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Speech production in children with Down's syndrome: The effects of reading, naming and imitation
People with DS are known to have difficulties with expressive language, and often have difficulties with intelligibility. They often have stronger visual than verbal short-term memory skills and, therefore, reading has often been suggested as an intervention for speech and language in this population. However, there is as yet no firm evidence that reading can improve speech outcomes. This study aimed to compare reading, picture naming and repetition for the same 10 words, to identify if the speech of eight children with DS (aged 11-14 years) was more accurate, consistent and intelligible when reading. Results show that children were slightly, yet significantly, more accurate and intelligible when they read words compared with when they produced those words in naming or imitation conditions although the reduction in inconsistency was non-significant. The results of this small-scale study provide tentative support for previous claims about the benefits of reading for children with DS. The mechanisms behind a facilitatory effect of reading are considered, and directions are identified for future research
SOCIAL CONSTRAINTS ON ADULT LANGUAGE LEARNING
Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73181/1/j.1749-6632.1981.tb42015.x.pd
Effects of Age of Onset of Tonic-Clonic Seizures on Neuropsychological Performance in Children
Forty-eight children (aged 9 to 15 years) with tonic-clonic seizures were administered a neuropsychological test battery. The children with seizures of early onset (before age 5) were significantly impaired relative to the children with later onset on 8 of the 14 measures in the battery. The deficits were seen on tasks whose requirements included the repetition of a simple motor act, attention and concentration, memory, and complex problem solving. These findings emphasize the need for further research to determine the causal factors of the greater dysfunction seen in the early onset group. RĂSUMĂ Quarante huit enfants ĂgĂs de 9 Ă 15 ans souffrant de crises Ăpileptiques tonico-cloniques ont ĂtĂĂtudiĂs avec une batterie de tests neuropsychologiques. Pour huit des quatorze mesures de cette batterie de tests les enfants dont les cirses avaient dĂbutĂ prĂcocĂment (avant cinq ans) se sont avĂrĂs Ătre signiflcativement dĂtĂriorĂs par rapport Ă ceux dont les crises avaient dĂbutĂ plus tardivement. Les dĂficits se sont manifestĂs pour des tĂches nĂcessitant la rĂpĂtition d'un acte moteur simple, attention et concentration, mĂmoire et capacitĂĂ rĂsoudre des problĂmes complexes. Ces rĂsultats mettent l'accent sur la nĂcessitĂ de poursuivre les recherches afin de dĂterminer les facteurs responsables de la plus grande dysfonction observĂe chez les enfants dont l'Ăpilepsie a dĂbutĂ tĂt dans la vie. RESUMEN Se ha aplicado una bateria de tests neuro-psicolĂgicos a 48 niĂos de 9 a 15 aĂos de edad que padecĂan ataques tonico-clĂnicos. Los niĂos con ataques de comienzo precoz (antes de los 5 aĂos) mostraron incapacidades significativas compareĂndolos con niĂos con comienzos mĂs tardios en 8 de los 14 tests de la bateria. Los defectos fueron detectados en las pruebas cuyos requisitos incluĂan la repeticiĂn de un acto motor simple, atenciĂn y concentraciĂn, memoria y resoluciĂn de problemas complejos. Estos hallazgos indican la necesidad de continuar la inves-tigaciĂn para determinar los factores causales de la mayor disfunciĂn observada en el grupo de comienzo precoz. ZUSAMMENFASSUNG 48 Kinder (9 bis 15 Jahre alt) mit tonisch-klonischen KrĂmpfen wurden mit einer neuropsychologischen Testbatterie untersucht. Die Kinder mit einem FrĂhbeginn der AnfĂlle (vor dem Alter von 5 Jahren) zeigten sich bei 8 von 14 Tests der Serie deutlich beeintrĂchtigt im VerhĂltnis zu Kindern mit spĂterem Anfallsbeginn. Die Defekte traten bei Aufgaben auf, die folgende AnsprĂche stellten: Wiederholung einer einfachen motorischen Handlung, Aufmerksamkeit und Konzentration, GedĂchtnis und komplexes ProblemlĂsen. Diese Befunde deuten auf die Notwendigkeit weiterer Untersuchungen, um die ursĂchlichen Faktoren der grĂĂeren FunktionseinbuĂe zu bestimmen, die bei Patienten mit frĂhem Anfallsbeginn beobachtet wird.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/65238/1/j.1528-1157.1981.tb04102.x.pd
Young Children Make Their Gestural Communication Systems More Language-Like: Segmentation and Linearization of Semantic Elements in Motion Events
Genetic influences in different aspects of language development: The etiology of language skills in 4.5 year-old twins
The genetic and environmental etiologies of diverse aspects of language ability and disability, including articulation, phonology, grammar, vocabulary, and verbal memory, were investigated in a U.K. sample of 787 pairs of 4.5-year-old same-sex and opposite-sex twins. Moderate genetic influence was found for all aspects of language in the normal range. A similar pattern was found at the low end of the distribution with the exception of two receptive measures. Environmental influence was mainly due to nonshared factors, unique to the individual, with little influence from shared environment for most measures. Genetic and environmental influences on language ability and disability are quantitatively and qualitatively similar for males and females
Parental phonological memory contributes to prediction of outcome of late talkers from 20 months to 4 years: a longitudinal study of precursors of specific language impairment
Background Many children who are late talkers go on to develop normal language, but others go on to have longer-term language difficulties. In this study, we considered which factors were predictive of persistent problems in late talkers. Methods Parental report of expressive vocabulary at 18 months of age was used to select 26 late talkers and 70 average talkers, who were assessed for language and cognitive ability at 20 months of age. Follow-up at 4 years of age was carried out for 24 late and 58 average talkers. A psychometric test battery was used to categorize children in terms of language status (unimpaired or impaired) and nonverbal ability (normal range or more than 1 SD below average). The vocabulary and non-word repetition skills of the accompanying parent were also assessed. Results Among the late talkers, seven (29%) met our criteria for specific language impairment (SLI) at 4 years of age, and a further two (8%) had low nonverbal ability. In the group of average talkers, eight (14%) met the criteria for SLI at 4 years, and five other children (8%) had low nonverbal ability. Family history of language problems was slightly better than late-talker status as a predictor of SLI.. The best predictors of SLI at 20 months of age were score on the receptive language scale of the Mullen Scales of Early Learning and the parent's performance on a non-word repetition task. Maternal education was not a significant predictor of outcome. Conclusions In this study, around three-quarters of late talkers did not have any language difficulties at 4 years of age, provided there was no family history of language impairment. A family history of language-literacy problems was found to be a significant predictor for persisting problems. Nevertheless, there are children with SLI for whom prediction is difficult because they did not have early language delay
Vowel reduction in word-final position by early and late Spanish-English bilinguals
Vowel reduction is a prominent feature of American English, as well as other stress-timed languages. As a phonological process, vowel reduction neutralizes multiple vowel quality contrasts in unstressed syllables. For bilinguals whose native language is not characterized by large spectral and durational differences between tonic and atonic vowels, systematically reducing unstressed vowels to the central vowel space can be problematic. Failure to maintain this pattern of stressed-unstressed syllables in American English is one key element that contributes to a ?foreign accent? in second language speakers. Reduced vowels, or ?schwas,? have also been identified as particularly vulnerable to the co-articulatory effects of adjacent consonants. The current study examined the effects of adjacent sounds on the spectral and temporal qualities of schwa in word-final position. Three groups of English-speaking adults were tested: Miami-based monolingual English speakers, early Spanish-English bilinguals, and late Spanish-English bilinguals. Subjects performed a reading task to examine their schwa productions in fluent speech when schwas were preceded by consonants from various points of articulation. Results indicated that monolingual English and late Spanish-English bilingual groups produced targeted vowel qualities for schwa, whereas early Spanish-English bilinguals lacked homogeneity in their vowel productions. This extends prior claims that schwa is targetless for F2 position for native speakers to highly-proficient bilingual speakers. Though spectral qualities lacked homogeneity for early Spanish-English bilinguals, early bilinguals produced schwas with near native-like vowel duration. In contrast, late bilinguals produced schwas with significantly longer durations than English monolinguals or early Spanish-English bilinguals. Our results suggest that the temporal properties of a language are better integrated into second language phonologies than spectral qualities. Finally, we examined the role of nonstructural variables (e.g. linguistic history measures) in predicting native-like vowel duration. These factors included: Age of L2 learning, amount of L1 use, and self-reported bilingual dominance. Our results suggested that different sociolinguistic factors predicted native-like reduced vowel duration than predicted native-like vowel qualities across multiple phonetic environments
Structural MRI studies of language function in the undamaged brain
In recent years, the demonstration that structural changes can occur in the human brain beyond those associated with development, ageing and neuropathology has revealed a new approach to studying the neural basis of behaviour. In this review paper, we focus on structural imaging studies of language that have utilised behavioural measures in order to investigate the neural correlates of language skills in the undamaged brain. We report studies that have used two different techniques: voxel-based morphometry of whole brain grey or white matter images and diffusion tensor imaging. At present, there are relatively few structural imaging studies of language. We group them into those that investigated (1) the perception of novel speech sounds, (2) the links between speech sounds and their meaning, (3) speech production, and (4) reading. We highlight the validity of the findings by comparing the results to those from functional imaging studies. Finally, we conclude by summarising the novel contribution of these studies to date and potential directions for future research
Theorising terminology development: Frames from language acquisition and the philosophy of science
The manner in which our conceptualisation and practice of terminology development can be informed by processes of knowledge change in child language development and a paradigm shift in disciplines, has been relatively underexplored. As a result, insights into what appears to be fundamental processes of knowledge change have not been employed to reflect on terminology development, its dynamics, requirements and relationship to related fields. In this article, frames of knowledge change in child language development and the philosophy of science are used to examine terminology development as knowledge growth that is signalled lexico-semantically through a range of transformations: addition, deletion, redefinition and reorganisation. The analysis is shown to have implications for work procedures, expertise types, critique, and for the relationships between terminology development and translating
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