Co-Occurrence of Reading and Writing Difficulties: The Application of the Interactive Dynamic Literacy Model

This article presents the application of the interactive dynamic literacy (IDL) model (Kim, 2020a) toward understanding difficulties in learning to read and write. According to the IDL model, reading and writing are part of communicative acts that draw on largely shared processes and skills as well as unique processes and skills. As such, reading and writing are dissociable but interdependent systems that have hierarchical, interactive, and dynamic relations. These key tenets of the IDL model are applied to the disruption of reading and writing development to explain co-occurrence of reading–writing difficulties using a single framework. The following hypotheses are presented: (a) co-occurrence between word reading and spelling and handwriting difficulties; (b) co-occurrence of dyslexia with written composition difficulties; (c) co-occurrence between reading comprehension and written composition difficulties; (d) co-occurrence of language difficulties with reading difficulties and writing difficulties; (e) co-occurrence of reading, writing, and language difficulties with weak domain-general skills or executive functions such as working memory and attentional control (including attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder [ADHD]); and (f) multiple pathways for reading and writing difficulties. Implications are discussed.

Dynamic Assessment of Learners of a Spoken Language

Dynamic assessment (DA), or the assessment of learning potential, is becoming recognized as an alternative method that has wide application within the assessment of language. In moving away from comparison to normative data, the assessment enables a wider range of children to be assessed, including all of those for whom the norms do not apply, such as children with autistic spectrum conditions, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), hearing loss, and bi- or multilingual children. In addition to differentiating language difficulties due to lack of experience with the target language from developmental language disorders (DLD), the DA procedure contributes a considerable amount of qualitative information about the learning skills of the test-taker. This chapter reviews the multiple models and methods of DA and the work that has been done to develop tools to assess language skills in first language learners.

‘Every day is a challenge’: Expatriate acculturation in the United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has a very small population of national citizens, so it relies on foreign workers who bring a range of cultures with them, resulting in a unique multi-cultural context. Unlike Western countries, such as the UK, Canada and Australia, workers are unable to permanently migrate to the UAE, so instead they hold temporary, expatriate status. This exploratory study focuses on the experiences of internationally qualified, expatriate nurses in hospitals in Al Ain, gathered by qualitative interviews. Twenty-one registered nurses participated in this study. The nurses faced challenges associated with language requirements and differing cultural expectations, and displayed limited acculturation, which compromised their ability to provide appropriate care for patients. The temporary nature of the work, cultural expectations, language difficulties and potential improvements are discussed. The findings have important implications for organizations that employ large groups of staff from overseas in all sectors. This article contributes to knowledge of expatriates’ challenges in the UAE and highlights the difficulties of working in a diverse environment, leading to a range of actions being recommended for managers.

Transdiagnostic Profiles of Behaviour and Communication Relate to Academic and Socio-emotional Functioning and Neural White Matter Organisation

Behavioural and language difficulties co-occur in multiple neurodevelopmental conditions. Our understanding of these problems has arguably been slowed by an overreliance on case-control designs, which limit the conclusions we can draw because they fail to capture the overlap across different neurodevelopmental disorders and the heterogeneity within them. In this study, we recruited a large transdiagnostic cohort of children with complex diagnosed and undiagnosed needs (N = 805) to identify distinct subgroups of children with common profiles of behavioural and language strengths and difficulties. We then investigated whether and how these data-driven groupings could be distinguished from a comparison sample (N = 158) on academic, socio-emotional, and neural white matter characteristics. We identified three distinct subgroups of children, each with different levels of difficulties in structural language, pragmatic communication, and hot and cool executive functions. All three subgroups struggled with academic and socio-emotional skills relative to the comparison sample, potentially representing three alternative but related developmental pathways to difficulties in these areas. The children with the weakest language skills had the most widespread difficulties with learning, whereas those with more pronounced difficulties with hot executive skills experienced the most severe difficulties within the socio-emotional domain. Each data-driven subgroup could be distinguished from the comparison sample based on both shared and subgroup-unique patterns of neural white matter organisation. These findings advance our understanding of commonly co-morbid behavioural and language problems and their relationship to behavioural outcomes and neurobiological substrates.

Outcomes of Intervention in Children with Language Difficulties in Bangladesh

Background: Both clinical audits within hospitals, and population-based surveys of childhood disability in Bangladesh, have shown that large numbers of children have speech and language difficulties. This study determined the improvement of language skills of children presenting with difficulties to the Speech, Language and Communication (SLC) clinic of the Child Development Center (CDC) in Dhaka Shishu (Children) Hospital (DSH). Methodology: This is a retrospective study where records of children enrolled from April 2009 to March 2014, who had visited the SLC Clinic at least 3 times over a span of 6 months were analyzed. Preverbal language skills, comprehension, and expressive language levels were measured informally based upon play and interactive sessions and observation of function. Interventions involved training parents on informal intervention techniques following some international standard guidelines. Pre and post-intervention observations on preverbal, comprehensive, and expressive language skills were recorded to determine outcomes. Results: Of the 706 enrolled children 11.0%, 79.2%, 9.5%, .3% were 0-<2 years, 2-<5 years, >5-9 and 10-16 years old, respectively. 69.5% of children were males. Preverbal skills (attention span, awaiting, eye contact, attention sharing, turn-taking, copying), comprehension, and expressive language status showed significant improvement between the first and last visit (p= 0.000) Conclusions: Interactive play, music, books, etc. are important means of improving communication between parents and children. Professionals working with developmentally delayed children need to be trained to utilize these strategies, with the provision of appropriate facilities within clinical settings. A large majority of children can be assisted to overcome delays and optimize their potential.

Towards causal explanations of language mechanisms behind emotion development

There is a growing body of evidence suggesting that language difficulties co-occur with social,emotional, and behavioural (SEB) difficulties in children (see St Clair et al., 2011; Levickis et al., 2018).However, the research literature has not yet uncovered the direct causal mechanisms behind this cooccurrence.To illustrate this, I will begin with an overview of key emotion theories that the existingco-occurrence studies have missed. I will then examine relevant language and emotion developmentresearch on the basis of (1) theoretical framework, (2) methodological rigour, (3) ecological validity ofprocedures, and (4) evidential value to real-world educational and clinical contexts. Finally, I willconclude with my reflection on the causality between language difficulties and SEB difficulties inchildren. To respect the preference of the communities I represent, I will use identity-first andemancipatory language (American Psychological Association, 2019; Bottema-Beutel et al., 2020; TheAlliance for Inclusive Education, 2021) wherever applicable throughout this paper.

Relationship between early language competence and cognitive emotion regulation in adolescence

Cognitive emotion regulation improves throughout adolescence and promotes good mental health. Here, we test whether language skills at school entry predict success in emotion regulation in an experimental task at age 10–11, using longitudinal data from the Surrey Communication and Language in Education Study. We additionally compared the performance of children with and without language disorder (LD). Across the whole sample ( N = 344), language skills at school entry predicted emotion regulation success in Year 6 ( β = 0.23), over and above the concurrent association between language and regulation success. There was no evidence that children with LD that could engage in the task were less successful regulators compared to peers with typical language. However, a quarter of children with LD were unable to complete the task. These children had more severe language difficulties, lower non-verbal IQ and more comorbid conditions. This has implications for clinicians addressing mental health needs for children with neurodevelopmental conditions that affect language, as conversations about emotions and emotion regulation are an integral part of therapy. The longitudinal relationship between language skills and the capacity to use temporal distancing for emotion regulation in early adolescence suggests that language may drive improvements in emotion regulation.

THE INFLUENCE OF SPEECH THERAPY TREATMENT ON THE DEVELOPMENTAL ABILITIES OF PRESCHOOL CHILDREN

The main objective of the study was to determine the developmental abilities of preschool children before and after six months of speech therapy treatment, and to examine the impact of the time of initiation of speech therapy treatment on the developmental abilities of children. The sample consisted of 35 children (20 male children and 15 female children), and all respondents reported early intervention due to speech and language difficulties. The age of the respondents ranged from 25 to 60 months. After conducting interviews with parents, taking anamnestic data, professional speech therapy diagnosticobservational procedure and determining speech-language disorders, the children underwent speech therapy treatment. After six months, a final assessment was made and the results showed statistically significant progress in all variables describing developmental abilities in children. The predictor “Time of treatment initiation” also had a statistically significant impact on all tested variables of developmental abilities of preschool children. The results showed that speech therapy treatment enables significant progress in all developmental areas in children, i.e. that progress in one development area follows the development of other areas.