scholarly journals Sentence Repetition Tasks to Detect and Prevent Language Difficulties: A Scoping Review

Children ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (7) ◽  
pp. 578
Author(s):  
Irene Rujas ◽  
Sonia Mariscal ◽  
Eva Murillo ◽  
Miguel Lázaro
Keyword(s):  
Scoping Review ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Language Disorder ◽  
Scientific Journals ◽  
Development Research ◽  
Developmental Language Disorder ◽  
Clinical Marker ◽  
Sentence Repetition ◽  
Language Difficulties ◽  
Age Studies

Sentence repetition tasks (SRTs) have been widely used in language development research for decades. In recent years, there has been increasing interest in studying performance in SRTs as a clinical marker for language impairment. What are the characteristics of SRTs? For what purposes have SRTs been used? To what extent have they been used with young children, in different languages, and with different clinical populations? In order to answer these and other questions, we conducted a scoping review. Peer reviewed studies published in indexed scientific journals (2010–2021) were analyzed. A search in different databases yielded 258 studies. Research published in languages other than English or Spanish, adult samples, dissertations, case studies, artificial models, and theoretical publications were excluded. After this exclusion, 203 studies were analyzed. Our results show that most research using SRT were conducted with English monolingual speakers older than 5 years of age; studies with bilingual participants have mostly been published since 2016; and SRTs have been used with several non-typical populations. Research suggests that they are a reliable tool for identifying language difficulties and are specifically suitable for detecting developmental language disorder.

Sentence Repetition: A Clinical Marker for Developmental Language Disorder in Danish

2019 ◽  
Vol 62 (12) ◽  
pp. 4450-4463
Author(s):  
Rikke Vang Christensen
Keyword(s):  
Language Disorder ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Developmental Language Disorder ◽  
Older Children ◽  
Likelihood Ratios ◽  
Clinical Marker ◽  
Sentence Repetition ◽  
Good Identification ◽  
Syntactic Properties

Purpose The aim of the study was to explore the potential of performance on a Danish sentence repetition (SR) task—including specific morphological and syntactic properties—to identify difficulties in children with developmental language disorder (DLD) relative to typically developing (TD) children. Furthermore, the potential of the task as a clinical marker for Danish DLD was explored. Method SR performance of children with DLD aged 5;10–14;1 (years;months; n = 27) and TD children aged 5;3–13;4 ( n = 87) was investigated. Results Compared to TD same-age peers, children with DLD were less likely to repeat the sentences accurately but more likely to make ungrammatical errors with respect to verb inflection and use of determiners and personal pronouns. Younger children with DLD also produced more word order errors that their TD peers. Furthermore, older children with DLD performed less accurately than younger TD peers, indicating that the SR task taps into morphosyntactic areas of particular difficulty for Danish children with DLD. The classification accuracy associated with SR performance showed high levels of sensitivity and specificity (> 90%) and likelihood ratios indicating good identification potential for clinical and future research purposes. Conclusion SR performance has a strong potential for identifying children with DLD, also in Danish, and with a carefully designed SR task, performance has potential for revealing morphosyntactic difficulties. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.10314437

scholarly journals Sentence Repetition as a Clinical Marker of Developmental Language Disorder: Evidence From Arabic

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Juhayna Taha ◽  
Vesna Stojanovik ◽  
Emma Pagnamenta
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
Language Disorder ◽  
Population Based ◽  
Scoring Methods ◽  
Developmental Language Disorder ◽  
Function Words ◽  
Sentence Repetition ◽  
Palestinian Arabic ◽  
Arabic Speaking ◽  
Repetition Task

Purpose: Research on the typical and impaired grammatical acquisition of Arabic is limited. This study systematically examined the morphosyntactic abilities of Arabic-speaking children with and without developmental language disorder (DLD) using a novel sentence repetition task. The usefulness of the task as an indicator of DLD in Arabic was determined. Method: A LITMUS (Language Impairment Testing in Multilingual Settings) sentence repetition task was developed in Palestinian Arabic (LITMUS-SR-PA-72) and administered to 30 children with DLD ( M = 61.50 months, SD = 11.27) and 60 age-matched typically developing (TD) children ( M = 63.85 months, SD = 10.16). The task targeted grammatical structures known to be problematic for Arabic-speaking children with DLD (language specific) and children with DLD across languages (language independent). Responses were scored using binary, error, and structural scoring methods. Results: Children with DLD scored below TD children on the LITMUS-SR-PA-72, in general, and in the repetition of language-specific and language-independent structures. The frequency of morphosyntactic errors was higher in the DLD group relative to the TD group. Despite the large similarity of the type of morphosyntactic errors between the two groups, some atypical errors were exclusively produced by the DLD group. The three scoring methods showed good diagnostic power in the discrimination between children with DLD and children without DLD. Conclusions: Sentence repetition was an area of difficulty for Palestinian Arabic–speaking children with DLD. The DLD group demonstrated difficulties with language-specific and language-independent structures, particularly complex sentences with noncanonical word order. Most grammatical errors made by the DLD group resembled those of the TD group and were mostly omissions or substitutions of grammatical affixes or omissions of function words. SR appears to hold promise as a good indicator for the presence or absence of DLD in Arabic. Further validation of these findings using population-based studies is warranted. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.16968043

Considering the Language Disorder Label Debate From a School Speech-Language Pathology Lens

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-54
Author(s):  
Kimberly A. Murza ◽  
Barbara J. Ehren
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Language Disorder ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Developmental Language Disorder ◽  
Speech Language Pathology ◽  
Speech Language Pathologist ◽  
School Based ◽  
Language Pathology ◽  
Education Act

Purpose The purpose of this article is to situate the recent language disorder label debate within a school's perspective. As described in two recent The ASHA Leader articles, there is international momentum to change specific language impairment to developmental language disorder . Proponents of this change cite increased public awareness and research funding as part of the rationale. However, it is unclear whether this label debate is worthwhile or even practical for the school-based speech-language pathologist (SLP). A discussion of the benefits and challenges to a shift in language disorder labels is provided. Conclusions Although there are important arguments for consistency in labeling childhood language disorder, the reality of a label change in U.S. schools is hard to imagine. School-based services are driven by eligibility through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which has its own set of labels. There are myriad reasons why advocating for the developmental language disorder label may not be the best use of SLPs' time, perhaps the most important of which is that school SLPs have other urgent priorities.

A 200-Year History of the Study of Childhood Language Disorders of Unknown Origin: Changes in Terminology

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurence B. Leonard
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Scientific Literature ◽  
Language Disorder ◽  
Language Disorders ◽  
Unknown Origin ◽  
Developmental Language Disorder ◽  
The Past ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Many

Purpose The current “specific language impairment” and “developmental language disorder” discussion might lead to important changes in how we refer to children with language disorders of unknown origin. The field has seen other changes in terminology. This article reviews many of these changes. Method A literature review of previous clinical labels was conducted, and possible reasons for the changes in labels were identified. Results References to children with significant yet unexplained deficits in language ability have been part of the scientific literature since, at least, the early 1800s. Terms have changed from those with a neurological emphasis to those that do not imply a cause for the language disorder. Diagnostic criteria have become more explicit but have become, at certain points, too narrow to represent the wider range of children with language disorders of unknown origin. Conclusions The field was not well served by the many changes in terminology that have transpired in the past. A new label at this point must be accompanied by strong efforts to recruit its adoption by clinical speech-language pathologists and the general public.

scholarly journals Developmental Language Disorder and Autism: Commonalities and Differences on Language

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 589
Author(s):  
Natasa Georgiou ◽  
George Spanoudis
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Language Disorder ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Developmental Language Disorder ◽  
Typically Developing Children ◽  
Autism Group ◽  
Developmental Conditions

Language and communication deficits characterize both autism spectrum disorder and developmental language disorder, and the possibility of there being a common profile of these is a matter of tireless debate in the research community. This experimental study addresses the relation of these two developmental conditions in the critical topic of language. Α total of 103 children (79 males, 24 females) participated in the present study. Specifically, the study’s sample consisted of 40 children with autism, 28 children with developmental language disorder, and 35 typically developing children between 6 and 12 years old. All children completed language and cognitive measures. The results showed that there is a subgroup inside the autism group of children who demonstrate language difficulties similar to children with developmental language disorder. Specifically, two different subgroups were derived from the autism group; those with language impairment and those without. Both autism and language-impaired groups scored lower than typically developing children on all language measures indicating a common pathology in language ability. The results of this study shed light on the relation between the two disorders, supporting the assumption of a subgroup with language impairment inside the autism spectrum disorder population. The common picture presented by the two developmental conditions highlights the need for further research in the field.

Nominal Number and Language Pathologies

2021 ◽  
pp. 290-304
Author(s):  
Britta Biedermann ◽  
Nora Fieder ◽  
Karen Smith-Lock
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
Language Production ◽  
Developmental Delays ◽  
Language Disorder ◽  
Number Processing ◽  
Developmental Language Disorder ◽  
Cognitive Neuropsychology ◽  
Underlying Mechanisms ◽  
Grammatical Number ◽  
Insight Into

This chapter provides an overview of the evidence on grammatical number processing taken from cognitive neuropsychology, including developmental delays and impairments of language (e.g. developmental language disorder, and Williams syndrome) and aphasia, an acquired language impairment after brain injury. These types of language impairment can give insight into the functional architecture of nominal number processing by looking at error patterns that arise in each of the aforementioned populations. By classifying observed responses in language production tasks into non-number and number errors, we are able to reveal underlying mechanisms of syntactic rules and their representations when they develop, but also learn about processes and representation of number when this information breaks down.

scholarly journals Capturing the Nature of the Spelling Errors in Developmental Language Disorder: A Scoping Review

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Lucie Broc ◽  
Nelly Joye ◽  
Julie E. Dockrell ◽  
Thierry Olive
Keyword(s):  
Scoping Review ◽  
Language Disorder ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Qualitative Description ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
Developmental Language Disorder ◽  
Spelling Errors ◽  
Spelling Performance ◽  
Orthographic Depth

Purpose This scoping review aims to identify and analyze the nature of the spelling errors produced by children with developmental language disorder (DLD) across different orthographies. Building on a previous meta-analysis identifying the extent of the spelling difficulties of children with DLD, the review extends our understanding of the nature of the spelling errors produced by children with DLD. Three questions are addressed: Do spelling difficulties in children with DLD stem from weak phonological, orthographic, or morphological representations? What are the patterns of spelling performance in DLD depending on orthographic depth? Do comorbid difficulties with DLD impact spelling? Method The scoping review followed the five phases outlined by Arksey and O'Malley (2005) and extended by Levac et al. (2010) : (a) specifying the research question; (b) identifying relevant studies; (c) selecting studies; (d) charting the data; and (e) collating, summarizing, and reporting the results. Results Eighteen studies that provided a qualitative description of the nature of spelling errors produced by children and adolescents with DLD were identified. Spelling performance was examined in relation to control groups that were matched on age, on language features (language, spelling, or reading age), or on co-occurring difficulties. Conclusions This review article highlights the key elements that need to be considered when practitioners examine spelling difficulties and provides benchmarks for assessment in a range of alphabetic languages for school-age children. The qualitative analyses indicated that when practitioners evaluate spelling performance in children or adolescents with DLD, three factors should be considered: phonological representations, morphological awareness, and reading skills.

scholarly journals The Utility of an English Semantics Measure for Identifying Developmental Language Disorder in Spanish–English Bilinguals

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 776-788
Author(s):  
Javier Jasso ◽  
Stephanie McMillen ◽  
Jissel B. Anaya ◽  
Lisa M. Bedore ◽  
Elizabeth D. Peña
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
Classification Accuracy ◽  
Language Disorder ◽  
Task Type ◽  
Developmental Language Disorder ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Old Spanish ◽  
Test Version ◽  
High Level ◽  
Level Of Experience

Purpose We examined the English semantic performance of three hundred twenty-seven 7- to 10-year-old Spanish–English bilinguals with ( n = 66) and without ( n = 261) developmental language disorder (DLD) with varying levels of English experience to classify groups. Method English semantic performance on the Bilingual English–Spanish Assessment—Middle Extension Experimental Test Version (Peña et al., 2008) was evaluated by language experience, language ability, and task type. Items that best identified DLD for children with balanced and high English experience were selected. Separately, items that best identified children with high Spanish experience were selected. Results Typically developing bilingual children performed significantly higher than their peers with DLD across semantic tasks, with differences associated with task type. Classification accuracy was fair when item selection corresponded to balanced or high level of experience in English, but poor for children with high Spanish experience. Selecting items specifically for children with high Spanish experience improved classification accuracy. Conclusions Tailoring semantic items based on children's experience is a promising direction toward organizing items on a continuum of exposure. Here, classification effectively ruled in impairment. Future work to refine semantic items that more accurately represent the continuum of exposure may help rule out language impairment.

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