A Pilot Study of Language Facilitation for Bilingual, Language-Handicapped Children

1985 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 403-406 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph A. Perozzi

Three Spanish-speaking (SS) and 3 English-Speaking (ES) preschool children served as subjects. One SS subject was diagnosed as having mild language delay, 1 as being language disordered, and 1 as having normal language. One ES subject was diagnosed as having mild language delay and 2 as having normal language. A within-subject design wherein Condition A consisted of teaching receptive vocabulary in L1 (native language) followed by L2 (second language) and Condition B consisted of teaching receptive vocabulary in L2 followed by L1 was utilized. The sequence of conditions was ABBA for each subject. Analysis of each subject's trials to criterion for L2 in each condition indicated a strong tendency for recently learned receptive vocabulary in L1 to facilitate the learning of receptive vocabulary in L2. The results are interpreted as support for the practice of initial language intervention in L1 when bilingualism is a goal and for transference/facilitation theories of L2 learning.

1997 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 34-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne van Kleeck ◽  
Ronald B. Gillam ◽  
Barbara Davis

We commend Paul for undertaking an investigation that concerns critical clinical and theoretical issues. This type of longitudinal developmental research is exactly what is needed to advance the scientific basis of our profession. We also respect Paul's attempt to construct a firm bridge between her findings and their clinical implications. The necessary and sufficient data that completely solve a clinical problem are rarely available. Because clinicians do not have the luxury of waiting until the best data imaginable are collected and analyzed before acting, it is helpful for researchers to generalize their results to the extent possible. However, because of its potential clinical, economic, and educational implications, we believe that a broad social policy like Paul's "watch and see" recommendation should be based on unambiguous evidence. We have suggested that a number of the children in Paul's cohort may have been within the normal range in language development at the beginning of the study. Without individual data, it is impossible for us to know whether or not this was the case. To the extent that our suspicions hold true, Paul's study tells us that a number of children who function at the low end of the normal range of language development between 20 and 34 months stay within the normal range throughout the preschool and early school-age years. Paul's suggestion of "watch and see" seems reasonable enough for the 74% of the children who tested within the normal range by kindergarten and first grade, but it may not have been sufficient for the 26% who did not. We believe children like those in this latter group would probably benefit from preschool language intervention and that very valuable language learning time could be lost if Paul's general "watch and see" policy were implemented. It is possible that children with good outcomes and children with language delays that were significant and persistent had different profiles with respect to expressive vocabulary, receptive vocabulary, speech, and communicative intentions at the onset of the study. If so, one broad social policy may not be sufficient. We have asked Paul to provide additional data about the nature of the language difficulties exhibited by the children at the outset of her study, the predictors of continued language delay, and the results of language intervention efforts. It is our hope that Paul can provide the kinds of additional data and analyses we have requested in this discussion, and that this data can serve as the basis for refinements in definitions of early language delay, decisions about providing clinical services to very young children, and methods for analyzing intervention efficacy.


2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia H. Manz ◽  
Ageliki Nicolopoulou ◽  
Catherine B. Bracaliello ◽  
Allison N. Ash

2021 ◽  
pp. 193229682110292
Author(s):  
David Tsai ◽  
Jaquelin Flores Garcia ◽  
Jennifer L. Fogel ◽  
Choo Phei Wee ◽  
Mark W. Reid ◽  
...  

Background: Diabetes technologies, such as insulin pumps and continuous glucose monitors (CGM), have been associated with improved glycemic control and increased quality of life for young people with type 1 diabetes (T1D); however, few young people use these devices, especially those from minority ethnic groups. Current literature predominantly focuses on white patients with private insurance and does not report experiences of diverse pediatric patients with limited resources. Methods: To explore potential differences between Latinx and non-Latinx patients, English- and Spanish-speaking young people with T1D ( n = 173, ages 11-25 years) were surveyed to assess attitudes about and barriers to diabetes technologies using the Technology Use Attitudes and Barriers to Device Use questionnaires. Results: Both English- and Spanish-speaking participants who identified as Latinx were more likely to have public insurance ( P = .0001). English-speaking Latinx participants reported higher Hemoglobin A1c values ( P = .003), less CGM use ( P = .002), and more negative attitudes about technology (generally, P = .003; and diabetes-specific, P < .001) than either non-Latinx or Spanish-speaking Latinx participants. Barriers were encountered with equivalent frequency across groups. Conclusions: Latinx English-speaking participants had less positive attitudes toward general and diabetes technology than Latinx Spanish-speaking and non-Latinx English-speaking peers, and differences in CGM use were associated with socioeconomic status. Additional work is needed to design and deliver diabetes interventions that are of interest to and supportive of patients from diverse ethnic and language backgrounds.


1993 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 523-549 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donna Jackson-Maldonado ◽  
Donna Thal ◽  
Virginia Marchman ◽  
Elizabeth Bates ◽  
Vera Gutierrez-Clellen

ABSTRACTThis paper describes the early lexical development of a group of 328 normal Spanish-speaking children aged 0;8 to 2;7. First the development and structure of a new parent report instrument,Inventario del Desarollo de Habilidades Communcativasis described. Then five studies carried out with the instrument are presented. In the first study vocabulary development of Spanish-speaking infants and toddlers is compared to that of English-speaking infants and toddlers. The English data were gathered using a comparable parental report, theMacArthur Communicative Development Inventories. In the second study the general characteristics of Spanish language acquisition, and the effects of various demographic factors on that process, are examined. Study 3 examines the differential effects of three methods of collecting the data (mail-in, personal interview, and clinic waiting room administration). Studies 4 and 5 document the reliability and validity of the instrument. Results show that the trajectories of development are very similar for Spanish-and English-speaking children in this age range, that children from varying social groups develop similarly, and that mail-in and personal interview administration techniques produce comparable results. Inventories administered in a medical clinic waiting room, on the otherhand, produced lower estimates of toddler vocabulary than the other two models.


2015 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-28
Author(s):  
Jennifer Keogh ◽  
Fiona Gibbon ◽  
Cara Teahan

Objective: To determine if the Core Language Screen, a widely-used language screening tool, accurately identifies language delay in children from a disadvantaged community. Method: Participants were 234 children with mean age 4;07 years attending primary and preschools in a city area designated as disadvantaged in the south of Ireland. Participants were assessed on the CLS (screen) and full CELF-P2UK (gold standard) test. Sensitivity and specificity levels of the CLS were calculated. Main results: In total, 73 (31%) children had language delay on the CELF P2UK but of this group 34 (47%) passed the CLS screen. This gives the CLS a low sensitivity level of 0.53. In contrast, only one child with normal language failed the screen. This gives the CLS an excellent specificity level of 0.99. The results revealed an unusual profile of weaker receptive compared to expressive skills in all children, although it was particularly evident in those with language delay. Conclusion: The CLS failed to identify almost half the group with delays and therefore is not an accurate language screening tool for clinical or research purposes. Further research is needed to investigate not only the poor identification accuracy of the CLS but also the children’s unusual profile of weaker receptive and stronger expressive language skills.


Author(s):  
Craig Allen

The first completely researched history of U.S. Spanish-language television traces the rise of two foremost, if widely unrecognized, modern American enterprises—the Spanish-language networks Univision and Telemundo. It is a standard scholarly history constructed from archives, original interviews, reportage, and other public materials. Occasioned by the public’s wakening to a “Latinization” of the U.S., the book demonstrates that the emergence of Spanish-language television as a force in mass communication is essential to understanding the increasing role of Latinos and Latino affairs in modern American society. It argues that a combination of foreign and domestic entrepreneurs and innovators who overcame large odds resolves a significant and timely question: In an English-speaking country, how could a Spanish-speaking institution have emerged? Through exploration of significant and colorful pioneers, continuing conflicts and setbacks, landmark strides, and ongoing controversies—and with revelations that include regulatory indecision, behind-the-scenes tug-of-war, and the internationalization of U.S. mass media—the rise of a Spanish-language institution in the English-speaking U.S. is explained. Nine chapters that begin with Spanish-language television’s inception in 1961 and end 2012 chronologically narrate the endeavor’s first 50 years. Events, passages, and themes are thoroughly referenced.


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