Purpose: The purpose of this study was to conduct a scoping review of literature focused on the effects of developmental language disorder (DLD) on writing skills across the life span to highlight gaps in our knowledge of how to support writing for this population. Method: We adopted the five-step framework for conducting scoping reviews outlined…

This study compared pronoun use in individuals with autism to their typically developing peers via meta-analysis and systematic review of 20 selected articles to examine differences in overall pronoun usage as well as in personal, ambiguous, possessive, reflexive, and clitic pronoun usage. Summary effects indicated significant differences between…

This paper sets out to peruse the role of various theories or more precisely, hypotheses invoked in second language acquisition (SLA) research by surveying three empirical studies pertaining to the critical period hypothesis in the SLA of phonetics and phonology. In particular, the three studies reviewed are titled in chronological order as (1)…

The purpose of this meta-analytic review is to investigate the relation between statistical learning (SL) and language-related outcomes, and between SL and reading-related outcomes. A comprehensive search of peer-reviewed published research resulted in 42 articles with 53 independent samples and 201 reported effect sizes (Pearson's r). Results of…

The present article offers a review of the existing literature on L2 gains arising from participation in a study abroad (SA) experience. The purpose of this article is (1) to provide a general overview of research findings on the influence of time abroad on L2 development and (2) to identify the areas which need further research within the SA…

The present meta-analysis examined the overall average correlation (weighted for sample size and corrected for measurement error) between passage-level second language (L2) reading comprehension and 10 key reading component variables investigated in the research domain. Four high-evidence correlates (with 18 or more accumulated effect sizes: L2…

Results of a study are presented that suggest the grammatical structures of English some deaf and hard of hearing students struggle to acquire. A review of the literature from the past 40 years is presented, exploring particular lexical and morphosyntactic areas in which deaf and hard of hearing children have traditionally exhibited difficulty.…

In this review of literature we examine empirical research of individual differences in younger readers' knowledge and use of expository text structures. The goal of this review is to explore the influence of reader and text characteristics in order to better understand the instructional needs of elementary school readers. First we review research…

This paper reviews the literature on grammatical knowledge in language comprehension in the preschool years from the perspective of sensitivity to structural contrasts. Studies of both direct and indirect evidence of sensitivity to structural contrasts were evaluated and showed that there may be a developmental sequence of increasing sensitivity…

This response to a paper concerning age-related effects and their relationship to universal grammar (UG) in second language (L2) acquisition looks first at both the paper in question and research on UG and L2 acquisition in general. After these observations, discussion focuses on the following four topics in relation to the paper: (1) the notions…

Presents evidence from studies on adults' language processing and children's language acquisition that the lexicon is at the core of grammatical generalizations at several levels of representation. Proposes that phonological acquisition might provide the bootstrapping into grammatical generalization in general. Concludes that age-appropriate…

A review of recent language research regarding the black English vernacular (BEV) considers new developments involving (1) the grammars of elderly and young speakers; (2) indications that BEV is not decreolizing but is actually diverging from white speech; and (3) the effect of contemporary developments on differences between black and white…