Word Learning by Preschoolers With Specific Language Impairment

2005 ◽  
Vol 48 (6) ◽  
pp. 1452-1467 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shelley Gray
Keyword(s):  
Word Learning ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Semantic Representation ◽  
Group Differences ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Semantic Condition ◽  
Drawing Task ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Language Modality

Purpose: This study investigated whether phonological or semantic encoding cues promoted better word learning for children with specific language impairment (SLI) and whether this treatment differentially affected children with SLI and normal language (NL). Method: Twenty-four preschoolers ages 4;0 (years;months) to 5;11 with SLI and 24 age- and gender-matched children with NL participated. The between-group factor was language group (NL, SLI) and within-group factors were language modality (comprehension, recognition, production) and treatment condition (phonological, semantic). Word learning was assessed during fast mapping, word learning, and posttesting with trials to criterion calculated for the number of words learned. A drawing task assessed the change in semantic representation of words. Results: The SLI group comprehended more words in the semantic condition and produced more words in the phonological condition, but the NL group performed similarly in both. The NL group required significantly fewer trials than the SLI group to comprehend words in the semantic and phonological conditions and to produce words in the semantic condition, but between-group differences for production were not significant for the phonological condition. Conclusions: The results suggest that preschoolers with SLI may benefit from cues that highlight the phonological or semantic properties of words but that different cues may aid different aspects of word learning.

scholarly journals Effect of Phonotactic Probability and Neighborhood Density on Word-Learning Configuration by Preschoolers With Typical Development and Specific Language Impairment

2014 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 1011-1025 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shelley Gray ◽  
Andrea Pittman ◽  
Juliet Weinhold
Keyword(s):  
Word Learning ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Neighborhood Density ◽  
Learning Context ◽  
Phonotactic Probability ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Computer Based Learning ◽  
Word Forms ◽  
And Gender

Purpose In this study, the authors assessed the effects of phonotactic probability and neighborhood density on word-learning configuration by preschoolers with specific language impairment (SLI) and typical language development (TD). Method One hundred thirty-one children participated: 48 with SLI, 44 with TD matched on age and gender, and 39 with TD matched on vocabulary and gender. Referent identification and naming were assessed in a computer-based learning context. Results For referent identification, preschoolers with TD benefited from high phonotactic probability, and the younger group also benefited from low neighborhood density. In contrast, the SLI group benefited only from high neighborhood density. For naming, older preschoolers with TD benefited most from low-density words, younger preschoolers with TD benefited most from words with high phonotactic probability, and the SLI group showed no advantage. Conclusion Phonotactic probability and neighborhood density had different effects on each group that may be related to children's ability to store well-specified word forms and to the size of their extant lexicon. The authors argue that cross-study comparisons of word learning are needed; therefore, researchers should describe word, referent, and learner characteristics and the learning context and should situate their studies in a triggering → configuration + engagement model of word learning.

Learning, Forgetting, and Relearning: Skill Learning in Children With Language Impairment

2014 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 696-707 ◽  
Author(s):  
Esther Adi-Japha ◽  
Haia Abu-Asba
Keyword(s):  
Motor Skills ◽  
Skill Acquisition ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Skill Learning ◽  
Group Differences ◽  
Fine Motor ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Retention Testing ◽  
Over Time

Purpose The current study tested whether the difficulties of children with specific language impairment (SLI) in skill acquisition are related to learning processes that occur while practicing a new skill or to the passage of time between practice and later performance. Method The acquisition and retention of a new complex grapho-motor symbol were studied in 5-year-old children with SLI and peers matched for age and nonverbal IQ. The children practiced the production of the symbol for 4 consecutive days. Retention testing took place 10 days later. Results Children with SLI began each practice day slower than their peers but attained similar levels of performance by its end. Although they increased their performance speed within sessions more than their peers, they did not retain their learning as well between sessions. The loss in speed was largest in the 10-day retention interval. They were also less accurate, but accuracy differences decreased over time. Between-session group differences in speed could not fully be accounted for based on fine motor skills. Conclusions In spite of effective within-session learning, children with SLI did not retain the new skill well. The deficit may be attributed to task forgetting in the presence of delayed consolidation processes.

scholarly journals Interactive Book Reading to Accelerate Word Learning by Kindergarten Children With Specific Language Impairment: Identifying Adequate Progress and Successful Learning Patterns

2017 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 108-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Holly L. Storkel ◽  
Rouzana Komesidou ◽  
Kandace K. Fleming ◽  
Rebecca Swinburne Romine
Keyword(s):  
Word Learning ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Clinical Decision Making ◽  
Kindergarten Children ◽  
Book Reading ◽  
Limiting Factor ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Naming Test ◽  
Interactive Book

Purpose The goal of this study was to provide guidance to clinicians on early benchmarks of successful word learning in an interactive book reading treatment and to examine how encoding and memory evolution during treatment contribute to word learning outcomes by kindergarten children with specific language impairment (SLI). Method Twenty-seven kindergarten children with SLI participated in a preliminary clinical trial using interactive book reading to teach 30 new words. Word learning was assessed at 4 points during treatment through a picture naming test. Results The results indicate that the following performance during treatment was cause for concern, indicating a need to modify the treatment: naming 0–1 treated words correctly at Naming Test 1; naming 0–2 treated words correctly at Naming Test 2; naming 0–3 treated words correctly at Naming Test 3. In addition, the results showed that encoding was the primary limiting factor in word learning, but memory evolution also contributed (albeit to a lesser degree) to word learning success. Conclusion Case illustrations demonstrate how a clinician's understanding of a child's word learning strengths and weaknesses develop over the course of treatment, substantiating the importance of regular data collection and clinical decision-making to ensure the best possible outcomes for each individual child.

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.

Preferences for Verb Interpretation in Children With Specific Language Impairment

1994 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 182-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donna J. Kelly ◽  
Mabel L. Rice
Keyword(s):  
Old Age ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Group Differences ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
State Activity ◽  
Interpretation Biases ◽  
Change Of State ◽  
Verb Categories

This study examined initial preferences for verb interpretation by children with specific language impairment (SLI), MLU-matched children, and age-matched children. Each child watched motion and change-of-state activity scenes on videotape and was then asked to point to the scene that depicted a novel verb, thereby indicating a preferred interpretation. The children were also asked to label the same activity scenes on a second tape. The findings indicated that the 5-year-old age-matched children exhibited a significant verb interpretation preference for the change-of-state scenes, whereas the children with specific language impairment and their 3-year-old MLU-matched peers did not have an interpretation preference for either the motion or change-of-state scenes. The children’s labeling of the activity scenes yielded findings that further supported group differences on the two semantic verb categories. The findings suggest that children’s initial verb interpretation biases vary relative to age and language proficiency.

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 in Children With Vocabulary Deficits

2005 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 439-458 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marysia Nash ◽  
Morag L. Donaldson
Keyword(s):  
Word Learning ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Naming Task ◽  
Learning Deficits ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Teaching Context ◽  
Explicit Teaching ◽  
Phonological Form ◽  
Semantic Properties

Word learning in 16 children with specific language impairment (SLI) was compared with that of chronological-age controls (CAC) and vocabulary-age controls (VAC), to examine the extent and nature of word-learning deficits in the children with SLI. The children were exposed to novel words in a story and an explicit teaching context. Five tasks assessed how much the children had learned about the words' phonological form and semantic properties after 6 repetitions (Time 1) and again after 12 repetitions (Time 2) of the words in each context. The SLI group performed significantly worse than the CAC group at both Time 1 and Time 2 on all measures of the words presented in both contexts. They performed similarly to the VAC group (who were on average 2 1/2 years younger) on Time 1 and Time 2 measures from both contexts, except for the Naming task at Time 2, on which their performance was significantly lower. These findings suggest that children with vocabulary deficits have difficulties with both phonological and semantic aspects of word learning.

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