scholarly journals QUANTILE-BASED APPROACH TO ESTIMATING COGNITIVE TEXT COMPLEXITY

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A. Eremeev ◽  
◽  
K. V. Vorontsov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Linear Combination ◽  
Cognitive Complexity ◽  
Text Complexity ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Language Level ◽  
Complexity Function ◽  
Reference Collection

This paper introduces an approach to measuring the cognitive complexity of texts on various language levels. While standard readability indices are based on the linear combination of primary statistics, our general approach allows us to estimate complexity on morphological, lexical, syntactic, and discursive levels. Each model is defined by the tokens for the specific language level and the complexity function of a single token. We then use the reference collection of moderately complex texts and the quantile-based approach to spot the abnormally rare tokens. The proposed supervised ensemble, based on the ElasticNet model, incorporates models from all language levels. Having collected a labeled dataset through crowdsourcing, consisting of pairs of articles from the Russian Wikipedia, we consider several models and ensembles and compare them to common baselines. Suggested models are flexible due to the freedom in choosing the reference collection. The described experiments confirm the competitiveness of the proposed approach, as the ensembles demonstrate the best target metric value.

Defining language delay in young children by cognitive referencing: Are we saying more than we know?

1990 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 291-302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin N. Cole ◽  
Philip S. Dale ◽  
Paulette E. Mills
Keyword(s):  
Young Children ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Language Intervention ◽  
Assessment Instrument ◽  
Language Delay ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Language Level ◽  
Preschool Language ◽  
Hypothesis Model

ABSTRACTOne current definition of language delay, on the basis of the Cognitive Hypothesis model, assumes that children who have similar levels of language and cognitive development are unlikely to gain from specific language intervention. Children who have cognitive skills developed to a greater degree than their language skills, in contrast, are identified as appropriate candidates for specific language facilitation. In order to examine this premise, the present study compares the effects of language intervention over a 1-year period for two groups of young children with delayed language: one group with cognitive skills markedly above their language level, and the other group with similar delays in cognitive and language skills. Eighteen subjects (13 boys, 5 girls, mean age 4;11) had cognitive skills developed above their language level, and 32 subjects (20 boys, 12 girls, mean age 5;3) had similar delays in language and cognition. Evaluation measures were Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised (PPVT-R), MLU, Preschool Language Assessment Instrument, and Basic Language Concepts Test (BLCT). Of the four measures, only the BLCT resulted in significant gain differences favoring the students with higher cognitive than language skills. PPVT-R standard scores indicated that both groups made gains at a faster rate during intervention than prior to intervention. Clinical implications of the results are discussed.

Conversations With Children Who Are Language Impaired

1993 ◽  
Vol 36 (5) ◽  
pp. 973-978 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith R. Johnston ◽  
Jon F. Miller ◽  
Susan Curtiss ◽  
Paula Tallal
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Research Practice ◽  
Interview Protocol ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Language Impaired ◽  
Language Level ◽  
Standardized Interview ◽  
Conversational Language

Samples of conversational language were elicited with a standardized interview protocol from 24 children, aged 2:6 to 7:8, half with specific language impairment (SLI), half with normally developing language (LN), matched for language level. Samples were analyzed to determine whether there were associations between adult questioning and children’s use of ellipsis. For the SLI children, but not the LN children, increased proportions of questions were significantly correlated to increased proportions of ellipsis. This finding has implications for the use of MLU measures in clinical and research practice.

Systematic Modification of Parental Input to Train Language Symbols

1981 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Culatta ◽  
Donna Horn
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Meaningful Use ◽  
Hearing Impaired ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Parental Input ◽  
Language Exposure ◽  
Therapy Sessions ◽  
Impaired Children ◽  
Hearing Impaired Children ◽  
At Home

This study attempted to maximize environmental language learning for four hearing-impaired children. The children's mothers were systematically trained to present specific language symbols to their children at home. An increase in meaningful use of these words was observed during therapy sessions. In addition, as the mothers began to generalize the language exposure strategies, an increase was observed in the children's use of words not specifically identified by the clinician as targets.

Eliciting Verbs From Children With Specific Language Impairment

1996 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 17-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diane Frome Loeb ◽  
Clifton Pye ◽  
Sean Redmond ◽  
Lori Zobel Richardson
Keyword(s):  
Young Children ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Syntactic Complexity ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Lexical Skills

The focus of assessment and intervention is often aimed at increasing the lexical skills of young children with language impairment. Frequently, the use of nouns is the center of the lexical assessment. As a result, the production of verbs is not fully evaluated or integrated into treatment in a way that accounts for their semantic and syntactic complexity. This paper presents a probe for eliciting verbs from children, describes its effectiveness, and discusses the utility of and problems associated with developing such a probe.

Deficits in Explicit Language Problem Solving Rather Than in Implicit Learning in Specific Language Impairment: Evidence From Learning an Artificial Morphological Rule

2019 ◽  
Vol 62 (10) ◽  
pp. 3790-3807 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Ferman ◽  
Liat Kishon-Rabin ◽  
Hila Ganot-Budaga ◽  
Avi Karni
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Explicit Knowledge ◽  
Procedural Memory ◽  
Procedural Learning ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Language Problems ◽  
Morphological Rule ◽  
Semantic Distinction

Purpose The purpose of this study was to delineate differences between children with specific language impairment (SLI), typical age–matched (TAM) children, and typical younger (TY) children in learning and mastering an undisclosed artificial morphological rule (AMR) through exposure and usage. Method Twenty-six participants (eight 10-year-old children with SLI, 8 TAM children, and ten 8-year-old TY children) were trained to master an AMR across multiple training sessions. The AMR required a phonological transformation of verbs depending on a semantic distinction: whether the preceding noun was animate or inanimate. All participants practiced the application of the AMR to repeated and new (generalization) items, via judgment and production tasks. Results The children with SLI derived significantly less benefit from practice than their peers in learning most aspects of the AMR, even exhibiting smaller gains compared to the TY group in some aspects. Children with SLI benefited less than TAM and even TY children from training to judge and produce repeated items of the AMR. Nevertheless, despite a significant disadvantage in baseline performance, the rate at which they mastered the task-specific phonological regularities was as robust as that of their peers. On the other hand, like 8-year-olds, only half of the SLI group succeeded in uncovering the nature of the AMR and, consequently, in generalizing it to new items. Conclusions Children with SLI were able to learn language aspects that rely on implicit, procedural learning, but experienced difficulties in learning aspects that relied on the explicit uncovering of the semantic principle of the AMR. The results suggest that some of the difficulties experienced by children with SLI when learning a complex language regularity cannot be accounted for by a broad, language-related, procedural memory disability. Rather, a deficit—perhaps a developmental delay in the ability to recruit and solve language problems and establish explicit knowledge regarding a language task—can better explain their difficulties in language learning.

A View of the Lexical–Grammatical Link in Young Latinos With Specific Language Impairment Using Language-Specific and Conceptual Measures

2019 ◽  
Vol 62 (6) ◽  
pp. 1775-1786 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucía I. Méndez ◽  
Gabriela Simon-Cereijido
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Vocabulary Skills ◽  
In The Beginning ◽  
Study Participants ◽  
L1 And L2

Purpose This study investigated the nature of the association of lexical–grammatical abilities within and across languages in Latino dual language learners (DLLs) with specific language impairment (SLI) using language-specific and bilingual measures. Method Seventy-four Spanish/English–speaking preschoolers with SLI from preschools serving low-income households participated in the study. Participants had stronger skills in Spanish (first language [L1]) and were in the initial stages of learning English (second language [L2]). The children's lexical, semantic, and grammar abilities were assessed using normative and researcher-developed tools in English and Spanish. Hierarchical linear regressions of cross-sectional data were conducted using measures of sentence repetition tasks, language-specific vocabulary, and conceptual bilingual lexical and semantic abilities in Spanish and English. Results Results indicate that language-specific vocabulary abilities support the development of grammar in L1 and L2 in this population. L1 vocabulary also contributes to L2 grammar above and beyond the contribution of L2 vocabulary skills. However, the cross-linguistic association between vocabulary in L2 and grammar skills in the stronger or more proficient language (L1) is not observed. In addition, conceptual vocabulary significantly supported grammar in L2, whereas bilingual semantic skills supported L1 grammar. Conclusions Our findings reveal that the same language-specific vocabulary abilities drive grammar development in L1 and L2 in DLLs with SLI. In the early stages of L2 acquisition, vocabulary skills in L1 also seem to contribute to grammar skills in L2 in this population. Thus, it is critical to support vocabulary development in both L1 and L2 in DLLs with SLI, particularly in the beginning stages of L2 acquisition. Clinical and educational implications are discussed.

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