Assessing pragmatics in early childhood with the Language Use Inventory across seven languages

The Language Use Inventory (LUI) is a parent-report measure of the pragmatic functions of young children’s language, standardized and norm-referenced in English (Canada) for children aged 18–47 months. The unique focus of the LUI, along with its appeal to parents, reliability and validity, and usefulness in both research and clinical contexts has prompted research teams globally to translate and adapt it to other languages. In this review, we describe the original LUI’s key features and report on processes used by seven different research teams to translate and adapt it to Arabic, French, Italian, Mandarin, Norwegian, Polish, and Portuguese. We also review data from the studies of the seven translated versions, which indicate that all the LUI versions were reliable and sensitive to developmental changes. The review demonstrates that the LUI, informed by a social-cognitive and functional approach to language development, captures growth in children’s language use across a range of linguistic and cultural contexts, and as such, can serve as a valuable tool for clinical and research purposes

Predicting Later Language Outcomes From the Language Use Inventory

Purpose: To examine the predictive validity of the Language Use Inventory (LUI), a parent report of language use by children 18 to 47 months old (O'Neill, 2009). Method: 348 children whose parents had completed the LUI were re-assessed at 5 to 6 years old with standardized, norm-referenced language measures and parent report of developmental history. The relationship between scores on the LUI and later measures was examined through correlation, binary classification, and ROC curve analysis. Results: For children aged 24 to 47 months at the time of LUI completion, LUI scores correlated significantly with language measure scores. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) was also calculated for four cut-off scores on the LUI, including –1.64 SD, a score that maximized sensitivity to 81% and specificity to 93%. For children aged 18–23 months at the time of LUI completion, specificity and NPV were high but sensitivity and PPV were lower than desirable. Conclusions: The results provide initial support for the LUI's predictive validity, particularly for children 24–47 months, and suggest the LUI can serve as an indicator of later language outcomes in referred populations. The results compare favourably to findings for other early child language measures

Peer talk : children with specific language impairment in dyadic and group interactions

The research for this dissertation focused on how children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) use language in their interactions with peers. The study had three broad objectives: (1) to ascertain patterns of language use by the children with SLI in different contexts, (2) to evaluate the relationship of those patterns to difficulties in peer interaction reported in the literature, and (3) to explore the ramifications of groups composed uniquely of children with SLI for peer talk and peer interaction.The participants were several children (mean age 4 years, 10 months) enrolled in a preschool language program designed specifically for children with SLI. These children were observed in a number of contexts over a period of several weeks.The children with SLI were first observed in dyadic play with different conversational partners. Initiating and responding, communicative acts, and communication breakdowns were examined. Dyads composed of two children with SLI were more successful in some aspects of conversation, while mixed dyads, composed of one child with SLI and one with TLD, were more successful in others. The conversational behaviours of the children with SLI were, however, generally quite similar to their peers with TLD.The same children with SLI were observed during recess and during free play in their classroom. There were no significant differences in interactional patterns across the two group play contexts. In both contexts, the children with SLI spent significantly more time in interactive activity than in solitary activity, and most of that interaction was verbal. They tended, even during recess when other interlocutors were available, to talk and interact among themselves, and there was evidence of stable friendships within the SLI group.Snack, circle time, and pretend play sequences were also observed. A schema for the analysis of children's discourse was piloted. The analysis showed that the children with SLI used language for a variety of instrumental and interactional purposes, and did so in ways that were consistent with those reported in the literature for children with TLD.The combined results indicated pragmatic strengths and successful peer interaction in this group of children with SLI. These results can be explained by characteristics of the children and of the program in which they were enrolled

Predicting Later Language Outcomes From the Language Use Inventory

Purpose: To examine the predictive validity of the Language Use Inventory (LUI), a parent report of language use by children 18-47 months old Conclusions: The results provide initial support for the LUI's predictive validity, particularly for children 24-47 months, and suggest the LUI can serve as an indicator of later language outcomes in referred populations. The results compare favorably to findings for other early child-language measures

Pedagogical and political encounters in linguistically and culturally diverse primary classrooms : examples from Quebec, Canada and Gauteng, South Africa

Comparative research in multilingual urban primary schools indicates that the pedagogical and political goals of schooling may operate at cross-purposes. Classroom observations and teacher interview-discussions were conducted in classes for immigrant children in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, where the language of instruction is French, and in classes in Pretoria, Gauteng Province, South Africa, where children from many different language backgrounds are taught in English. Two main themes emerged: (1) Pedagogically, effective teacher-learner communication can break down when teachers are unaware of the roles that language and culture play in second language classrooms. (2) Politically, efforts to assimilate learners into new socio-cultural/political contexts sometimes take precedence over sound pedagogical practice, such as drawing on the linguistic and cultural repertoire that learners bring to the classroom. This on-going qualitative research underlines the importance of preparing pre-service and inservice teachers for the linguistic and cultural diversity they are bound to encounter in their classrooms, and of deepening their understanding of the influence of such diversity on the teaching-learning process.http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ccom20gv201