Relationships Between Vocabulary Size, Working Memory, and Phonological Awareness in Spanish-Speaking English Language Learners

Purpose: The goals of this study were to evaluate the impact of short-term phonological awareness (PA) instruction presented in children\u27s first language (L1; Spanish) on gains in their L1 and second language (L2; English) and to determine whether relationships exist between vocabulary size, verbal working memory, and PA in Spanish-speaking English language learners (ELLs). Method: Participants included 25 kindergartners who received PA instruction and 10 controls. A 2-way within-subjects repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted to evaluate gains. Relationships between PA gains, Spanish and English vocabulary, and memory, as measured using nonword repetition and experimental working memory tasks, were analyzed using correlation and regression analyses. Results: Results indicated significant and equivalent gains in both languages of children in the experimental group and no gains in the control group. Spanish vocabulary size was significantly related to PA gains in both languages and was more strongly related to English gains than was English vocabulary size. The memory tasks predicted gains in each language in distinct ways. Conclusion: Results support the conclusion that PA instruction and strong vocabulary skills in an individual\u27s L1 benefit PA development in both the L1 and L2. Results also indicate that dynamic relationships exist between vocabulary size, storage and processing components of working memory, and PA development in both languages of ELLs

Cross-Linguistic Universals in Reading Acquisition with Applications to English-Language Learners with Reading Disabilities

There is a considerable gap in English reading achievement between English-language learners and native speakers in the United States. Differentiation of whether English language learners’ struggles are symptomatic of reading disability or related to second language acquisition is often challenging. These issues highlight the need for increased insight into reading development and disability in this population. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of cross-linguistic universals in reading acquisition, how reading disabilities manifest in various languages, and whether diagnostic and instructional approaches that are effective for native English speakers are also appropriate for English-language learners. Recommendations for assessment and intervention practices for at-risk and reading-disabled English-language learners are provided

Production of Korean Case Particles in an English-Korean Bilingual Child with Specific Language Impairment: A Preliminary Study

The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of Korean case particles in a Korean-English bilingual child with specific language impairment (SLI). The child\u27s production of four types of Korean case particles were compared to those of three typically developing children during probe and storytelling tasks. The Korean-English bilingual child with SLI produced the vocative and the nominative for person case particles similar to children matched on age and mean length of utterance (MLU). He produced the nominative for object and accusative case particles similar to the MLU-matched child but exhibited lower performance than that of his age-matched peers. The results suggest that longer duration of Korean case particles in the phrase-final position may provide perceptual salience and not pose particular difficulty for the Korean-English bilingual with SLI. Frequent omission of the accusative by the child with SLI and his MLU-matched peer, however, supports the argument that frequency effect in linguistic input influences morphological development. (Contains 6 tables and 1 figure.

Nonword Repetition and Interactions Among Vocabulary, Phonotactic probability, and Phonological Awareness in Four Linguistic Groups

The current study was designed to compare the English nonword repetition accuracy in 7-year-old monolingual English, Korean–English bilingual, Chinese–English bilingual, and Spanish–English bilingual children. The relationships among nonword repetition accuracy, vocabulary, phonological awareness, and phonotactic probability in each group of children were also examined. The results indicated significant differences among the groups’ accuracy of consonants and vowels by syllable length. Different correlational patterns emerged among nonword repetition accuracy, vocabulary, and phonological awareness. Theoretical and clinical implications for the use of nonword repetition tasks for children from various linguistic backgrounds are discussed

English Literacy Development for English Language Learners: Does Spanish Instruction Promote or Hinder?

In this brief, the authors consider whether instruction in a child\u27s native language (particularly Spanish) hinders or promotes learning of literacy in English. The authors conduct a four-step process for identifying research on this topic, examining this literature, and then determining the answer to this clinical question. The results suggest that supporting a child\u27s home/native language promotes rather than hinders development of English literacy skills

Grammatical Morphology in School-Age Children With and Without Language Impairment: A Discriminant Function Analysis

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to test Bedore and Leonard\u27s (1998) proposal that a verb morpheme composite may hold promise as a clinical marker for specific language impairment (SLI) in English speakers and serve as an accurate basis for the classification of children with and without SLI beyond the preschool level. Method: The language transcripts of 50 school-age children with SLI (Mage = 7;9 [years;months]) and 50 age-matched typically developing peers (Mage = 7;9) were analyzed. Following the Bedore and Leonard (1998) procedure, 3 variables were measured: a finite verb morpheme composite, a noun morpheme composite, and mean length of utterance in morphemes (MLUm). Results: Overall findings indicated that neither grammatical morpheme composite alone adequately discriminated the groups at this developmental level. However, combining the verb and noun grammatical morpheme composite measures with MLUm resulted in good discriminant accuracy in classifying subgroups of the youngest children with and without SLI in the school-age sample. Conclusion: Verb morphology alone is not a useful clinical marker of SLI in school-age children. Potential explanations for these findings and ideas for future research are discussed

Grammatical Morphology in School-Age Children With and Without Language Impairment: A Discriminant Function Analysis

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to test Bedore and Leonard\u27s (1998) proposal that a verb morpheme composite may hold promise as a clinical marker for specific language impairment (SLI) in English speakers and serve as an accurate basis for the classification of children with and without SLI beyond the preschool level. Method: The language transcripts of 50 school-age children with SLI (Mage = 7;9 [years;months]) and 50 age-matched typically developing peers (Mage = 7;9) were analyzed. Following the Bedore and Leonard (1998) procedure, 3 variables were measured: a finite verb morpheme composite, a noun morpheme composite, and mean length of utterance in morphemes (MLUm). Results: Overall findings indicated that neither grammatical morpheme composite alone adequately discriminated the groups at this developmental level. However, combining the verb and noun grammatical morpheme composite measures with MLUm resulted in good discriminant accuracy in classifying subgroups of the youngest children with and without SLI in the school-age sample. Conclusion: Verb morphology alone is not a useful clinical marker of SLI in school-age children. Potential explanations for these findings and ideas for future research are discussed

Creative and Stylistic Devices Employed by Children During a Storybook Narrative Task: A Cross-Cultural Study

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of culture on the creative and stylistic features children employ when producing narratives based on wordless picture books. Method: Participants included 60 first- and second-grade African American, Latino American, and Caucasian children. A subset of narratives based on wordless picture books collected as part of a larger study was coded and analyzed for the following creative and stylistic conventions: organizational style (topic centered, linear, cyclical), dialogue (direct, indirect), reference to character relationships (nature, naming, conduct), embellishment (fantasy, suspense, conflict), and paralinguistic devices (expressive sounds, exclamatory utterances). Results: Many similarities and differences between ethnic groups were found. No significant differences were found between ethnic groups in organizational style or use of paralinguistic devices. African American children included more fantasy in their stories, Latino children named their characters more often, and Caucasian children made more references to the nature of character relationships. Conclusion: Even within the context of a highly structured narrative task based on wordless picture books, culture influences children’s production of narratives. Enhanced understanding of narrative structure, creativity, and style is necessary to provide ecologically valid narrative assessment and intervention for children from diverse cultural backgrounds

Neurodevelopmental and Epilepsy Phenotypes in Individuals With Missense Variants in the Voltage-Sensing and Pore Domains of KCNH5

Background and Objectives KCNH5 encodes the voltage-gated potassium channel EAG2/Kv10.2. We aimed to delineate the neurodevelopmental and epilepsy phenotypic spectrum associated with de novo KCNH5 variants.Methods We screened 893 individuals with developmental and epileptic encephalopathies for KCNH5 variants using targeted or exome sequencing. Additional individuals with KCNH5 variants were identified through an international collaboration. Clinical history, EEG, and imaging data were analyzed; seizure types and epilepsy syndromes were classified. We included 3 previously published individuals including additional phenotypic details.Results We report a cohort of 17 patients, including 9 with a recurrent de novo missense variant p.Arg327His, 4 with a recurrent missense variant p.Arg333His, and 4 additional novel missense variants. All variants were located in or near the functionally critical voltage-sensing or pore domains, absent in the general population, and classified as pathogenic or likely pathogenic using the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics criteria. All individuals presented with epilepsy with a median seizure onset at 6 months. They had a wide range of seizure types, including focal and generalized seizures. Cognitive outcomes ranged from normal intellect to profound impairment. Individuals with the recurrent p.Arg333His variant had a self-limited drug-responsive focal or generalized epilepsy and normal intellect, whereas the recurrent p.Arg327His variant was associated with infantile-onset DEE. Two individuals with variants in the pore domain were more severely affected, with a neonatal-onset movement disorder, early-infantile DEE, profound disability, and childhood death.Discussion We describe a cohort of 17 individuals with pathogenic or likely pathogenic missense variants in the voltage-sensing and pore domains of Kv10.2, including 14 previously unreported individuals. We present evidence for a putative emerging genotype-phenotype correlation with a spectrum of epilepsy and cognitive outcomes. Overall, we expand the role of EAG proteins in human disease and establish KCNH5 as implicated in a spectrum of neurodevelopmental disorders and epilepsy.</p