Novel word learning and its relation to working memory and language in children with mild-to-moderate hearing impairment and children with specific language impairment

2006 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 95-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Sahlén ◽  
K. Hansson
1998 ◽  
Vol 41 (6) ◽  
pp. 1444-1458 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Ellis Weismer ◽  
Linda J. Hesketh

This investigation examined the influence of emphatic stress on children's novel word learning. Forty school-age children participated in this study, including 20 children with specific language impairment (SLI) and 20 children with normal language (NL) development. Results indicated that there were no significant stress effects for comprehension or recognition of novel words (for which all children demonstrated relatively high levels of performance); however, children in both groups exhibited significantly better production of words that had been presented with emphatic stress than with neutral stress. These findings are discussed within a limited capacity framework of language processing.


2015 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 138-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rouzana Komesidou ◽  
Holly L. Storkel

The learning of a new word involves at least two processes: learning from input and memory evolution in the absence of input. The authors will review the literature and describe the relationship between these two processes and novel word learning by children with specific language impairment (SLI). Cases from an ongoing preliminary clinical trial of word learning in kindergarten children with SLI will serve as clinical illustrations. In particular, one case will be used to demonstrate a pattern of good learning from input and good memory retention (i.e., desirable learning pattern during treatment). Three additional cases will be used to illustrate patterns indicative of poor learning from input and/or poor memory retention. Suggestions will be provided concerning how treatment can be altered when these patterns appear, to promote desirable learning outcomes.


2015 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pauline Frizelle ◽  
Paul Fletcher

Purpose This study investigated the relationship between 2 components of memory—phonological short-term memory (pSTM) and working memory (WM)—and the control of relative clause constructions in children with specific language impairment (SLI). Method Children with SLI and 2 control groups—an age-matched and a younger group of children with typical development—repeated sentences, including relative clauses, representing 5 syntactic roles and 2 levels of matrix clause complexity. The Working Memory Test Battery for Children was administered. Results All 3 groups showed significant associations between pSTM and both types of matrix clause construction. For children with SLI, significant associations emerged between (a) WM and more complex matrix clause constructions, (b) WM and relative clauses including a range of syntactic roles, and (c) pSTM and the least difficult syntactic role. In contrast, the age-matched control group could repeat almost all syntactic roles without invoking the use of either memory component. Conclusions The role of pSTM and WM in the production of relative clauses by children with SLI is influenced by the degree of difficulty of the structure to be recalled. In therapy, the effect of WM limitations can be minimized by approaching each structure within the context of a simple matrix clause.


2000 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
JAMES W. MONTGOMERY

In this study we examined the influence of working memory on the off-line and real-time sentence comprehension/processing of children with specific language impairment (SLI). A total of 12 children with SLI, 12 normally developing children matched for chronological age (CA), and 12 children matched for receptive syntax (RS) completed three tasks. In the working memory task, children recalled as many words as possible under three processing load conditions varying in the number of mental operations (i.e., no load, single load, dual load). In the off-line comprehension task, children listened to linguistically nonredundant and redundant sentences. In the real-time sentence processing task, children monitored sentences for the occurrence of a target word appearing at the beginning, middle, or end of a test sentence and pushed a response pad as quickly as possible upon hearing the target. In the memory task, SLI children recalled fewer words in the dual-load condition relative to CA peers, who showed no condition effect. The SLI and RS groups performed similarly overall; however, both groups recalled fewer words in the dual-load condition than in the other conditions. In the off-line task, the SLI group comprehended fewer sentences of both types relative to the CA controls and fewer redundant sentences relative to themselves and to the RS controls. A significant correlation between working memory and sentence comprehension was found for the SLI group and control groups. For the on-line task, between-group analyses revealed that the SLI group yielded an overall slower word recognition reaction time than the CA and RS groups. Working memory and sentence processing were not correlated for any group. Results were interpreted to suggest that SLI children have a more limited functional working memory capacity than their CA peers. Children with SLI also appear to have greater difficulty managing their working memory resources relative to both age peers and younger children when performing a conventional off-line sentence comprehension task but not a real-time sentence processing task.


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