Word-Learning by Preschoolers With Specific Language Impairment

2003 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shelley Gray
Keyword(s):  
Word Learning ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Group Performance ◽  
Learning Performance ◽  
Fast Mapping ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
New Words ◽  
Normal Language ◽  
The Relationship

Thirty preschool children with specific language impairment (SLI) and 30 agematched controls with normal language (NL) participated in a study to compare group performance and to examine the relationship between fast mapping and word learning and between comprehension and production of new words. The groups performed similarly on the fast-mapping task. The NL group comprehended and produced significantly more words than the SLI group, and did so in fewer trials. Language test scores did not predict word-learning performance for either group. Some children with SLI may need to hear a new word twice as many times as their NL peers before comprehending it and may need twice as many opportunities to practice producing the word before using it independently.

scholarly journals Learning and Remembering New Words: Clinical Illustrations From Children With Specific Language Impairment

2015 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 138-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rouzana Komesidou ◽  
Holly L. Storkel
Keyword(s):  
Word Learning ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Kindergarten Children ◽  
Memory Retention ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
New Words ◽  
Good Learning ◽  
Novel Word Learning ◽  
The Relationship

The learning of a new word involves at least two processes: learning from input and memory evolution in the absence of input. The authors will review the literature and describe the relationship between these two processes and novel word learning by children with specific language impairment (SLI). Cases from an ongoing preliminary clinical trial of word learning in kindergarten children with SLI will serve as clinical illustrations. In particular, one case will be used to demonstrate a pattern of good learning from input and good memory retention (i.e., desirable learning pattern during treatment). Three additional cases will be used to illustrate patterns indicative of poor learning from input and/or poor memory retention. Suggestions will be provided concerning how treatment can be altered when these patterns appear, to promote desirable learning outcomes.

Word Learning by Preschoolers With Specific Language Impairment

2004 ◽  
Vol 47 (5) ◽  
pp. 1117-1132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shelley Gray
Keyword(s):  
Word Learning ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Semantic Knowledge ◽  
Learning Difficulty ◽  
Lexical Knowledge ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
New Words ◽  
Learning Success ◽  
Normal Language

Twenty preschoolers with specific language impairment (SLI) and 20 age matches with normal language (NL) participated in a study to determine whether phonological memory or semantic knowledge predicted word-learning success. Poor learners’ performance was analyzed to investigate whether phonology or semantics contributed more to word-learning difficulty. Results suggest that existing lexical knowledge, as measured by the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT-III), and fast-mapping ability hold promise for identifying poor word learners, but individual PPVT-III scores must be compared with SLI group scores. Poor word learners comprehended most new words and showed sufficient semantic knowledge of their referents to draw them but had difficulty producing the words. Findings indicated that both semantics and phonology contribute to word-learning difficulty, with word production presenting the biggest hindrance to success.

The Impact of Emphatic Stress on Novel Word Learning by Children With Specific Language Impairment

1998 ◽  
Vol 41 (6) ◽  
pp. 1444-1458 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Ellis Weismer ◽  
Linda J. Hesketh
Keyword(s):  
Language Processing ◽  
Word Learning ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Stress Effects ◽  
Normal Language ◽  
Novel Word Learning ◽  
The Impact

This investigation examined the influence of emphatic stress on children's novel word learning. Forty school-age children participated in this study, including 20 children with specific language impairment (SLI) and 20 children with normal language (NL) development. Results indicated that there were no significant stress effects for comprehension or recognition of novel words (for which all children demonstrated relatively high levels of performance); however, children in both groups exhibited significantly better production of words that had been presented with emphatic stress than with neutral stress. These findings are discussed within a limited capacity framework of language processing.

An Examination of the Morpheme BE in Children With Specific Language Impairment

1997 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 480-492 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia L. Cleave ◽  
Mabel L. Rice
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Omission Error ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Language Status ◽  
Normal Language ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Omission Errors

This study examined the production of the morpheme BE, focusing on the influence of contractibility, the relationship between copula and auxiliary forms, and the occurrence of non-omission errors. Language samples collected from children with SLI and from normal language learners at equivalent MLU levels were analyzed. Three levels of contractibility were examined: contractible, syntactically uncontractible, and phonetically uncontractible. Contractible contexts were produced significantly more accurately than uncontractible contexts by both groups. There was no difference between the two forms of uncontractibility. Furthermore, there were no significant interactions between language status and contractibility, suggesting that contractibility influenced both groups equally. Copula forms were produced more consistently than auxiliary. There was no interaction between BE type and language status. The groups did not differ in proportion or type of non-omission error. The results are discussed in relation to accounts of morphological deficits in SLI.

Observing iconic gestures enhances word learning in typically developing children and children with specific language impairment

2017 ◽  
Vol 44 (6) ◽  
pp. 1458-1484 ◽  
Author(s):  
SUSANNE VOGT ◽  
CHRISTINA KAUSCHKE
Keyword(s):  
Word Learning ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Typically Developing Children ◽  
Iconic Gesture ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
New Words ◽  
Language Impaired ◽  
Impaired Children

AbstractResearch has shown that observing iconic gestures helps typically developing children (TD) and children with specific language impairment (SLI) learn new words. So far, studies mostly compared word learning with and without gestures. The present study investigated word learning under two gesture conditions in children with and without language impairment. Twenty children with SLI (age four), twenty age-matched TD children, and twenty language-matched TD children were taught words that were presented with either iconic or non-iconic gestures. Results showed that children of all groups benefited more successfully from observing iconic gestures for word learning. The iconic gesture advantage was similar across groups. Thus, observing iconic gestures prompts richer encoding and makes word learning more efficient in TD and language impaired children.

scholarly journals Exemplar Variability Facilitates Retention of Word Learning by Children With Specific Language Impairment

2018 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica M. Aguilar ◽  
Elena Plante ◽  
Michelle Sandoval
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Word Learning ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Training Session ◽  
High Variability ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
New Words ◽  
Experimental Training

Purpose Variability in the input plays an important role in language learning. The current study examined the role of object variability for new word learning by preschoolers with specific language impairment (SLI). Method Eighteen 4- and 5-year-old children with SLI were taught 8 new words in 3 short activities over the course of 3 sessions. Half of the children saw 3 identical objects corresponding to each new word during training (No Variability group); the other half of the children saw 3 different objects corresponding to each new word during training (High Variability group). Children completed vocabulary learning tests for objects seen during training and for new within-category objects that were never seen during training as a test of category generalization. Learning was assessed the day after each training activity, and retention was assessed 3 weeks after the last training session. Results There were no group differences on trained or generalization items immediately following training sessions. However, children in the High Variability group demonstrated significantly better retention 3 weeks after experimental training. Conclusion These findings demonstrate that object variability facilitates retention of new word learning by children with SLI. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.5583979

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