The relationship between first and second language in early vocabulary acquisition in bilingual children is still debated in the literature. This study compared the expressive vocabulary of 39 equivalently low-SES two-year-old bilingual children from immigrant families with different heritage languages (Romanian vs. Nigerian English) and the same…

We examined the relation of morphological awareness with language and literacy skills, namely phonological awareness, orthographic awareness, vocabulary, word reading, spelling, text reading fluency, and reading comprehension. We also examined potential moderators of the relations (grade level, orthographic depth of language, receptive vs.…

Background: A significant minority of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are considered "minimally verbal" due to language development stagnating at a few words. Recent developments allow for the severity of ASD symptoms to be examined using Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) Social Affect (SA) and Restricted and…

The present study explored the home literacy environment for Chinese ESL kindergarteners and examined the relationships between home literacy practices and language and literacy skills. Ninety Hong Kong Chinese ESL kindergarteners were assessed for English vocabulary, phonological awareness, letter knowledge and word reading. Their parents…

This paper considers how pre-service primary teachers in England (trainees) are supported to work with children with special educational needs (SEN) using a personalized learning task. The focus, in particular, considers how speech, language and communication skills are foregrounded in the reports describing children with moderate learning…

Problem Statement: Previous studies showed that children with special health care needs are at increased risk for future linguistic problems and deficits in narrative abilities. Despite this evidence of increased risk, there has been limited research on the impact of young children's health problems on specific aspects of linguistic development.…

Background: Children and young people with Down's syndrome present with deficits in expressive speech and language, accompanied by strengths in vocabulary comprehension compared with non-verbal mental age. Intelligibility is particularly low, but whether speech is delayed or disordered is a controversial topic. Most studies suggest a delay, but no…

Research on reading has tried, and failed, to account for wide disparities in reading skill even among children taught by the same method. Why do some children learn to read easily and quickly while others, in the same classroom and taught by the same teacher, don't learn to read at all? In "Language Development and Learning to Read", Diane…