Sentence Imitation Research Articles

Linguistic skills at 6½ years of age in children who required neonatal intensive care in 1986–1989

Linguistic skills at 6½y of age, corrected for gestational age at birth, were examined in a cohort of 230 children who had required neonatal intensive care (NIC) in 1986–89, and in 71 fullterm neonatally healthy control children (C) matched to the NIC children born at <32 gestational weeks. Ten linguistic areas were assessed. The 10th percentile score of the controls was identified in each linguistic area and used for comparisons. In 77.5% of the controls and 63.5% of the NIC children, no score was lower than the 10th percentile score of the controls. Scores lower than the 10th percentile score were more common in NIC children born at term or at 23–31 wk, and within this group of children those born at 23–27 wk, than in controls. Conclusion: In preterm children of <32 wk the results in the linguistic areas of imitation of articulatory positions, comprehension of logical grammatical constructions, phonemes and word fluency differed from those of the matched controls, and in NIC children born at 32 weeks the results for imitation of articulatory positions, articulatory patterns and sentences, auditory discrimination and word fluency were poorer than those of the controls.

Estimating the Risk of Future Reading Difficulties in Kindergarten Children: A Research-Based Model and Its Clinical Implementation.

Speech-language pathologists have the skills and knowledge needed to play an important role in the early identification of children who are at risk for reading difficulties. Whereas research has identified language and other factors that may be predictive of future reading problems, studies have not provided the statistical models and classification data needed for the implementation of early identification programs. In this paper, we report the results of a longitudinal study that examined kindergarten predictors of second-grade reading outcome. Six hundred and four children were given a battery of language, early literacy, and nonverbal cognitive measures in kindergarten as part of an epidemiologic study of language impairments in children. Follow-up testing of reading achievement was completed in second grade. Participants were divided into those children with and without reading difficulties. Findings indicated that five kindergarten variables (letter identification, sentence imitation, phonological awareness, rapid naming, and mother's education) uniquely predicted reading outcome in second grade. A logistic regression formula and classification data based on these results are provided. Suggestions are offered concerning how this information could be used in an early identification and intervention program for children who are at risk for reading difficulties.

Language Characteristics of Children with ADHD

Language characteristics of 11 children with attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and 11 typically developing children ages 6 to 8 were compared in terms of semantic, syntactic, and pragmatic language skills. Children were tested on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised (PPVT-R), the Test of Language Development-2 Primary (TOLD-2), and the Test of Pragmatic Language (TOPL). Samples of children's language were collected during free play with an adult conversational partner using the Pragmatic Protocol. Results indicated that there was no difference between the two groups on receptive vocabulary as measured by the PPVT-R. Children with ADHD performed worse than typically developing children on the sentence imitation, word articulation, speaking quotient, and overall speech and language quotient subtests of the TOLD-2 Primary. Children with ADHD produced more inappropriate pragmatic behaviors in conversational interactions, although their pragmatic knowledge as measured by the TOPL did not differ from that of the normally developing children. Results are discussed in terms of the relative strengths and weaknesses in the communication skills of children with ADHD.

Supraglottic activity: evidence of vocal hyperfunction or laryngeal articulation?

False vocal fold (FVF) adduction and compression of the arytenoid cartilages to the petiole of the epiglottis in an anterior to posterior (A-P) direction have been thought to characterize voice disorders with abnormally increased muscle tension or effort, often termed hyperfunctional voice disorders. To further evaluate the association between hyperfunctional voice disorders and supraglottic activity, we compared the incidence of static and dynamic supraglottic activity in individuals with normal laryngeal mucosa, normal voice quality, and no voice complaints to two populations: subjects with vocal fold nodules and subjects with complaints of dysphonia without visible vocal fold lesions, glottal incompetence, or impairment of arytenoid cartilage motion ("hyperfunctional" group). Thirty-two subjects were assigned to one of these three groups (10 control, 12 nodule, and 10 hyperfunctional). Laryngeal movements were recorded using flexible videoendoscopy while a subject was performing speech tasks such as sustained phonation, syllable repetitions, sentence imitations, and conversation. Samples were randomized by subject and task and rated for presence or absence of A-P and FVF compression. Statistically significant group differences were found for FVF compression across speech tasks (chi-square, p<0.001). The control group had the smallest incidence (45%), nodule patients the next larger incidence (68%), and hyperfunctional patients the largest incidence (80%). Statistically significant group differences were found for A-P compression across speech tasks (chi-square, p<.05). The control group had the smallest incidence (74%), nodule patients the next larger incidence (78%), and hyperfunctional patients the largest incidence (92%). Statistically significant task differences were found for the presence of FVF compression in control subjects (chi-square, p<.005), hyperfunctional patients (chi-square, p<.025), and nodule patients (chi-square, p<.001), but not for A-P compression for any of the groups. A higher incidence of FVF compression was present for the speech tasks that included glottal stops. This context-specific variation in supraglottic activity suggested a dynamic component to FVF compression and also explained the high proportion of FVF compression in the control group. Each video sample was also rated for consistency of FVF or A-P compression to explore the static and dynamic nature of supraglottic activity. For samples on which raters agreed, A-P compression was typically present consistently, suggesting a static component, and FVF compression inconsistently, suggesting a dynamic component, for all three groups (chi-square, p<.001). These findings do not support previous suggestions that supraglottic activity may be a precursor to developing vocal fold nodules, as the nodule patients did not exhibit a higher incidence or consistency of A-P or FVF compression than patients with hyperfunctional voicing patterns in this study. Subjects in the hyperfunctional voice group were found to have static components of FVF and A-P compression. The presence of FVF compression in speech tasks that included glottal stops in the control group suggests an articulatory function at the laryngeal level.

Speech and language skills in children who required neonatal intensive care. II. Linguistic skills at 6½ years of age

Linguistic skills at 6½ y of age were examined in a cohort of 284 children requiring neonatal intensive care (NIC) and in 40 controls. Ten linguistic areas were assessed. The results are presented for gestational age groups. The 10th percentile score of the controls was identified in each linguistic area. Seventy percent of the controls and &lt;27% of the NIC children had no score lower than the 10th percentile score. Scores lower than the 10th percentile score were more common in NIC children born at term or at 23–31 wk, and within the latter group in those born at 28–31 wk, than in those born at 32–36 wk gestational age. The linguistic areas of auditory discrimination, imitation of articulatory positions and imitation of sentences were most frequently affected. NIC children born at 32–36 wk performed better in the last two areas than those born at &lt;32 wk. To be a twin and born at 28–31 wk was associated with an increased risk of having more than five scores lower than the 10th percentile score of the controls.

Speech and language skills in children who required neonatal intensive care. II. Linguistic skills at 6 1/2 years of age.

Linguistic skills at 6 1/2 y of age were examined in a cohort of 284 children requiring neonatal intensive care (NIC) and in 40 controls. Ten linguistic areas were assessed. The results are presented for gestational age groups. The 10th percentile score of the controls was identified in each linguistic area. Seventy percent of the controls and <27% of the NIC children had no score lower than the 10th percentile score. Scores lower than the 10th percentile score were more common in NIC children born at term or at 23-31 wk, and within the latter group in those born at 28-31 wk, than in those born at 32-36 wk gestational age. The linguistic areas of auditory discrimination, imitation of articulatory positions and imitation of sentences were most frequently affected. NIC children born at 32-36 wk performed better in the last two areas than those born at <32 wk. To be a twin and born at 28-31 wk was associated with an increased risk of having more than five scores lower than the 10th percentile score of the controls.

Syntactic complexity, fluency, and accuracy of sentence imitation in adolescents.

The majority of work that suggests a relationship between syntactic complexity and the frequency of stuttering has been carried out with young children. In this paper, we investigate whether or not syntactic complexity exerts an influence on the frequency of stuttering in adolescent speech. Fourteen adolescents, 7 of whom stuttered, and 7 of whom were normally fluent, ages 10-18 years, participated in a sentence imitation task in which stimuli were divided into three classes of grammatical complexity. Results indicated that for both groups of speakers, normal disfluencies and errors in repetition accuracy increased as syntactic complexity increased. However, stuttering frequency did not appear to be affected by changes in the syntactic complexity of the target stimuli. Such findings suggest either a diminution of the effects of syntactic complexity on stuttering over the course of language acquisition or changes in the mix of chronic and nonchronic stuttering speakers from those used in earlier studies of the effects of linguistic structure on stuttering in children.

The Relationship between Memory Span and Measures of Imitative and Spontaneous Language Complexity in Preschool Children

Preschool children, aged 2 to 5 years, were given a memory task that required them to repeat a list of animal names and a sentence imitation task. A sample of their spontaneous speech was also recorded. Word span was found to predict sentence imitation scores across the whole preschool age range. Word span and chronological age (CA), together, also predicted the mean length of utterance in spontaneous speech in younger preschool children. In a replication with children aged 2 to 3 years, word span predicted mean length or utterance (MLU) better than both CA and mental age (MA). These results extend previous findings regarding the relationship between word span and language imitation to younger preschool children. They also support the notion of a memory constraint on early spontaneous language. Increasing mastery of linguistic rules appears to obviate a memory constraint on spontaneous language, at least with these measures.

Grammatical morphology in language–impaired children acquiring English or German as their first language: A functional perspective

ABSTRACTFourteen matched pairs of German-speaking and English-speaking language-impaired children, aged 4;5–6;11, were tested for their knowledge of grammatical morphology and expressive vocabulary, using the Grammatical Closure subtest of the ITPA or its German adaptation, Grammatik in the PET, and the Expressive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test or the Aktiver Wortschatztest. Children were matched pairwise on the basis of their chronological age, nonverbal IQ, and scores in a sentence imitation and a sentence production task. As predicted, the German-speaking language-impaired children earned higher scores in grammatical morphology and vocabulary than did the English-speaking children. These findings add to a growing body of literature that documents language-specific sensitivity to particular sorts of syntactic devices. They also suggest that the morphological difficulties seen in English-speaking language-impaired children stem in part from the minor functional role played by these forms during the early language learning years.

Specific motor abilities associated with speech fluency in Down's syndrome

Eight adult male stutterers with Down's syndrome (DS) were compared with a matched group of fluent speakers with DS on verbal and manual motor production tasks at two levels of complexity. The simpler tasks involved diadochokinetic rate (syllable repetition) and finger tapping; the more complex tasks involved the imitation of sentences and placing pegs in the grooved pegboard. On both verbal and manual tasks, stutterers were faster on the simpler but slower on the more complex tasks than were the fluent speakers. The findings suggest that stutterers with DS have a different motor organization than fluent speakers with DS.

Speech disfluencies in nonstutterers: Syntactic complexity and production task effects

The differences in the number of disfluencies of 3-, 5-, and 7-year-old nonstuttering children were investigated as syntactic complexity was varied in three different syntactic constructions: 1) simple affirmative declarative with copula + ing (SAAD), 2) future (FUT), and 3) passive (PAS) within a sentence imitation and a sentence-modeling task. The subjects repeated 30 sentences from the imitation task stimuli and produced response constructions from 30 pictures from the modeling task stimuli. The 3-year-olds exhibited significantly more disfluencies than the 5-year-olds, and the 5-year-olds produced significantly more disfluencies than the 7-year-olds. All three age groups produced significantly more disfluencies on the modeling task than on the imitation task. A significant complexity effect was demonstrated for the PAS construction. Results are compared to previous research findings and discussed with reference to hypothesized linguistic complexity and task difficulty.

The effect of pictured visual cues on elicited sentence imitation

In one experiment language-normal 6 1 2 -year-old and 4 1 2 -year-old children ( N = 68) were asked to imitate sentences with or without pictured visual cues. In a second experiment groups of language-disordered children ( N = 43) also 4 1 2 and 6 1 2 years of age were asked to imitate sentences with and without pictured visual cues. In both experiments there was no significant difference in the syntactical and grammatical quality of elicited imitations between conditions. Older children performed better than younger children in both experiments. It was concluded that pictured visual cues do not affect the syntactical and grammatical quality of language-normal and language-disordered children's elicited sentence imitations.

The effect of enactment upon sentence imitation in preschool children

Preschool children imitated two matched lists of sentences varying in length, in syntactic complexity, and in semantic complexity. Sentences on one list were acted out with toys prior to imitating them. For 3-year-olds, enactment increased retention of all sentential variables: number of words, number of frames, number of propositions, and syntax. For children younger than 3 years, enactment increased only the number of words retained, while for children older than 4 years, enactment had a minimal effect on all sentential variables. In a second experiment, prior enactment had long-term effects on the degree to which children's spontaneous stories about the toys resembled the previous sentences that they had been given to imitate. Long-term effects, however, did not extend to retention of syntax. Enactment appears to increase both young children's interest in a sentence imitation task and the amount of semantic encoding in which they engage. Its effect, however, is mediated by the degree of mastery of relevant linguistic rules.

Effect of Rate, Intonation, and Sentence Length on Nigerian Children's Imitation of Adults' Utterances

Abstract This Nigerian study replicated the work of Bonvillian et al. (1979) on the effects of rate, intonation, and sentence length on children's sentence imitation. Nursery school children (N = 12; M age = 5 years, 0.5 months) were asked to imitate sentences that varied in rate of presentation, intonation, and length. Results revealed better imitation of shorter sentences than longer ones, of sentences read at a rate nearer the children's normal speech rate than those read at a faster or slower rate, and of sentences read with normal intonation than those read with flat intonation. These findings replicated those of Bonvillian et al., while indicating an even stronger effect of intonation in the Nigerian sample, because its effect was not limited to long sentences but affected all sentences. Adults' utterances to children are often slow, with exaggerated intonation. The present findings suggest that such modifications in adults' speech facilitate children's language comprehension.

The effects of syntactic complexity on the occurrence of disfluencies in 5 year old nonstutterers

The effect of syntactic complexity on the number of disfluencies for sentence imitation and sentence modeling production tasks was studied in a sample of 5 year old nonstutterers. The subjects repeated 30 sentences representing six different syntactic constructions: (1) simple affirmative active declarative with auxiliary + ing, (2) negative with contraction, (3) future, (4) negative interrogative with contraction, (5) passive, and (6) auxiliary have with copula + ing. For the modeled sentence production task, the subjects modeled 30 sentences from pictures that represented the same six syntactic constructions as in the sentence imitation task. Subject responses were tape-recorded, and the number of disfluencies was counted for each subject for each stimulus sentence. A significant difference among the number of disfluencies occurring on the six sentence constructions was not found on the sentence imitation task. Significant differences among the number of disfluencies occurring on the sentence constructions, however, were evident for the sentence-modeling task. Results are discussed with regard to the effect of different sentence production tasks and varying syntactic complexity on the occurrence of normal disfluencies in preschool children.

Production vs. Comprehension: Differences in Underlying Competences

In this paper empirical data are presented that demonstrate significant differences in the manner in which two commonly used experimental tasks evaluate developing linguistic competence in adult second language (L2) learners. Results indicate that production tests principally evaluate a learner's developing structural competence in the L2. On the other hand, comprehension tests provide a less direct measure of structural competence and are significantly influenced by pragmatic context.Fifty-one adult Spanish speakers at three levels of ESL ability were tested in both their elicited imitation (production) and act-out (comprehension) of complex sentences that were structurally identical. The stimuli varied in terms of the pre- and post-posing of a subordinate adverbial when clause and in terms of the direction of pronoun anaphora (forward and backward). Results from the production test indicate a significant effect of directionality, i.e., a preference for forward pronouns in post-posed clauses at the intermediate level. Results from the comprehension test did not show a significant directionality constraint at any level. They did, however, demonstrate a significant effect due to the use of a biasing pragmatic lead. Such findings are comparable to those found in early first language acquisition (Lust, Loveland, &amp; Kornet, 1980). Implications of these findings for experimental methodology are discussed.

The ALPHA interactive microcomputer system for teaching reading, writing, and communication skills to hearing-impaired children.

In this study, hearing-impaired children received supplementary instruction designed to simultaneously enhance text skills and general communication skills. Microcomputer-assisted instruction was used, emphasizing exploratory learning—not typical programmed instruction. Microcomputer presentations of pictures, text, and sign language were directly initiated by the children from a special keyboard during exploratory learning phases. A teacher also was an essential part of the instructional process, sustaining dialogue to stimulate the children's communication and their attention to the text, sign, and pictures. Tests required the children to "write" their text answers on the TV screen by pressing the words on their keyboards to match an action sequence on the TV. A total of 79 hearing-impaired children with ages between 3.2 and 14.3 years participated in the project. The children mastered a series of lessons and learned to write text sentences that were highly accurate interpretations of either animated pictured action sequences (an average of 94% correct) or sign language sentence animations (96%-98% correct). Moreover, the children made significant advances on two measures of general communication—sentence imitation and referential communication.

An error recognition test as a measure of linguistic competence: An example from Welsh

The use of sentence imitation tasks to measure the development of linguistic competence in children is discussed, and the drawbacks of such techniques noted, particularly in the case of adult subjects. A measurement based on results from an error recognition test is proposed. A set of variables from Welsh is described, together with an error recognition test designed around them. The results of the test seem to indicate that linguistic features that may superficially seem equally variable may have different statuses in the competence of speakers. This sort of test is felt to have a part to play in the measurement of linguistic competence.

Chinese Children's Comprehension and Production of Passive Voice and Double Negative Sentences

Two experiments are reported that examine the abilities of normal children aged five to seven years and deaf-mute children aged 11-18 years in tasks demanding comprehension, production and imitation of passive voice and double negative sentences. These show that comprehension precedes production and that while imitation can improve production it only does so for subjects showing some initial levels of comprehension. On the basis of these data, it is argued that the acquisition of syntactic structures is determined by levels of cognitive ability. A comparison of deaf and hearing subjects reveals that whilst the former are delayed in the acquisition of these syntactic structures, some do eventually succeed in mastering them. The implications of these findings for the role of language in the development of cognitive abilities are also explored.

Sentence Imitation in Kindergarten Children at Risk for Learning Disability

The Carrow Elicited Language Inventory was used to compare the imitation skills of kindergarten children identified as high risk for learning disability with those of a normal control group. A significant difference was found between the two groups in the total number of errors. Differences were also found in the ability to imitate adjectives, conjunctions, pronouns, and verbs. An incidental finding, failure on the part of many high-risk subjects to imitate interrogative stimuli, is discussed in terms of a processing deficit.