THE MACARTHUR-BATES COMMUNICATIVE DEVELOPMENT INVENTORIES AS A DIAGNOSTIC TOOL FOR THE LEXICON OF BILINGUAL CHILDREN

The article analyzes the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory (CDI) as a means of research and diagnostics of children's speech in different languages. It takes into account the data from Stanford University websites, which deal with findings resulted from the analysis of completed questionnaires. The sites provide abundant information concerning adaptations of this tool for more than 100 languages and a database of children's passive and active lexicons for 29 languages (including Russian). Moreover, on the basis of 23 languages, they show unique and universal character of word usage in the speech of young learners studying several different languages simultaneously. This article also provides research findings on the bilingual children’s early vocabulary (with Russian as the Heritage language) under the RFBR grant No. 19-012-00293.

Maternal interactive beliefs and style as predictors of language development in preterm and full term children

Previous research has shown that the quality of mother-child interactions between pre-term children and their mothers tends to be poorer than that of full-term children and their mothers (Forcada-Guex, Pierrehumbert, Borghini, Moessinger & Muller-Nix, 2006). Mothers of pre-term children are less responsive and more intrusive in interactions with their children than mothers of full-term children (Forcada-Guex et al., 2006; Ionio, Lista, Mascheroni, Olivari, Confalonieri, Mastrangelo, Brazzoduro, Balestriero, Banfi, Bonanomi, Bova, Castoldi, Colombo, Introvini & Scelsa, 2017; Laing, McMahon, Ungerer, Taylor, Badawi & Spence, 2010). The current research explored differences between mothers of pre-term and full-term children in terms of interactive beliefs and style, and the potential for language development to be differentially predicted by maternal interactive beliefs and styles in pre-term versus full-term children. Independent t-tests were conducted to compare pre-term and full-term groups in relation to the measures of maternal interactive beliefs and styles. A series of multiple regression analyses were then performed separately for each group to examine the shared and unique contributions of maternal interactive beliefs and styles on full-term versus pre-term children's language development. The results showed that mothers of pre-term children were more intrusive-directive than mothers of full-term children; in contrast, mothers of full-term children were more responsive and supportive-directive in interactions with their children. Moreover, predictors of language development were different in full-term versus pre-term children; in full-term children, maternal supportive beliefs and responsiveness were significant predictors of language development evaluated by both the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development and the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory; in the pre-term group, maternal supportive and directive beliefs, as well as supportive and intrusive directiveness, were significant predictors, with the latter being negatively associated with language development indicators. This research can shed light on how to prevent language delay in children and improve mother-child interactions that contribute to language development, which may in turn improve language development in vulnerable children, children born pre-term in particular.

Lexical Selectivity of 2-Year-Old Children With and Without Repaired Cleft Palate Based on Parent Report

Objective: To determine vocabulary and lexical selectivity characteristics of children with and without repaired cleft palate at 24 months of age, based on parent report. Participants: Forty-nine children with repaired cleft palate, with or without cleft lip (CP±L; 25 males; 21 cleft lip and palate, 28 CP only), 29 children with a history of otitis media (OM) and ventilation tubes (21 males), and 25 typically developing (TD) children (13 males). Main Outcome Measure(s): Parent-reported expressive vocabulary was determined using the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory: Words and Sentences. Results: Vocabulary size was reduced for children with repaired CP±L compared to children in the TD group ( P = .025) but not the OM group ( P = .403). Mean percentage of words beginning with sonorants did not differ across groups ( P = .383). Vocabulary size predicted sonorant use for all groups ( P = .001). Conclusions: Children with repaired CP±L exhibit similar lexical selectivity relative to word initial sounds compared to noncleft TD and OM peers at 24 months of age, based on parent report.

A Spanish Sign Language (LSE) Adaptation of the Communicative Development Inventories

This article presents the adaptation of the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory (CDI; Fenson et al., 1993, Guide and technical manual for the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventories. San Diego, CA: Singular Press; Fenson et al. 1994, Variability in early communicative development. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 59, 1–173) to Spanish Sign Language (LSE). Data were collected from 55 participants (32 boys and 23 girls; 17 deaf signers, 38 hearing signers) who, evaluated by their caregivers every 4 months, presented a total of 170 records. The parents reported the signs that the children could understand or produce between 8 and 36 months. Results suggested that the CDI adapted to LSE is a valid and reliable instrument. Signing children could understand more signs than they produced at this early developmental stage. There were no significant differences between boys and girls, or between deaf and hearing children. The development of LSE is similar to other sign languages, although with a lower production of signs in the early stages, perhaps due to the bilingualism of most of the children of our study.

Does the native language influence lexical composition in very preterm children at the age of two years? A cross-linguistic comparison study of Italian and Finnish children

This cross-linguistic study investigated whether the native language has any influence on lexical composition among Italian ( N = 125) and Finnish ( N = 116) very preterm (born at <32 gestational weeks) children at 24 months (controls: 125 Italian and 146 Finnish full-term children). The investigation also covered the effect of maternal education (ME) on lexical composition. The Italian/Finnish MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory was used for gathering the data. Although the lexicons of the preterm children were smaller than those of the controls, the native language had no major effect on their lexical composition. The ME had a significant effect on preterm children’s lexical composition, especially in the Finnish children. The findings indicate that lexical composition is not strongly affected by preterm birth. They also imply that lexical composition is a robust phenomenon that is connected to lexicon size and is not language-specific when analysed in broad terms, although some language-specific features were also detected.

Early Lexical Characteristics of Toddlers with Cleft Lip and Palate

Objective To examine development of early expressive lexicons in toddlers with cleft palate to determine whether they differ from those of noncleft toddlers in terms of size and lexical selectivity. Design Retrospective. Patients A total of 37 toddlers with cleft palate and 22 noncleft toddlers. Main Outcome Measures The groups were compared for size of expressive lexicon reported on the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory and the percentage of words beginning with obstruents and sonorants produced in a language sample. Differences between groups in the percentage of word initial consonants correct on the language sample were also examined. Results Although expressive vocabulary was comparable at 13 months of age for both groups, size of the lexicon for the cleft group was significantly smaller than that for the noncleft group at 21 and 27 months of age. Toddlers with cleft palate produced significantly more words beginning with sonorants and fewer words beginning with obstruents in their spontaneous speech samples. They were also less accurate when producing word initial obstruents compared with the noncleft group. Conclusions Toddlers with cleft palate demonstrate a slower rate of lexical development compared with their noncleft peers. The preference that toddlers with cleft palate demonstrate for words beginning with sonorants could suggest they are selecting words that begin with consonants that are easier for them to produce. An alternative explanation might be that because these children are less accurate in the production of obstruent consonants, listeners may not always identify obstruents when they occur.

Cambios en el comportamiento afectivo en niños con lenguaje demorado y típico

La dimensión afectiva del comportamiento puede ser un factor facilitador o inhibidor del desarrollo del lenguaje en infantes. Se realizó un estudio observacional longitudinal con niños a los 24 y 30 meses para explorar la relación entre comportamiento afectivo de díadas madre-hijo y la competencia lingüística del infante. Para determinar la competencia lingúistica de los infantes se uso el reporte paterno empleando el MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory (CDI, Jackson-Maldonado et al., 2005). Participaron 14 díadas, de las cuales 3 fueron clasificadas con niños con demora en el lenguaje. Se realizaron filmaciones en el hogar en situaciones de juego con duraciones entre los 19 y 31 minutos. Se empleó una taxonomía del comportamiento afectivo de cada miembro de la díada (Hernández &amp; Cortés, 2009) para analizar las filmaciones. Los resultados muestran que los niños con demora de lenguaje y sus mamás presentan menos conducta de afecto positivo y más de afecto negativo a los 24 meses respecto de los niños con lenguaje típico y aunque a los 30 meses incrementan esta conducta, siguen exhibiendo un vocabulario menor que los niños de lenguaje típico.

Cambios en el comportamiento afectivo en niños con lenguaje demorado y típico

La dimensión afectiva del comportamiento puede ser un factor facilitador o inhibidor del desarrollo del lenguaje en infantes. Se realizó un estudio observacional longitudinal con niños a los 24 y 30 meses para explorar la relación entre comportamiento afectivo de díadas madre-hijo y la competencia lingüística del infante. Para determinar la competencia lingúistica de los infantes se uso el reporte paterno empleando el MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory (CDI, Jackson-Maldonado et al., 2005). Participaron 14 díadas, de las cuales 3 fueron clasificadas con niños con demora en el lenguaje. Se realizaron filmaciones en el hogar en situaciones de juego con duraciones entre los 19 y 31 minutos. Se empleó una taxonomía del comportamiento afectivo de cada miembro de la díada (Hernández & Cortés, 2009) para analizar las filmaciones. Los resultados muestran que los niños con demora de lenguaje y sus mamás presentan menos conducta de afecto positivo y más de afecto negativo a los 24 meses respecto de los niños con lenguaje típico y aunque a los 30 meses incrementan esta conducta, siguen exhibiendo un vocabulario menor que los niños de lenguaje típico.