The purpose of the current study was to compare the conflict resolution skills and beliefs of children with Language and Learning Disorders (LLD) to those with typically developing language (TDL). All of the participants were drawn from a rural middle school in southeastern Louisiana. The independent variable was linguistic ability and it included two groups of children, thirteen with LLD and a comparison group of eight controls with TDL. The childrens conflict resolution skills and beliefs were collected by giving the children a hypothetical scenario of conflict and then asking them about resolution through an interview format. Conflict resolution measures from these interviews were: the number of strategies the children produced to resolve conflict, the complexity level of the strategies the children produced, and the cognitive level of the childrens beliefs about conflict. Differences were not found in the number of strategies produced by children with LLD and the controls. However, the children with LLD produced a lower level of strategy to resolve conflict and a lower level of cognitive belief about conflict than did the controls, with the latter resulting in a statistically significant group difference.

Students with English as second language (ESL) are typically behind monolingual peers in reading comprehension even when phonemic awareness skills, phonics and word recognition are at grade level. The lack of syntactic awareness is one of the reasons cited in multiple studies (August & Shanahan, 2010; Da Fountoura & Siegel, 1995; Lesaux & Siegel, 2003; Lesaux et al., 2006; Chong, 2009). This study investigated the effects of a six week intervention designed to increase syntactic awareness, including meta-awareness of key structures of English for young ESL students in the upper elementary grades. Twenty typically developing ESL students in the fourth and fifth grade participated in an intervention program that consisted of 35-minute training in syntactic awareness (SA) or phonemic awareness (PA) for three times per week. The ability to produce embedded and conjoined structures, including changes in both oral language and reading, were examined. Results revealed significant gains in sentence combining skills for the syntactic awareness group after six weeks of treatment. Both groups increased their performance scores for the dependent measures word ordering, word reading in context, and comprehension. Levels of second language proficiency, specifically listening proficiency, had a significant influence on gain scores for measures of oral and written syntax, as well as reading. The results suggested that the time spent on higher level language was not at the expense of word recognition skills, consistent with an interactive model of reading that suggests that an interaction between higher level language (i.e., top-down) and decoding print (i.e., bottom-up) occurs to result in word recognition (Seidenberg and McClelland, 1989). Future studies are needed to further evaluate the effect of syntactic awareness training for English as second-language learners.

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the embedded language approach is effective in teaching the traditional language arts curriculum, and whether it holds any advantages over the more traditional approach. Twelve teachers in ten different schools taught language skills using the embedded language approach, while twelve matched teachers explicitly taught the same skills using traditional workbook practice activities for six weeks. Treatment efficacy was assessed using gain scores between pretest and posttest using a battery of informal and standardized measures. In addition, weekly comprehension probes were administered to examine whether language arts skills taught during the week generalized to the target context of reading. Results of the mixed design Analyses of Variance (ANOVA) indicated that scores for classes receiving the embedded language lessons were statistically different from scores of the classes receiving the explicit language lessons for the informal pre and posttest measurements, but not for the standardized subtests measurements. Also, findings revealed that the embedded language group and the explicit language group performances were similar and did not favor either group for the comprehension probes.

The Reflux Symptoms Index (RSI), a nine-item self-rated questionnaire, has been suggested as a way of monitoring severity of laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) symptoms during treatment. However, limited research has been conducted to assess the validity of the RSI as a way of identifying severity of laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) symptoms as differentiated from gastroesophageal reflux (GER) symptoms. Twenty-five post-pubescent female vocalists participated by completing a one-hour voice evaluation, including a Voice Handicap Index (VHI), an RSI, a Reflux Finding Score (RFS) completed with videostroboscopy for visualization of the laryngeal cavity, and analysis of an acoustic sample with the Multi-Dimensional Voice Profile for noise to harmonic ratio (NHR) and perceptual ratings of hoarseness and breathiness. The investigation placed each participant into one of three groups based upon symptoms reported in her case history form. In an effort to evaluate the validity of the RSI as a tool for differentiating LPR from GER and the absence of reflux, these scores were analyzed for correlations or group relationships. Predictions were that, if the RSI were an indicator of severity of LPR, the RSI raw score would correlate with type of symptoms, RFS raw score, NHR, and/or perceptions of hoarseness. Results failed to reveal statistically significant group differences; however, informal inspection of the data indicated that the RSI scores were generally higher for the GER group than the LPR and asymptomatic groups. Also, RSI scores correlated with VHI raw scores, as both were self-rated items, and the NHR values and the perceptual ratings of hoarseness correlated with the VHI raw scores.

The purpose of this study was to examine the usefulness of the MacArthur- Bates Communicative Development Inventory (CDI) as an assessment tool for low-income, African American (AA) children. The data were from eighty-seven typically developing AA children, aged 8 to 30 months; these children were recruited from childcare centers that served low-income populations in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Each participants primary caregiver completed a biographical sketch and a CDI inventory. Two analyses were completed. The first analysis examined the distribution of the CDI scores relative to the childs age, gender, birth order, and level of maternal education. The second analysis involved examination of the subsections and items of the vocabulary checklist sections of both versions of the CDI. For the first analysis, the childrens percentile scores were found to be normally distributed. Raw scores on the CDI were also found to increase with the children's ages, and a moderate correlation between CDI raw scores and age was identified. First-born children exhibited higher levels of expressive language than their later-born peers. Additionally, significant group differences were found between males and females on sections of the CDI Words and Gestures inventory, but the direction of the main effects varied across sections. Group differences were not significant for level of maternal education, but a restricted range of educational levels may have contributed to this finding. For the second analysis, results indicated that every item (except basement) from each of the vocabulary sections was comprehended and/or produced by one or more of the children. Sections with the greatest number of marked items included the Sound Effects and Animal Sounds and Games and Routines. Together, these results indicate that the CDI can be considered a useful tool for assessing the early language development of low-income, AA children.

In the current study, the past tense systems of children reared in poverty were examined. Guiding the study was Rice and Wexlers (1996) Extended Optional Infinitive (EOI) account, which makes a number of predictions about the past tense systems of children with specific language impairment (SLI). The goal of the current study was to determine if these predictions apply to other children with weak language systems, such as those reared in poverty. The participants included 15 six-year-olds from low-income backgrounds (LSES), 15 age-matched peers from middle-income backgrounds (AM), and 15 language-matched peers from middle-income backgrounds (LM). All were African American and speakers of African American English (AAE). Data were generated from spontaneous language samples, two productivity probes, an elicitation probe, and a grammaticality judgment probe. These tasks allowed for examination of 11 aspects of the childrens past tense systems. For eight of the 11 aspects of past tense marking examined, children reared in poverty performed differently than what has been documented for children with SLI. For example, children in the LSES group performed similar to the controls on the past tense task but lower than the controls on the past participle task. Children with SLI have been documented to present the opposite pattern, with more difficulties on past tense than on past participle forms. On the elicitation probe, the children in the LSES group also favored the regular form, while children with SLI are known to favor the irregular form. The findings support the specificity of the EOI model for children with SLI. The results also help illuminate some of the ways in which children reared in poverty and children with language impairments differ. This is important because both groups of children frequently score low on standardized language tests and thus are indistinguishable from one another when decisions about service eligibility are made. Finally, the findings of the study provide much needed detail about the language systems of typically developing AAE speakers as a function of social class. Specifically, social class differences between the AAE speakers studied here were found to be minimal and primarily limited to past participle use.

This studys purpose was to examine the use of auxiliary BE forms in African American English (AAE)-speaking children with and without language impairment. The impetus for this work was a lack of information in the literature about BE use in AAE as a function of form, language status, and tasks, and the relevance of this type of data for testing one theoretical model of childhood language impairment, the Extended Optional Infinitive account (EOI; Rice, Wexler, & Cleave, 1995). Thirty African Americans participated: 10 six-year-olds with specific language impairment (SLI); 10 age controls (AM); and, 10 language controls (LM). All of the participants were classified as speakers of AAE through listener judgments. Production of the auxiliary BE forms was examined through language samples and an elicited probe. A grammaticality judgment task, which measured the participants marking preference and reaction time of three BE forms, was also administered. Analyses were hindered by limited tokens in the language samples, high variability, and a bimodal distribution for the AM group in the elicitation probe. When steps were taken to address these issues, the following results were found. A significant group difference was revealed between the SLI and AM groups in the language samples for are, with a marginally significant difference for is. For the elicitation probe, a group difference was found between the SLI and LM groups across all three BE forms. The results of the grammaticality judgment task were inconsistent with those for production. For this task, SLI and LM groups accepted standard-marked am at higher rates than the AM group. No group differences were revealed for the reaction times in this task. However, the participants accepted items containing are more quickly than those containing is and am. The results of this study neither fully support nor refute the EOI account, but do suggest the need for more research regarding the nature of child language impairment as it relates to dialect variation across different tasks and different age groups.

The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of a positive family history of speech and/or language impairments in an African American sample. The first phase of the study used questionnaires from the primary caregivers of 161 children. The questionnaires allowed for an examination of family history as a function of a childs socioeconomic level (+/- high school level of maternal education), educational placement (+/- receipt of services by a speech language clinician), and clinical status (+/- profile consistent with a diagnosis of SLI). The second phase of the study included interviews that were collected from 17 families who completed the questionnaires. All families who indicated a willingness to be interviewed were called, but only 17 were accessible by phone. Through the interviews, the family histories of the children were further documented. Results were that families from low socioeconomic backgrounds reported greater rates of a positive speech and/or language family history than those from middle socioeconomic backgrounds. Families of children classified as SLI also reported higher rates of a positive family history than the families of children who were not classified as SLI, and this comparison controlled for differences in the families socioeconomic levels. Significant differences in positive family history rates were not found to be related to the childrens educational placements. Results from the phone interviews revealed that of those children whose families reported a positive speech and/or language history, the number of members within each family who reported a positive history ranged from one to five (mean = 1.8 family members; SD = 1.3). Half of these members were in the childrens immediate families, while the other half were in their extended families. Given the limited number of families who participated in the interviews, an examination of these data as a function of the childrens socioeconomic status, educational placement, and clinical status was not completed. Together, these findings support the claim that the clinical diagnosis of SLI has a familial component, but future studies that seek to explore this familial component need to measure, and rigorously control for, the socioeconomic levels of children and their families.

The purpose of the present study was to test the efficacy of an actor-emotion strategy approach on changing communication attitudes in an adolescent child who stutters. The participant for this study was an eleven-year, ten-month old male attending a public middle school in Baton Rouge, Louisiana who presented with a severe fluency disorder. The participant attended group sessions Monday-Thursday from 9:00-12:00 for 6 weeks as part of a fluency day camp. The study used a worksheet-based measure to evaluate emotionality on a daily basis. Using an ABA withdrawal design, two analyses were completed. The first analysis examined the stability or reliability of the emotions worksheet as a measure to identify changes in emotional reaction to stuttering and speech. Results for Phase A showed an unusual range of total scores, and what appears to have been one outlier at measurement 2. Despite the relatively stable trends during phases B and A2, the overall data indicate that the emotion worksheet as applied in this study was not a reliable measure. The second analysis examined the data collected from the daily journal entries to determine efficacy of the actor-emotion strategy on changing communication attitude. In general, results show little change from the first baseline phase through the treatment phase. Withdrawal of the treatment in the second baseline phase also appeared to result in little change. The average for both comparisons was not reliably different, which suggests that the actor-emotion strategy as applied in this study was not an effective intervention technique for altering the childs emotional reaction to his speech.

The purpose of this study was to examine the clinical utility of two assessment measures for one group of nonstandard English dialect speakers, that of African-American English- (AAE) speaking children. The measures were mean length of utterance (MLU) and Index of Productive Syntax (IPSyn). The clinical utility of these measures was examined by comparing MLU and IPSyn values of three different groups of AAE speakers to determine if these measures are influenced by a childs socio-economic status, dialect status, and/or clinical language status. An item analysis was also completed for IPSyn to determine if the items on this tool are appropriate language targets within AAE. Fifteen AAE-speaking children participated. They ranged in age from 66 to 79 months. Five were typically developing and solicited from middle-income families, five were typically developing and solicited from low-income families, and five were classified as specifically language impaired and solicited from caseloads of speech language clinicians. The latter group of children was drawn from both middle-income and low-income families. The findings indicated that the childrens MLU and IPSyn scores did not significantly differ as a function of their SES levels or dialect status. Unfortunately, the childrens MLU and IPSyn scores also did not differ as a function of their clinical language status. This finding suggests that these two tools, while unaffected by a childs SES and use of a nonstandard dialect, are not sensitive to childhood language impairment when children reach the age of six years. Results from the item analysis, however, showed that 83% of the items on IPSyn received a score of 1 or 2 by at least one child in each group, and only 1 item (i.e. use of tag questions) earned a score of zero by all participants in the study. This finding indicates that items on the IPSyn are appropriate targets for speakers of AAE and suggests that this tool may be useful for younger AAE speakers.