The influence of oral language environment on auditory development

2020 ◽  
Vol 139 ◽  
pp. 110426
Author(s):  
Thaís Regina Monteiro ◽  
Caroline Nunes Rocha-Muniz ◽  
Renata Filippini ◽  
Aline Albuquerque Morais ◽  
Eliane Schochat
2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudine Bowyer-Crane ◽  
Dea Nielsen ◽  
Maria Bryant ◽  
Nimarta Dharni ◽  
Rebecca Heald ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Problems with oral language skills in childhood have been linked with poor educational, employment, and mental health outcomes. In the UK, there is increasing concern about the oral language skills of children, particularly children from areas of social disadvantage. Research emphasises the importance of the home language environment as a fundamental bedrock for the development of oral language skills. It is vital, therefore, that support is available to help families in need to provide the optimal language environment for their child. Talking Together is a 6-week home visiting programme recently commissioned by Better Start Bradford to develop parents’ knowledge of the importance of a good language environment and help to improve parent-child interactions. This study represents the initial steps in developing a definitive trial of the Talking Together programme. Method This study is a two-arm randomised controlled feasibility study in which families referred into the Talking Together programme and consent to participate in the trial will be randomly allocated to either an intervention group or a waiting control group. We will assess the recruitment and retention rates, the representativeness of our sample, the appropriateness of our measures, and the sample size needed for a definitive trial. We will also carry out a qualitative evaluation to explore the acceptability of trial procedures for families and service providers, fidelity of delivery, time and resources for training, and barriers and facilitators to engagement with the programme. Clear progression criteria will be used to assess suitability for a definitive trial. Conclusion This feasibility study will inform the development of a definitive trial of this home-based visiting programme, which will add to the sparse evidence base on which practitioners can draw when supporting families in need. The lessons learnt from this feasibility study will also inform the wider evaluation work of the Better Start Bradford Innovation Hub. Trial registration The trial is registered with the ISRCTN registry: study ID ISRCTN13251954. Date of registration: 21 February 2019 (the trial was retrospectively registered).


2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (5) ◽  
pp. 787-809 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jörg Dollmann ◽  
Irena Kogan ◽  
Markus Weißmann

Abstract Given the controversies surrounding the critical period hypothesis on second-language (L2) learning outcomes, this study focuses on the phonological aspect of language acquisition—the strength of the foreign accent in L2. Drawing on data from a large-scale representative data set on immigrant adolescents in Germany—CILS4EU-DE—we first demonstrate that there is a critical period (CP) up to the age of around 10, after which obtaining oral language skills without a foreign accent becomes less likely. Second, we provide evidence that native-like language skills can be achieved after the CP if certain preconditions related to learning efficiency and language exposure are met. Our analyses indicate that higher cognitive abilities and exposure to a language environment with intensive and manifold contacts with native speakers can compensate for disadvantages caused by a late start in L2 acquisition. The results are discussed in the context of the linguistic and sociological scholarship of language acquisition and immigrant assimilation.


1978 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-23
Author(s):  
Karen Navratil ◽  
Margie Petrasek

In 1972 a program was developed in Montgomery County Public Schools, Maryland, to provide daily resource remediation to elementary school-age children with language handicaps. In accord with the Maryland’s guidelines for language and speech disabilities, the general goal of the program was to provide remediation that enabled children with language problems to increase their abilities in the comprehension or production of oral language. Although self-contained language classrooms and itinerant speech-language pathology programs existed, the resource program was designed to fill a gap in the continuum of services provided by the speech and language department.


2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 807-820
Author(s):  
Lena G. Caesar ◽  
Marie Kerins

Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between oral language, literacy skills, age, and dialect density (DD) of African American children residing in two different geographical regions of the United States (East Coast and Midwest). Method Data were obtained from 64 African American school-age children between the ages of 7 and 12 years from two geographic regions. Children were assessed using a combination of standardized tests and narrative samples elicited from wordless picture books. Bivariate correlation and multiple regression analyses were used to determine relationships to and relative contributions of oral language, literacy, age, and geographic region to DD. Results Results of correlation analyses demonstrated a negative relationship between DD measures and children's literacy skills. Age-related findings between geographic regions indicated that the younger sample from the Midwest outscored the East Coast sample in reading comprehension and sentence complexity. Multiple regression analyses identified five variables (i.e., geographic region, age, mean length of utterance in morphemes, reading fluency, and phonological awareness) that accounted for 31% of the variance of children's DD—with geographic region emerging as the strongest predictor. Conclusions As in previous studies, the current study found an inverse relationship between DD and several literacy measures. Importantly, geographic region emerged as a strong predictor of DD. This finding highlights the need for a further study that goes beyond the mere description of relationships to comparing geographic regions and specifically focusing on racial composition, poverty, and school success measures through direct data collection.


2014 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-18
Author(s):  
Andrea Bell ◽  
K. Todd Houston

To ensure optimal auditory development for the acquisition of spoken language, children with hearing loss require early diagnosis, effective ongoing audiological management, well fit and maintained hearing technology, and appropriate family-centered early intervention. When these elements are in place, children with hearing loss can achieve developmental and communicative outcomes that are comparable to their hearing peers. However, for these outcomes to occur, clinicians—early interventionists, speech-language pathologists, and pediatric audiologists—must participate in a dynamic process that requires careful monitoring of countless variables that could impact the child's skill acquisition. This paper addresses some of these variables or “red flags,” which often are indicators of both minor and major issues that clinicians may encounter when delivering services to young children with hearing loss and their families.


1964 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 349-359 ◽  
Author(s):  
Russell J. Love

A battery of six tests assessing various aspects of receptive and expressive oral language was administered to 27 cerebral palsied children and controls matched on the variables of age, intelligence, sex, race, hearing acuity, socio-economic status, and similarity of educational background. Results indicated only minimal differences between groups. Signs of deviancy in language behavior often attributed to the cerebral palsied were not observed. Although previous investigators have suggested consistent language disturbances in the cerebral palsied, evidence for a disorder of comprehension and formulation of oral symobls was not found.


2001 ◽  
Vol 60 (3) ◽  
pp. 161-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean A. Rondal

Predominantly non-etiological conceptions have dominated the field of mental retardation (MR) since the discovery of the genetic etiology of Down syndrome (DS) in the sixties. However, contemporary approaches are becoming more etiologically oriented. Important differences across MR syndromes of genetic origin are being documented, particularly in the cognition and language domains, differences not explicable in terms of psychometric level, motivation, or other dimensions. This paper highlights the major difficulties observed in the oral language development of individuals with genetic syndromes of mental retardation. The extent of inter- and within-syndrome variability are evaluated. Possible brain underpinnings of the behavioural differences are envisaged. Cases of atypically favourable language development in MR individuals are also summarized and explanatory variables discussed. It is suggested that differences in brain architectures, originating in neurological development and having genetic origins, may largely explain the syndromic as well as the individual within-syndrome variability documented. Lastly, the major implications of the above points for current debates about modularity and developmental connectionism are spelt out.


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