classrooms must maximize the opportunities for DLLs to practice their language skills with peers, in particular, across languages as a way of supporting their development.

Language and Communication in Preschool Children with Autism and Other Developmental Disorders.

In this research, we studied the language and communication skills of preschool children with a diagnosis of autistic syndrome disorder (ASD) (n = 51) compared to children with other developmental disorders (DD) (n = 42), using direct measures and parental reports when assessing the development of language and communication. As a novelty, this research studied a sample of children with low language and communication skills. We found a high correlation between direct measures and parental reports for both populations. Therefore, we propose that combining the information supplied by direct measures together with that supplied by parental reports would be a suitable strategy for language assessment in these populations. In addition, the results show a delay in language comprehension with respect to language production in children with ASD, along with many difficulties with non-verbal communication, compared to children with other developmental disorders (DD). We also found significant differences between both groups with respect to lexical categories. The differences in language and communication profiles of children with ASD compared to children with other DD might have some implications for diagnoses and language intervention in these populations.

Combining Intermittent Theta Burst Stimulation (iTBS) With Computerized Working Memory Training to Improve Language Abilities in Chronic Aphasia: A Pilot Case Study

ABSTRACT Background: Intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS) administered to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (LDLPFC) has been shown to advance working memory (WM) abilities. At the same time, WM training is widely used to enhance learning associated with low language skills. An emerging area of research is that of applying cortical stimulation as an adjunct to behavioural therapy to improve language abilities in people with aphasia (PWA) after stroke. Aim: The aim of this study was to pilot the efficacy of the iTBS protocol, targeting the LDLPFC in combination with computerized WM training by measuring the near-transfer effects on WM and fluid intelligence (Gf) and far-transfer effects on language functioning and quality of life (QoL) in an individual with stroke-induced chronic aphasia. Methods & Procedures: The participant was a 31-year old female who presented with chronic non-fluent aphasia, following a left-hemisphere stroke involving the left frontoparietal lobes. She showed prominent anomia with frequent occurrences of word-finding difficulties. The assessment battery included a screening measure of WM, a standardized aphasia battery, a non-verbal intelligence test, spontaneous speech samples, a procedural discourse task, and a questionnaire addressing quality of life. All measures were administered once at baseline, immediately after treatment was terminated, and once during follow-up testing, at 3 months post-treatment. The treatment program included 10 consecutive daily sessions of 30-minutes computer-assisted WM training preceded by 3-minutes of iTBS. Outcomes & Results: Statistically significant improvement from baseline to post-treatment was found only for the non-verbal intelligence measure, suggesting near-transfer effects. There was no improvement on the computerized WM screening measure. Although no other measures revealed a statistically significant difference, there was a trend towards better performance on untreated items of receptive and expressive language tasks (far-transfer). Conclusions: The findings revealed a trend for improvement in receptive and expressive language abilities in one individual with chronic aphasia. The iTBS protocol in combination with computerised WM training could be a promising treatment but further studies with larger number of participants are needed to establish its effectiveness for improvement of aphasia after stroke.

Socioeconomic Factors Account for Variability in Language Skills in Preschoolers with Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Although no longer required for a diagnosis, language delays are extremely common in children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Factors associated with socioeconomic status (SES) have broad-reaching impact on language development in early childhood. Despite recent advances in characterizing autism in early childhood, the relationship between SES and language development in ASD has not received much attention. to examine whether toddlers and preschoolers with ASD from low-resource families are more likely to experience language delays above and beyond those associated with autism itself. Developmental and diagnostic assessments including the Mullen Scales of Early Learning, the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Second Edition, and the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales were obtained from 62 young children with ASD and 45 typically developing children aged 15 to 64 months. Sociodemographic information including household income, maternal education, and racial/ethnic identity was obtained from caregivers. Multiple regression models were used to test for associations between socioeconomic indices and language scores. Maternal education accounted for variability in expressive language (EL) and receptive language (RL), with lower SES indices associated with lower language skills, and more so in children with ASD. These results demonstrate that variability in EL and RL skills in young children with autism can be accounted for by socioeconomic variables. These findings highlight the necessity for targeted intervention and effective implementation strategies for children with ASD from low-resource households and communities and for policies designed to improve learning opportunities and access to services for these young children and their families.

Including adolescent migrants in school through VET approach: evidence from a pilot action in Italy

This paper investigates the effectiveness of a small experimental pilot addressed to foreign adolescents with low language skills and high dropout risk in lower secondary school in Turin, North-West Italy. The intervention aims at reducing Early School Leaving while supporting standard school curricula. In order to facilitate students’ re-motivation and their attachment to the school environment, the pilot proposes an original VET approach that alternates standard school activities to innovative vocational training. In particular, treated students substitute 290 h VET courses for 10 standard school weeks along a scholastic year. First of all, the analysis aims at evaluating effects on Early School Leaving. Then, since the pilot requires a long period in VET away from school, the study evaluates effects on educational outcomes. Oltre I Muri is a very small pilot experiment, involving seven schools and offering 11 VET positions to migrant students. We investigated the effectiveness of the program by an experimental counterfactual approach: participants have been randomly assigned to a treated and a control group with similar characteristics. They are adolescent migrants attending the 2nd year of lower secondary school and manifesting very high drop-out risk. Treated students attend the alternating VET/school pilot, while control students attend standard school classes. Randomization inference allows assessing average treatment effects, but the very small sample size does not guarantee statistical significance at standard levels. Results anyhow suggests some effectiveness of the project in contrasting Early School Leaving. In particular, while some non-treated students dropped out from school during the pilot, all treated students regularly completed their scholastic year. This can be interpreted as a 20% increase in school attendance, with an 80% confidence level assessed by Montecarlo randomization. Finally, extreme value bound techniques applied to test scores suggest that treated students do not prejudice their learning by attending VET instead of standard school classes during the pilot. On the contrary, their school attachment is reinforced.

Cognitive and Linguistic Predictors of Language Control in Bilingual Children.

In order to communicate effectively with a variety of conversation partners and in a variety of settings, bilingual children must develop language control, the ability to control which language is used for production. Past work has focused on linguistic skills as the limiting factor in children’s ability to control their language choice, while cognitive control has been the focus of adult models of language control. The current study examined the effects of both language ability and cognitive control on language control in 4−6 year old Spanish/English bilingual children with a broad range of language skills, including those with low skills in both languages. To measure language control, children participated in an interactive scripted confederate dialogue paradigm in which they took turns describing picture scenes with video partners who presented themselves as monolingual speakers of English or monolingual speakers of Spanish. The paradigm had two conditions: a single-language context, in which children interacted with only one partner, and a dual-language context, in which children needed to switch between languages to address different partners. The Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS) indexed cognitive control. The findings revealed an overall effect of language ability, such that children with lower language skills were more likely to produce words in the language not understood by their conversation partner. There was also an effect of cognitive control on children’s ability to adjust to the dual-language context. Based on these findings, we suggest that a model of language control in children should consider both linguistic and cognitive factors. However, language ability appears to be the main limiting factor, with cognitive control playing a more restricted role in adapting to a dual-language context.

A Cross-Lagged Analysis of Emotion Regulation, Peer Problems, and Emotional Problems in Children With and Without Early Language Difficulties: Evidence From the Millennium Cohort Study.

Purpose Adolescents with a history of language difficulties are at risk for increased social and emotional difficulties; however, the pathways involved are unclear. We examine the contribution of poor emotion regulation by comparing longitudinal data from children at risk of developmental language disorder (rDLD) and the general population. Method Data from the Millennium Cohort Study were analyzed at ages 3, 5, 7, 11, and 14 years. The rDLD group (children with parent-reported difficulties and/or a score of -1.5 SDs on the Naming Vocabulary subtest at age 5 years) was compared to a general population group on parent reports of emotion regulation, peer problems, and emotional problems. Results In line with the established literature, increased socioemotional problems in individuals with language difficulties were reported. Poor emotion regulation consistently predicted subsequent peer and emotional problems throughout development in both groups. Stronger cross-lag effects were found in the rDLD group for poor emotion regulation at age 3 years predicting age 5 years emotional problems and age 5 years emotional problems predicting age 7 years emotion regulation difficulties. Stronger reciprocal cross-lag effects were also observed in the rDLD group between peer and emotional problems at ages 3 and 5 years. No significant group differences were found in adolescence. Conclusions Poor emotion regulation makes a small but significant contribution to later peer and emotional difficulties, and this relationship is stronger in children at rDLD. Early reciprocal peer and emotional difficulties are also stronger in the rDLD group, but these effects dissipate in midchildhood. Nevertheless, the consistent relationship between early emotion regulation difficulties and socioemotional problems throughout development warrants further investigation in individuals with lower language skills. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.12142059.

Associations Between Screen Use and Child Language Skills

There is considerable public and scientific debate as to whether screen use helps or hinders early child development, particularly the development of language skills. To examine via meta-analyses the associations between quantity (duration of screen time and background television), quality (educational programming and co-viewing), and onset of screen use and children's language skills. Searches were conducted in MEDLINE, Embase, and PsycINFO in March 2019. The search strategy included a publication date limit from 1960 through March 2019. Inclusion criteria were a measure of screen use; a measure of language skills; and statistical data that could be transformed into an effect size. Exclusion criteria were qualitative studies; child age older than 12 years; and language assessment preverbal. The following variables were extracted: effect size, child age and sex, screen measure type, study publication year, and study design. All studies were independently coded by 2 coders and conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Based on a priori study criteria, quantity of screen use included duration of screen time and background television, quality of screen use included co-viewing and exposure to educational programs, and onset of screen use was defined as the age children first began viewing screens. The child language outcome included assessments of receptive and/or expressive language. Participants totaled 18 905 from 42 studies included. Effect sizes were measured as correlations (r). Greater quantity of screen use (hours per use) was associated with lower language skills (screen time [n = 38; r = -0.14; 95% CI, -0.18 to -0.10]; background television [n = 5; r = -0.19; 95% CI, -0.33 to -0.05]), while better-quality screen use (educational programs [n = 13; r = 0.13; 95% CI, 0.02-0.24]; co-viewing [n = 12; r = 0.16; 95% CI, 0.07-.24]) were associated with stronger child language skills. Later age at screen use onset was also associated with stronger child language skills [n = 4; r = 0.17; 95% CI, 0.07-0.27]. The findings of this meta-analysis support pediatric recommendations to limit children's duration of screen exposure, to select high-quality programming, and to co-view when possible.

Identification of migration-conscious concepts in economic and financial knowledge

Lower language skills often serve as an explanation for deficits in the economic and financial knowledge of learners with a migrant background compared to learners without a migrant background. In Germany, the modelling of economic and financial knowledge is based on a Western view of the economic system. Using 130 test items with 2,503 young adults between 17 and 25 years of age, the question is investigated in which concepts test persons with migrant background show problems that may be culturally determined. Differences in the concepts of interest, credit, market economy and competitive market are identified. From an economic education point of view, preliminary considerations are presented as to how this can be dealt with and which implications for teacher training can be drawn. This paper is intended to encourage a more in-depth analysis of this research question in future research in economic education.

Attachment disorder and attachment theory – Two sides of one medal or two different coins?

IntroductionCurrently, attachment quality and attachment disorder exist in parallel, but the mutual association is still insufficiently clarified. For policy makers and clinical experts, it can be difficult to differentiate between these constructs, but the distinction is crucial to develop mental-health services and effective treatment concepts.We aimed to investigate the association between attachment representations (AR) and attachment disorders (AD), including Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) and Disinhibited Social Engagement Disorder (DSED) in children aged between 5 and 9. MethodsA total of 135 children aged between 5 and 9 years (M=7.17 years, SD=1.40, 63% male) and their primary caregivers participated in the study. Children were interviewed with the story stem method to assess AR, and the primary caregiver completed diagnostic interviews and questionnaires on mental disorders, AD, emotional and behavioral problems, and intelligence and development. ResultsThe prevalence of AR in children with AD was 28.6% for the ‘secure’ form of AR, 17.1% for the ‘insecure-avoidant’ form, 25.7% for the ‘insecure-ambivalent’ form, and 28.6% for the ‘disorganized’ form. Prevalences of the various AR forms did not differ statistically significantly, indicating that AR is conceptionally distinct from AD. Children with disorganized attachment scored significantly lower on language and intelligence skills than children with secure attachment. AD was significantly associated with a higher number of comorbidities, emotional and behavioral problems, and lower language skills. ConclusionsLongitudinal studies using standardized assessment instruments are needed to systematically provide comparable and reliable empirical findings to improve current understanding of AR and AD as well as their etiological models.

The development of episodic foresight in preschoolers: the role of socioeconomic status, parental future orientation, and family context

Episodic foresight (EF) refers to the ability to anticipate future states of the self. Despite almost two decades of research, no studies explored how family context variables relate to the development of this ability. The objectives of this study were to explore the association of socioeconomic status (SES), parental consideration of future consequences (CFC), and family environment quality on the development of episodic foresight and to compare the magnitude of the effects of these same variables on delay of gratification and planning.Sixty-four dyads composed by 4-year-old Uruguayan children and their main caregiver participated in the study. Children were administered experiments on episodic foresight, delay of gratification, planning, and receptive language. Parents reported socioeconomic status, family environment, and their consideration of future consequences. Even though parents’ limit setting was associated to higher EF in children and parental CFC-I was a predictor in multiple regression analysis, these effects ceased to be significant when controlled by child’s receptive language and caregiver education, being these the main predictors of EF. Results also indicate that SES significantly distinguishes the performance in future-oriented skills and language, being the magnitude of the effect higher for EF in comparison with planning and delay of gratification. This study supports that EF is related to SES to a greater extent than other variables traditionally assessed in studies of poverty and child development. We discuss implications of low SES and language skills in the light of EF development and immediate-oriented behavior in contexts of deprivation.

Language Ability and the Familiar Talker Advantage: Generalizing to Unfamiliar Talkers Is What Matters.

Purpose Previous studies with children and adults have demonstrated a familiar talker advantage-better word recognition for familiar talkers. The goal of the current study was to test whether this phenomenon is modulated by a child's language ability. Method Sixty children with a range of language ability were trained to learn the voices of 3 foreign-accented, German-English bilingual talkers and received feedback about their performance. Both before and after this talker voice training, children completed a spoken word recognition task in which they heard consonant-vowel-consonant words mixed with noise that were spoken by the 3 familiarized talkers and by 3 unfamiliar German-English bilinguals. Results Two findings emerged from this study: First, children with both higher and lower language ability performed similarly on the familiarized talkers. Second, children with higher language scores performed similarly on both the familiarized and unfamiliar talkers, whereas children with lower language scores performed worse on the unfamiliar talkers compared to familiar talkers, suggesting an inability to generalize to novel, unfamiliar talkers who spoke with a similar accent. Discussion Together, these findings indicate that children with higher language scores are able to generalize knowledge about foreign-accented talkers to help spoken word recognition for novel talkers with the same accent. In contrast, children with lower language skills did not exhibit the same magnitude of generalization. This lack of generalization to similar talkers may mean that children with lower language skills are at a disadvantage in spoken language tasks because they are unable to process speech as well when listening to unfamiliar talkers.

Penerapan Metode Amtsilati Dalam Penguasaan Kitab Kuning Di Pesantren Putri Al- Amanah Tambakberas Jombang

Islamic boarding schools will not be separated from the mastery of the yellow book. To understand it, a method is needed, one of which is amtsilati. This study aims to determine the application of the method, the level of reading ability, and the constraints of the application of the amtsilati method in improving the ability to read the yellow book at the Al-Amanah Bahrul Ulum Islamic Boarding School. This research is a qualitative research. The data sources of this study are primary data & secondary data obtained from the Al-Amanah Bahrul Ulum Islamic boarding school. Data collection techniques used in this study were observation, interview and documentation. The data analysis used in this study is descriptive analysis, interpreting important data and then drawing conclusions from the results of understanding. The results of this study indicate that. First: The application of the amtsilati method in the study of the yellow book in the Al-Amanah Bahrul Ulum Islamic Boarding School includes: a) the process of implementing the dialogue method through certain steps and b) the book of amtsilati as a guidebook for mastering the yellow book. Second: The level of ability to read the yellow book at Al-Amanah Bahrul Ulum Islamic Boarding School includes: a) Santri begin to read yellow books skillfully, b) Know qowaid gradually, and c) Mastering Mufrodat. Third: Obstacles to the application of the amtsilati method in the Al-Amanah Bahrul Ulum Islamic Boarding School include: a) the educational background of santri, b) santri with low language skills, c) lack of support and participation, d) lack of vocabulary, e) environmental and residential factors f) inefficient time.

The moderating effect of children’s language abilities on the relation between their shyness and play behavior during peer play

ABSTRACT This study was intended to examine the relationship between children’s shyness and play behaviour during peer play, and the moderating effect of the level of children’s language development. Participants were 229 South Korean children aged 48–53 months. The results of the study are as follows. Children's shyness was negatively associated with their positive play interactions and positively associated with their play disconnection. Children's receptive language skills moderated the relationships between their shyness and positive play interactions, as well as between their shyness and play disconnection. However, their expressive language skills did not work as a moderator. The findings of the study indicate that receptive language helps shy children join peer play better than expressive language does, because verbal conversations only become more important later in childhood. Interventions for shy children, particularly those with low language skills, should be tailored to improve their receptive language abilities.

Dual Language Competencies of Turkish-German Children Growing Up in Germany: Factors Supportive of Functioning Dual Language Development.

This paper is about the first (L1) and second language (L2) skills of Turkish–German dual language learners (DLLs), the interrelatedness of the L1 and L2 skills, and their relation to other selected child and family variables. The first aim of the study was to examine L1 and L2 performance and the relation between the languages. Second, the study sought to explore the conditions in which functioning dual language development can be achieved, while trying to predict the extent to which child and environmental factors are related to the DLLs’ language competencies. L1 and L2 language skills of N = 69 bilingually developing 3–5 years old Turkish–German children were assessed via standardized tests. In addition, information on the children’s sociodemographic variables and home language environments was obtained by means of parental questionnaires. Correlational analyses were used to examine the interrelations between L1 and L2 skills and multiple regression analyses were conducted in order to predict the children’s language competencies. The children showed age-appropriate language skills in L1 (Turkish) and lower language skills in L2 (German). Whereas their phonological memory abilities were positively correlated with L1 and L2 skills, their expressive vocabulary in L1 was negatively correlated with L2 skills. Our findings also indicated that phonological memory was a strong predictor of language abilities. Concerning family variables, both early daycare entry and stimulating home language environment were significant predictors of better L2 skills. Lastly, balanced use of both languages at home had no negative consequences on language competencies. Although more research is needed, this study shows the benefits of using a combined language measure including both L1 and L2 skills to predict DLLs’ language competencies without disregarding either of their languages.

An Examination of Ethnic Hierarchies and Returns to Human Capital in the UK

This article focuses on the returns to human capital of migrants and minorities in the UK. The question of whether skills and qualifications are properly utilized is very pertinent given the global competition for skilled migrants and the aim of European and British markets to attract such workers. Using data from Understanding Society (2009 to 2017) we find that there is a clear evidence of ethnic hierarchies with black Caribbean and black African minorities generally most disadvantaged, while other white UK-born have the best outcomes compared to the white British. Western migrants generally do very well, but new EU migrants have high levels of employment, and low returns to their qualifications and relatively high levels of over-qualification. Foreign qualifications are generally discounted, and more so for migrants with less certain legal status or low language skills. Public sector employment plays an important role and is associated with the higher economic placement of migrants and minorities in the UK. There are some worrying trends however. Highly skilled migrants, particularly black migrants as well as those from Eastern Europe, come in with high qualifications, but their jobs do not match their skill levels.

Participation of Turkish Migrants in an Epidemiological Study: Does the Recruitment Strategy Affect the Sample Characteristics?

Migrants are often poorly represented in epidemiological studies which limits the generalizability of the results of population-based studies. This study aimed to assess whether a community-based sampling (CBS) of persons of Turkish origin leads to differences in the participants' characteristics compared to a register-based sampling (RBS). The two sampling strategies were used to recruit participants in three cities in Germany (CBS: n = 641; RBS: n = 578). We compared sociodemographic, migration- and health-related characteristics. Census data were used as an external reference. Lower German language skills and a lower acculturation status were more prevalent in the CBS than in the RBS. While age and sex adjusted obesity prevalence differed [CBS: 37.8 (33.6-42.4); RBS 30.0 (26.3-34.0); census data 19.1 (18.2-20.1)], most other health indicators were similar across the samples. In conclusion, the CBS approach led to a greater representation of persons of Turkish origin with lower language skills and lower acculturation status. Nevertheless, both recruitment strategies provided similar estimates of health status indicators.

Maternal cell phone use in early pregnancy and child\u2019s language, communication and motor skills at 3 and 5\xa0years: the Norwegian mother and child cohort study (MoBa)

BackgroundCell phone use during pregnancy is a public health concern. We investigated the association between maternal cell phone use in pregnancy and child’s language, communication and motor skills at 3 and 5 years.MethodsThis prospective study includes 45,389 mother-child pairs, participants of the MoBa, recruited at mid-pregnancy from 1999 to 2008. Maternal frequency of cell phone use in early pregnancy and child language, communication and motor skills at 3 and 5 years, were assessed by questionnaires. Logistic regression was used to estimate the associations.ResultsNo cell phone use in early pregnancy was reported by 9.8% of women, while 39%, 46.9% and 4.3% of the women were categorized as low, medium and high cell phone users. Children of cell phone user mothers had 17% (OR = 0.83, 95% CI: 0.77, 0.89) lower adjusted risk of having low sentence complexity at 3 years, compared to children of non-users. The risk was 13%, 22% and 29% lower by low, medium and high maternal cell phone use. Additionally, children of cell phone users had lower risk of low motor skills score at 3 years, compared to children of non-users, but this association was not found at 5 years. We found no association between maternal cell phone use and low communication skills.ConclusionsWe reported a decreased risk of low language and motor skills at three years in relation to prenatal cell phone use, which might be explained by enhanced maternal-child interaction among cell phone users. No evidence of adverse neurodevelopmental effects of prenatal cell phone use was reported.

Late talkers and later language outcomes: Predicting the different language trajectories

Purpose: The aim of the current study was to investigate the risk factors present at 2 years for children who showed language difficulties that persisted from 2 to 10 years and difficulties that emerged later, at 10 years.Method: Participants (n = 783) were drawn from the Raine Study in Western Australia. Patterns of change from 2 to 10 years were identified based on child performance on the Language Development Survey and the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals, respectively. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to test whether parental, family and child characteristics present at 2 years predicted poorer language outcomes at age 10.Result: Across the 8 year period, 5.6% of the children displayed consistently low language skills, 5.9% improved skills and 23.2% deteriorated skills. Compared to children with consistently typical skills, the deteriorated group was more likely to have mothers who smoked during pregnancy, fathers with incomplete secondary education, low family income, poor early literacy environment and be male. Children showing consistently low language skills were more likely to have mothers who smoked during pregnancy than late talkers whose early delays improved.Conclusion: Results provide evidence of some modifiable risk factors at 2 years which are associated with language outcome.