Specific language impairment in Cypriot Greek

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-236 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleni Theodorou ◽  
Maria Kambanaros ◽  
Kleanthes K. Grohmann
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Clinical Practices ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Modern Greek ◽  
Greek Cypriot ◽  
Language Assessments ◽  
Sensitivity Specificity

Investigating children’s language skills in their native variety is of paramount importance. Clinical practices cannot be based on findings from languages or varieties which have different properties. This paper, after demonstrating the importance of investigating Specific Language Impairment (SLI) in Cyprus, assesses the feasibility of existing language assessments in Standard Modern Greek for the diagnosis of SLI in the Greek Cypriot context, for the children’s native variety of Cypriot Greek. In total, 16 children with SLI (5 to 9 years) and 22 age-matched typically language developing children participated in this study. However, given that not all stimuli in the Standard Greek versions were appropriate for Cypriot Greek-speaking children and because of cultural differences, the tools were adapted. Results showed that the assessment tools can accurately identify children with SLI from typically language developing peers with sensitivity and specificity when the comparison is between children that use the same variety. Keywords: acquisition; bilectalism; diagnosis; sensitivity; specificity

Pragmatics and SLI

1993 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 777-789 ◽  
Author(s):  
Holly K. Craig ◽  
Julia L. Evans
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Receptive Language ◽  
Chronological Age ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Language Status ◽  
Pragmatic Research ◽  
Normal Language ◽  
Mean Length Of Utterance

Selected discourse behaviors of children with specific language impairment (SU) presenting expressive (E:SLI) or combined expressive-receptive deficits (E-R:SLI) were compared to each other and to chronological age-mates and younger mean length of utterance (MLU)-matched children with normal-language skills. The two SLI subgroups varied from each other on specific measures of tum-taking and cohesion. These findings imply the need for future normative work with SLI subgroups differing in receptive skill, and indicate that, in the interim, pragmatic research with this population will need to consider potential effects of receptive language status when interpreting variations in outcomes for discourse-based variables.

Brain Morphology in Children With Specific Language Impairment

1997 ◽  
Vol 40 (6) ◽  
pp. 1272-1284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurie M. Gauger ◽  
Linda J. Lombardino ◽  
Christiana M. Leonard
Keyword(s):  
Left Hemisphere ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Brain Morphology ◽  
Planum Temporale ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Normal Language ◽  
Pars Triangularis ◽  
The Right

The planum temporale and pars triangularis have been found to be larger in the left hemisphere than the right in individuals with normal language skills. Brain morphology studies of individuals with developmental language disorders report reversed asymmetry or symmetry of the planum, although the bulk of this research has been completed on adults with dyslexia. Pars triangularis has not been studied in the developmental language impaired population. In this study, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used for quantitative comparisons of the planum temporale (Wernicke’s area) and pars triangularis (Broca’s area) in children with specific language impairment (SLI) and children with normal language skills. The subjects were 11 children with SLI and 19 age- and sex-matched controls between 5.6 and 13.0 years old. Each subject received a neurolinguistic battery of tests and a high resolution volumetric MRI scan. Major results were that (a) pars triangularis was significantly smaller in the left hemisphere of children with SLI, and (b) children with SLI were more likely to have rightward asymmetry of language structures. Furthermore, anomalous morphology in these language areas correlated with depressed language ability. These findings support the hypothesis that language impairment is a consequence of an underlying neurobiological defect in areas of the brain known to subserve language.

Semantic Features in Fast-Mapping

2004 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 407-420 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Alt ◽  
Elena Plante ◽  
Marlena Creusere
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Recognition Task ◽  
Receptive Language ◽  
Receptive Vocabulary ◽  
Semantic Features ◽  
Fast Mapping ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Novel Objects

This study examined the receptive language skills of young children (4–6 years old) with specific language impairment (SLI). Specifically, the authors looked at their ability to fast-map semantic features of objects and actions and compared it to the performance of age-matched peers with normally developing language (NL). Children completed a computer task during which they were exposed to novel objects and actions with novel names. The children then were asked questions about the semantic features of these novel objects and actions. Overall, the questions about actions were more difficult for children than objects. The children with SLI were able to recognize fewer semantic features than were their peers with NL. They also performed poorly relative to their peers on a lexical label recognition task. These results lend support to the idea that children with SLI have broader difficulties with receptive vocabulary than simply a reduced ability to acquire labels.

scholarly journals Morphophonology and compensation in Specific Language Impairment: Evidence from Standard Modern Greek and Cypriot Greek

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 95-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Mastropavlou ◽  
Kakia Petinou ◽  
Ianthi Maria Tsimpli ◽  
Anastasios M. Georgiou
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Modern Greek

scholarly journals Promoting Reading Achievement in Children With Developmental Language Disorders: What Can We Learn From Research on Specific Language Impairment and Dyslexia?

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (10) ◽  
pp. 3277-3292
Author(s):  
Suzanne M. Adlof
Keyword(s):  
Academic Achievement ◽  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Language Disorder ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
School Identification ◽  
Potential Benefits

Purpose Specific language impairment (SLI; see also developmental language disorder) and dyslexia are separate, yet frequently co-occurring disorders that confer risks to reading comprehension and academic achievement. Until recently, most studies of one disorder had little consideration of the other, and each disorder was addressed by different practitioners. However, understanding how the two disorders relate to each other is important for advancing theories about each disorder and improving reading comprehension and academic achievement. The purpose of this clinical focus article is to integrate research on SLI and dyslexia as well as advocate for the consideration of comorbidities in future research and clinical practice. Method The first section reviews definitions as well as inclusionary and exclusionary criteria for SLI and dyslexia. The second section reviews research demonstrating that SLI and dyslexia are different disorders that often co-occur. Studies examining language, working memory, and academic achievement in children with separate versus co-occurring SLI and dyslexia are reviewed. The final section compares and contrasts school identification frameworks for children with SLI and dyslexia and considers the potential benefits of incorporating broad language skills into response to intervention (RTI) assessment frameworks. Conclusions Children with weak language skills are at a high risk of experiencing reading problems, but language difficulties are often hidden from view. Directly addressing language skills within school RTI frameworks can help improve the identification and treatment of children with SLI and dyslexia as well as support improved reading comprehension and academic achievement for all students. Presentation Video https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.13063793

Lexical Training Through Modeling and Elicitation Procedures With Late Talkers Who Have Specific Language Impairment and Developmental Delays

2005 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 157-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theresa A. Kouri
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Clinical Practices ◽  
Elicited Imitation ◽  
Home Setting ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Late Talkers ◽  
Play Interactions ◽  
Child Performance ◽  
Target Words

Late talkers with specific language impairment and developmental delay make up a large portion of our early childhood caseloads; therefore, an understanding of best clinical practices for these populations is essential. Early lexical learning was examined in 2 interactive treatment approaches with 29 late-talking preschoolers with language and developmental disabilities. Children were randomly assigned to either a mand-elicited imitation (MEI) condition in which elicitations and imitative prompts were used or to a modeling with auditory bombardment (Mod-AB) condition in which auditory bombardment and play modeling were incorporated with no response demands on participants. Lexical production of target vocabulary words already comprehended was measured during a 10-session training period and then during two 50-min play interactions with a parent/caretaker in the home after treatment was completed. Results indicated that the MEI procedure was relatively more effective in facilitating frequency and rate of target word learning in the treatment setting, but no significant differences were found between conditions in the number or percentage of target words generalized to the home setting. Mod-AB children produced more target words that were limited to the home setting than did MEI children, whose productivity was more balanced across settings. Treatment by aptitude regression analyses indicated that none of the preintervention language, cognitive, or total development aptitude scores were predictive of child performance in 1 treatment condition or the other, although Battelle Developmental Inventory communication scores and sizes of preintervention lexicons were predictive of child performance across conditions. Empirical and clinical issues pertaining to the efficacy of modeling- and elicitation-based procedures for late-talking preschoolers are discussed.

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