49 research outputs found
Speech and language skills of Maltese children with bilateral cochlear implants : three case studies
The purpose of this study was to document the
speech and language skills of three Maltese children with bilateral
cochlear implants. One child was simultaneously implanted and
had a hearing age (HA) of 2;10 years at the time of testing,
another was sequentially implanted and had a HA of 3;06 years,
while the third child was sequentially implanted and had a
HA of 5;03 years. Maltese standardised speech and language
assessments were used to gather information on the children’s
speech and language skills, with data being collected during
their speech and language therapy sessions. Following data
transcription and analysis, the participants’ speech and language
abilities were compared to those of their HA- and chronological
age (CA)-matched peers using available norms for Maltese
children. Additional information regarding the children’s speech
and language history prior to and post-implantation was also
collected, providing a holistic overview of the participants’ speech
and language development. Results indicated that the children
presented with speech and language delay when compared to
their CA-matched peers. Variations across the participants
were found in specific language skills. Similarities in language
patterns were also noted, including expressive abilities in advance
of receptive skills. These findings extend the limited data on
the speech and language skills of Maltese children with cochlear
implants, with comparison to norms for typically-developing
children being a novel approach to research in this area.peer-reviewe
The development of early expressive vocabulary in children with Down Syndrome
A delay in expressive language in children with Down
Syndrome (DS) is common, and often a major challenge of the condition.
This study aimed to investigate the early expressive vocabulary
skills of Maltese children with DS, whose first languages were either
Maltese or English, while taking into account chronological age.
Language preference was further explored in the context of a bilingual
environment. A multi-method design was implemented across seven
participants whose language abilities ranged from the expression of
single words in isolation to simple word combinations. The expressive
vocabularies of four boys and three girls between 2;10 and 11;9 years
were assessed through caregiver report, picture naming and language
sampling. Performance of the children was analysed in relation to
local findings on lexical production in typically-developing children.
The study revealed that productive vocabularies of Maltese bilingual
children with DS escalated with increasing age, notwithstanding
inevitable individual variation.peer-reviewe
Early lexical expression in typically developing Maltese children : implications for the identification of language delay
Limited word production may be the first indicator of impaired language development. The unavailability of normative data and standardized assessments for young Maltese children hinders the identification of early language delays. This study aimed to document Maltese children’s expressive vocabulary growth and accompanying range of variation, to assist identification of children at risk for language impairment. The expressive vocabularies of 44 typically developing children aged 12–30 months were measured through caregiver report.
Mean scores at each age point were characterized by substantial individual variation. Gender was not related to mean growth in vocabulary production. Minimum scores were compared to clinical thresholds for English-speaking children. Results emphasized the assessment- and language-specific nature of identification criteria. Nevertheless, established thresholds may be referred to when normative data for particular languages/language pairs are limited. In such contexts, the consideration of other risk markers gains importance in supplementing
findings on lexical expression.peer-reviewe
Using parent report to assess early lexical production in children exposed to more than one language
Limited expressive vocabulary skills in young children are considered to be the first warning signs of a potential Specific Language Impairment (SLI) (Ellis & Thal, 2008). In bilingual language learning environments, the expressive vocabulary size in each of the child’s developing languages is usually smaller compared to the number of words produced by monolingual peers (e.g. De Houwer, 2009). Nonetheless, evidence shows children’s total productive lexicon size across both languages to be comparable to monolingual peers’ vocabularies (e.g. Pearson et al., 1993; Pearson & Fernandez, 1994). Since there is limited knowledge as to which level of bilingual vocabulary size should be considered as a risk factor for SLI, the effects of bilingualism and language-learning difficulties on early lexical production are often confounded. The compilation of profiles for early vocabulary production in children exposed to more than one language, and their comparison across language pairs, should enable more accurate identification of vocabulary delays that signal a risk for SLI in bilingual populations. These considerations prompted the design of a methodology for assessing early expressive vocabulary in children exposed to more than one language, which is described in the present chapter. The implementation of this methodological framework is then outlined by presenting the design of a study that measured the productive lexicons of children aged 24-36 months who were exposed to different language pairs, namely Maltese and English, Irish and English, Polish and English, French and Portuguese, Turkish and German as well as English and Hebrew. These studies were designed and coordinated in COST Action IS0804 Working Group 3 (WG3) and will be described in detail in a series of subsequent publications. Expressive vocabulary size was measured through parental report, by employing the vocabulary checklist of the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory: Words and Sentences (CDI: WS) (Fenson et al., 1993, 2007) and its adaptations to the participants’ languages. Here we describe the novelty of the study’s methodological design, which lies in its attempt to harmonize the use of vocabulary checklist adaptations, together with parental questionnaires addressing language exposure and developmental history, across participant groups characterized by different language exposure variables. This chapter outlines the various methodological considerations that paved the way for meaningful cross-linguistic comparison of the participants’ expressive lexicon sizes. In so doing, it hopes to provide a template for and encourage further research directed at establishing a threshold for SLI risk in children exposed to more than one language
Auditory and language processing skills in Maltese children : a comparative study
Auditory processing disorder is described as a
mixture of unrefined listening skills which, despite normal
hearing, causes poor speech perception. These difficulties
have also been reported in children with a diagnosis of
language impairment (LI), literacy difficulties (LD)1, and
attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The
purpose of this study is to describe and compare the listening
performance of typically developing (TD) children with
those diagnosed with LI, LD, and ADHD on an assessment
battery of auditory processing (AP) and language processing
(LP). One hundred and one TD children and 53 children
with a clinical diagnosis were assessed using four subtests
of AP presenting linguistic stimuli, three AP subtests with
non-linguistic stimuli and an assessment of LP. Parents of
all children were required to fill in a questionnaire related
to their listening difficulties. Parental report for the TD
group on average yielded the lowest score, indicating fewer
difficulties with listening skills in the TD group. The listening
difficulties exhibited in the Maltese participants diagnosed
with LI, LD and ADHD were mainly specific to the AP
subtests using linguistic stimuli. The LI and LD groups
generally performed significantly worse than the TD group
on all AP subtests using linguistic stimuli, while the ADHD
group performed significantly worse than the TD group on
some of these tests. The same pattern did not emerge for the
subtests using non-linguistic stimuli. Few significant effects
between groups were evident. The LI groups were found to
perform the weakest in all tests of language processing.peer-reviewe
Word usage as measured by parental checklists and language samples : trends, comparisons, and implications
Background: Although parental checklists are well-known for their potential in indexing young children’s lexicon size, they can also be used to track children’s acquisition of individual words. Word-level data can be used to identify the checklist words most and least commonly employed across groups of children. Like parent-completed vocabulary checklists, samples of spontaneous language use collected from multiple children can also generate measures of word commonality, concerned with the numbers of children producing individual words. To our knowledge, comparisons of word usage as determined by parental checklist and language sample data obtained in parallel from the same children have not been carried out. Also scarce in the empirical literature are item-level analyses of early bilingual lexicons that explore word usage across two emerging languages. The present study aimed to contribute toward bridging both gaps through the analysis of data generated by a bilingual Maltese-English adaptation of the vocabulary checklist of the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventories: Words and Sentences (CDI: WS) and spontaneous language samples for the same children. An additional objective was to derive implications for revising the current version of the vocabulary checklist, in preparation for its eventual standardization. Materials and methods: For 44 Maltese children aged 12, 18, 24, and 30 months, the words reported by their main caregivers on the vocabulary checklist were identified, along with their respective semantic categories. For the same children, 20-min language samples obtained during free play with the caregiver were transcribed orthographically. Words identified through parental report and language sampling were analyzed for commonality, i.e., the number of children producing each word. Results: Comparison of the word usage patterns obtained through both methods indicated differences in the words most commonly sampled and those most commonly reported, particularly in relation to grammatical categories. Notwithstanding these differences, positive and significant correlations emerged when considering all grammatical categories and languages across commonality levels. Discussion: The commonality scores based on parental checklist data have implications for reconsidering the length and language balance of the Maltese-English adaptation of the CDI: WS vocabulary checklist. Sampled word usage patterns can contribute additional objectivity in updating the reporting instrument in preparation for its eventual standardization.peer-reviewe
Aprendizaje entre iguales en ciencias naturales de educacion primaria : perspectivas teoricas y sus implicaciones para la practica en el aula
This article examines the cognitive models for peer-to-peer learning and their implications for teaching natural sciences in primary schools. The article is a product of the Socrates Comenius 2.1 project 'The Implementation of Scientific Thought in the Elementary School Environment', funded by the European Commission. The role of metacognition and affective development in the process of peer learning is explored. The article provides a link between the cognitive models of peer learning in the natural sciences of primary education and the implementation of these models in the classroom.peer-reviewe
AUDITORY AND LANGUAGE PROCESSING SKILLS IN MALTESE CHILDREN: A COMPARATIVE STUDY
Abstract. Auditory processing disorder is described as a mixture of unrefined listening skills which, despite normal hearing, causes poor speech perception. These difficulties have also been reported in children with a diagnosis of language impairment (LI), literacy difficulties (LD) 1 , and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The purpose of this study is to describe and compare the listening performance of typically developing (TD) children with those diagnosed with LI, LD, and ADHD on an assessment battery of auditory processing (AP) and language processing (LP). One hundred and one TD children and 53 children with a clinical diagnosis were assessed using four subtests of AP presenting linguistic stimuli, three AP subtests with non-linguistic stimuli and an assessment of LP. Parents of all children were required to fill in a questionnaire related to their listening difficulties. Parental report for the TD group on average yielded the lowest score, indicating fewer difficulties with listening skills in the TD group. The listening difficulties exhibited in the Maltese participants diagnosed with LI, LD and ADHD were mainly specific to the AP subtests using linguistic stimuli. The LI and LD groups generally performed significantly worse than the TD group on all AP subtests using linguistic stimuli, while the ADHD group performed significantly worse than the TD group on some of these tests. The same pattern did not emerge for the subtests using non-linguistic stimuli. Few significant effects between groups were evident. The LI groups were found to perform the weakest in all tests of language processing
An affordance-based requirements approach for developing therapeutic artefacts - a case study of speech and language toys
An effort to solve real-world problems through the creation of new or improved products, such as rehabilitation or therapeutic devices, requires a human-centred design approach. Lack of domain knowledge about the use context and accessibility to key experts or end users pose significant challenges to the designer during the task clarification stage in understanding the end-user requirements. This article presents a computer-based design support tool, ACQUAINT-SALTT, based on a prescriptive computer architecture that allows the generation of affordance-based requirements (ABRs) for an emerging family of products known as speech and language therapeutic toys (SALTTs). Considering affordances, the end-user requirements can be detailed as a relationship between the product and the user within a context while keeping the problem as abstract as possible without restricting creativity. A prototype therapeutic toy, Olly Speaks, was developed and evaluated through usability studies carried out with clinicians, caregivers, and pre-schoolers to assess its therapeutic impact both within and outside the clinic.peer-reviewe
Ratunku! or just tunku! : evidence for the reliability and concurrent validity of the Language Use Inventory : LUI-Polish
Purpose: To date, there is no tool for assessing early pragmatic development of Polish-speaking children. This study aimed to adapt to Polish a standardized parent report measure, the Language Use Inventory (LUI; O’Neill, 2009, in order to enable cross-cultural comparisons and to
use the LUI-Polish to screen for pragmatic development in children 18-47 months of age. We concentrated on the sociocultural and functional adaptation of LUI and aimed to demonstrate its reliability, developmental sensitivity, and concurrent validity. Method: Parents completed an online version of LUIPolish, longitudinally at 3 time points (when the child was 20, 32, and 44 months old). In addition, parents completed the Polish adaptations of the Questionnaire for Communication and Early Language at 22 months and the Language Development Survey at 24 months. Children’s spontaneous speech was assessed at 24 months, and their expressive and receptive vocabulary was assessed at 36 months.
Results: All 3 parts of the LUI-Polish (Gestures, Words, and Sentences) showed very good levels of internal consistency at each time point. Significant correlations were observed between all parts of the LUI-Polish at all 3 measurement time points. The expected developmental trajectory was observed for boys and girls providing evidence of its developmental sensitivity for children between the ages of 2 and 4 years: an increase with age in the total score (due to an increase in Words and Sentences) and a decrease in Gestures. Supporting concurrent validity, significant correlations were found between children’s performance on (a) the LUI-Polish at 20 months and the Questionnaire for Communication and Early Language at 22 months as well as the Language Development Survey and spontaneous speech measures at 24 months and (b) the LUI-Polish at 32 months and the 2 measures of vocabulary comprehension and production at 36 months. Conclusion: The Polish adaptation of the LUI demonstrated good psychometric properties that provide a sound basis for cross-cultural comparisons and further research toward norming of the LUI-Polish. Moreover, the expected developmental trajectory in the pragmatic development of Polish children was observed