Psychological and sociodemographic correlates of communicative anxiety in L2 and L3 production

This paper analyses foreign language anxiety in the French L2 and English L3 speech production of 100 Flemish students. The findings suggest that foreign language anxiety is not a stable personality trait among experienced language learners. The societal as well as the individual contexts were found to determine levels of communicative anxiety. The perception of French as the former prestige language in Flanders and its function as a social marker was found to be linked to the participants' social class, which was, in turn, linked to levels of anxiety in French - but not in English. This social effect appeared to be a stronger predictor of communicative anxiety in French than three personality variables (extraversion, neuroticism, and psychoticism). Psychoticism, extraversion, and, to a lesser extent, neuroticism did however significantly predict levels of communicative anxiety in English L3 production. Students who scored high on the extraversion and psychoticism scales reported significant lower levels of communicative anxiety in English. Those who scored low on the neuroticism scale also tended to report lower levels of communicative anxiety in English. The same pattern emerged for communicative anxiety in French without reaching statistical significance

Visual to auditory silent matching task in adults who do and do not stutter

textThe purpose of the present study was to investigate the role of phonological working memory in adults who do and do not stutter through a visual to auditory silent matching task. This task also explored the possible relationship between auditory processing and its ability to affect performance on the task. Participants were 13 adults who stutter (mean age = 28 years), matched in age, gender, handedness, and education level with 13 adults who do not stutter (mean age = 28 years). For the nonvocal visual to auditory task, participants silently read an initial target nonword and matched that target nonword to four subsequent auditory nonword choices. The participants completed this task for 4- syllable and 7- syllable nonwords (N = 8 per set). Results indicated that adults who stutter were significantly less accurate than adults who do not stutter at both syllable lengths. Our present findings support previous research that suggests less efficient phonological working memory in adults who stutter.Communication Sciences and Disorder

The advanced activities of daily living: a tool allowing the evaluation of subtle functional decline in mild cognitive impairment

Objectives: Assessment of advanced activities of daily living (a-ADL) can be of interest in establishing the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in an earlier stage, since these activities demand high cognitive functioning and are more responsive to subtle changes. In this study we tested a new a-ADL tool, developed according to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). The a-ADL tool is based on the total number of activities performed (TNA) by a person and takes each subject as his own reference. It distinguishes a total Disability Index (a-ADL-DI), a Cognitive Disability Index (a-ADL-CDI), and a Physical Disability Index (a-ADL-PDI), with lower score representing more independency. We explored whether these indices allow distinction between cognitively healthy persons, patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and patients with mild AD. Methods: Participants were on average 80 years old (SD 4.6; 66-90), were community dwelling, and were diagnosed as (1) cognitively healthy subjects (n=26); (2) patients with MCI (n = 17), or (3) mild AD (n = 25), based upon extensive clinical evaluation and a set of global, cognitive, mood and functional assessments. The a-ADL-tool was not part of the clinical evaluation. Results: The a-ADL-CDI was significantly different between the three groups (p<.01). The a-ADL-DI was significantly different between MCI and AD (p<.001). The tool had good psychometrical properties (inter-rater reliability; agreement between patient and proxy; correlations with cognitive tests). Although the sample size was relatively small, ROC curves were computed for the a-ADL-DI and a-ADL-CDI with satisfactory and promising results. Conclusion: The a-ADL-CDI and a-ADL-DI might offer a useful contribution to the identification and follow up of patients with mild cognitive disorders in an older population

Multi-level evidence of an allelic hierarchy of USH2A variants in hearing, auditory processing and speech/language outcomes.

Language development builds upon a complex network of interacting subservient systems. It therefore follows that variations in, and subclinical disruptions of, these systems may have secondary effects on emergent language. In this paper, we consider the relationship between genetic variants, hearing, auditory processing and language development. We employ whole genome sequencing in a discovery family to target association and gene x environment interaction analyses in two large population cohorts; the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) and UK10K. These investigations indicate that USH2A variants are associated with altered low-frequency sound perception which, in turn, increases the risk of developmental language disorder. We further show that Ush2a heterozygote mice have low-level hearing impairments, persistent higher-order acoustic processing deficits and altered vocalizations. These findings provide new insights into the complexity of genetic mechanisms serving language development and disorders and the relationships between developmental auditory and neural systems

The effects of trait emotional intelligence and sociobiographical variables on communicative anxiety and foreign language anxiety among adult multilinguals: A review and empirical investigation

This study considered the effects of trait emotional intelligence (trait EI; Petrides & Furnham, 2001) and sociobiographical variables (age, gender, education level, number of languages known, age of onset of acquisition, context of acquisition, frequency of use, socialization, network of interlocutors, self-perceived proficiency) on communicative anxiety (CA) in the first, and foreign language anxiety (FLA) in the second, third, and fourth languages of 464 multilingual individuals, in five different situations (speaking with friends, colleagues, strangers, on the phone, and in public). Data were collected via web-based questionnaires. Participants were divided into three groups based on their trait EI scores (low, average, high). Non-parametric statistical analyses revealed a consistent pattern of results across languages and situations. Higher levels of trait EI corresponded to significantly lower CA/FLA scores. Participants who started learning the L2 and L3 at a younger age also suffered less from FLA. Purely classroom-based language instruction was found to be linked to higher levels of FLA compared to instruction that also involved extracurricular use of the language. The knowledge of more languages, a higher frequency of use, a stronger socialization in a language, a larger network of interlocutors and a higher level of self-perceived proficiency in a language were also linked to lower levels of CA/FLA

Threat or boost: Social comparison affects older people’s performance differently depending on task domain

Objectives. In this research, we investigate whether social comparison with younger people can result in either a stereotype-based threat or boost in older people’s performance. Methods. Study 1 used nationally representative data to establish domains of performance in which older people are either stereotypically disadvantaged or advantaged relative to younger people. Study 2 was an experiment to test how a potentially threatening versus control versus enhancing comparison with younger people would affect performance in negatively and positively stereotyped task domains. Results. As predicted, compared with the control condition, stereotype threat caused performance decrements in both task domains. This effect was partially mediated by anxiety. Moreover, the enhancing social comparison boosted performance, but only on a crossword task, a task on which older people’s abilities are favorably stereotyped. Discussion. The research demonstrates that a threatening comparison can result in underperformance by older people both in negatively and positively self-stereotyped task domains. It also demonstrates that social comparison with younger people can enhance older people’s performance in a positively stereotyped task domain. The implications for creating circumstances likely to enable older people to achieve their full potential are discussed

Cognitive–linguistic deficit and speech intelligibility in chronic progressive multiple sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disabling neurological disease with varied symptoms, including dysarthria and cognitive and linguistic impairments. Association between dysarthria and cognitive-linguistic deficit has not been explored in clinical MS studies. In MS patients with chronic progressive (CP) MS, the study aimed to investigate the presence and nature of cognitive-linguistic deficit, association between levels of cognitive-linguistic ability and speech intelligibility and of both of these with functional disability and time since onset (TSO) of MS symptoms. The Arizona Battery for Communication Disorders of Dementia (ABCD) (Bayles and Tomoeda 1993), The Assessment of Intelligibility of Dysarthric Speech (AIDS) Sentence Intelligibility Task (Yorkston and Beukelman 1984) and the Modified Barthel Activities of Daily Living Index (MBADLI) (Shah1998) were administered to 24 CP MS participants with dysarthria. 24 non neurologically impaired participants, matched for gender, age and education, formed a control group. For MS participants, linear regression analysis showed a strong association between ABCD and AIDS (Beta = .89, p = 0.005), no association between ABCD and either MBADLI or TSO, a strong association between AIDS and MBADLI (Beta = 0.60, p = .001), and a trend towards association between AIDS and TSO (Beta = -.29, p = 0.08). Correlations between the four included ABCD construct scores and between these and the total ABCD score were significant (r >.60, p .80). The results revealed a strong association between dysarthria, as measured by connected speech intelligibility testing, and cognitive-linguistic deficit, in people with CP type MS. While some of the impairments which are associated with MS, including motor speech disorder, may influence performance on the ABCD, the data support the conclusion that marked cognitive-linguistic deficit is present in CP type MS patients with dysarthria. Deterioration was global, rather than being indicative of a construct specific deficit, and encompassed language, both expression and comprehension. Episodic memory and linguistic expression were especially affected. Speech and language therapists who work with dysarthric patients with CP MS should monitor cognitive-linguistic impairment. Awareness of this may influence assessment, intervention and management, including the information and advice given to patients and their relatives

Semantic and inferencing abilities in children with communication disorders

Background: Semantic and inferencing abilities have not been fully examined in children with communication difficulties. Aims: To investigate the inferential and semantic abilities of children with communication difficulties using newly designed tasks. Methods & Procedures: Children with different types of communication disorder were compared with each other and with three groups of typically developing children: those of the same chronological age and two groups of younger children. In total, 25 children aged 11 years with specific language impairment and 22 children, also 11 years of age, with primary pragmatic difficulties were recruited. Typically developing groups aged 11 (n = 35; age‐match), and those aged 9 (n = 40) and 7 (n = 37; language similar) also participated as comparisons. Outcomes & Results: For Semantic Choices, children with specific language impairment performed significantly more poorly than 9‐ and 11‐year‐olds, whilst the pragmatic difficulties group scored significantly lower than all the typically developing groups. Borderline differences between specific language impairment and pragmatic difficulties groups were found. For inferencing, children with communication impairments performed significantly below the 11‐year‐old peers, but not poorer than 9‐ and 7‐year‐olds, suggesting that this skill is in line with language ability. Six children in the pragmatic difficulties group who met diagnosis for autism performed more poorly than the other two clinical groups on both tasks, but not statistically significantly so. Conclusions: Both tasks were more difficult for those with communication impairments compared with peers. Semantic but not inferencing abilities showed a non‐significant trend for differences between the two clinical groups and children with pragmatic difficulties performed more poorly than all typically developing groups. The tasks may relate to each other in varying ways according to type of communication difficulty

Semantic and inferencing abilities in children with communication disorders

Background: Semantic and inferencing abilities have not been fully examined in children with communication difficulties. Aims: To investigate the inferential and semantic abilities of children with communication difficulties using newly designed tasks. Methods & Procedures: Children with different types of communication disorder were compared with each other and with three groups of typically developing children: those of the same chronological age and two groups of younger children. In total, 25 children aged 11 years with specific language impairment and 22 children, also 11 years of age, with primary pragmatic difficulties were recruited. Typically developing groups aged 11 (n = 35; age‐match), and those aged 9 (n = 40) and 7 (n = 37; language similar) also participated as comparisons. Outcomes & Results: For Semantic Choices, children with specific language impairment performed significantly more poorly than 9‐ and 11‐year‐olds, whilst the pragmatic difficulties group scored significantly lower than all the typically developing groups. Borderline differences between specific language impairment and pragmatic difficulties groups were found. For inferencing, children with communication impairments performed significantly below the 11‐year‐old peers, but not poorer than 9‐ and 7‐year‐olds, suggesting that this skill is in line with language ability. Six children in the pragmatic difficulties group who met diagnosis for autism performed more poorly than the other two clinical groups on both tasks, but not statistically significantly so. Conclusions: Both tasks were more difficult for those with communication impairments compared with peers. Semantic but not inferencing abilities showed a non‐significant trend for differences between the two clinical groups and children with pragmatic difficulties performed more poorly than all typically developing groups. The tasks may relate to each other in varying ways according to type of communication difficulty

Learning, Arts, and the Brain: The Dana Consortium Report on Arts and Cognition

Reports findings from multiple neuroscientific studies on the impact of arts training on the enhancement of other cognitive capacities, such as reading acquisition, sequence learning, geometrical reasoning, and memory