Pragmatic Language Skills Research Articles

The Use of Telehealth for People With Disabilities: A Systematic Literature Review and Narrative Synthesis.

To identify the use of telehealth for people with disabilities in community or primary care settings and to explore effective telehealth interventions for this group. Systematic literature review and narrative synthesis. The literature search was conducted in January 2024 using five electronic databases including PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, Cochrane library and PsycINFO. The review followed the Tawfik's guideline and adhered to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses guidelines for reporting. Out of 7363 retrieved articles, 1871 duplicates were removed, 5389 were excluded after title and abstract review, and 4 were excluded due to unavailable full text. One additional article was obtained through citation and hand searching. Thirteen studies were quality assessed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. Quantitative data were narratively synthesised. Thirteen quantitative studies were selected including three quasi-experimental studies and ten randomised controlled trials. The types of telehealth included telemonitoring, computerised intervention, virtual reality, telephone care, mHealth tools, decision support tools, digital storytelling and technology-assisted language interventions. The most common type of disability was intellectual disability, and the most common telehealth provider was the digital device itself. Most studies used surveys as the data collection method and the interventions were mostly conducted individually. Computer-based telehealth interventions demonstrated significant improvement in attention, health knowledge and psychological well-being. Telephone, virtual reality and tablet interventions also had positive impacts on body weight, motor coordination and pragmatic language skills. Telemonitoring was also beneficial. This systematic review examined the current state and effectiveness of telehealth interventions for people with disabilities. However, few intervention studies were found, and some studies were of poor quality. Continued interest and efforts from the government and researchers are needed targeting people with disabilities. Results provide valuable insights for healthcare providers, policymakers and researchers. They raise awareness about the potential of telehealth to address healthcare disparities and improve access to care for people with disabilities. No patient or public contribution: Systematic review.

Longitudinal Study on the Pragmatic Language Skills during Play Activities in Preschool Children Who Stutter and Who do not Stutter

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate whether there are any differences in pragmatic language skills between preschool children who stutter (hereafter, CWS) and those who do not stutter (hereafter, CWNS) in natural play interactions with their parents. Additionally, the study sought to examine the relationship between pragmatic language skills and children’s stuttering. Methods: 7 CWNS and 7 CWS aged 2-5 years, and their parents participated in the study. In a total of three times at 12-month intervals, their interactions during play activities were collected to analyze abnormal disfluency (AD), normal disfluency (ND) frequency, and pragmatic language skills (initiation utterance of child, initiation of utterance of mother and utterance turn-taking). Between-group comparisons of variables were made by collection period (initial evaluation, 12 months later, 24 months later). Results: First, the AD frequency of the CWS group was statistically significantly higher than that of the CWNS group at the initial evaluation and at 12 months, and there was no significant difference between the two groups at 24 months. Second, the frequency of initiation of utterance in CWNS group was significantly higher than that of the CWS group in the initial evaluation. At 12 months and 24 months, children with stutter had a similar degree of initiation of utterance as that of typical children. Third, there was no significant difference between the CWS and CWNS group in utterance turn-taking. The difference in the frequency of utterances and turn-taking between CWS and CWNS group tended to increase over time. Conclusion: These findings confirmed that stuttering in children is influenced by their pragmatic language skills. This suggests the need for parent-child interaction and parental education programs that enhance children’s pragmatic language skills, which may positively impact fluency in CWS.

Comorbid health conditions in people with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorders: An umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses

BackgroundWe aimed to systematically review meta-analyses on the link between attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and a broad range of psychiatric, physical, and behavioral health conditions (PROSPERO; no.CRD42023448907). ResultsWe identified 22 meta-analyses that included 544 primary studies, covering 76 unique conditions in over 234 million participants across 36 countries and six continents. We found high-certainty evidence for the associations between ADHD and neuropsychiatric conditions (bipolar disorders, personality disorders, schizophrenia, and pragmatic language skills), night awakenings, obesity, decayed incipient surfaces, asthma, astigmatism, hyperopia and hypermetropia, strabismus, and suicide ideation. Moderate-certainty evidence suggested that ADHD was associated with headache, mood/affective disorders, depression, bruxism, bone fractures, atopic rhinitis, vision problems, suicide attempts, completed suicide, and all-cause mortality. Low-certainty evidence indicated associations with eating disorders, sleep efficiency, type 2 diabetes, dental trauma prevalence, atopic diseases, and atopic dermatitis. Very low-certainty evidence showed associations between ADHD and several sleep parameters. ConclusionWe found varied levels of evidence for the associations of ADHD with multiple health conditions. Therefore, clinicians should consider a wide range of neurological, psychiatric, sleep and suicide-related, metabolic, musculoskeletal, oral, allergic, and visual conditions, as well as the increased risk of mortality when assessing individuals with ADHD.

Hubungan Kejelasan Bicara dengan Kemampuan Bahasa Pragmatik pada ABK Sekolah Dasar Inklusi di Surakarta

Abstract Background: This research was motivated by the problem of children with special needs having difficulty in developing interactive conversations. This happens because they have difficulty understanding and predicting other people's thoughts and feelings. They consider the process of changing listening and explaining to be very difficult to do. They don't know what to focus on and how to respond back to their conversation partners, which results in crew members becoming less confident every time they speak. The required components of speech clarity and pragmatic language include non-verbal communication, conversation initiation and maintenance, while structural language, is a narrower category of skills that includes syntax, articulation and phonology. Objectives: This research aims to determine the relationship between speech clarity and pragmatic language skills in inclusive elementary school students in Surakarta. Methods: This type of research is quantitative with a correlational descriptive design. The data collection technique uses purposive sampling technique. Data was taken using the Assessing Intelligibility Worksheet questionnaire and the pragmatic language ability questionnaire. Next, the data was analyzed using the chi-square correlation test. Results: Univariate respondents with male gender were 22 children (73.3%) and 8 children female (26.7%). The speech clarity results of 10 children (33.3%) were average and 20 children (66.7%) were below average. The results of pragmatic language ability showed that 7 children (23.3%) were capable. 23 children (76.7%) are not yet capable. The results of the bivariate analysis obtained the value of ρ is 0.836 where the value of ρ≥0.05, which can be interpreted as Ha being rejected and Ho being accepted. Conclusion: There is no relationship between speech clarity and pragmatic language skills in inclusive elementary school students in Surakarta. Keywords : Speech clarity, Pragmatics, ABK, Inclusion, Elementary School

Enhancing Pragmatic Language skills for Young children with Social communication difficulties (E-PLAYS-2) trial: study protocol for a cluster-randomised controlled trial evaluating a computerised intervention to promote communicative development and collaborative skills in young children

BackgroundA number of children experience difficulties with social communication and this has long-term deleterious effects on their mental health, social development and education. The E-PLAYS-2 study will test an intervention (‘E-PLAYS’) aimed at supporting such children. E-PLAYS uses a dyadic computer game to develop collaborative and communication skills. Preliminary studies by the authors show that E-PLAYS can produce improvements in children with social communication difficulties on communication test scores and observed collaborative behaviours. The study described here is a definitive trial to test the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of E-PLAYS delivered by teaching assistants in schools.MethodsThe aim of the E-PLAYS-2 trial is to establish the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of care as usual plus the E-PLAYS programme, delivered in primary schools, compared to care as usual. Cluster-randomisation will take place at school level to avoid contamination. The E-PLAYS intervention will be delivered by schools’ teaching assistants. Teachers will select suitable children (ages 5–7 years old) from their schools using guidelines provided by the research team. Assessments will include blinded language measures and observations (conducted by the research team), non-blinded teacher-reported measures of peer relations and classroom behaviour and parent-reported use of resources and quality of life. A process evaluation will also include interviews with parents, children and teaching assistants, observations of intervention delivery and a survey of care as usual.The primary analysis will compare pragmatic language scores for children who received the E-PLAYS intervention versus those who did not at 40 weeks post-randomisation. Secondary analyses will assess cost-effectiveness and a mixed methods process evaluation will provide richer data on the delivery of E-PLAYS.DiscussionThe aim of this study is to undertake a final, definitive test of the effectiveness of E-PLAYS when delivered by teaching assistants within schools. The use of technology in game form is a novel approach in an area where there are currently few available interventions. Should E-PLAYS prove to be effective at the end of this trial, we believe it is likely to be welcomed by schools, parents and children.Trial registrationISRCTN 17561417, registration date 19th December 2022.Protocol version: v1.1 19th June 2023.

Social competencies of children with disinhibited social engagement disorder: A systematic review.

Children with Disinhibited Social Engagement Disorder (DSED) have specific difficulties with indiscriminate sociability, yet little is known about their broader social competencies as DSED tends not to be identified within samples in the wider 'maltreatment literature.' To systematically review the literature to determine the social competencies of children with DSED. A comprehensive search following PRISMA guidelines was undertaken using PsycINFO, Medline, Embase, and Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health. From a total of 553 articles, 16 studies were selected and critically evaluated. Children with DSED were consistently reported to have poorer social competencies than non-maltreated peers and environmental controls. Greater peer problems were consistently found, and they may present with poor self-esteem/concept related to social acceptance. Findings regarding social interaction/communication skills were mixed. 50% of studies were of moderate quality due to sampling and possible confounding variables. Children with DSED present with social relationship problems, beyond the core symptoms of the disorder, but the relative impact of co-occurring neurodevelopmental conditions is not yet clear. In addition, pragmatic language and communication skills require further research.

The Relationship between Theory of Mind and Pragmatic Language Skills in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Children with Typical Development

Introduction: An outstanding research question is whether the interaction between theory of mind (ToM) and pragmatic language skills differs in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and typical development. This study investigated the relationship between ToM and pragmatics in individuals with ASD and children with typical development (CTD) and between these skills and Test of Language Development (TOLD-TR) scores which were determined as a participant criterion. Method: Sixteen individuals with ASD with TOLD-TR test equivalent age 7;0-8;11 and 46 CTD aged 6;0-8;11 were included. Child Form of Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET), Strange Stories Test, and Pragmatic Language Skills Inventory (PLSI) were used. Findings: PLSI and RMET scores as well as PLSI and Strange Stories scores did not significantly correlate in the ASD group. Nevertheless, in CTD, there were many weak-to-moderate level significant relationships between Strange Stories and PLSI subtest scores. In both groups, there were significant relationships between all TOLD-TR subtest scores and Strange Stories scores, except for TOLD-TR Syntactic Understanding in the ASD group. Numerous weak-to-strong correlations between TOLD-TR and PLSI scores as well as between TOLD-TR and ToM scores were found in the CTD group. In the ASD group, however, moderate-to-strong relationships between Strange Stories and the TODIL composite, between Sentence Comprehension and Morpheme Completion, and between RMET and Morpheme Completion. Discussion: It emerged that groups could have different patterns of interaction between these variables. The lack of correlation between ToM and pragmatics in ASD may be explained by the relatively small sample size and the fact that the norm group of the PLSI was largely composed of CTD. Additionally, the importance of sentence and syntax comprehension in ToM was revealed.

The Construction of Higher Vocational English Language Bank Based on Neurolinguistic Knowledge

Abstract With the advent of artificial intelligence and big data technologies, traditional approaches to teaching English in higher vocational education are increasingly inadequate for contemporary pedagogical demands. This study involved the collection and analysis of an extensive corpus of English learning materials facilitated by the use of neural network models to process this data. Consequently, we established an English language library tailored to the authentic language use and learning needs of higher vocational students. A substantial array of textual materials pertinent to higher vocational English instruction, including textbooks, online articles, and practical dialogues, was amassed using web crawler technology. These texts underwent natural language processing that included tokenization and the elimination of stop words. To develop a language model, we deployed a Transformer-based neural network for deep learning analysis of the processed data. Our findings indicate that the constructed language bank excels over traditional higher vocational English teaching resources in terms of vocabulary breadth, grammatical diversity, and practical utility. The language bank demonstrates notable benefits in analyzing vocabulary usage biases and enhancing students’ pragmatic language skills. This research substantiates the feasibility and effectiveness of constructing a language bank for higher vocational English utilizing neurolinguistic methodologies. The integration of advanced language modeling and big data processing technologies can significantly elevate the caliber of educational resources and instructional efficacy

School Adjustment and Pragmatic Language Skills of Preschool Students with and without Special Needs

Okula uyum farklı değişkenlerden etkilenen çok boyutlu bir yapıdır ve okulun değişim taleplerine öğrencinin verdiği karşılıkları ifade etmektedir. Çocuğun yeni girdiği bu ortamdan yarar sağlayabilmesinin yolu sosyal ve akademik olarak bu yeni yaşam alanına uyum sağlamasıdır. Bu araştırma, okul öncesi dönemdeki özel gereksinimli olan ve olmayan öğrencilerinin okula uyumları ile pragmatik dil becerileri arasındaki ilişkiyi incelemek amacıyla gerçekleştirilmiştir. Araştırmada nicel araştırma yöntemlerinden ilişkisel tarama yöntemi kullanılmıştır. Araştırmanın çalışma grubunu kapsayıcı eğitimin uygulandığı okul öncesi eğitim kurumlarında eğitim alan 52 özel gereksinimli öğrenci ile bu öğrencilerle aynı sınıflardan seçilen 52 tipik gelişim gösteren öğrenci oluşturmaktadır. Veriler okula uyum ve pragmatik dil becerileri ölçekleri ile elde edilmiştir. Bulgular, öğrencilerin okula uyumları ve pragmatik dil becerileri yaşa göre anlamlı düzeyde farklılaşmadığını göstermektedir. Cinsiyete göre kız öğrencilerin okula uyumun bir alt boyutunda erkeklere göre daha yüksek uyuma sahip oldukları bununla birlikte pragmatik dilde cinsiyete göre anlamlı bir fark oluşmadığı görülmüştür. Özel gereksinimli öğrencilerin hem okula uyum düzeyleri hem de pragmatik dil becerileri tipik gelişen akranlarından anlamlı derecede düşük çıkmıştır. Okula uyum ile pragmatik dil becerileri arasında orta ve yüksek düzeylerde anlamlı ilişkiler olduğu görülmüştür. Sonuçlar, özel gereksinimli öğrencilerin okul öncesi eğitime geçiş sürecinde pragmatik dil becerilerini geliştirecek müdahalelerin sağlanmasının okula uyumlarını kolaylaştıracağını işaret etmektedir.

SIGNIFICANCE OF PRAGMATICS WITHIN SLA INSTRUCTION WITH FOCUS ON THE SPEECH ACT OF REQUESTS

This comprehensive report illuminates the profound significance of pragmatics within the realm of Second Language Acquisition (SLA), with a specific emphasis on the speech act of requests. By examining studies rooted in Speech Act Theory, we can further investigate the critical role of pragmatic competence within the ESL/EFL classroom setting. This paper centralizes student perceptions of pragmatics while taking into consideration both cross-linguistic and extra-linguistic factors. Furthermore, the report will present novel innovative pedagogical practices that seamlessly integrate Task-Based Learning Theory and Data-Driven Learning, facilitating the effective enhancement of pragmatic language skills.

Pragmatic language comprehension: Role of theory of mind, executive functions, and the prefrontal cortex

The specific contribution of focal damage of the prefrontal cortex and the cognitive mechanisms accounting for communicative-pragmatic disorders remains unclear. The objective of the current study was to investigate the impact of focal prefrontal cortex damage on the ability to understand indirect speech or hints and to identify the prefrontal neural mechanisms involved. We also examined the underlying cognitive mechanisms of disorders of indirect speech understanding particularly theory of mind and executive functions. Thirty patients with focal prefrontal cortex damage and 30 control subjects were compared on their performances on the Hinting task assessing pragmatic language skills, the "Faux-Pas" task and the Reading the Mind in the Eyes task assessing Theory of Mind and a battery of executive tasks. Patients were significantly impaired compared with control subjects on all these abilities. Both deficits of executive functions and theory of mind were able to predict impaired ability of patients in understanding non-literal meanings on the Hinting task. Finally, using voxel-based lesion analysis we identified a partially shared neural prefrontal network involved in all these abilities centered on the dorsomedial and ventral regions of the prefrontal cortex.

Hubungan antara Keterampilan Literasi Awal dengan Kemampuan Bahasa Pragmatik pada Anak Umur Prasekolah di Taman Kanak-Kanak Marsudirini Surakarta

ABSTRACT
 Background: In 2018, Indonesia is still faced with child development problems. There are around 56.34% of preschoolers experiencing delays in developments such as reading and writing. The development of literacy is important to pay attention to and in early childhood development, language really needs to be developed considering the importance of language for all of us. Viewed from the aspect of language, pragmatics is the highest stage of language, pragmatics is a branch of linguistics that discusses what is included in the structure of language as a means of communication between speakers and listeners. Objective: This research aims to find out the correlation between early literacy skills and pragmatic language skills in preschool-aged children in TK Marsudirini Surakarta. Method: The type of research used is quantitative. The research design to be used is a correlational study. The sampling technique that will be used in this research is purposive sampling. The number of samples that have been used in this research were 30 respondents. Result: The results showed that 6 respondents (20%) were in the early literacy skills category, the sufficient category was 11 respondents (36.7%), and the good category was 13 respondents (43.3%). Respondents in pragmatic language skills in the unable category were 14 respondents (46.7%) and in the able category were 16 respondents (53.3%). Bivariate analysis used the Spearman Rank statistical test with a ???? value of 0.001 and a correlation coefficient of 0.732. This shows that the direction of the correlation between the two variables is positive, which means that if one variable increases, the other variable will develop. Conclusion: There is a correlation between early literacy skills and pragmatic language skills in preschool-aged children in TK Marsudirini Surakarta with a strong correlation strength.
 Keywords: Literacy Skills, Pragmatic Language, Preshool Children

17 Studying the Use of Politeness in Employment Specific Scenarios in Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Objective:Employment is crucial in the lives of adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) as gainful occupational activity creates opportunities to form meaningful social relationships, participate in community life, and become financially independent. Impairments in pragmatic language skills (i.e., use of language to achieve social goals) negatively impact the ability to make and maintain cooperative work relationships with employers and coworkers, which are critical aspects of employment. A specific pragmatic skill key to workplace communication includes using a suitable degree of politeness, loosely defined as demonstrating the appreciation of the thoughts and feelings of your listener. Politeness can be measured with politeness markers (PMs). Appropriate PM use promotes positive, cooperative relationships. There are two main categories of PMs: positive and negative PMs. Positive PMs express appreciation or praise to the listener. Negative PMs avoid conflict and marks consideration of the thoughts and feelings of the listener. Crucially, negative PMs require more monitoring of social boundaries as they require consideration of the conversational partner’s potential reactions to statements and their emotional states. This makes PMs a novel new approach to evaluating speech in persons with ASD. Because PMs serve a purely social function in language, they include non-tangible words, such as would, could, may, or might. The current study explores the utility of an employment-specific social communication assessment tool, the Voicemail Elicitation Task (VET), in persons with ASD. The VET has proven sensitive to identifying social communication deficits in persons with traumatic brain injury.Participants and Methods:The current cohort comparative study included a sample of young adults with ASD (n=22) and neurotypical controls (NTC; n=10). All participants were given the VET, which utilizes a standardized computerized language sampling procedure that assesses politeness markers (PMs) in work-related role-play scenarios. The outcome measure of the VET is PMs per minute (PMpM) which is obtained by dividing the sum of PMs by the speaking time (in minutes). Higher PMpM indicates higher PM use (more politeness), while lower PMpM indicates lower PM use (less politeness).Results:The preliminary results indicated a significantly lower total PMpM in ASD participants (mean: 13.68 SD: 6.28) compared to NTCs (mean 18.72, SD: 3.65), p = 0.026. Post hoc analysis indicated that the differences in groups were driven by significantly lower negative PMs rates used by the ASD group (mean 9.18, SD: 5.77) compared to NTCs (mean: 16.30, SD: 7.78), p = 0.002, while both groups were similar in their mean level of positive PMs use, p = 0.442.Conclusions:This study represents an important step toward validating the VET for use in ASD, which will improve the capacity of the field to address unemployment in this population. The results of the current study indicate that individuals with ASD show deficits in PM use which could impact their interpersonal relationships within the workplace environment. Designing interventions to target these deficits could help provide better employment outcomes for this population.

Comparing narrative storytelling ability in individuals with autism and fetal alcohol spectrum disorders.

Narrative discourse, or storytelling, is used in daily conversation and requires higher-level language and social communication skills that are not always captured by standardised assessments of language. Many autistic individuals and individuals with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) have difficulties with both social communication and language skills, and narrative discourse analysis offers an ecologically relevant approach to assessing those challenges. This study investigated narrative discourse in individuals with autism and FASD, as well as an age- and sex-matched comparison group. Narratives from 45 adolescents and adults, 11 with autism, 11 with FASD and 23 age- and sex-matched comparison participants were elicited using a wordless storybook. They were then transcribed orthographically, formatted to the Systematic Analyses of Language Transcript (SALT) convention and scored based on the SALT Narrative Scoring Scheme (NSS), a standardised language analysis protocol. In addition to the NSS total score, which assesses the overall structure and cohesion of the narratives produced, local and global measures of language ability were also employed. The local language measures included the number of mental state and temporal relation terms produced, while the global language measures included mean length of utterance, total different words, total words, total utterances, rate of speech, the number of mazes (e.g., repetitions, 'um', 'uh' or self-corrections) per total word and the NSS total score. Using the SALT Language Sample Analysis tool, our results revealed that on global language measures, group differences were found on rate of speech, number of mazes per total words and the description of conflict/resolution in the narratives produced. The autism group produced significantly more mazes per total word and scored higher on the NSS conflict/resolution category score compared to the FASD and comparison groups. Both the autism and FASD groups spoke at a lower rate than the comparison group. On local language measures of narrative production, all groups were comparable, on average. While many aspects of narrative discourse in the autism and FASD groups were similar to each other and to the comparison group, we observed group differences on global measures of narrative production and significant individual variability within groups, suggesting that narrative abilities considered at an individual level may provide important clinical information for intervention planning. Future research should also consider additional variables that influence narrative discourse, such as motivation, distractibility or decision-making of individual participants. What is already known on the subject Narrative discourse, or storytelling, is used in daily conversational interactions and reveals higher-level language skills that may not be well captured by standardised assessments of language. Many autistic individuals and individuals with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) show difficulty with pragmatic and expressive language skills. What this paper adds to existing knowledge We found that many aspects of the narratives produced by the adolescents/young adults in the autism and FASD groups were comparable to each other and to the neurotypical group. However, the groups differed on three global measures of narrative production: rate of speech, number of mazes per total words and the description of conflict/resolution in the narratives produced. Also, significant variability was observed within groups, suggesting that narrative abilities should be considered at an individual level as opposed to their clinical groups. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work? This study showed that narrative discourse is an appropriate task that can be added to routine clinical assessments of language abilities in autistic adolescents/young adults as well as those with FASD or typical development and has the potential to reveal higher-level, real-world language skills. An important clinical implication of this study is that narrative language abilities should be considered at an individual level and individual-tailored interventions based on ability level due to the variability observed across individuals.

Emotion dysregulation and social communication problems but not ToM properties may predict obsessive-compulsive disorder symptom severity

Objective Studies have shown that theory of mind, emotion regulation and pragmatic abilities are negatively affected in people with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). We aimed to investigate theory of mind (ToM) abilities, social responsiveness, pragmatic language, and emotion regulation skills in children with OCD and to compare them to healthy controls. Methods This study was designed as a single-center, cross-sectional, case-control study. ToM abilities were evaluated via “Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test” (RMET), “Faces Test”, “Faux-Pas Test”, “Comprehension Test” and “Unexpected Outcomes Test”. Social responsiveness, pragmatic language and emotion regulation were evaluated by Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS), Children’s Communication Checklist- Second Edition (CCC-2), Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) and Children’s Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (CY-BOCS). Within the study period, we enrolled 85 adolescents (42 with OCD and 43 controls). Results The OCD group performed significantly lower than healthy controls in the Faux Pass and Comprehension tests (p = 0.003 for both). We found a statistically significant difference between groups in terms of the goal, strategy, non-acceptance subscales of the DERS (p < 0.001, p = 0.006, p = 0.008, respectively) as well as the total DERS score (p < 0.001). CY-BOCS total scores correlated significantly and negatively with Comprehension, Faux Pas and Unexpected Outcomes tests, and positively with CCC total, SRS total and DERS total scores. In regression analysis the DERS, SRS and CCC tests emerged as significant predictors of CY-BOCS total score. Conclusion Addressing ToM, pragmatic, and ER difficulties when planning the treatment of young people with OCD may contribute to positive outcomes.

The gendered framing of language impairments in criminalised young people

Young people whose language performance does not meet socially expected standards are overrepresented in the criminal justice system. Pragmatic language skills encompass the social aspects of language, which include constructing narratives, the rules of conversations, turn-taking, topic management, and non-verbal communication. Current research on pragmatic language impairments in criminalised young people – that is, on their symptomatic difficulties with social communication and language – remains inconclusive. The purpose of this study is to uncover the perceptions and framing of pragmatic language impairments in a sample of studies involving boys and girls from Australia and the United States. Drawing on content analysis of a sample of pertinent research, we expose the deeply gendered framing of pragmatic language performance and associated behaviours of criminalised young people. We demonstrate that available studies often represent female participants’ problematised use of pragmatic language as a personal choice, thus locating the problem within the individual and responsibilising girls and young women. However, for male participants, current research often presents problematised use of pragmatic language as a consequence of institutional failures. We argue that this gendered framing has political implications for criminalised young people and future research.

Assessment of Pragmatic Aspect of Language in Children Diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Abstract Background Assessment of the pragmatic language development in the Arabic speaking societies was a competence in the previous years. Recently, an Egyptian Arabic Pragmatic Language Test was developed (EAPLT). The relation between ADHD and language is especially intuitive in young children. No previous study used the EAPLT to evaluate pragmatic aspect of language in children with ADHD. Aim This study aimed to assess the pragmatic aspect of language in children with ADHD. Methods A case control study design was used. Fifty patients with ADHD were enrolled randomly from 4 to 8 years old and a normal group of children with the same age and number randomly selected by systemic random sampling from classrooms of different schools in Cairo. Data regarding the child’s age, sex, IQ, mental age, the expressive and the receptive language ages by the Modified PLS4, the pragmatic language age range, percentile, the acquired and the delayed pragmatic language skills according to EAPLT were collected. Results Results showed that Language in general was affected in children diagnosed with ADHD, receptive and expressive language age was significantly different than the normal group (p value for receptive=0.017) (p value for expressive=0.024). In the ADHD group 25 children (50%) of the group showed delayed receptive language, and 28 children (56%) of them showed delayed expressive language. The pragmatics aspect of language assessment (p &amp;lt; 0.001) showed significant difference between ADHD and control groups in almost all aspect of pragmatics. Also in conversation skills the results (p &amp;lt; 0.001) showed significant difference between ADHD and control group. Conclusion This study showed that children with ADHD had a delayed language, pragmatics and conversational skills compared to normal controls within the same age and IQ.

Relations Between Pragmatic Language and Literacy-Related Skills in Omani Elementary Students

In this study of more than 1,000 typical and at-risk elementary Arabic-speaking students in Oman, we explore relationships between pragmatic (and other) language skills, literacy, cognition, and behavior and the degree to which demography impacts performance on associated tasks. We found, in most cases, that females performed better than males, students' performance improved between Grades 2 and 4 but declined in Grade 5, and at-risk students performed as well as their nonreferred peers except on a working memory task. Pragmatic competence was the best predictor of literacy proficiency, and vice versa, for both groups when controlling for other variables. Findings are discussed in the context of Omani education and the limited attention given to pragmatics in research on connections between language and literacy.

Examining pragmatic language development in preschoolers with and without neurodevelopmental disorders: A cross-sectional study

This cross-sectional study examined the relationship between gender, age, and pragmatic language development in n = 77 Italian preschool children (49–84 months) with and without neurodevelopmental disorders. The sample included 62 children without psychiatric history (n = 34 females, n = 27 males) and n = 15 children with psychiatric history (2 females, n = 13 males). Eight cases (n = 6 males, n = 2 females, 59–75 months) were matched for age and gender. The neurodevelopmental disorder group used the Targeted Observation of Pragmatics in Children’s Conversations (TOPICC) tool. Pragmatic language skills were assessed with the Pragmatic Language Abilities (APL), Children’s Communication Checklist-Version 2 (CCC-2), and TOPICC scales. Results showed no significant relationship between gender and pragmatic language development subscales, except for a marginally significant relationship with figurative metaphor scores. Age was positively correlated with verbal metaphor, metaphor, implied meaning, and overall pragmatic language skills, but not with figurative metaphor or situations scores. Paired samples t-tests and Wilcoxon tests compared matched groups, revealing significant differences between children with and without neurodevelopmental disorders on the TOPICC, APL, and CCC-2 tools. The findings highlight the importance of early identification and intervention for children with pragmatic language impairment (PLI) and the need for further research with larger samples.

Poor written pragmatic skills are associated with internalising symptoms in childhood: evidence from a UK birth cohort study

IntroductionThis study examined the relation between pragmatic language and internalising (depressive and anxiety) symptoms in 11-year-olds, using data from the 1958 British birth cohort study.MethodsThe cohort children were asked at age 11 to write an essay on their life as they imagined it would be at age 25. We analysed 200 of these essays for relevance, organisation and context-dependent references.ResultsWe found associations between these aspects of pragmatic language and children's internalising symptom scores across parent and teacher ratings, even after adjustment for cognitive ability, socioeconomic position and structural language. Most notably, children writing more coherent essays had fewer teacher-rated internalising symptoms, after adjustment for confounders. Additionally, children who provided more relevant and varied information about their imagined future home-lives had fewer parent-rated internalising symptoms, after adjustment for confounders.DiscussionThe unique associations between pragmatic language skills and internalising symptoms observed are notable but preliminary, highlighting both the need for further research and potential applications for risk-assessment tools.