scholarly journals Supporting Bilingualism in Vulnerable Populations

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (24) ◽  
pp. 13830
Author(s):  
Maria Vender ◽  
Mirta Vernice ◽  
Antonella Sorace
Keyword(s):  
Neurodevelopmental Disorders ◽  
Developmental Disorders ◽  
Language Disorder ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Home Language ◽  
Developmental Language Disorder ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
The Family ◽  
Family Language

Although bilingualism is generally appraised and supported by society, many more doubts arise when it comes to children suffering from neurodevelopmental disorders. The concern that the exposure to two languages might deteriorate the linguistic development of children, together with the advice to simplify the linguistic environment and to adopt a monolingual approach, leads many families to abandon their home language and sacrifice bilingualism. Scientific research, however, has shown that this fear is ungrounded and that children with developmental disorders can become successful bilingual speakers, if they are provided with appropriate linguistic exposure. The aim of this paper is that of providing a state-of-the-art of the literature on this topic, by reviewing studies conducted on the interaction between bilingualism and neurodevelopmental disorders, focusing in particular on the interaction between bilingualism and developmental language disorder (DLD), developmental dyslexia and autism spectrum disorder. We discuss issues related to the early identification of DLD and dyslexia among bilinguals and we report the results of studies showing that bilingualism does not exacerbate the difficulties of children with developmental disorders, but on the contrary it can be beneficial for them, at the cognitive, linguistic and socio-cultural level. Finally, we provide some recommendations for parents, educators and practitioners, focusing on the importance of supporting the family language in all of its components, including literacy, for a complete and harmonic bilingual growth.

Evaluation of a Combined Explicit–Implicit Approach to Teach Grammatical Forms to Children With Grammatical Weaknesses

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-79
Author(s):  
Lizbeth Finestack ◽  
Jennifer Engman ◽  
Timothy Huang ◽  
Katherine J. Bangert ◽  
Kaela Bader
Keyword(s):  
Developmental Disorders ◽  
Language Disorder ◽  
Preliminary Evidence ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Single Subject ◽  
Developmental Language Disorder ◽  
Grammatical Structure ◽  
Implicit Instruction ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Implicit Approach

Purpose Many children with developmental disorders experience difficulty mastering grammatical forms, including children with developmental language disorder and a subset of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). One of the key language features in both of these populations is a weakness in the expressive use of grammatical forms. There is a paucity of studies that evaluate the effectiveness of interventions targeting grammatical forms for populations other than developmental language disorder. The current study evaluated a combined explicit–implicit intervention approach to teach grammatical forms to children with ASD symptomology. Method Researchers used a single-subject, nonconcurrent multiple baseline, A-B-C study design. Three children with characteristics of ASD (2 with formal diagnoses) between the ages of 5 and 9 years participated in treatment targeting a weak grammatical structure. After baseline, each participant completed a series of treatment sessions that comprised implicit instruction, followed by a series of treatment sessions that incorporated explicit instruction. Accuracy of use was assessed during each session across baseline, implicit-only, and explicit–implicit conditions as well as 1 week, 1 month, and 2 months posttreatment. Results All participants produced target forms with low accuracy across baseline and implicit-only treatment sessions. Within three explicit–implicit treatment sessions, all participants demonstrated a marked increase in level and upward trend in their production accuracy. Gains in accuracy were maintained 2 months posttreatment for 2 of the 3 participants. Conclusions The current study provides preliminary evidence to support the use of explicit approaches to teach grammatical forms to children with ASD symptomology and motivates further investigation in this area.

scholarly journals Capacity of the CCC-2 to Discriminate ASD from Other Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Children ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (8) ◽  
pp. 640
Author(s):  
Alba de la Torre Carril ◽  
Montserrat Durán-Bouza ◽  
Miguel Pérez-Pereira
Keyword(s):  
Neurodevelopmental Disorders ◽  
Language Disorder ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Early Age ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Developmental Language Disorder ◽  
Typically Developing Children ◽  
Hyperactivity Disorder ◽  
Structural Disorders

The Children’s Communication Checklist (CCC-2) has demonstrated its usefulness as an instrument to assess discrepancies between the use of structural dimensions of language and the pragmatic and sociointeractive uses of language. The aims of the present paper are: (1) to test the capacity of the Galician adaptation of the CCC-2 to discriminate the linguistic profiles of children with different disorders and (2) to test whether the capacity of the CCC-2 to discriminate the linguistic abilities of children with different disorders is the same at different ages: earlier development and later development. The sample is of 117 children previously diagnosed with different disorders: autism spectrum disorder (ASD), developmental language disorder (DLD), attention deficit with hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Down syndrome children (DS) and typically developing children (TD). The children were divided into two different age groups: from 4 to 6 and from 7 to 16 years of age. The results indicate that the Galician CCC-2 (1) accurately identified children with and without communicative impairments, (2) distinguished between profiles with a predominance of pragmatic (ASD and ADHD) and structural disorders (DS and DLD) and (3) distinguished between different profiles of pragmatic impairment. The CCC-2 equally identified these profiles at both earlier and later ages. The Galician CCC-2 seems to be a useful instrument for differentiating among different clinical groups and for assessing pragmatic disorders from an early age, which can be valuable for planning early intervention.

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.

scholarly journals Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) in Young People Leaving Care in England: A Study Profiling the Language, Literacy and Communication Abilities of Young People Transitioning from Care to Independence

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (8) ◽  
pp. 4107
Author(s):  
Judy Clegg ◽  
Ellen Crawford ◽  
Sarah Spencer ◽  
Danielle Matthews
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Developmental Disorders ◽  
Language Disorder ◽  
Demographic Data ◽  
Developmental Language Disorder ◽  
Social Emotional ◽  
Language Abilities ◽  
Care Leavers ◽  
Language Literacy ◽  
Key Staff

Research indicates children and young people in care have a high prevalence of Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) as part of a complex set of vulnerabilities. This study describes the profile of language, literacy and communication abilities of a cohort of care leavers. The language, literacy and communication abilities of 44 young people leaving care between the ages of 16 and 26 years were assessed using standardized measures. Demographic data about the young people was collected along with a survey to key staff to capture their perceptions and experiences of the language and communication abilities of these young people. Ninety percent of the care leavers’ language abilities were below average and over 60% met criteria for DLD in combination with literacy difficulties, developmental disorders and social, emotional and mental health difficulties (SEMH). The implications of unidentified DLD on the lives of young people leaving care is discussed. Earlier identification of DLD is advocated to enable services to intervene to facilitate more positive outcomes and life chances for this very vulnerable population.

scholarly journals Erosão linguística na aquisição bilingue português – umbundu: evidências no domínio da formação do plural

2020 ◽  
pp. 69-85
Author(s):  
Bernardino Valente Calossa ◽  
Cristina Flores
Keyword(s):  
Bilingual Students ◽  
Older Students ◽  
School Students ◽  
Oral Production ◽  
9Th Grade ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
The Family ◽  
Family Language ◽  
Language Exposure ◽  
3Rd Grade

The present study assesses the linguistic development of Portuguese-Umbundu bilingual speakers in Angola by focusing on the production of plural forms. In particular, we analyse if changes in the degree of language exposure, after entering into the school, favor the occurrence of attrition in Umbundu, the home language, in parallel to the development of Portuguese, the dominant school language. A group of 28 bilingual students (14 3rd grade primary school students and 14 teenagers attending the 9th grade) and 28 age-matched monolingual speakers of Portuguese participated in a picture-based oral production elicitation task. The results show that the 3rd grade students have more difficulties in producing the plural in Portuguese, especially in situations where they have to apply particular rules (e.g. replace -ão with -ões), compared to Umbundu, the language that forms the plural by changing nominal classes. However, older students (9th graders) show more difficulties in forming the plural in Umbundu. Although this is not a longitudinal study, the data suggest that the change in the degree of language exposure, as a consequence of schooling in Portuguese, may have contributed to this inversion, which leads us to infer that the family language is vulnerable to attrition effects.

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