Postverbal subjects in child Italian: Argument structure, discourse and the definiteness effect

While previous work on postverbal subjects in Italian has shown that young children are sensitive to the effects of argument structure and definiteness, little is known about the acquisition of postverbal subjects at the VP-periphery. In response, the present study investigated such subjects under new-information focus by monolingual Italian children (6;1 – 7;4). For this, we employed an elicitation task and a forced-choice task. The results indicated that the children use postverbal subjects at the VP-periphery felicitously, although they do not perform at ceiling. Unexpectedly, the results also suggested possible remnant difficulty with the definiteness effect. However, after comparison with adult data we argue that this is not a developmental issue and instead may suggest that our children were aware that the definiteness effect is not about definiteness per se.

Dating Violence

The prevalence and perceptions of dating violence were investigated in this study. Participants were traditional-aged college students, and each completed a survey about verbal, physical, or sexual violence experienced while on a date or in a dating relationship. The survey explores whether the respondent continued the relationship after the first incidence of violence, whether he or she perceived the act as abusive, and if either the respondent or the aggressor was using alcohol directly before or during the violent act. Respondents were also asked if they divulged the incidents to anyone and, if so, to whom. The findings indicated that dating violence is a severe problem among young daters and significant differences may exist between genders regarding perceptions of acceptable behavior. The research offers credence for orientation programming and on-going education on this important developmental issue.

Acquired and Developmental Executive Dysfunction: Common Intervention Principles

When school-based speech-language pathologists encounter executive dysfunction, it is typically related to a developmental issue and is often associated with other diagnoses. There are students, however, who present with acquired executive function that is neurogenic in basis. These may present as very different disorders, yet there are commonalities between the two etiologies of executive dysfunction. This article presents some common principles of intervention for consideration by the school-based speech-language pathologist.

Child Labor’s Link with Literacy and Poverty in Pakistan

In developing countries, children have long been largely ignored in public policy-making and the development of program strategies for improving their welfare. The complex issue of child labor is a developmental issue worth investigating. The notion that children are being exploited and forced into labor, while not receiving education crucial to development, concerns many people. This study focuses on child labor in Pakistan with two main objectives. We first estimate the prevalence of child labor in the 100 districts of Pakistan and then examine the hypothesis that child labor is significantly higher in districts that have a higher incidence of poverty and lower level of educational attainment. The results show that child labor has a negative relationship with the literacy rate both 10-14 year age and 15 years and above. There is a negative but insignificant relationship with per capita income and Deprivation Index in the case of male child labor. The study proved that literacy rate and per capita income has influenced negatively on female child labor.