Error Type and Lexical Frequency Effects: Error Detection in Swedish Children With Language Impairment

2017 ◽  
Vol 60 (10) ◽  
pp. 2924-2934 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Eva Hallin ◽  
Christina Reuterskiöld
Keyword(s):  
Preschool Children ◽  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Error Detection ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
Past Tense ◽  
School Age ◽  
Lexical Frequency ◽  
Control Error ◽  
Frequency Effects

Purpose The first aim of this study was to investigate if Swedish-speaking school-age children with language impairment (LI) show specific morphosyntactic vulnerabilities in error detection. The second aim was to investigate the effects of lexical frequency on error detection, an overlooked aspect of previous error detection studies. Method Error sensitivity for grammatical structures vulnerable in Swedish-speaking preschool children with LI (omission of the indefinite article in a noun phrase with a neuter/common noun, and use of the infinitive instead of past-tense regular and irregular verbs) was compared to a control error (singular noun instead of plural). Target structures involved a high-frequency (HF) or a low-frequency (LF) noun/verb. Grammatical and ungrammatical sentences were presented in headphones, and responses were collected through button presses. Results Children with LI had similar sensitivity to the plural control error as peers with typical language development, but lower sensitivity to past-tense errors and noun phrase errors. All children showed lexical frequency effects for errors involving verbs (HF > LF), and noun gender effects for noun phrase errors (common > neuter). Conclusions School-age children with LI may have subtle difficulties with morphosyntactic processing that mirror expressive difficulties in preschool children with LI. Lexical frequency may affect morphosyntactic processing, which has clinical implications for assessment of grammatical knowledge.

scholarly journals The Potential of Past Tense Marking in Oral Reading as a Clinical Marker of Specific Language Impairment in School-Age Children

2017 ◽  
Vol 60 (12) ◽  
pp. 3561-3572 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krystal L. Werfel ◽  
Alison Eisel Hendricks ◽  
C. Melanie Schuele
Keyword(s):  
Oral Reading ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
Past Tense ◽  
School Age ◽  
Significant Group ◽  
Significant Group Difference ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Clinical Marker

PurposeThe purpose of this study was twofold. The first aim was to explore differences in profiles of past tense marking in oral reading of school-age children with specific language impairment (SLI). The second aim was to explore the potential of past tense marking in oral reading as a clinical marker of SLI in school-age children.MethodThis study examined oral readings of connected text to describe the frequency and type of reading errors on regular and irregular past tense verbs for 21 children with SLI as compared to 30 children with typical language in Grades 2 and 3. Each past tense verb token was categorized into 1 of 6 mutually exclusive response types: (a) correctly marked past tense, (b) overmarked past tense, (c) bare stem, (d) other verb inflection, (e) nonverb, or (f) no response. Performance across groups was compared. Additionally, classification statistics were calculated at several cutoffs for regular past tense accuracy and regular past tense finiteness marking.ResultsFor regular past tense, there was a significant group difference on accuracy. Children with SLI were less accurate at marking past tense when in oral reading than typical language peers; other response types did not differ. For irregular past tense, there were no group differences. In addition, there was a significant group difference on finiteness marking; this difference was driven by regular but not irregular verbs. A cutoff of 90% for regular past tense accuracy yielded moderate sensitivity and specificity; no cutoff for regular past tense finiteness marking yielded sensitivity above 70%.ConclusionsRegular past tense accuracy in oral reading provides promise as a clinical marker for diagnosing SLI in school-age children.

Language and Behavior Disorders in School-Age Children: Comorbidity and Communication in the Classroom

2012 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 111-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra Hollo
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Language Disorder ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
School Age ◽  
Social Emotional ◽  
Behavioral Support ◽  
School Professionals ◽  
Development Characteristic ◽  
And Behavior

Language development is the foundation for competence in social, emotional, behavioral, and academic performance. Although language impairment (LI) is known to co-occur with behavioral and mental health problems, LI is likely to be overlooked in school-age children with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD; Hollo, Wehby, & Oliver, in press). Because language deficits may contribute to the problem behavior and poor social development characteristic of children with EBD, the consequences of an undiagnosed language disorder can be devastating. Implications include the need to train school professionals to recognize communication deficits. Further, it is critically important that specialists collaborate to provide linguistic and behavioral support for students with EBD and LI.

scholarly journals The Efficacy of an Explicit Intervention Approach to Improve Past Tense Marking for Early School-Age Children With Developmental Language Disorder

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Samuel D. Calder ◽  
Mary Claessen ◽  
Susan Ebbels ◽  
Suze Leitão
Keyword(s):  
Language Disorder ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
Past Tense ◽  
School Age ◽  
Developmental Language Disorder ◽  
Post Intervention ◽  
Standardized Measures ◽  
Early School ◽  
Early School Age

Purpose The aim of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of a theoretically motivated explicit intervention approach to improve regular past tense marking for early school-age children with developmental language disorder (DLD). Method Twenty-one children with DLD (ages 5;9–6;9 [years;months]) were included in a crossover randomized controlled trial (intervention, n = 10; waiting control, n = 11). Intervention included once-weekly sessions over 10 weeks using the SHAPE CODING system, in combination with a systematic cueing hierarchy to teach past tense marking. Once the first group completed intervention, the waiting control group crossed over to the intervention condition. The primary outcome was criterion-referenced measures of past tense marking with standardized measures of expressive and receptive grammar as the secondary outcome. Ancillary analyses on extension and behavioral control measures of morphosyntax were also conducted. Results There was a significant Time × Group interaction ( p < .001) with a significant difference in pre–post intervention improvement in favor of the intervention group ( p < .001, d = 3.03). Further analysis once both groups had received the intervention revealed no improvement for either group on past tense production during the 5-week pre-intervention period, significant improvement pre–post intervention ( p < . 001, d = 1.22), with gains maintained for 5 weeks postintervention. No significant differences were found on pre- to postintervention standardized measures of grammar, or on extension or control measures. Conclusions The efficacy of the theoretically motivated explicit grammar intervention was demonstrated. Results contribute to the evidence base supporting this intervention to improve past tense production in early school-age children with DLD, suggesting it is a viable option for clinicians to select when treating morphosyntactic difficulties for this population. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.13345202

Using Finiteness as a Clinical Marker to Identify Language Impairment

2014 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 148-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea C. Ash ◽  
Sean M. Redmond
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
Operational Definition ◽  
Language Impairments ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
School Age ◽  
Clinical Use ◽  
Clinical Marker ◽  
Language Tests ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Primary Measure

Intervention rates for children with language impairments vary widely across reports. Unfortunately, many language tests focus on areas of language that are not problematic for children with language impairments (LI). Over twenty years of research supports limitations in finiteness as a clinical marker of LI. However, speech language pathologists (SLPs) have been reluctant to include assessments of finiteness in clinical decisions for young school-age children. This article addresses the operational definition of finiteness which may have created a barrier to its clinical use. We recommend that SLPs include the Test of Early Grammatical Impairment as a primary measure of finiteness for identifying language impairment in children between 3 and 8 years of age because of its clinical flexibility and high levels of sensitivity and specificity.

Quick Incidental Learning (QUIL) of Words by School-Age Children With and Without SLI

1995 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 434-445 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janna B. Oetting ◽  
Mabel L. Rice ◽  
Linda K. Swank
Keyword(s):  
Word Learning ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Incidental Learning ◽  
General Pattern ◽  
Affective State ◽  
Learning Ability ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
School Age ◽  
Semantic Classes

This study examined Quick Incidental Learning (QUIL) of novel vocabulary by two groups of school-age children, those who were developing language normally and those who demonstrated a specific language impairment (SLI). The experimental items consisted of 20 words that referred to one of four semantic classes: object, attribute, action, and affective state. Videotaped stories were used to introduce the novel words, and word learning was measured by a picture-pointing task. For the normally developing children, the results documented a robust ability to learn words in the early school years. Comprehension gains were observed for all four word types, with the greatest gain made on the object labels. The children with SLI also demonstrated some word-learning ability, but their gain was significantly less than that of their normally developing peers. Although the general pattern of word effects was similar across the two groups, the children with SLI demonstrated a particularly low gain on words from the action class.

EMDR With Children and Adolescents After Single-Incident Trauma An Intervention Study

2009 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Hensel
Keyword(s):  
Preschool Children ◽  
Children And Adolescents ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Private Practice ◽  
Intervention Study ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
School Age ◽  
Slight Improvement

This study used a naturalistic design to investigate the effectiveness of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) with children and adolescents who were exposed to single-incident trauma. Participants were 36 children and adolescents ranging in age from 1 year 9 months to 18 years 1 month who were referred consecutively to the author’s private practice. Assessments were conducted at intake, post-waitlist/pretreatment, and at follow up. EMDR treatment resulted in significant improvement (Cohen’s d = 1.87). Follow-ups after 6 months revealed stable, further slight improvement. It was shown that children younger than 4 years of age can be treated using EMDR and that the group of preschool children had the same benefit from the treatment as the school-age children.

scholarly journals The Development of Language-Specific and Language-Independent Talker Processing

2013 ◽  
Vol 56 (3) ◽  
pp. 913-925 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susannah V. Levi ◽  
Richard G. Schwartz
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Language Impairments ◽  
Language Ability ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
School Age ◽  
Development Of Language ◽  
Perceptual Abilities

Purpose In this study, the authors aimed to investigate how differences in language ability relate to differences in processing talker information in the native language and an unfamiliar language by comparing performance for different ages and for groups with impaired language. Method Three groups of native English listeners with typical language development (TLD; ages 7–9, ages 10–12, adults) and 2 groups with specific language impairment (SLI; ages 7–9, ages 10–12) participated in the study. Listeners heard pairs of words in both English and German (unfamiliar language) and were asked to determine whether the words were produced by the same or different talkers. Results In English, talker discrimination improved with age. In German, performance improved with age for the school-age children but was worse for adult listeners. No differences were found between TLD and SLI children. Conclusion These results show that as listeners' language skills develop, there is a trade-off between more general perceptual abilities useful for processing talker information in any language and those that are relevant to their everyday language experiences and, thus, tied to the phonology. The lack of differences between the children with and without language impairments suggests that general auditory processing may be intact in at least some children with SLI.

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