scholarly journals Written Language of Children with Specific Language Impairment

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kavi Nallamala ◽  
Class of 2020
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Written Language ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Complex Sentences ◽  
Word Level ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Language Assessments ◽  
Age Range

  Writing is an important academically and socially related language skill. However, few researchers have analyzed the written language samples of children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI). It is unknown if children with SLI produce different types of written language errors than children with typical language (TL). The purpose of this study was to increase understanding of the writing patterns of children with Specific Language Impairment. Specifically, this study analyzed the morphosyntactic and syntactic errors that children with SLI make and if they differ from the errors made by children with TL. Writing samples of children ages 7 to 10 were collected. The SLI group was determined by norm-referenced language assessments such as the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals – Fourth Edition. These samples were coded for errors based on a coding manual created by the authors of this study. Results revealed that children with SLI make more overall errors in complex sentences than children with TL. The errors made by children with SLI were syntactic word level errors, such as the addition or omission of one word. However, there was not a significant difference between the morphological errors made in writing samples of children with SLI and children with TL. The large age range of children within our SLI group may have impacted our conclusion that morphosyntax may not be a critical marker of SLI in children.

scholarly journals A Preliminary Comparison of Reading Subtypes in a Clinical Sample of Children With Specific Language Impairment

2017 ◽  
Vol 60 (9) ◽  
pp. 2680-2686 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krystal L. Werfel ◽  
Hannah Krimm
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Clinical Sample ◽  
Language Deficits ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Reading Impairment ◽  
Word Level ◽  
Specific Reading ◽  
Preliminary Study ◽  
Reading Impairments

Purpose The purpose of this preliminary study was to (a) compare the pattern of reading subtypes among a clinical sample of children with specific language impairment (SLI) and children with typical language and (b) evaluate phonological and nonphonological language deficits within each reading impairment subtype. Method Participants were 32 children with SLI and 39 children with typical language in Grades 2 through 4. Each child was classified as demonstrating 1 of 4 reading subtypes on the basis of word-level and text-level skills: typical reading, dyslexia, specific reading comprehension impairment, or garden variety reading impairment. In addition, phonological and nonphonological language skills were evaluated. Results Children with SLI were more likely to exhibit reading impairments than children with typical language. Children with SLI were more likely to exhibit text-level deficits than children with typical language. Phonological language deficits were observed in children with word-level deficits, and nonphonological language deficits were observed in children with text-level deficits. Conclusions The results indicate that the patterns of reading subtypes differ among children with SLI and children with typical language. The findings highlight the importance of simultaneously but separately considering word-level and text-level skills in studies of reading impairment.

The Relationship of Language and Emotion Regulation Skills to Reticence in Children With Specific Language Impairment

2004 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 637-646 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Fujiki ◽  
Matthew P. Spackman ◽  
Bonnie Brinton ◽  
Andrea Hall
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Teacher Behavior ◽  
Language Ability ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Behavior Rating Scale ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
The Relationship

This study examined the relationship between emotion regulation, language ability, and reticent behavior in children with specific language impairment (SLI) and their typical peers. Participants included 43 children with SLI and 43 typically developing children, for a total sample of 86 participants. Children were selected from 2 age ranges: 5–8 years and 9–12 years. The Emotion Regulation Checklist (ERC; A. Shields & D. Cicchetti, 1997, 1998) and the Teacher Behavior Rating Scale (TBRS; C. H. Hart & C. C. Robinson, 1996) were completed by each child’s teacher to provide measures of emotion regulation and reticence, respectively. The Comprehensive Assessment of Spoken Language (CASL; E. Carrow-Woodfolk, 1999) was administered to provide a measure of language ability. A regression analysis including all participants indicated that the emotion regulation scores and the CASL scores were significant predictors of the reticence scores, accounting for 43% of the variance. Group-specific analyses were then conducted to determine whether the 2 predictor scales differentially predicted reticence based on language and age groups. None of the tests exceeded the.05 level, indicating that there was no significant difference in predictive power on the 2 factors in question. KEY WORDS: emotion regulation, language impairment, reticence, withdrawal, socioemotional

Children With Specific Language Impairment

1993 ◽  
Vol 36 (6) ◽  
pp. 1193-1207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather K. J. van der Lely ◽  
David Howard
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Test Procedure ◽  
Auditory Presentation ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Immediate Recall ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Test Materials ◽  
Verbal Repetition

This study is concerned with characteristics of short-term memory (STM) in children with specific language impairment (SLI). The linguistic requirements of the test procedure, the characteristics of the test materials, and the development of linguistic representations were considered. Two experimental tasks were used: a verbal-repetition and a picture-pointing procedure. The tasks used auditory presentation and were designed to explore different underlying processes during immediate recall. The linguistic characteristics of the test materials were designed to explore the influence of semantic, lexical, and phonological factors on STM. Six SLI children (aged 6:1 to 9:6) (years:months) were individually matched on comprehension and expression of language to 17 younger children (age 3:4 to 6:5). Both groups were differentially influenced by the materials as a function of the test procedure. In general, both group and individual analyses found no significant difference between the performance of the SLI children and language-age (LA) controls. The implications of the results in relation to previous findings from investigations of STM and the underlying cause of SLI in children are discussed.

scholarly journals Targeting Complex Sentences in Older School Children With Specific Language Impairment: Results From an Early-Phase Treatment Study

2018 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
pp. 713-728 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine H. Balthazar ◽  
Cheryl M. Scott
Keyword(s):  
Outcome Measures ◽  
School Children ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Sentence Type ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Complex Sentence ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Complex Sentences

PurposeThis study investigated the effects of a complex sentence treatment at 2 dosage levels on language performance of 30 school-age children ages 10–14 years with specific language impairment.MethodThree types of complex sentences (adverbial, object complement, relative) were taught in sequence in once or twice weekly dosage conditions. Outcome measures included sentence probes administered at baseline, treatment, and posttreatment phases and comparisons of pre–post performance on oral and written language tests and tasks. Relationships between pretest variables and treatment outcomes were also explored.ResultsTreatment was effective at improving performance on the sentence probes for the majority of participants; however, results differed by sentence type, with the largest effect sizes for adverbial and relative clauses. Significant and clinically meaningful pre–post treatment gains were found on a comprehensive oral language test, but not on reading and writing measures. There was no treatment advantage for the higher dosage group. Several significant correlations indicated a relationship between lower pretest scores and higher outcome measures.ConclusionsResults suggest that a focused intervention can produce improvements in complex sentence productions of older school children with language impairment. Future research should explore ways to maximize gains and extend impact to natural language contexts.Supplemental Materialhttps://doi.org/10.23641/asha.5923318

scholarly journals The complexity of narrative interferes in the use of conjunctions in children with specific language impairment

2012 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 152-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah Oliveira Gonzalez ◽  
Ana Manhani Cáceres ◽  
Ana Carolina Paiva Bento-Gaz ◽  
Debora Maria Befi-Lopes
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Typically Developing Children ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Age Range ◽  
Development Methods

PURPOSE: To verify the use of conjunctions in narratives, and to investigate the influence of stimuli's complexity over the type of conjunctions used by children with specific language impairment (SLI) and children with typical language development. METHODS: Participants were 40 children (20 with typical language development and 20 with SLI) with ages between 7 and 10 years, paired by age range. Fifteen stories with increasing of complexity were used to obtain the narratives; stories were classified into mechanical, behavioral and intentional, and each of them was represented by four scenes. Narratives were analyzed according to occurrence and classification of conjunctions. RESULTS: Both groups used more coordinative than subordinate conjunctions, with significant decrease in the use of conjunctions in the discourse of SLI children. The use of conjunctions varied according to the type of narrative: for coordinative conjunctions, both groups differed only between intentional and behavioral narratives, with higher occurrence in behavioral ones; for subordinate conjunctions, typically developing children's performance did not show differences between narratives, while SLI children presented fewer occurrences in intentional narratives, which was different from other narratives. CONCLUSION: Both groups used more coordinative than subordinate conjunctions; however, typically developing children presented more conjunctions than SLI children. The production of children with SLI was influenced by stimulus, since more complex narratives has less use of subordinate conjunctions.

scholarly journals Identification of Specific Language Impairment in Bilingual Children: I. Assessment in English

2013 ◽  
Vol 56 (6) ◽  
pp. 1813-1823 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald B. Gillam ◽  
Elizabeth D. Peña ◽  
Lisa M. Bedore ◽  
Thomas M. Bohman ◽  
Anita Mendez-Perez
Keyword(s):  
Prediction Model ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
First Grade ◽  
Receiver Operating Curve ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Optimal Prediction ◽  
Cut Scores ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Language Assessments

Purpose This study was designed to derive cut scores for English testing for use in identifying specific language impairment (SLI) in bilingual children who were learning English as a second language. Method In a 1-gate design, 167 children received comprehensive language assessments in English and Spanish during their first-grade year. The reference standard was identification by a team of expert bilingual speech-language pathologists. Receiver operating curve (ROC) analyses were used to identify the optimal prediction model for SLI. Results The original, English EpiSLI criteria (Tomblin, Records, & Zhang, 1996) yielded a sensitivity of .95 and a specificity of .45 (LR+ = 1.73, LR− = 0.11, and AUC = .79) for our bilinguals. Revised cutoff scores yielded a sensitivity of .86 and a specificity of .68 (LR+ = 2.67, LR− = 0.21, and AUC = .77). An optimal prediction model yielded a sensitivity of .81 and a specificity of .81 (LR+ = 4.37, LR− = 0.23 and AUC = .85). Conclusion The results of English testing could be used to make a reasonably accurate diagnostic decision for bilingual children who had attended public school for at least 1 year and were using English at least 30% of the time.

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

Investigating the effects of syllable complexity in Russian-speaking children with SLI

2011 ◽  
Vol 38 (5) ◽  
pp. 979-998 ◽  
Author(s):  
DARYA KAVITSKAYA ◽  
MARIA BABYONYSHEV ◽  
THEODORE WALLS ◽  
ELENA GRIGORENKO
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Word Length ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Syllable Structure ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Structure Complexity ◽  
Age Range

ABSTRACTThis study examined the effect of number of syllables and syllable structure on repetition of pseudo-words by Russian-speaking children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) and typically developing (TD) children. One hundred and forty-four pseudo-words, varying in length and syllable complexity, were presented to two groups of children: 15 children with SLI, age range 4 ; 0 to 8 ; 8, and 15 TD children matched in age to the SLI group. The number of errors in the repetition of pseudo-words was analyzed in terms of the number of syllables and syllable complexity. The results demonstrated that children with SLI have deficits in working memory capacity. In addition to the pseudo-word length, the repetition performance was affected by syllable structure complexity.

scholarly journals Effects of Specific Language Impairment on a Contrastive Dialect Structure: The Case of Infinitival TO Across Various Nonmainstream Dialects of English

2018 ◽  
Vol 61 (8) ◽  
pp. 1989-2001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew M. Rivière ◽  
Janna B. Oetting ◽  
Joseph Roy
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Clinical Status ◽  
Specific Rate ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Verbs Of Motion ◽  
Language Assessments ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Context Specific

Purpose Using data from children who spoke various nonmainstream dialects of English and who were classified as either children with specific language impairment (SLI) or typically developing (TD) children, we examined children's marking of infinitival TO by their dialect and clinical status. Method The data came from 180 kindergartners (91 speakers of African American English, 60 speakers of Southern White English, 29 speakers of +Cajun); 53 were children with SLI, and 127 were TD children. Data included 4,537 infinitival TO contexts extracted from language samples; each was coded as zero or overtly marked and by preceding verb context (i.e., verbs of motion vs. other). Results Across dialects, overall rates of zero marking differed by the children's clinical status (SLI > TD), and other verb contexts accounted for this result. Across the TD and SLI groups, dialect variation was evident for verbs of motion contexts, and the effect was stronger for the TD than for the SLI groups, particularly if the TD children's dialects were classified as +Cajun. Conclusion Children's marking of infinitival TO can be affected by both their dialect and clinical status. Results support language assessments that include context-specific rate-based measures of infinitival TO and other contrastive structures when they prove useful for understanding the linguistic profile of SLI within a dialect.

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