Can measures of executive function disentangle language disorder and disadvantage

Identifying specific language impairment (SLI) in polyglots or in children growing up in poverty is complex because it is often difficult to determine whether low language scores are attributable to reduced linguistic exposure or to the presence of a neurolinguistic deficit. This cross-cultural research presents data on different groups of children with an SLI diagnose in Luxembourg, Portugal, and Brazil who all speak Portuguese as their first language and were tested on the same battery of language (expressive/receptive vocabulary and syntactic comprehension) and executive function measures (verbal/visuo-spatial working memory, focused attention, and inhibitory suppression). In Luxembourg, 15 Portuguese-Luxembourgish bilingual 8-year-olds with an SLI diagnose (Bi-SLI) took part in the study. Their performance was compared to 35 typically developing Portuguese-Luxembourgish bilinguals from Luxembourg (Bi-TD) and to 35 typically developing monolinguals from Portugal (Ml-TD). Groups were matched on chronological age, socioeconomic status, and fluid intelligence and all children came from low income families. Results indicate that despite large differences in their language scores (Bi-SLI < Bi-TD < Ml-TD), the groups exhibited comparable performance on the measures of visuo-spatial working memory, focused attention, and inhibitory suppression. Group differences emerged on the verbal working memory measures with Bi-SLI children performing significantly less well than the bilingual and monolingual TD groups that manifested comparable performance. The data seems to suggest that executive function deficits in SLI are not domain general but limited to the verbal domain. Whether these findings extend to monolingual SLI children in Portugal and Brazil will be discussed

Características iniciais da comunicação verbal de pré-escolares com Alterações Específicas do Desenvolvimento da Linguagem em fala espontânea Primary characteristics of the verbal communication of preschoolers with Specific Language Impairment in spontaneous speech

OBJETIVO: Verificar desempenho fonológico de pré-escolares com Alterações Específicas do Desenvolvimento da Linguagem (AEDL) em fala espontânea. MÉTODOS: Foram sujeitos 27 crianças com AEDL, entre três anos e cinco anos e 11 meses, em tratamento fonoaudiológico. Foram selecionados aqueles que realizaram ao menos 50% da avaliação da fonologia a partir de provas de nomeação e imitação de palavras, ou que apresentaram inteligibilidade de fala passível de análise. Foram coletadas amostras de fala na prova de pragmática e no discurso eliciado por figuras. Foram realizadas análises a partir da utilização de processos fonológicos do desenvolvimento de linguagem (PD) e idiossincráticos (PI). RESULTADOS: A estatística descritiva (médias de PD e PI) indicou grande variabilidade intra-grupos. Não houve variação em número de processos conforme a idade (PD: p=0,38; PI: p=0,72), porém houve predominância de PD em todas as idades, nas duas provas aplicadas (Z=-6,327; p<0,001). A ocorrência de PD e PI foi maior na prova de pragmática (p<0,001), situação em que o número de palavras produzidas também foi maior (T-valor=8,93; p=0,000). CONCLUSÃO: A grande variabilidade intra-grupo confirma a heterogeneidade dos quadros de AEDL. Pode-se atribuir a ininteligibilidade, que dificulta a avaliação da linguagem expressiva desses sujeitos, à ocorrência de PD e PI concomitantemente. Ademais, a interação desenvolvida durante a prova de pragmática mostrou-se mais efetiva para a obtenção de amostra de fala espontânea para a análise da fonologia, além de confirmar a existência de grandes dificuldades relacionadas à elaboração de idéias e sua expressão em sujeitos com AEDL.<br>PURPOSE: To verify the phonological performance of preschoolers with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) in spontaneous speech. METHODS: The subjects were 27 children with SLI with ages between three years and five years and 11 months, who attended Speech-Language Pathology therapy. The subjects who carried out at least 50% of the phonological assessment or who had speech intelligibility that allowed analysis were selected. Speech samples were obtained from a pragmatics evaluation and from elicited discourse. Analyses considered the use of developmental (DP) and idiossyncratic phonological processes (IP) in spontaneous speech. RESULTS: The descriptive statistics (mean DP and IP) showed large within-group variability. There was no variation in the number of processes according to age (DP: p=0.38; IP: p=0.72), but there was a prevalence of DP in all ages, in both tests (Z=-6.327; p<0.001). The occurrence of DP and IP was higher in the pragmatics evaluation (p<0.001), situation in which the number of words produced was also greater (T-value=8.93; p=0.000). CONCLUSION: The great within-group variability confirms the heterogeneity of SLI. The speech unintelligibility, which hampers the assessment of the expressive language of these subjects, can be attributed to the co-occurrence of DP and IP. Moreover, the interaction during the pragmatics evaluation was more effective for obtaining a sample of spontaneous speech for phonological analysis, and confirms the existence of major difficulties related to the development of ideas and their expression in subjects with SLI