Investigated the interface of form and function in the acquisition of negation in Cantonese-speaking children. Data--from the Hong Kong Cantonese Child Language Corpus--were longitudinal spontaneous samples of eight children aged 1.5 to 3.8 years. Main issues in the study were the sequence of emergence of negative markers and the acquisition of 11…

Comparison of spontaneous language samples of 30 toddlers diagnosed with specific expressive language impairment (SLI) and language samples of typically developing toddlers found the SLI toddlers vocalized significantly less often, had proportionately smaller consonantal and vowel inventories, and used a more restricted and less mature array of…

The acquisition of movement skills in American Sign Language was examined longitudinally in young children, one deaf and eight hearing, of deaf parents. Although production accuracy did not improve over the 5 to 14 months of the study's duration, the number and complexity of movements produced by the children did increase. Contacting action was…

Spoken language in 330 children with Down syndrome (ages 1-5) and 336 normally developing children (ages 1,2) was compared. Growth trends, individual variation, sex differences, and performance on vocabulary, pragmatic, and grammar scales as well as maximum length of utterance were explored. Three- and four-year-old Down syndrome children…

Studies of American Sign language including functional magnetic resonance imaging of deaf signers confirms the importance of left hemisphere structures in signed language, but also the contributions of right hemisphere regions to sign language processing. A case study involving cortical stimulation mapping in a deaf signer provides evidence for…

This study examined possible relationships between young children's prelinguistic communication behaviors and subsequent (12 months later) expressive and receptive language outcomes. Results indicated that rate of intentional nonverbal communication initially was a predictor of spontaneous word productions later. (Contains references.) (Author/DB)

Background: High levels of behaviour problems are found in children with language impairments, but less is known about the level and nature of language impairment in children with severe behavioural problems. In particular, previous data suggest that at primary age, receptive impairments are more closely related to behaviour problems, whereas…

Specific language impairment is sometimes thought to be associated with concurrent difficulties in the area of social and behavioral development (N. Bolting & G. Conti-Ramsden, 2000; D. P. Cantwell & L. Baker, 1987; M. Fujiki, B. Brinton, & C. Todd, 1996; S. Redmond & M. Rice, 1998). The present study follows a group of 242…

Despite the common use of mean length of utterance (MLU) as a diagnostic measure, what it actually reflects in terms of linguistic knowledge is relatively unclear. This study explored the extent to which variance in MLU could be accounted for by a measure of expressive vocabulary and a measure of morphosyntax in a group of 44 typically-developing…

Background: Recent research has shown that phonological awareness therapy can improve speech production in children with expressive phonological disorders. This approach may be appealing to clinicians as the therapy may also benefit the children's general phonological abilities and lead to gains in their literacy skills. Aims: To examine the…

Seventy-seven children between the ages of 6 and 10 years, with severe mixed receptive-expressive specific language impairment (SLI), participated in a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of Fast ForWord (FFW; Scientific Learning Corporation, 1997, 2001). FFW is a computer-based intervention for treating SLI using acoustically enhanced speech…

Background: Theoretical and empirical support now exists for the finding that many children with expressive phonological impairment experience problems in acquiring phonological awareness and early literacy skills. Few studies, however, have examined the long-term academic and literacy outcomes for this population, in particular as the…

This paper concerns an approach to raising literacy standards which is rather different from the prevailing orthodoxy the Rhyme and Ritual project. The project is run by the Hamilton Reading Project, which comprises a series of initiatives funded by the Hamilton Trust, an educational charity, and implemented in fifteen primary schools in a large…

This study compared the abilities of children with specific language impairment (SLI; n=10) and typically developing (TD) children (n=13) to access and participate in an ongoing interaction between two unfamiliar peer partners. Results revealed that all children in the study accessed by either making an unprompted initiation toward their peers…

In 118 children followed from age 2 to 5 (59 with autism, 24 with PDD-NOS and 35 with non-spectrum developmental disabilities), age 2 and age 3 scores of non-verbal ability, receptive communication, expressive communication and socialization were compared as predictors of receptive and expressive language at age 5. Non-verbal cognitive ability at…