-
Journal of Communication Disorders 2021Studies have shown that many children with early language difficulties also have delays in social-emotional competencies as well as social-emotional and behavioral...
INTRODUCTION
Studies have shown that many children with early language difficulties also have delays in social-emotional competencies as well as social-emotional and behavioral problems. It is unclear if these conditions are causally related, if they share a common underlying etiology, or if there are bidirectional effects. Studies investigating these associations have mostly involved children who are already using words to communicate, but it is important to know whether delays in preverbal communication and language development have any effects on these associations. The aim of the present study was to examine associations between preverbal communication and early verbal skills in infancy and subsequent social-emotional competencies and ensuing social-emotional and behavioral problems in early toddlerhood. The role of background factors known to influence early language development was also examined.
METHODS
The sample consisted of 395 children (51.6% boys) from the Finnish Steps Study cohort. Language was assessed at age 13 months (+ 1 month) with the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory for Infants (CDI-I), and the social-emotional domain was assessed at age < 17 months with the Brief Infant-Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment (BITSEA).
RESULTS
Infants with lower preverbal gestural communication and receptive language skills had a higher risk of delays in social-emotional competencies in toddlerhood than children with better communication skills, but not of elevated social-emotional and behavioral problems.
CONCLUSIONS
The results indicate that lower early communication skills can predict delays in the development of social-emotional competencies, which has been found to be a risk factor for later development of social-emotional and behavioral problems. It is important to monitor early communication skills to provide guidance to parents in supporting early pragmatic communication and language development in infancy, if needed.
Topics: Communication; Emotions; Female; Humans; Infant; Language Development; Male; Parents; Problem Behavior
PubMed: 34182379
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcomdis.2021.106138 -
Topics in Cognitive Science Jul 2022During the early postnatal years, most infants rapidly learn to understand two naturally evolved communication systems: language and emotion. While these two domains... (Review)
Review
During the early postnatal years, most infants rapidly learn to understand two naturally evolved communication systems: language and emotion. While these two domains include different types of content knowledge, it is possible that similar learning processes subserve their acquisition. In this review, we compare the learnable statistical regularities in language and emotion input. We then consider how domain-general learning abilities may underly the acquisition of language and emotion, and how this process may be constrained in each domain. This comparative developmental approach can advance our understanding of how humans learn to communicate with others.
Topics: Emotions; Humans; Infant; Language; Language Development; Learning
PubMed: 35398974
DOI: 10.1111/tops.12612 -
Journal of Child Language Jul 2023Paradis' keynote article provides a comprehensive overview of factors influencing bilingual children's dual language abilities. It includes the 'usual suspects', such as... (Review)
Review
Paradis' keynote article provides a comprehensive overview of factors influencing bilingual children's dual language abilities. It includes the 'usual suspects', such as input quantity, and also highlights areas requiring further investigation, such as cognitive abilities. As such, it will no doubt serve as a valuable basis for the field as we move forward. Paradis quite rightly points out that whilst some of these factors may be unidirectionally related to language abilities, suggesting causality, for many others such relations are bi- or multidirectional and as such, caution is required in interpreting them. In order to pinpoint the nature and direction of these relations (currently absent from Figure 1 in the keynote), more complex analytic techniques are needed, as Paradis herself notes: "The relations among attitudes/identity, input and interaction, and perhaps social adjustment and wellbeing, are likely to be complex; therefore, more complex analytic techniques are needed to understand the path(s) between family attitudes about the HL on one hand, and children's HL outcomes on the other." (Paradis, 2023: 19). In this commentary, we provide an illustration of how the complex relationships between the variables discussed in Paradis's keynote article could be conceptualised within a causal inference approach. We offer a modest starting point by summarising key features of causal inference modelling and by illustrating how it might help us better understand what causes what.
Topics: Child; Humans; Multilingualism; Language Development; Cognition; Causality
PubMed: 36999749
DOI: 10.1017/S0305000923000107 -
Developmental Science Sep 2022Childhood socioeconomic status (SES) is related to disparities in the development of both language and executive functioning (EF) skills. Emerging evidence suggests that...
Childhood socioeconomic status (SES) is related to disparities in the development of both language and executive functioning (EF) skills. Emerging evidence suggests that language development may precede and provide necessary scaffolding for EF development in early childhood. The present preregistered study investigates how these skills co-develop longitudinally in early childhood and whether language development explains the relationship between SES and EF development. A socioeconomically diverse sample of 305 children completed repeated assessments of language (sentence comprehension) and EF (cognitive flexibility, behavioral inhibition, and cognitive inhibition) at four waves spaced 9 months apart from ages 3 to 5 years. Bivariate latent curve models with structured residuals were estimated to disaggregate between-person and within-person components of stability and change. Results revealed bidirectional relationships between language and EF across all waves. However, at 3 years, language comprehension more strongly predicted EF than the reverse; yet by 5 years, the bidirectional effects across domains did not significantly differ. Children from higher-SES backgrounds exhibited higher initial language and EF skills than children from lower-SES families, though SES was not associated with either rate of growth. Finally, early language-mediated the association between SES and early EF skills, and this model outperformed a reverse direction mediation. Together, results suggest that EF development is driven by early language development, and that SES disparities in EF are explained, at least in part, by early differences in language comprehension. These findings have implications for early interventions to support children's language skills as a potential pathway to improving early EF development.
Topics: Child; Child, Preschool; Educational Status; Executive Function; Humans; Inhibition, Psychological; Language Development; Social Class
PubMed: 34981872
DOI: 10.1111/desc.13227 -
Advances in Child Development and... 2021All normal children in normal environments acquire language. However, all normal children in normal bilingual environments do not acquire two languages. This chapter...
All normal children in normal environments acquire language. However, all normal children in normal bilingual environments do not acquire two languages. This chapter asks what makes the simultaneous acquisition of two languages more difficult than the acquisition of one. Focusing on children in immigrant families whose two languages are a minority language used more at home and a majority, societal language, this chapter describes common patterns and individual differences in bilingual development. The most frequently occurring outcome in that circumstance is strong skill in the majority language with more varied and weaker skills in the minority language. This chapter also reviews research that identifies factors that contribute to individual differences in order to identify the experiences and abilities that support bilingual development. Those factors include the quality and quantity of children's exposure to each language, children's use of each language, and the functional value of proficiency in each language. We conclude that two languages are more difficult to acquire than one because language acquisition requires substantial and continued environmental support. It is not easy for children to acquire strong and comparable skills levels in two languages because environments tend not to provide high and comparable levels of support for two languages.
Topics: Child; Emigrants and Immigrants; Humans; Language; Language Development; Multilingualism
PubMed: 34266563
DOI: 10.1016/bs.acdb.2021.03.002 -
Developmental Psychology Jun 2021It is well established that deictic gestures, especially pointing, play an important role in children's language development. However, recent evidence suggests that...
It is well established that deictic gestures, especially pointing, play an important role in children's language development. However, recent evidence suggests that other types of deictic gestures, specifically show and give gestures, emerge before pointing and are associated with later pointing. In the present study, we examined the development of show, give, and point gestures in a sample of 47 infants followed longitudinally from 10 to 16 months of age and asked whether there are certain ages during which different gestures are more or less predictive of language skills at 18 months. We also explored whether parents' responses vary as a function of child gesture types. Child gestures and parent responses were reliably coded from videotaped sessions of parent-child interactions. Language skills were measured at 18 months using standardized (Mullen Scales of Early Learning) and parent report (MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory) measures. We found that at 10 months, show+give gestures were a better predictor of 18-month language skills than pointing gestures were, yet at 14 months, pointing gestures were a better predictor of 18-month language skills than show+give gestures. By 16 months, children's use of speech in the interaction, not gesture, best predicted 18-month language skills. Parents responded to a higher proportion of shows+gives than to points at 10 months. These results demonstrate that different types of deictic gestures provide a window into language development at different points across infancy. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
Topics: Gestures; Humans; Infant; Language Development; Learning; Parent-Child Relations; Speech
PubMed: 34424004
DOI: 10.1037/dev0001195 -
Journal of Speech, Language, and... Dec 2021This study investigated within-language and between-language associations between phonological memory, vocabulary, and grammar in French-English ( = 43) and...
PURPOSE
This study investigated within-language and between-language associations between phonological memory, vocabulary, and grammar in French-English ( = 43) and Spanish-English ( = 25) bilingual children at 30, 36, and 48 months. It was predicted that phonological memory would display both within-language and between-language relations to language development and that these relations would be stronger at the youngest age.
METHOD
Bilingual children participated in free-play sessions in both of their languages at each age, from which vocabulary and grammatical information (number of different words and mean length of utterance) was extracted. Vocabulary information was also obtained from parent inventories completed when the children were 30 months and a standardized receptive vocabulary test administered at 36 and 48 months. The children were also administered nonword repetition tests in both of their languages at each age.
RESULTS
Mixed logistic regression indicated that phonological memory was associated with vocabulary and grammar within the same language and phonological memory in the other language. In two of the four statistical models, phonological memory exhibited positive between-language relations, and in one model, it exhibited negative between-language relations to language development. Results also indicated that within-language and between-languages effects remained constant, or between-language associations decreased during the age range studied.
CONCLUSION
Overall, the findings provide some support for cross-language associations between phonological memory and lexical and grammatical skills.
Topics: Child; Child Language; Humans; Language Development; Language Tests; Linguistics; Multilingualism; Vocabulary
PubMed: 34731575
DOI: 10.1044/2021_JSLHR-21-00176 -
Academic Pediatrics 2022Developmental language disorder (DLD) often remains undetected until children shift from 'learning to read' to 'reading to learn,' around 9 years of age. Mono- and... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
Developmental language disorder (DLD) often remains undetected until children shift from 'learning to read' to 'reading to learn,' around 9 years of age. Mono- and bilingual children with DLD frequently have co-occurring reading, attention, and related difficulties, compared to children with typical language development (TLD). Data for mono- and bilingual children with DLD and TLD would aid differentiation of language differences versus disorders in bilingual children.
OBJECTIVE
We conducted a scoping review of descriptive research on mono-and bilingual children < and >= 9 years old with DLD versus TLD, and related skills (auditory processing, attention, cognition, executive function, and reading).
DATA SOURCES
We searched PubMed for the terms "bilingual" and "language disorders" or "impairment" and "child[ren]" from August 1, 1979 through October 1, 2018.
CHARTING METHODS
Two abstracters charted all search results. Main exclusions were: secondary data/reviews, special populations, intervention studies, and case studies/series. Abstracted data included age, related skills measures', and four language groups of participants: monolingual DLD, monolingual TLD, bilingual DLD, and bilingual TLD.
RESULTS
Of 366 articles, 159 (43%) met inclusion criteria. Relatively few (14%, n = 22) included all 4 language groups, co-occurring difficulties other than nonverbal intelligence (n = 49, 31%) or reading (n = 51, 32%) or any 9-18 year-olds (31%, n = 48). Just 5 (3%) included only 9-18 year-olds. Among studies with any 9 to 18 year olds, just 4 (8%, 4/48) included 4 language groups.
CONCLUSIONS
Future research should include mono- and bilingual children with both DLD and TLD, beyond 8 years of age, along with data about their related skills.
Topics: Child; Executive Function; Humans; Language; Language Development; Language Development Disorders; Multilingualism
PubMed: 34896271
DOI: 10.1016/j.acap.2021.12.002 -
International Journal of Language &... Nov 2022'Late talkers' (LTs) are toddlers with late language emergence that cannot be explained by other impairments. It is difficult to predict which of these children continue...
BACKGROUND
'Late talkers' (LTs) are toddlers with late language emergence that cannot be explained by other impairments. It is difficult to predict which of these children continue to present long-term restrictions in language abilities and will later be identified as having a developmental language disorder. Procedural memory weaknesses have been suggested to underlie developmental language disorders, but have not been investigated in LTs.
AIMS
We investigated the relationships between aspects of procedural memory and school-age language abilities in children with and without a history of LT. We hypothesized that children with a history of LT exhibit (1) restrictions in procedural memory when compared with children with typical early development (TED); and (2) a positive association between procedural memory and school-age language abilities.
METHODS & PROCEDURES
We recruited 79 children (7;5-10;5), 43 of whom had a history of LT. Aspects of procedural memory, procedural learning and motor planning were assessed using the serial reaction time and the end-state comfort tasks. School-age language abilities were measured using standardized tests.
OUTCOMES & RESULTS
Counter to expectations, motor planning was not associated with a history of LT or school-age language abilities, and the children with TED did not show stronger procedural learning as compared with peers with a history of LT. However, weaker school-age language abilities were associated with weak procedural learning in TED group.
CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS
Factors other than deficits in procedural memory are likely to underlie LT. Procedural learning shows promise as a potential predictor of language development in children that are not identified as LTs.
WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS
What is already known on the subject Poor procedural learning has been associated with developmental language disorders and suggested to underlie language difficulties. However, to our knowledge, this study is the first to investigate procedural learning and its associations with language outcomes in LTs. What this paper adds to existing knowledge Consistent with prior research, we found an association between language abilities and procedural learning in school-aged children, but found no evidence for poor procedural learning in children with a history of LT. Furthermore, the school-age language outcomes were only associated with procedural learning in children with no history of LT. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work? Our findings suggest that factors other than limitations in procedural learning underlie LT. However, procedural learning could be a useful predictor for school-aged language outcomes in children not identified as LTs.
Topics: Humans; Child; Language Development Disorders; Language Development; Cognition; Aptitude; Reaction Time
PubMed: 35761759
DOI: 10.1111/1460-6984.12751 -
Advances in Child Development and... 2021Young children typically begin learning words during their first 2 years of life. On the other hand, they also vary substantially in their language learning.... (Review)
Review
Young children typically begin learning words during their first 2 years of life. On the other hand, they also vary substantially in their language learning. Similarities and differences in language learning call for a quantitative theory that can predict and explain which aspects of early language are consistent and which are variable. However, current developmental research practices limit our ability to build such quantitative theories because of small sample sizes and challenges related to reproducibility and replicability. In this chapter, we suggest that three approaches-meta-analysis, multi-site collaborations, and secondary data aggregation-can together address some of the limitations of current research in the developmental area. We review the strengths and limitations of each approach and end by discussing the potential impacts of combining these three approaches.
Topics: Child; Child, Preschool; Humans; Language; Language Development; Learning; Reproducibility of Results
PubMed: 34266565
DOI: 10.1016/bs.acdb.2021.04.003