7 research outputs found
HOW FAR FROM THE PREMISE; A META-ANALYSIS AND CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF LITERATURE ON CONTENT AND LANGUAGE INTEGRATED LEARNING
Background: Although there are numerous success records of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) implementation in educational settings and its principles have been found effective, the impact of the whole educational methodology may be overrated. Method: A comprehensive search conducted to retrieve articles published between August 2005 and July 2016 using the scholarly databases. Results: We identified 102 potentially relevant articles of which only 6 met the inclusion criteria. Positive effect sizes in 5 studies indicated that the experimental group outperformed the control group. These effect sizes were analyzed separately to provide an interpretative context for the main results. High heterogeneity was observed (Q = 5, P < .001). The Chi-squared significance test shows that the distribution of effect sizes has heterogeneity. Likewise, I-squared statistic quantifies the heterogeneity on the data. Conclusion: Despite the positive feedbacks reported by researchers on the efficiency of such methodology applied in primary and secondary schools, it is occasionally admitted that the results of the study are in doubt as the participants of CLIL and non-CLIL groups do not have equal exposure to the foreign language. To compare both groups in the same conditions, it is necessary for both to receive the same number of instruction hours in L2. Article visualizations
Language development disorder in Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD), a case study
Prenatal alcohol exposure can cause developmental damage in children. There are different
types and ranges of alterations that fall under the name of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD).
Disabilities in learning, cognition, and behavior are observed. Environmental conditions are
an influencing factor in this population since they are generally adverse and are either not diagnosed at
an early stage or given the appropriate support and approach. We present a case study of a 9-year-old
child, in which all the variables affecting his development (FASD diagnosis and socioenvironmental
conditions) were observed and analyzed. His early childhood under institutional care, the move
to a foster home at the age of 6, and several measures of evaluation from foster care to the present
are described. Difficulties in vocabulary, access to vocabulary, morphology, syntax, grammar, oral
narrative, pragmatics, speech, and communication were observed, along with cognitive difficulties in
memory, perception and executive functioning, social adaptation, learning, and behavior. An early
diagnosis and approach enable this population to develop skills in different dimensions to address
early adversity despite their neurological and behavioral commitment. Speech-language pathologist services are crucial for the diagnosis and treatment of the language and communication difficulties that characterize this syndrom
Voice characteristics in smith–magenis syndrome: An acoustic study of laryngeal biomechanics
Smith–Magenis syndrome (SMS) is a rare genetic disease characterized by intellectual
disability, serious behavior disorders, neurodevelopment delay, and speech and language disorders.
An acoustic and biomechanical analysis of the voice of SMS young adults was carried out due to
(a) the close relationship between the laryngeal biomechanics and the clinical and emotional state of a
person; (b) the fact that no research on the voice in this syndrome has been conducted previously.
The vocal timbre of most people diagnosed with SMS does not seem to be according to the complexion
of diagnosed individuals, nor to their gender and age, so it could be interesting to attend the analysis
of phonation of people with a rare genetic syndrome such as SMS. We used BioMetPhon, a specific
piece of software to analyze the glottal source and biomechanics of vocals folds. Nineteen features
related to dysphonia, physiology, and biomechanics of the vocal folds were considered. The adult
phonation of 9 individuals with SMS was analyzed and compared to 100 normative male and female
adult voices. Results showed that the phonation of the SMS group significantly deviates from the
adult normophonic profile in more than one of the 19 features examined, such as stiffness of the
thyroarytenoid muscle and dynamic mass of the vocal fold cover, among othersThis research was funded by grant TEC2016-77791-C4-4-R (Plan Nacional de I+D+i, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Competitiveness of Spain
MRI assessment of superior temporal gyrus in Williams syndrome
Prova tipográfica (In Press)Objective: To evaluate volumes and asymmetry of superior temporal gyrus (STG) and correlate these measures with a
neurocognitive evaluation of verbal performance in Williams syndrome (WS) and in a typically developing age-matched and
sex-matched group.
Background: Despite initial claims of language strength in WS, recent studies suggest delayed language milestones. The STG is
implicated in linguistic processing and is a highly lateralized brain region.
Method: Here, we examined STG volumes and asymmetry of STG in WS patients and in age-matched controls. We also correlated volume of STG with a subset of verbal measures.
Magnetic resonance imaging scans were obtained on a GE 1.5-T magnet with 1.5-mm contiguous slices, and were used to
measure whole gray matter, white matter, and cerebrospinal fluid volumes, and also STG volume.
Results: Results revealed significantly reduced intracranial volume in WS patients, compared with controls. Right and left
STG were also significantly smaller in WS patients. In addition, compared with normal controls, a lack of normal left >right STG asymmetry was evident in WS. Also of note was the finding that, in contrast to controls, WS patients did not reveal a positive correlation between verbal intelligence quotient and left STG volume, which further suggests a disruption in this region of the brain.
Conclusions: In conclusion, atypical patterns of asymmetry and reduced STG volume in WS were observed, which may, in part,
contribute to some of the linguistic impairments found in this cohort of WS patients.National Institutes of Health - (K05 MH 01110)Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) -
POCTI/PSI/58364/2004, RH/BD/16091/200
Evidencias de una protolengua en el lenguaje del deficiente mental
Centro de Informacion y Documentacion Cientifica (CINDOC). C/Joaquin Costa, 22. 28002 Madrid. SPAIN / CINDOC - Centro de Informaciòn y Documentaciòn CientìficaSIGLEESSpai
Aprendizaje de la lectura en los niños con sÃndrome de Williams
Las personas con sÃndrome de Williams se caracterizan por tener capacidades lingüÃsticas superiores a lo que corresponderÃan por su inteligencia. Respecto al nivel de lectura existe controversia dada la escasez de estudios. El objetivo de este trabajo era comprobar las capacidades de lectura de un grupo de niños con SW en edad escolar, y para ello se contrastó su ejecución con un grupo control de la misma edad mental. Tres tipos de tareas fueron utilizadas: lectura de palabras y pseudopalabras, tareas metafonológicas y de denominación rápida. Los resultados muestran que el grupo con SW tiene una ejecución similar al grupo control en la precisión lectora de pseudopalabras, aunque son más lentos en la lectura tanto de palabras como de pseudopalabras. También son más lentos en las tareas de denominación rápida. Estos resultados sugieren que los SW no tienen dificultades para desarrollar los mecanismos de conversión grafema-fonema, pero muestran ciertas dificultades en el desarrollo de la lectura léxica