Specific language impairment in the long-term perspective – the importance of assessment procedures, reading skills, and communicative competence

Children with specific language impairment (SLI) are known to have limited lexicons. Previous studies implicate a possible processing problem, in the form of a limited ability to comprehend new words in settings that require Quick Incidental Learning (QUIL). This study investigates further the factors contributing to limited QUIL by examining the effects of input frequency and word type (nouns vs. verbs). In addition, immediate versus long-term memory was examined for possible problems with storage mechanisms. Subjects were 30 5-year-old SLI children with receptive and expressive language deficits and two comparison groups of normally developing children: 30 MLU-equivalent and 30 CA-equivalent. The subjects were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions in which they viewed video story presentations in which targeted words were embedded. The conditions varied by number of word presentations, 0, 3, or 10. The 0 condition was a control condition in which familiar words were presented. Children’s word comprehension was tested immediately following viewing and again several days later. The findings confirm a strong frequency effect, but one that is influenced by group status, word type, and retention demands. There is evidence of a robust representational mapping ability for SLI, which is at the same time modulated by a minimum input constraint and apparent problems with storage into long-term memory.

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The acquisition of tense morphology over time by English second language children with specific language impairment: Testing the cumulative effects hypothesis

Applied Psycholinguistics ◽

10.1017/s0142716416000485 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 38 (4) ◽

pp. 881-908 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

JOHANNE PARADIS ◽

RUITING JIA ◽

ANTTI ARPPE

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Language Impairment ◽

Specific Language Impairment ◽

Early Years ◽

Cumulative Effects ◽

Long Term Outcomes ◽

Specific Language ◽

Grammaticality Judgments ◽

English Second Language

ABSTRACTThe cumulative effects hypothesis (CEH) claims that bilingual development would be a challenge for children with specific language impairment (SLI). To date, research on second language (L2) children with SLI has been limited mainly to their early years of L2 exposure; however, examining the long-term outcomes of L2 children with SLI is essential for testing the CEH. Accordingly, the present study examined production and grammaticality judgments of English tense morphology from matched groups of L2 children with SLI and L2 children with typical development (TD) for 3 years, from ages 8 to 10 with 4–6 years of exposure to English. This study found that the longitudinal acquisition profile of the L2 children with SLI and TD was similar to the acquisition profile reported for monolinguals with SLI and TD. Furthermore, L2-SLI children's accuracy with tense morphology was similar to that of their monolingual age peers with SLI at the end of the study, and exceeded that of younger monolingual peers with SLI whose age matched the L2 children's length of exposure to English. These findings are not consistent with the CEH, but instead show that morphological acquisition parallel to monolinguals with SLI is possible for L2 children with SLI.

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Communicative Competence in Parents of Children with Autism and Parents of Children with Specific Language Impairment

Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders ◽

10.1007/s10803-006-0274-z ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 37 (7) ◽

pp. 1323-1336 ◽

Cited By ~ 68

Author(s):

Tilla F. Ruser ◽

Deborah Arin ◽

Michael Dowd ◽

Sara Putnam ◽

Brian Winklosky ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Language Impairment ◽

Specific Language Impairment ◽

Communicative Competence ◽

Children With Autism ◽

Specific Language

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Limits to a Left Hemisphere Explanation for Specific Language Impairment

Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research ◽

10.1044/jshr.3704.824 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 37 (4) ◽

pp. 824-830 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

Dorothy M. Aram ◽

Julie A. Eisele

Keyword(s):

Language Learning ◽

Left Hemisphere ◽

Language Impairment ◽

Specific Language Impairment ◽

Learning Disorders ◽

Learning Deficits ◽

Specific Language ◽

Language Measures ◽

Neurologically Intact

The hypothesis of unilateral left hemisphere damage as an explanatory model for the neurological basis of specific language impairment (SLI) does not appear to be sufficient for most children with SLI. Children with unilateral brain lesions have been shown to function significantly lower than their neurologically intact peers on a variety of language measures, yet few of the deficits noted are as persistent or severe as those seen in SLI. In at least two instances, however, language symptomatology following unilateral lesions in children does parallel some types of SLI. The first occurs following subcortical damage to anterior grey and white matter structures that typically results in pronounced language and learning disorders. The second parallel lies in the similar developmental course shared by children with “delayed” language and children with known unilateral lesions, whereby language onset and development is slow in the preschool years but normalizes by school age, with minimal long-term language-learning deficits.

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Growth of reading skills in children with a history of specific language impairment: The role of autistic symptomatology and language-related abilities

British Journal of Developmental Psychology ◽

10.1348/026151009x480158 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 28 (1) ◽

pp. 109-131 ◽

Cited By ~ 30

Author(s):

Michelle C. Clair ◽

Kevin Durkin ◽

Gina Conti-Ramsden ◽

Andrew Pickles

Keyword(s):

Language Impairment ◽

Specific Language Impairment ◽

Reading Skills ◽

Specific Language ◽

History Of

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Examining the Language Phenotype in Children With Typical Development, Specific Language Impairment, and Fragile X Syndrome

Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research ◽

10.1044/2016_jslhr-l-15-0185 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 59 (5) ◽

pp. 1046-1058 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Eileen Haebig ◽

Audra Sterling ◽

Jill Hoover

Keyword(s):

Fragile X Syndrome ◽

Language Impairment ◽

Specific Language Impairment ◽

Fragile X ◽

Typical Development ◽

Typically Developing ◽

Specific Language ◽

Language Assessments ◽

Assessment Procedures ◽

Mean Length Of Utterance

Purpose One aspect of morphosyntax, finiteness marking, was compared in children with fragile X syndrome (FXS), specific language impairment (SLI), and typical development matched on mean length of utterance (MLU). Method Nineteen children with typical development (mean age = 3.3 years), 20 children with SLI (mean age = 4.9 years), and 17 boys with FXS (mean age = 11.9 years) completed the Test of Early Grammatical Impairment (TEGI; Rice & Wexler, 2001), and other cognitive and language assessments. Quantitative comparisons on finiteness marking and qualitative comparisons of unscorable (i.e., nontarget) TEGI responses were conducted. Results Children with typical development and FXS performed better on finiteness marking than children with SLI. Although unscorable responses were infrequent, boys with FXS produced more unscorable responses than children with typical development and SLI. Conclusions Although boys with FXS have language deficits, they performed similarly to MLU-matched typically developing children on finiteness marking. This language profile differs from children with SLI, who present with a delay-within-a-delay profile with finiteness marking delays that exceed delays in MLU. Unscorable responses produced by the boys with FXS may reflect pragmatic deficits, which are prominent in this population. Assessment procedures should be carefully considered when examining language in boys with FXS.

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