The Use of an Invented Language Rule in the Differentiation of Normal and Language-Impaired Spanish-Speaking Children

1991 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 596-603 ◽  
Author(s):  
Celeste A. Roseberry ◽  
Phil J. Connell
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
Limited English Proficiency ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Normal Children ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Language Impaired ◽  
Spanish Speaking ◽  
Teaching Procedure ◽  
Impaired Group ◽  
Impaired Children

The purpose of the present study was to determine whether the results of a language-teaching procedure could be used to identify specific language-impaired children in a group of bilingual children with limited English proficiency (LEP). An invented morpheme was taught to two groups of LEP children who had been previously identified as normal and specific language-impaired. The language-impaired group learned the morpheme at a slower rate than the normal children, thus allowing the two groups to be differentiated. The approach promises to circumvent many of the obstacles that impede current practices for identifying language impairment in the LEP population.

The acquisition of object names in children with specific language impairment: Action context and word extension

1987 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 233-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard G. Schwartz ◽  
Laurence B. Leonard ◽  
Cheryl Messick ◽  
Kathy Chapman
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Expressive Language ◽  
Normal Children ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Language Impaired ◽  
Action Context ◽  
Impaired Children ◽  
Unfamiliar Object

ABSTRACTSpecifically-language-impaired children and younger normal children matched for expressive language were presented with unfamiliar object names and referents across five experimental sessions. The objects differed in the degree to which they were associated with actions, and only certain of the object exemplars were named during presentation. Comprehension testing revealed that the specifically-language-impaired children acquired a greater number of object concepts presented in a no-action condition than the normal children. However, their extension of the names to new exemplars was more restricted and less differentiated. Several possible accounts of these findings are evaluated.

Early Lexical Acquisition in Children with Specific Language Impairment

1982 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 554-564 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurence B. Leonard ◽  
Richard G. Schwartz ◽  
Kathy Chapman ◽  
Lynne E. Rowan ◽  
Patricia A. Prelock ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Lexical Acquisition ◽  
Normal Children ◽  
Linguistic Development ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Language Impaired ◽  
Similar Tendency

This study examined the characteristics of early lexical acquisition in children with specific language impairment. Sixteen unfamiliar words and referents were exposed across 10 sessions to language-impaired and normal children matched for level of linguistic development. Posttesting revealed similar comprehension-production gaps in the two groups of children. In addition, both groups showed greater comprehension and production of words referring to objects than words referring to actions. However, the language-impaired children's object word bias was not as marked as that of the normal children. For both groups, words containing initial consonants within the children's production repertoires were more likely to be acquired in production than words containing consonants absent from the children's phonologies. A similar tendency was not seen for comprehension.

Lexical Imitation and Acquisition in Language-Impaired Children

1985 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard G. Schwartz ◽  
Laurence B. Leonard
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Lexical Acquisition ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Language Impaired ◽  
Impaired Children ◽  
Novel Words

This investigation examined the influence of unsolicited lexical imitation on the comprehension and on the production of novel words by language-impaired children. Subjects were 13 children (2:8–3:1) exhibiting specific language impairment who were presented with 16 unfamiliar words referring to unfamiliar objects or actions over 10 experimental sessions. Unsolicited imitations appeared to facilitate subsequent production of these words on a posttest. This effect was greatest when these words were also produced spontaneously prior to the posttest. Words that were produced imitatively and spontaneously also appeared more frequently in spontaneous usage than words that were only produced spontaneously. No relationship between such imitations and comprehension was observed. These findings suggest that unsolicited imitations benefit children's lexical acquisition primarily by providing them with additional opportunities to produce words that are in the process of being established in their expressive lexicons.

scholarly journals The comprehension of deictic terms in normal and language impaired children

1981 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Mentis
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Analysis ◽  
The Other ◽  
Developmental Sequence ◽  
Stages Of Development ◽  
Normal Children ◽  
Language Impaired ◽  
Semantic Complexity ◽  
Impaired Group ◽  
Age Range ◽  
Impaired Children

This study examined the comprehension of four pairs of deictic terms in a group of language impaired children and compared their interpretation of these terms with those of non-language impaired children of the same age range. Each group was comprised of ten subjects within the age range of 9,6 to 10,6 years. Two tasks were administered, one to assess the comprehension of the terms here, there, this, and that and the other to assess the comprehension of the terms, come, go, bring and take. The results showed that while the non-language impaired subjects comprehended the full deictic contrast between the pairs of terms tested, the language impaired group did not. A qualitative analysis of the data revealed that the language impaired subjects appeared to follow the same developmental sequence as normal children in their acquisition of these terms and responded by using the same strategies that younger non-language impaired children use at equivalent stages of development. Furthermore, the language impaired subjects appeared to comprehend the deictic terms in a predictable order based on their relative semantic complexity.

scholarly journals Aspects of cohesion, tense and pronoun usage in the discourse of the older language-impaired child

1978 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hilary Berger ◽  
Aletta Sinoff
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
Impaired Child ◽  
Normal Children ◽  
Situational Context ◽  
Language Impaired ◽  
Diagnosis And Therapy ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Impaired Children

Aspects of the discourse of 5 language-impaired children and 5 children with no language impairment, aged approximately 9 years, were compared. A film and a story sequence were utilised to elicit narratives on which, measures of cohesion, tense and pronouns were appraised. Measures of cohesion refer  to the ability to indicate appropriately the relations of meaning with regard to situational context. Measures of tense include aspects of tense range and tense continuity. Measures of  pronouns refer  to the anaphoric use of  pronouns with non-ambiguous referents.  The group of language-impaired children was found  to be significantly poorer on measures of  cohesion and pronominal usage than the normal children, whereas a significant difference between the two groups was not revealed on measures of tense. Possible factors  accounting for  these findings  were discussed and implications for the diagnosis and therapy of the older language-impaired child were considered.

Toward an Understanding of Developmental Language and Reading Disorders

1986 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 337-347 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan G. Kamhi ◽  
Hugh W. Catts
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
Phonological Processing ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
Phonological Information ◽  
Normal Children ◽  
Language Impaired ◽  
Sentence Repetition ◽  
History Of ◽  
Reading Impairments ◽  
Impaired Children

The primary purpose of this study was to compare the ability of language-impaired and reading-impaired children to process (i.e., encode and retrieve) phonological information. Four measures of phonological awareness and several measures of word and sentence repetition abilities were used to evaluate phonological processing skills. Two additional measures assessed children's awareness of lexical and morphological information. Subjects were 12 language-impaired (LI), 12 reading-impaired (RI), and 12 normal children between the ages of 6 and 8 years. The findings supported previous claims that children with reading impairments have difficulty processing phonological information. To our surprise, however, the LI children performed significantly worse than the RI children on only three measures, all involving word and sentence repetition. These findings raise questions about the distinctiveness of school-age children with a history of language impairment and poor readers with no history of language impairment.

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.

Comments on Specific Language Impairment as a Clinical Category

1991 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 84-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorothy M. Aram
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Language Disorders ◽  
Heterogeneous Group ◽  
Intervention Programs ◽  
Causal Factors ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Language Impaired ◽  
Impaired Children ◽  
Clinical Category

This paper views specific language disorders as a heterogeneous group of language-impaired children consisting of distinct subtypes, each potentially accounted for by differing causal factors. Identifying causal factors for subgroups of children with specific language impairment is important (a) to extend our discipline beyond the descriptive stage of science, (b) to address questions motivating referrals from parents and professionals, (c) to plan intervention programs, and to prevent specific language disorders.

Selection of Children with Specific Language Deficits

1981 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 114-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel E. Stark ◽  
Paula Tallal
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
Receptive Language ◽  
Behavioral Disorder ◽  
Exclusion Criteria ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Language Impaired ◽  
Language Deficit ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Impaired Children ◽  
Selection Of

A standard approach to the selection of children with specific language deficit was devised. The approach was based on a current definition of specific language deficit that depends heavily on exclusion criteria. Children with known language deficit who had hearing impairment, cognitive deficit, neurologic deficit, or emotional or behavioral disorder were excluded. Both the exclusion criteria and the criteria dealing with required extent of language impairment were specified in considerable detail. A total of 132 language-impaired children aged 4–8 1/2 years were assessed. Criteria for selection of a matched group of normal-language children were also specified. The language-impaired children were referred to the project by speech and language clinicians in accordance with a set of broadly defined criteria. Contrary to expectations, less than one third of the children from this group met the more precisely defined criteria employed in the project. In addition, those who were selected did not form a homogeneous group but showed considerable variation in expressive versus receptive language and in articulation skill. The selection approach and its effectiveness for the purposes of clinical research and intervention studies are discussed.

Proportional and Functional Analogical Reasoning in Normal and Language-Impaired Children

1988 ◽  
Vol 53 (4) ◽  
pp. 440-448 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marilyn A. Nippold ◽  
Barbara J. Erskine ◽  
Donald B. Freed
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Analogical Reasoning ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Nonverbal Intelligence ◽  
Normal Children ◽  
Language Impaired ◽  
New Concepts ◽  
The One ◽  
Impaired Children

Teachers often use analogies in classroom settings to clarify new concepts for their students. However, analogies may inadvertently confuse the youngster who has difficulty identifying the one-to-one comparisons underlying them. Although analogical reasoning has been studied extensively in normal children, no information was available concerning this construct in children having a specific language impairment. Thus, it was unknown to what extent they might be deficient in analogical reasoning. Therefore, in the present study, 20 children ages 6--8 years (mean age = 7:6) having normal nonverbal intelligence but deficits in language comprehension were administered tasks of verbal and perceptual proportional analogical reasoning and a problem-solving task of functional analogical reasoning. Compared to a normal-language control group matched on the basis of chronological age and sex, the language-impaired group was deficient in all three tasks of analogical reasoning. However, when the factor of nonverbal intelligence was controlled statistically, the differences between the groups on each of the tasks were removed. Additional findings were that verbal proportional analogical reasoning was significantly correlated to perceptual proportional analogical reasoning and to functional analogical reasoning. Implications for assessment and intervention with young school-age language-impaired children are discussed.

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