Real-time sentence processing in children with specific language impairment: The contribution of lexicosemantic, syntactic, and world-knowledge information

2011 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 181-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
FABRIZIO PIZZIOLI ◽  
MARIE-ANNE SCHELSTRAETE
Keyword(s):  
Lexical Decision ◽  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Semantic Information ◽  
Receptive Vocabulary ◽  
Decision Task ◽  
World Knowledge ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Syntactic Information

ABSTRACTThe present study investigated how lexicosemantic information, syntactic information, and world knowledge are integrated in the course of oral sentence processing in children with specific language impairment (SLI) as compared to children with typical language development. A primed lexical-decision task was used where participants had to make a lexical decision on the last word of a sentence. Thirty-nine children were tested: 13 children with SLI, 13 younger children matched on receptive vocabulary, and 13 age-matched children. We manipulated (a) the semantic fit between the target and the prime sentence, (b) the syntactic structure of the prime (syntactic vs. asyntactic), and (c) the lexical association between the target word and the prime. Despite being slower overall, children with SLI showed a significant priming effect. Syntactic information had a similar impact on thematic integration in control children and children with SLI, although the latter were more sensitive to lexicosemantic association and world knowledge than control groups. In addition, children with SLI appeared to use semantic information even when the sentence was asyntactic. The results suggest thematic integration problems in SLI: syntactic and semantic information contribute independently to the thematic structure but are not integrated to generate the emerging higher order representation.

Phonological Representations in Children With SLI

2004 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 187-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christelle Maillart ◽  
Marie-Anne Schelstraete ◽  
Michel Hupet
Keyword(s):  
Lexical Decision ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Slight Modification ◽  
Decision Task ◽  
Phonological Representations ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Auditory Lexical Decision ◽  
Normal Language

The present research examined the quality of the phonological representations of French children with specific language impairment (SLI) and those with normal language development (NLD). Twenty-five children with SLI and 50 children with NLD matched on lexical age level participated in an auditory lexical decision task. The observations gathered in our study can be summarized as follows. First, children with a higher receptive lexical level performed better, and this was true both for children with NLD and children with SLI. Second, both children with NLD and those with SLI were more likely to reject pseudowords resulting from a modification affecting the number of syllables of a word than pseudowords resulting from a slight modification with the number of syllables unchanged. This difference, however, was greater for the children with SLI, who appeared to have much difficulty rejecting pseudowords resulting from slight modifications. Finally, the performance of children with SLI was particularly poor when presented with pseudowords resulting from a slight modification at the beginning or the end of a word. These findings are interpreted as supporting the hypothesis of an underspecification of phonological representations in children with SLI.

Relation of working memory to off-line and real-time sentence processing in children with specific language impairment

2000 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
JAMES W. MONTGOMERY
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Load Condition ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Processing Task

In this study we examined the influence of working memory on the off-line and real-time sentence comprehension/processing of children with specific language impairment (SLI). A total of 12 children with SLI, 12 normally developing children matched for chronological age (CA), and 12 children matched for receptive syntax (RS) completed three tasks. In the working memory task, children recalled as many words as possible under three processing load conditions varying in the number of mental operations (i.e., no load, single load, dual load). In the off-line comprehension task, children listened to linguistically nonredundant and redundant sentences. In the real-time sentence processing task, children monitored sentences for the occurrence of a target word appearing at the beginning, middle, or end of a test sentence and pushed a response pad as quickly as possible upon hearing the target. In the memory task, SLI children recalled fewer words in the dual-load condition relative to CA peers, who showed no condition effect. The SLI and RS groups performed similarly overall; however, both groups recalled fewer words in the dual-load condition than in the other conditions. In the off-line task, the SLI group comprehended fewer sentences of both types relative to the CA controls and fewer redundant sentences relative to themselves and to the RS controls. A significant correlation between working memory and sentence comprehension was found for the SLI group and control groups. For the on-line task, between-group analyses revealed that the SLI group yielded an overall slower word recognition reaction time than the CA and RS groups. Working memory and sentence processing were not correlated for any group. Results were interpreted to suggest that SLI children have a more limited functional working memory capacity than their CA peers. Children with SLI also appear to have greater difficulty managing their working memory resources relative to both age peers and younger children when performing a conventional off-line sentence comprehension task but not a real-time sentence processing task.

Lexical Decay During Online Sentence Processing in Adults With Specific Language Impairment

2014 ◽  
Vol 57 (6) ◽  
pp. 2253-2260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerard H. Poll ◽  
Holly S. Watkins ◽  
Carol A. Miller
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Decay Rate ◽  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Presentation Rate ◽  
Group Presentation ◽  
Processing Efficiency ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Rate Interaction

Purpose Decay of memory traces is an important component of many theories of working memory, but there is conflicting evidence on whether the rate of decay differs for individuals with specific language impairment (SLI) as compared to peers with typical language. The authors tested the hypothesis that adults with SLI have a slower decay rate. Method Twenty adults with SLI, ages 18–27 years, and 23 age-matched peers identified target words in sentences. Sentences were presented at normal and slow rates. Participants separately judged whether a picture and sentence matched in meaning as a measure of sentence processing efficiency. Results After controlling for sentence processing efficiency, the group with SLI was slower to detect words in sentences. Response times for the group with SLI increased less in the slow condition as compared to the group with typical language, resulting in a Group × Presentation Rate interaction. Conclusions The Group × Presentation Rate interaction is consistent with a slower lexical decay rate for adults with SLI, but differences in the ability to manage interference could not be ruled out. The findings suggest that decay rate differences may play a role in the working memory limitations found in individuals with SLI.

scholarly journals Number dissimilarities facilitate the comprehension of relative clauses in children with (Grammatical) Specific Language Impairment

2013 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 811-841 ◽  
Author(s):  
FLAVIA ADANI ◽  
MATTEO FORGIARINI ◽  
MARIA TERESA GUASTI ◽  
HEATHER K. J. VAN DER LELY
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Head Noun ◽  
Receptive Vocabulary ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Subject And Object ◽  
English Speaking

ABSTRACTThis study investigates whether number dissimilarities on subject and object DPs facilitate the comprehension of subject- and object-extracted centre-embedded relative clauses in children with Grammatical Specific Language Impairment (G-SLI). We compared the performance of a group of English-speaking children with G-SLI (mean age: 12;11) with that of two groups of younger typically developing (TD) children, matched on grammar and receptive vocabulary, respectively. All groups were more accurate on subject-extracted relative clauses than object-extracted ones and, crucially, they all showed greater accuracy for sentences with dissimilar number features (i.e., one singular, one plural) on the head noun and the embedded DP. These findings are interpreted in the light of current psycholinguistic models of sentence comprehension in TD children and provide further insight into the linguistic nature of G-SLI.

With Some Help From Others' Hands: Iconic Gesture Helps Semantic Learning in Children With Specific Language Impairment

2017 ◽  
Vol 60 (11) ◽  
pp. 3213-3225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susanne S. Vogt ◽  
Christina Kauschke
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Semantic Information ◽  
Word Class ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Iconic Gesture ◽  
Only Children ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Semantic Learning ◽  
New Words

Purpose Semantic learning under 2 co-speech gesture conditions was investigated in children with specific language impairment (SLI) and typically developing (TD) children. Learning was analyzed between conditions. Method Twenty children with SLI (aged 4 years), 20 TD children matched for age, and 20 TD children matched for language scores were taught rare nouns and verbs. Children heard the target words while seeing either iconic gestures illustrating a property of the referent or a control gesture focusing children's attention on the word. Following training, children were asked to define the words' meaning. Responses were coded for semantic information provided on each word. Results Performance of the SLI and age-matched groups proved superior to that of the language-matched group. Overall, children defined more words taught with iconic gestures than words taught with attention-getting gestures. However, only children with SLI, but not TD children, provided more semantic information on each word taught with iconic gestures. Performance did not differ in terms of word class. Conclusions Results suggest that iconic co-speech gestures help both children with and without SLI learn new words but, in particular, assist children with SLI understand and reflect the words' meaning.

Conversational Replies of Children with Specific Language Impairment

1986 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 114-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurence B. Leonard
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Language Ability ◽  
World Knowledge ◽  
Considerable Variability ◽  
Single Word ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Language Impaired ◽  
Normal Language ◽  
Impaired Children

Conversational replies were examined in two groups of children with comparable vocabularies and speech limited to single-word utterances: children with specific language impairment, ages 2:10 to 3:6 (years:months); and children, ages 1:5 to 1:11, who were developing language normally. In interactions with adults the language-impaired children produced a greater number and variety of replies to both questions and statements than the normal-language children. The findings suggest that language-impaired children can serve as responsive conversationalists when syntactic skill is not a factor and that comprehension, world knowledge, and/or experience with conversations permit considerable variability in conversational skill even within the same level of expressive language ability.

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