Thesis (M.S.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 51-56).

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: As South Africa is a culturally and linguistically diverse country, there is a great need for an accurate evaluation instrument that can identify children with specific language impairment (SLI) early, regardless of their language group. The language tests that are available in South Africa are mostly available in only English or Afrikaans (see Penn 1998). In the literature four repetition tasks have been identified as potential markers of SLI: nonword repetition (Coady and Evans 2008:11), sentence repetition and digit repetition (Ziethe, Eysholdt and Doellinger 2013:1) as well as real word repetition (Dispaldro, Benelli, Marcolini and Stella 2009:941). The purpose of this study was to compare the sensitivity of these four potential markers with each other in an attempt to compile an accurate measuring instrument of SLI for Afrikaans and English. The study also aimed to collect baseline data with isiXhosa-speaking children. The participants consisted of five groups of five-year-olds: The first three groups consisted of 20 typical developing (TD) Afrikaans-, 20 TD English-, and 20 TD isiXhosa-speaking children. The fourth and fifth group consisted of five Afrikaans-speaking and five English-speaking children with SLI. All four repetition tasks were performed with both Afrikaans- and both English-speaking groups; only digit repetition and nonword repetition were performed with the isiXhosa-speaking group. Refined and graded items were (i) selected from longer lists of items that were used in the pilot study, and (ii) based on the results of the pilot study, were recorded on a CD in a recording studio. This recording served as method of presentation of the items to each participant individually during the main study. There were no statistically significant differences between the performance of the TD Afrikaans- and the TD English-speaking groups. The TD isiXhosa-speaking group, however, performed significantly better on the nonword repetition task but worse on the digit repetition task than the other two TD groups. Both groups with SLI performed poorly, and significantly poorer than their corresponding TD group, in all four of the repetition tasks. For the Afrikaans-speaking children, sentence repetition followed by real word repetition distinguished best between participants with and without SLI. Sentence repetition, followed by nonword repetition, was shown to be most sensitive in distinguishing TD children from children with SLI in the English group. The percentage sounds/words correctly repeated per word/sentence, for both the nonword repetition task and the real word repetition task, was more accurate than the raw scores for the Afrikaans- and English-speaking groups. Some items did prove to be more sensitive for the difference between the performance of the TD and the SLI groups in Afrikaans and English. These more sensitive items may be appropriate for inclusion in a screening tool for SLI for use with five-year-olds. In conclusion, the results of this study confirm all four repetition tasks to be markers of SLI. Sentence repetition and nonword repetition were more sensitive markers of SLI in English-speaking five-year-olds, with sentence repetition and real word repetition being the more sensitive markers of SLI in Afrikaans-speaking five-year-olds. The isiXhosa-speaking group performed similarly to the Afrikaans- and English-speaking groups in the nonword repetition- and digit repetition tasks. Based on these results, recommendations are made regarding the content and presentation mode of a screening test comprising repetition tasks for the identification of possible SLI in Afrikaans- and English-speaking children. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Aangesien Suid-Afrika ‘n kultureel en linguisties diverse land is, is daar ‘n groot behoefte aan ‘n metingsinstrument wat kinders met spesifieke taalgestremdheid (STG) , uit alle taalgroepe, vroegtydig en akkuraat kan identifiseer. Die taaltoetse wat wel in Suid-Afrika gebruik kan word, is bykans slegs in Afrikaans of Engels beskikbaar (kyk Penn 1998). In die literatuur is daar vier herhalingstake geïdentifiseer wat potensiële merkers van STG kan wees: onsinwoordherhaling (Coady en Evans 2008:11), sinsherhaling en getalherhaling (Ziethe, Eysholdt en Doellinger 2013:1) asook regtewoordherhaling (Dispaldro, Benelli, Marcolini en Stella 2009:941). Die doel van hierdie studie was om die sensitiwiteit van hierdie vier potensiële merkers met mekaar te vergelyk in ‘n poging om ‘n akkurate metingsinstrument van STG vir Afrikaans en Engels op te stel. Basislyndata oor herhaling deur isiXhosasprekende kinders is ook in hierdie studie ingesamel. Die deelnemers het uit vyf groepe vyfjariges bestaan. Die eerste drie groepe was 20 tipies ontwikkelende (TO) Afrikaans-, 20 TO Engels-, en 20 TO isiXhosasprekendes. Die vierde en vyfde groep het uit vyf Afrikaanssprekende- en vyf Engelsprekende kinders met STG bestaan. Al vier herhalingstake is met die twee Afrikaans- en die twee Engelssprekende groepe uitgevoer; slegs getalherhaling en onsinwoordherhaling is met die isiXhosasprekende groep uitgevoer. Verfynde en gegradeerde items geselekteer (i) uit die langer itemlyste gebruik in die loodsstudie en (ii) op grond van die loosstudieresultate, is op CD opgeneem in ‘n klankateljee, en dié opname is gebruik as die metode van aanbieding van die items aan elke deelnemer individueel tydens die hoofstudie. Daar is geen statisties beduidende verskil tussen die prestasie van die TO Afrikaans- en TO Engelssprekende-groepe gevind nie. Die TO isiXhosa-sprekende groep het egter beter as hierdie twee groepe gepresteer in onsinwoordherhaling maar swakker in getalherhaling. Die twee STG-groepe het beide swak, en beduidend swakker as hul ooreenstemmende TO-groep, op alle herhalingstake gevaar. Vir Afrikaanssprekendes het sinsherhaling, gevolg deur regtewoordherhaling, die beste tussen die deelnemers met en sonder STG onderskei, terwyl die mees sensitiewe take vir die Engelssprekende deelnemers sinsherhaling gevolg deur onsinwoordherhaling was. Persentasie klanke/woorde korrek herhaal per woord/sin was in die geval van onsinwoordherhalings- en regtewoordherhalingstake vir beide Afrikaans en Engels meer akkuraat as wat roupunttellings was. Sommige items in elk van die herhalingstake was beide vir Engels en Afrikaans meer sensitief vir die verskil tussen die prestasies van die TO- en STG-groepe. Hierdie meer sensitiewe items mag toepaslik wees vir insluiting in ʼn siftingstoets vir STG vir gebruik met vyfjariges. Opsommend: Die resulate bevestig al vier herhalingstake as merkers van STG. Sinsherhaling en onsinwoordherhaling is meer sensitiewe merkers van STG vir Engelssprekende vyfjariges, met sinsherhaling en regtewoordherhaling wat meer sensitiewe merkers van STG vir Afrikaanssprekende vyfjariges is. Die isiXhosasprekende groep het soortgelyk aan die Afrikaans- en Engelssprekende groepe ten opsigte van onsinwoordherhaling en getalherhaling presteer. Op grond van die resultate word aanbevelings gemaak vir die inhoud en aanbeidingswyse van ‘n siftingstoets bestaande uit herhalingstake vir die identifisering van moontlike STG in Afrikaans- en Engelssprekende kinders.

abstract: Identification of primary language impairment (PLI) in sequential bilingual children is challenging because of the interaction between PLI and second language (L2) proficiency. An important step in improving the accurate diagnosis of PLI in bilingual children is to investigate how differences in L2 performance are affected by a length of L2 exposure and how L2 assessment contributes to differentiation between children with and without PLI at different L2 proficiency levels. Sixty one children with typical language development (TD) ages 5;3-8 years and 12 children with PLI ages 5;5-7;8 years participated. Results revealed that bilingual children with and without PLI, who had between 1 and 3 years of L2 exposure, did not differ in mean length of utterance (MLU), number of different words, percent of maze words, and performance on expressive and receptive grammatical tasks in L2. Performance on a grammaticality judgment task by children with and without PLI demonstrated the largest effect size, indicating that it may potentially contribute to identification of PLI in bilingual populations. In addition, children with PLI did not demonstrate any association between the length of exposure and L2 proficiency, suggesting that they do not develop their L2 proficiency in relation to length of exposure in the same manner as children with TD. Results also indicated that comprehension of grammatical structures and expressive grammatical task in L2 may contribute to differentiation between the language ability groups at the low and intermediate-high proficiency levels. The discriminant analysis with the entire sample of bilingual children with and without PLI revealed that among L2 measures, only MLU contributed to the discrimination between the language ability groups. However, poor classification accuracy suggested that MLU alone is not a sufficient predictor of PLI. There were significant differences among L2 proficiency levels in children with TD in MLU, number of different words, and performance on the expressive and receptive grammatical tasks in L2, indicating that L2 proficiency level may potentially impact the differentiation between language difficulties due to typical L2 acquisition processes and PLI. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Speech and Hearing Science 2012

A intenção deste estudo foi analisar o discurso dos pais em relação ao seu filho com queixa de retardo de linguagem, destacando as marcas indiciárias da constituição dessa criança enquanto objeto do desejo dos pais. Realizamos entrevistas com dois casais e uma mãe, as quais foram gravadas e posteriormente transcritas. Utilizamos os fundamentos teóricos da Psicanálise Lacaniana e da Análise de Discurso de filiação francesa, para estudo das metáforas e metonímias no discurso dos pais. Os resultados mostraram que os pais ao falarem a respeito de seus filhos produzem uma metáfora de si próprios que se manifesta como um sintoma na criança e uma metonímia de seu desejo, que ao ser expresso, constitui a falta na e da criança, sendo denominada na clínica fonoaudiológica por retardo de linguagem. / This study aimed at analyzing parents\' discourse in relation to their children with language impairment by emphasizing the indicative marks of these children\'s constitution as their parents\' object of desire. lnterviews were conducted with two couples and one mother, which were tape-recorded and later transcribed. The theoretical framework based on Lacanian Psychoanalysis and French Discourse Analysis were used in the study of metaphors and metonymies in the parents\' discourse. The results showed that, when speaking of their children, parents produce a metaphor of themselves that is manifested as a symptom in the child, and a metonymy of their desire, which, when expressed, constitutes the \"fault\" in and af the child that is referred to, in the speech therapy clinic, as language impairment.

Parents and professionals are concerned about the long-term effects of language problems on later academic, communicative and behavioral functioning of children. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of level of language impairment with type of class placement, reading achievement, and social emotional functioning. Subjects were 19 children, aged 4 years, 10 months through 10 years, 4 months, who had previously been enrolled in a preschool language development program. Statistical analyses were performed on data from the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC), Test of Early Reading Ability (TERA), and the Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist (CBC). Results do not support a relationship between level of language impairment and academic or social/emotional functioning.

Procedural learning abilities have been shown to be deficient in children who meet criteria for Developmental Dyslexia (DD) and those who meet criteria for Specific Language Impairment (SLI; Lum et al., 2010; Menghini et al., 2006). Further, grammatical understanding has been linked to implicit sequence learning abilities across SLI and typically developing children (Lum, 2012). The present study examined implicit sequence learning, measured by the Serial Reaction Time Task (SRTT), in children who met criteria for DD with or without SLI. Implicit sequence learning was modeled using multi-level growth models of initial reaction time and learning slope across the repeated sequences of the SRTT. We further examined the predictive contributions of grammatical understanding, vocabulary abilities, phonological awareness, and diagnostic groups on implicit learning performance on the SRTT. Results showed language abilities and diagnostic group did not relate strongly to rates of implicit learning.

L’objectif de cette thèse est de déterminer si le déficit auditif des enfants dysphasiques est spécifique au domaine verbal et d’étudier les liens qu’entretiennent les habiletés verbales et musicales chez ces enfants. Nous avons testé 18 dysphasiques et des enfants au développement du langage typique (DLT) âgés de 7 à 12 ans. Dans la première étude, nous avons étudié leurs capacités de détection des syllabes dans des phrases chantées et parlées. Nos résultats ont confirmé les déficits de détection des syllabes chez les dysphasiques. Nous n’avons toutefois pas observé d’effet facilitateur du chant sur la détection des syllabes. Dans une seconde étude, nous avons exploré leur perception musicale à l’aide de la MBEMA (Peretz et al., 2013). Une part importante de ces enfants a montré des troubles de perception mélodique et rythmique. Une corrélation positive a été retrouvée entre les scores aux tests de perception rythmique et de conscience phonologique, étayant les liens entre le traitement temporel et la perception verbale chez les dysphasiques. Dans la troisième étude, nous avons exploré leurs capacités de chant avec une épreuve de reproduction de notes et de mélodies. Les dysphasiques montraient des troubles importants dans ces deux conditions. Des troubles de production et de perception musicale ont été mis en évidence chez la plupart des dysphasiques et les capacités de conscience phonologique semblaient liées au traitement temporel en musique. Ces résultats en faveur d’un déficit auditif plus global chez la plupart des dysphasiques suggèrent l’importance d’évaluer les capacités auditives non verbales dans la prise en charge diagnostique et thérapeutique de ces enfants. / The aim of this thesis is to determine whether the auditory deficit of children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) is specific to verbal stimuli, and to examine the relation between language and musical abilities in these children. We tested 18 children with SLI and groups of children with Typical Language Development (TLD) aged from 7 to 12 years. In the first study, we examined syllable detection in sung and spoken sentences. Results confirmed the detection syllable deficit in children with SLI. However, we did not observe a facilitation effect of sung over spoken stimuli. In the second study, we explored musical perception abilities in the same children with the MBEMA (Peretz et al. 2013). Our results showed that a large proportion of the children with SLI present deficits in melodic and rhythmic perception. A positive correlation was found between scores in Rhythm and phonological awareness tasks, documenting a link between language and temporal processing in children with SLI. In the third study, we assessed singing abilities in children with SLI: we created a singing reproduction task and tested the pitch matching condition and the melodic reproduction condition. The SLI showed deficits for both conditions. These results suggested deficits in music perception and production in children with SLI for most of them and that development of phonological awareness abilities seems related to the auditory temporal processing in music. The findings seem to support the existence a more general auditory dysfunction in a majority of children with SLI emphasizing the relevance of systematically assessing nonverbal abilities for the diagnostic and rehabilitation of SLI.

Purpose: This study examined the relationship between arithmetic word problem solving skill in first graders and 1) their oral language skill, 2) their nonverbal understanding of mathematical sets, and 3) rewording and gesture scaffolds designed to help the children access both the linguistic and the nonverbal content of Compare 6 word problems. Method: Two groups of first graders (15 with good oral language skill and 15 with low oral language skill) solved a matched set of verbal and nonverbal arithmetic problems, followed by three types of Compare word problems. Twenty first graders with low oral language skill (9 with low normal language (LN) and 11 with a diagnosis of language impairment (LI)) then solved orally-presented Compare 6 word problems under 4 scaffold conditions: 1) traditional wording, 2) traditional wording + gesture, 3) rewording, and 4) rewording + gesture. Results: Children with low oral language skill had greater difficulty solving orally-presented arithmetic word problems than their peers with good language skill, but performed comparably on a nonverbal arithmetic task. Using proportion of problems solved correctly, rewording Compare 6 word problems was facilitative for the LN group but not for the LI group. Changing the problem wording from a Compare 6 to a Compare 3, by using `more than' instead of `fewer than' and by eliminating pronoun anaphora, resulted in comparable performance to rewording that also included a rationale, optional verbs and placing the question first. The gesture scaffold was marginally significant for both groups. Conclusions: The LI group did not benefit from implicitly-presented rewording or gesture scaffolds; the LN group did benefit from the rewording scaffold. The gesture scaffold was marginally facilitative despite the finding that children with low oral language skill were able to access nonverbal information in a nonverbal arithmetic task. Empirical and anecdotal evidence suggested that, for a number of these children, rewording and gesture scaffolds altered their mental model of the word problem structure. This altered representation resulted in the use of different solution strategies. The new strategies, however, were not always correct. Implications for classroom intervention and suggestions for future research are discussed.

No description available.

No description available.