scholarly journals The effect of siblings on language development as a function of age difference and sex

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naomi Havron ◽  
Franck Ramus ◽  
Barbara Heude ◽  
Anne Forhan ◽  
Alejandrina Cristia ◽  
...  

The number of older siblings a child has is negatively correlated with their verbal skills, perhaps due to competition for parents’ attention. The current study examined the role of siblings’ sex and age gap as moderating factors, reasoning that they affect older siblings’ tendency to compensate for reduced parental attention. We hypothesized that children with an older sister, especially with a large age gap, have better language abilities than those with older brothers. We reanalyzed data from the EDEN cohort (N = 1,154) and found that children with an older sister had better language skills than those with an older brother. Contrary to predictions, the age gap between siblings was not associated with language skills, and did not interact with sex. Results suggest the negative effect of older siblings on language development may be entirely due to older brothers, and invite further research on the mechanisms involved in this effect.

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (9) ◽  
pp. 1333-1343 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naomi Havron ◽  
Franck Ramus ◽  
Barbara Heude ◽  
Anne Forhan ◽  
Alejandrina Cristia ◽  
...  

The number of older siblings a child has is negatively correlated with the child’s verbal skills, perhaps because of competition for parents’ attention. In the current study, we examined the role of siblings’ sex and age gap as moderating factors, reasoning that they affect older siblings’ tendency to compensate for reduced parental attention. We hypothesized that children with an older sister have better language abilities than children with an older brother, especially when there is a large age gap between the two siblings. We reanalyzed data from the EDEN cohort ( N = 1,154) and found that children with an older sister had better language skills than those with an older brother. Contrary to predictions, results showed that the age gap between siblings was not associated with language skills and did not interact with sex. Results suggest that the negative effect of older siblings on language development may be entirely due to the role of older brothers. Our findings invite further research on the mechanisms involved in this effect.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naomi Havron ◽  
Irena Lovcevic ◽  
Michelle Z.L Kee ◽  
Helen Chen ◽  
Yap Seng Chong ◽  
...  

Previous literature has shown that family structure affects language development. Here, factors relating to older siblings (their presence in the house, sex and age gap), mothers (maternal stress) and household size and residential crowding were examined to systematically examine the different role of these factors. Data from mother-child dyads in a Singaporean birth cohort, (677-855 dyads; 52% males; 58-61% Chinese, 20-24% Malay, 17-19% Indian) collected when children were 24-, 48-, and 54-months old, were analysed. There was a negative effect of having an older sibling, moderated by the siblings’ age gap, but not by the older sibling’s sex, nor household size or residential crowding. Maternal stress affected language outcomes in some analyses but not others. Implications for understanding the effect of family structure on language development are discussed.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naomi Havron ◽  
Irena Lovcevic ◽  
Michelle Z.L Kee ◽  
Helen Chen ◽  
Yap Seng Chong ◽  
...  

Previous literature has shown that family structure affects language development. Here, factors relating to older siblings (their presence in the house, sex and age gap), mothers (maternal stress) and household size and residential crowding were examined to systematically examine the different role of these factors. Data from mother-child dyads in a Singaporean birth cohort, (677-855 dyads; 52% males; 58-61% Chinese, 20-24% Malay, 17-19% Indian) collected when children were 24-, 48-, and 54-months old, were analysed. There was a negative effect of having an older sibling, moderated by the siblings’ age gap, but not by the older sibling’s sex, nor household size or residential crowding. Maternal stress affected language outcomes in some analyses but not others. Implications for understanding the effect of family structure on language development are discussed.


2003 ◽  
Vol 40 (5) ◽  
pp. 460-470 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen Morris ◽  
Anne Ozanne

Objective To evaluate the language, phonetic, and phonological skills at age 3 years of two groups of young children with a cleft palate, with different expressive language proficiency at 2 years of age. Design Two groups of children with a cleft palate with differing abilities in early expressive language skills were identified at age 2 years. Comparisons across groups were made over a range of speech and language measures at age 3 years. Participants Twenty children with cleft palate were allocated to two groups dependent on expressive language abilities at age 2 years. One group had normal language development, and the second group had been identified as having significantly delayed (8 to 12 months’ delay) expressive language development. Main Outcome Measures The children were assessed at 3 years of age using standardized assessments and spontaneous speech samples. Comparisons between the two groups were made on a range of language measures including comprehension, expressive language, and speech. Results Group differences were found on both language and speech abilities at age 3 years. Significant group differences were found in expressive language, percentage of consonants correct, phonetic inventory, and phonological process usage. The group with delayed early expressive language abilities at 2 years continued to have expressive language difficulties at 3 years of age and had more disordered speech development, compared with the nondelayed group. Conclusions A subgroup of children with a cleft palate was identified who exhibited delays in early expressive language and continued to have delayed language and disordered phonological patterns at a later age. Support for three possible etiologies including a structural/anatomical deficit, cognitive/linguistic delay, or language/phonological disorder are discussed.


1989 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
pp. 395-402 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristen A. Keefe ◽  
Heidi M. Feldman ◽  
Audrey L. Holland

Studies of children with early-acquired brain damage have noted limitations on language development following such damage and have raised questions regarding the process by which these children acquire language skills. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of perinatally acquired brain damage on early language abilities and on lexical development through the use of standard assessments, language samples, and a miniature linguistic system approach to teach a novel lexicon. Four children, ages 26–41 months, with localized, perinatal brain lesions documented on ultrasound or CT scan were selected for this study and were compared to 4 matched controls. The results show no differences in the pattern of scores and learning in children with right and left brain damage. With the exception of phonological development, subjects scored below controls on all formal language measures; however, the subjects often scored at or above test norms. Brain-injured subjects were similar to controls with respect to the number of novel words that they initially learned on comprehension and production tasks and the number that they consistently comprehended. Brain-injured subjects generally acquired fewer words when the criterion was consistent accurate production. Interestingly, subjects required more exposures to novel lexical items than did controls before reaching a given level of proficiency. Production seemed to be more difficult for all children, but more so for the brain-injured subjects. It appears that the effects of early damage have an impact on many aspects of language development and that these apparent deficits may reflect the child's need for greater exposure to language skills and structures before acquiring them.


Author(s):  
Yue Ma ◽  
Laura Jonsson ◽  
Tianli Feng ◽  
Tyler Weisberg ◽  
Teresa Shao ◽  
...  

The home language environment is critical to early language development and subsequent skills. However, few studies have quantitatively measured the home language environment in low-income, developing settings. This study explores variations in the home language environment and child language skills among households in poor rural villages in northwestern China. Audio recordings were collected for 38 children aged 20–28 months and analyzed using Language Environment Analysis (LENA) software; language skills were measured using the MacArthur–Bates Mandarin Communicative Developmental Inventories expressive vocabulary scale. The results revealed large variability in both child language skills and home language environment measures (adult words, conversational turns, and child vocalizations) with 5- to 6-fold differences between the highest and lowest scores. Despite variation, however, the average number of adult words and conversational turns were lower than found among urban Chinese children. Correlation analyses did not identify significant correlations between demographic characteristics and the home language environment. However, the results do indicate significant correlations between the home language environment and child language skills, with conversational turns showing the strongest correlation. The results point to a need for further research on language engagement and ways to increase parent–child interactions to improve early language development among young children in rural China.


2021 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mona Sameeh Khodeir ◽  
Dina Fouad El Sayed Moussa ◽  
Rasha Mohammed Shoeib

Abstract Background Pragmatics is the social use of language that draws on understanding human interactions in specific contexts and requires engagement with a communicative partner or partners. The hearing-impaired children are known to have a pragmatic language delay as hearing impairment deprived of exposure to natural communication interactions, in addition to the language delay they have. Since the age of implantation has emerged as an important predictor of language, hearing, and speech in children who use cochlear implants (CI), question aroused about the benefits of early cochlear implantation on pragmatic language development in those children. Thus, this study aims to compare the pragmatic language development of the prelingual hearing impaired children who cochlear implanted before the age of 3 years and those who cochlear implanted after the age of 3 years. Results The two study groups showed no significant differences regard their scores in the Egyptian Arabic Pragmatic Language Test (EAPLT). The two studied groups had pragmatic language scores below their 5th percentile. Among the studied groups, the scores of the EAPLT were positively correlated to the age of the children, the children’s language abilities, and the duration of the received language rehabilitation, with no significant correlation to the age of implantation. Conclusions The age of implantation has no impact on pragmatic language development in children with CI. The prelingual children with CI are susceptible to delays in the pragmatic language development that is primarily related to the age of those children and their language abilities, besides their experience in social interactions. These results should be considered in their rehabilitative plan and advocate the importance of early incorporation of pragmatic behaviors into their intervention programs.


2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (Supplement_3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hatem Kaies Ibrahim Elsayed Ali ◽  
Ahmed Daoud ◽  
Karim Soliman ◽  
Mahmoud Mohamed ◽  
Asam Murtaza

Abstract Background and Aims High donor-recipient age gap among deceased-donor renal transplant patients leads to worse outcomes. However, the impact of this gap among live-donor renal transplants is unclear. The aim of this study is to assess the effect of this age gap on graft survival and acute rejection rates among renal transplants in tacrolimus era. Method 14390 live-donor renal transplant patients who received a single organ transplant, had no previous renal transplants, discharged on tacrolimus-based immunotherapy and were registered in the Organ Procurement Transplantation Network from January 2000 till June 2017 were included in the study. Donor–recipient age difference was divided into 5 groups; group A (difference <−10,n=4375), group B (difference from -10 to 10,n=7229), group C (difference between 10-20, n=861), group D ( difference between 20–29, n=1406) and group E (difference ≥30 years, n=519). Poisson regression analysis was used to assess effect of age gap on acute rejection rates. Kaplan-Meier survival curves and Cox hazard regression analysis were used to assess this effect on graft survival. Results Regarding graft survival, groups with age difference ≥30 years and between 20-29 years showed a significantly higher risk of graft loss when compared to group with age difference <−10 (HR equals 4.6 and 3.8 respectively). Groups with age difference between 10 to 20 years and between -10 to 10 years showed no significant difference in graft survival when compared to same group (HR equals 1.03 and 0.95 respectively). Groups B,C,D,E were not associated with increased risk of acute rejection episodes when compared to group A (IRR=1.001, 1.001, 1.022, 1.027 respectively). Conclusion Donor-recipient age difference up to 20 years has similar renal transplant outcomes to those receiving kidneys from younger donors and therefore, should not be precluded from paired kidney donation programs. The donor-recipient age difference above 20 years is associated with worse outcomes in terms of graft survival.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 110-128
Author(s):  
Ana Achoita

Language is a means of communicating a person with others. In language learning, especially arabic the environment has a great influence where language skills for the first time through hearing. Environment is one of the influential external factors in language development. Because the environment is a condition where one can practice language activity, for example conversation, speech, race, and language game.


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