scholarly journals The Pragmatic Language Skills of Severely Neglected 42-Month-Old Children: Results of the ELLAN Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 244-253 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mélissa Di Sante ◽  
Audette Sylvestre ◽  
Caroline Bouchard ◽  
Jean Leblond
Keyword(s):  
Social Communication ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Old French ◽  
Pragmatic Language ◽  
Social Communication Skills ◽  
Pragmatic Language Skills ◽  
French Speaking ◽  
Pragmatic Skills ◽  
Neglected Children

The goals of this study were twofold: (1) to compare the pragmatic language skills (i.e., social communication skills) of 42-month-old neglected children with those of same-aged non-neglected children and (2) to measure the prevalence of pragmatic difficulties among the neglected children. The study sample was composed of 45 neglected and 95 non-neglected 42-month-old French-speaking children. The Language Use Inventory: French (LUI-French) was completed with all parents. This measure, comprised of 159 scored items divided into 10 subscales, was used to assess the children’s pragmatic skills. The 10th percentile on the LUI-French (95% confidence interval ) was used to identify children with pragmatic difficulties. The neglected children had lower scores than the non-neglected children on all 10 dimensions of pragmatics evaluated ( p < .01), as well as lower LUI-French Total Scores ( p < .001). The effect sizes of these differences varied between 0.84 and 2.78. Forty-four percent of the neglected children presented significant pragmatic difficulties compared to 4.2% of their non-neglected peers ( p < .001). It can be concluded that exposure to neglect significantly compromises children’s pragmatic skills. These results support the need for interventions geared toward neglected children and their families to support the early development of their pragmatic skills.

scholarly journals A novel online assessment of pragmatic and core language skills: An attempt to tease apart language domains in children

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Alexander C. WILSON ◽  
Dorothy V. M. BISHOP
Keyword(s):  
Factor Analysis ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Zero Order ◽  
Pragmatic Language ◽  
Online Assessment ◽  
Pragmatic Language Skills ◽  
Confirmatory Factor ◽  
Pragmatic Skills ◽  
Core Language

Abstract It remains unclear whether pragmatic language skills and core language skills (grammar and vocabulary) are distinct language domains. The present work aimed to tease apart these domains using a novel online assessment battery administered to almost 400 children aged 7 to 13 years. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that pragmatic and core language domains could be measured separately, but that both domains were highly related (r = .79). However, zero-order correlations between pragmatic tests were quite small, indicating that task-specific skills played an important role in performance, and follow-up exploratory factor analysis suggested that pragmatics might be best understood as a family of skills rather than a domain. This means that these different pragmatic skills may have different cognitive underpinnings and also need to be assessed separately. However, our overall results supported the idea that pragmatic and core aspects of language are closely related during development, with one area scaffolding development in the other.

scholarly journals Predicting Quality of Life and Behavior and Emotion from Functional Auditory and Pragmatic Language Abilities in 9-Year-Old Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Children

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (22) ◽  
pp. 5357
Author(s):  
Teresa Y. C. Ching ◽  
Linda Cupples ◽  
Greg Leigh ◽  
Sanna Hou ◽  
Angela Wong
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Social Communication ◽  
Functional Performance ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Pragmatic Language ◽  
Language Abilities ◽  
Psychosocial Skills ◽  
Pragmatic Language Skills ◽  
Auditory Performance

Children who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) are likely to exhibit difficulties in development of psychosocial skills, pragmatic language skills, and use of hearing for social communication in real-world environments. Some evidence suggests that pragmatic language use affects peer-relationships and school engagement in these children. However, no studies have investigated the influence of functional auditory performance and use of language and speech in real-world environments on children’s behavior and emotion, and on their health-related quality of life. This study explored the relationship in DHH children at 9 years of age. Data from 144 participants of the Longitudinal Outcomes of Children with Hearing Impairment study were analyzed. Parent reports were obtained on quality of life, behavior and emotion, pragmatic language skills, and auditory functional performance of children in real life. Children’s spoken language abilities and speech intelligibility were assessed by research speech pathologists. On average, performance of children in all domains was within the range of typically developing peers. There were significant associations among functional auditory performance, use of speech and language skills, psychosocial skills, and quality of life. Multiple linear regression analyses revealed that better auditory functional performance and pragmatic language skills, rather than structural language abilities, were associated with better psychosocial abilities and quality of life. The novel findings highlight the importance of targeted intervention for improving functional hearing skills and social communication abilities in DHH children, and emphasize the importance of collaborative approaches among medical, audiology, allied health, and educational professionals to identify those at risk so that timely referral and intervention can be implemented for improving psychosocial health and well-being in DHH children.

scholarly journals "If you catch my drift...": ability to infer implied meaning is distinct from vocabulary and grammar skills

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 68
Author(s):  
Alexander C. Wilson ◽  
Dorothy V.M. Bishop
Keyword(s):  
Factor Structure ◽  
Factor Model ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Pragmatic Language ◽  
Adult Participants ◽  
Pragmatic Language Skills ◽  
Confirmatory Analysis ◽  
Pragmatic Skills ◽  
Core Language ◽  
Implied Meaning

Background: Some individuals with autism find it challenging to use and understand language in conversation, despite having good abilities in core aspects of language such as grammar and vocabulary. This suggests that pragmatic skills (such as understanding implied meanings in conversation) are separable from core language skills. However, it has been surprisingly difficult to demonstrate this dissociation in the general population. We propose that this may be because prior studies have used tasks in which different aspects of language are confounded. Methods: The present study used novel language tasks and factor analysis to test whether pragmatic language skills are separable from core language skills. 120 adult participants were recruited online to complete a 7-task battery, including a test assessing comprehension of conversational implicature. Results: In confirmatory analysis of a preregistered model, we compared whether the data showed better fit to a two-factor structure (including a pragmatic conversation comprehension and core language factor) or a simpler one-factor structure (comprising a general language factor). The two-factor model showed significantly better fit. Conclusions: This study supports the view that interpreting context-dependent conversational meaning is partially distinct from core language skill. This has implications for understanding the pragmatic language impairments reported in autism.

scholarly journals The Impact of Parkinson’s Disease on Social Communication: An Exploratory Questionnaire Study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saryu Sharma ◽  
Kimberly Fleck ◽  
Sherri Winslow ◽  
Kathrin Rothermich
Keyword(s):  
Parkinson’S Disease ◽  
Parkinson's Disease ◽  
Emotional Expression ◽  
Social Communication ◽  
Standard Of Care ◽  
Pragmatic Language ◽  
Current Standard ◽  
Comprehensive Management ◽  
Pragmatic Skills ◽  
The Impact

Individuals with Parkinson’s Disease (PD) often show breakdown in the interpretation of pragmatic language meaning. However, there is no current standard of care for evaluating social communication dysfunction in PD which affects the persons with PD and their caregivers. Thus, we developed a questionnaire for individuals with PD to evaluate social communication difficulties. Objective: The aim of this study was to develop a questionnaire to demonstrate a need for comprehensive management guidelines for individuals with PD regarding social communication skills. This questionnaire will highlight the areas of deficit for the individuals with PD. Methods: Fifty-one people with self-reported Parkinson’s Disease answered 28 survey questions. These questions pertained to emotional expression and perception, social communication, sarcasm/humor, and pragmatic skills. Exploratory factor analysis and reliability analysis were performed to identify which items loaded onto the desired factor and to check the internal consistency of the items. Results: Persons with PD reported changes in emotional expression and perception, social communication, sarcasm and humor, and pragmatic skills domains post PD diagnosis. No correlations were found between age/time since diagnosis and emotional expression, social communication, sarcasm, and humor.Conclusion: The current study provides evidence that persons with PD experience social communication challenges. Therefore, it is crucial to increase awareness of these deficits in PD to recognize the impact of the disease on social communication.

scholarly journals Pragmatic Language Skills: A Comparison of Children With Cochlear Implants and Children Without Hearing Loss

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michaela Socher ◽  
Björn Lyxell ◽  
Rachel Ellis ◽  
Malin Gärskog ◽  
Ingrid Hedström ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Cochlear Implants ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Pragmatic Language ◽  
Pragmatic Language Skills

scholarly journals Neural correlates of face processing associated with development of social communication in 12-month infants with familial risk of autism spectrum disorder

2022 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua Glauser ◽  
Carol L. Wilkinson ◽  
Laurel J. Gabard-Durnam ◽  
Boin Choi ◽  
Helen Tager-Flusberg ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Communication Skills ◽  
Face Processing ◽  
Social Communication ◽  
Maternal Education ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Familial Risk ◽  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Amplitude Difference ◽  
Social Communication Skills ◽  
Marginal Effects

Abstract Background Differences in face processing in individuals with ASD is hypothesized to impact the development of social communication skills. This study aimed to characterize the neural correlates of face processing in 12-month-old infants at familial risk of developing ASD by (1) comparing face-sensitive event-related potentials (ERP) (Nc, N290, P400) between high-familial-risk infants who develop ASD (HR-ASD), high-familial-risk infants without ASD (HR-NoASD), and low-familial-risk infants (LR), and (2) evaluating how face-sensitive ERP components are associated with development of social communication skills. Methods 12-month-old infants participated in a study in which they were presented with alternating images of their mother’s face and the face of a stranger (LR = 45, HR-NoASD = 41, HR-ASD = 24) as EEG data were collected. Parent-reported and laboratory-observed social communication measures were obtained at 12 and 18 months. Group differences in ERP responses were evaluated using ANOVA, and multiple linear regressions were conducted with maternal education and outcome groups as covariates to assess relationships between ERP and behavioral measures. Results For each of the ERP components (Nc [negative-central], N290, and P400), the amplitude difference between mother and stranger (Mother-Stranger) trials was not statistically different between the three outcome groups (Nc p = 0.72, N290 p = 0.88, P400 p = 0.91). Marginal effects analyses found that within the LR group, a greater Nc Mother-Stranger response was associated with better expressive language skills on the Mullen Scales of Early Learning, controlling for maternal education and outcome group effects (marginal effects dy/dx = 1.15; p < 0.01). No significant associations were observed between the Nc and language or social measures in HR-NoASD or HR-ASD groups. In contrast, specific to the HR-ASD group, amplitude difference between the Mother versus Stranger P400 response was positively associated with expressive (dy/dx = 2.1, p < 0.001) and receptive language skills at 12 months (dy/dx = 1.68, p < 0.005), and negatively associated with social affect scores on the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (dy/dx = − 1.22, p < 0.001) at 18 months. Conclusions In 12-month-old infant siblings with subsequent ASD, increased P400 response to Mother over Stranger faces is positively associated with concurrent language and future social skills.

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