O Distúrbio Específico de Linguagem (DEL) é uma alteração que acomete o desenvolvimento da linguagem que não pode ser atribuído à defasagem sensorial, motora, intelectual, transtorno globais do desenvolvimento, privação social ou lesão cerebral evidente. Estudos comprovam que o desempenho de crianças com DEL é inferior ao de seus pares normais em provas de Memória de Trabalho (MT) e relacionam essa defasagem às dificuldades linguísticas destes sujeitos. É consenso que a memória de trabalho fonológica (MTF) é fundamental para o desenvolvimento da linguagem, porém, há divergências sobre o papel da memória de trabalho visual (MTV). Assim este estudo teve como objetivo comparar o desempenho de crianças com DEL e com Desenvolvimento Típico de Linguagem (DTL) em provas de MT e vocabulário receptivo; comparar o desempenho na Prova de Memória de Trabalho Fonológica (PMTF) e Teste Pictórico de Memória (TEPIC-M) verificando se há diferença em função do material ser apresentado por via auditiva ou visual e ainda, correlacionar o desempenho das crianças com DEL nas provas de MT e de vocabulário receptivo. Participaram do estudo 42 crianças sendo 14 delas com diagnóstico de DEL e 28 com DTL, pareadas pela idade cronológica, foram aplicados dois testes que avaliam a memória de trabalho (PMTF e TEPIC-M) e um teste que avalia vocabulário receptivo (Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test- PPVT-III). Para a análise estatística foram utilizados os testes t de Student para comparação entre os grupos e Correlação de Pearson para correlacionar os resultados entre as provas. Os resultados mostraram que as crianças com DEL apresentam desempenho inferior em relação aos seus pares normais em ambas as provas de MT, sendo que, em maior proporção na prova de PMTF, havendo correlação entre todos os testes aplicados. Assim conclui-se que crianças com DEL apresentam defasagem na MTF e na MTV, nesta última em menor proporção. Quanto maior a defasagem nas habilidades de memória, maior foi a defasagem no vocabulário destas crianças. Tanto crianças com DEL, como as com DTL apresentaram pior desempenho quando o estímulo foi apresentado por via auditiva comparado àquele apresentado por via visual. / The Specific Language Impairment (SLI) is a disorder that affects the language development and cant be attributed to lag sensory, motor, intellectual and pervasive developmental disorder, social deprivation or evident brain lesion. Studies show that the performance of SLI children is lower than their normal peers in Working Memory (WM) tests and relate this discrepancy to the linguistic difficulties of these subjects. There is consensus that phonological working memory (PWM) is critical to language development, but there are disagreements about the role of visual working memory (VWM). So this study aimed to compare the performance of children with SLI and typical language development (TLD) in WM tests and receptive vocabulary, to compare the performance in Phonological Working Memory Test (PWMT) and Pictorial Memory Test (PMT) checking whether there are differences depending on the material being presented through auditory or visual, still, to correlate the performance of children with SLI on receptive vocabulary tests and WM tests. The study included 42 children, 14 of them with SLI and 28 with TLD, paired with chronological age, were applied two tests that assessed working memory (PWMT and PMT) and a receptive vocabulary test (Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test - PPVT-III). For statistical analysis were used t of Student test for comparison between groups and Pearson Correlation to correlate the results between tests. The results showed that children with SLI perform below their peers in relation to normal in both WM tests, mainly on the PWMT, there was correlation between all tests. Thus it is concluded that children with SLI present deficits in PWM and VWM, the latter in a smaller proportion. The higher is the gap in their memory skills, the higher is the gap in the vocabulary of these children. Both children with SLI, as with TLD showed a worse performance when the stimulus was presented auditory compared to that presented by visual means.

Phonological awareness (PA) can be defined as the ability to recognize that orthographic patterns represent specific phonemic elements of speech (Nitrouer, 1999). Alternatively, some view PA as a purely linguistic skill that involves the ability to recognize and manipulate specific speech sounds (e.g., Catts, 1991). A large body of research indicates the primary problem for children who do not learn to read is a deficit in PA (e.g., Morris et al., 1998; Stanovich, 1988). Far less work has examined what drives the development of PA (Metsala & Walley, 1998). Recently, it has been suggested that oral language skills influence the acquisition of PA (e.g., Dickinson, McCabe, Anastasopoulos, Peisner-Feinberg, & Poe, 2003; Olofsson & Niedersoe 1999). The primary purpose of this study was to examine the development of PA skills in children classified with a reading disability who evidenced either typical or below-average oral language skills based on measures of receptive vocabulary, expressive vocabulary, and listening comprehensions skills. In addition, this study examined whether differing conceptualizations of PA resulted in differential findings concerning the relationship between oral language skills and PA. Finally, this study examined the relationships that exist between different domains of language and different aspects of reading achievement. Elementary school age students participated in the study with 211 students receiving 70 hours of small group reading intervention. Sixty-eight students served as a control group. Children’s PA was assessed at three time points throughout the school year. Repeated measures ANCOVA and HLM analyses were conducted with letter sound knowledge and phonological processing skills as dependent variables. Students with below-average oral language skills evidenced significantly (p < .05) lower scores on both measures compared to students with typical oral language skills. Children with below-average oral language skills did not acquire PA skills at a significantly slower rate than children with typical oral language skills. Analyses also indicated that the relationship between oral language skills and PA skills remains consistent across different conceptualizations of PA. SEM analyses showed that receptive vocabulary and expressive vocabulary knowledge independently contributed to PA skills. Only expressive vocabulary knowledge entered into a relationship with word identification skills.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:40:41Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 CRISTIANE_AMOROSINO_DIST.pdf: 3413258 bytes, checksum: ca798f17b25ae97d4c59d537efcfb5b1 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-08-01 / Fundo Mackenzie de Pesquisa / The Syndrome of Rett (SR.) was described for the first time for Andreas Rett(1966). It is characterized for a neurobiologic clutter that affects the femile sex preferentially. Its cause is due to a genetic alteration to the chromosome X. Due to the complex scenario its verbal comunication and gestual are damaged in, many times when inexistent, it causes serious difficulties the social development, cognitive and emotional these girls. Even thought the high number of investigation in this area, the comunicative potential is still a doubt and is still a big challenge for education professionals relatives and health professional. The objective of this study is to prove the comunicative intensional look and evoluate receptive vocabulary. The were 14 patients studied that belong to the classic form of Rett Syndrome classified in III & IV stage of evolution of the syndrome and filedit at Associação Brasileira de Síndrome de Rett de São Paulo (ABRE-TE/SP). The equipament used on it was Eyegaze®, that evaluates and registers the visual scanning of an individual facing a visual stimulous at the screen projeited. The instruments of evolution where: Vocabulary Test per Peabody images TVIP computorized and its variation of a receptive vocabulary test with colorful pictures TVRF colorful. One Way ANOVAS reveled significant differences in the numbers of correct itens at TVIP (F]5,33]= 44,761; p<0,0000) and at TVRF (F]5,33]= 28,3131; p<0,0000) according to the age. Analyses post hoc Bonferroni has shown that there are no diference between girls with SR and the controls of 2 and 3 years old; even thougth the average age were significantly bigger than those normal children that have obtained close assertivy results in those two version of the vocabulary test. The Rett gerts who have obtaind the worst perforface at TVIP were exactly the youngest. Besides that the number of correct itens at TVRF were bigger than observed at TVIP. Such data to suggest the usage of pictures to those girls have better effect to evoluate the vocabulary of those simple drawing, such as from TVIP. The evidenced the glance with communicative intention and also demonstrated tha thouse girls receptive vocabulary can be evaluates twrough the instrument computerized TVIP and its variation of TVRF. / A Síndrome de Rett (SR) foi descrita pela primeira vez por Andreas Rett (1966). Caracteriza-se por uma desordem neurobiológica que afeta preferentemente o sexo feminino. Sua causa é decorrente de uma alteração genética ligada ao cromossomo X. Devido ao complexo quadro, sua comunicação verbal e gestual encontram-se prejudicadas e, muitas vezes, inexistentes, o que acarreta sérias dificuldades no desenvolvimento social, cognitivo e emocional dessas meninas. Apesar do crescente número de investigações nesta área, o potencial comunicativo ainda é uma incógnita e um grande desafio para educadores, familiares e profissionais da saúde. O objetivo desse estudo foi comprovar o olhar com intenção comunicativa e avaliar o vocabulário receptivo. Foram estudadas 14 pacientes pertencentes a forma clássica da Síndrome de Rett, classificadas nos estágio III e IV de evolução da síndrome e cadastradas na Associação Brasileira de Síndrome de Rett de São Paulo (ABRE-TE/SP). Foi utilizado o equipamento Eyegaze®, que avalia e registra a varredura visual de um sujeito frente a um estimulo visual projetado na tela. Os instrumentos de avaliação utilizados foram: o Teste de Vocabulário por Imagens Peabody - TVIP computadorizado e sua variação o Teste de Vocabulário Receptivo com fotos coloridas - TVRF colorido. Resultados: ANOVAS Unifatorial revelaram diferença significativa no número de ítens corretos no TVIP (F]5,33]= 44,761; p<0,000) e no TVRF( F]5,33] = 28,3131; p< 0,000) em função da idade . Análise post hoc Bonferroni mostrou não haver diferença entre meninas com SR e os controles de 2 e 3 anos de idade; embora a média de idade fosse significativamente maior do que aquelas crianças normais, elas obtiveram resultados semelhantes de acertos nas duas versões do teste de vocabulário. As meninas Rett que obtiveram pior desempenho no TVIP foram exatamente as mais novas. No entanto, o número de ítens corretos no TVRF foi maior do que o observado no TVIP. Tais dados parecem sugerir que o uso de fotos para estas meninas tem efeito melhor para a avaliação de vocabulário do que de desenhos simples, tal como o do TVIP. Os resultados da análise dos dados evidenciaram o olhar com intenção comunicativa e demonstraram que o vocabulário receptivo destas meninas pode ser avaliado através do instrumento TVIP computadorizado e sua variação, o TVRF.

TITLE: The Lexicon Evaluation of Children before their Enrolling in School AUTHOR: Lucie Durdilová DEPARTMENT: Special Education SUPERVISOR: Doc. PaedDr. Jiřina Klenková, Ph.D. Abstract: The submitted thesis is focused on evaluation of lexical - semantic levels of language in children in late pre-school age, it specifically follows up their achievement in parts of receptive and expressive vocabulary. The measurement is implemented through the diagnostic test method which was compiled on the basis of foreign inspiration drawn especially from anglophone linguistic ambience. The lexicon is measured in intact population and in children with specific language impairment with the aim to compare obtained data. Developed findings should help to increase efficiency of logopedic intervention in content part of the speech. The project is based on the fact that currently there are no useful update tests available in the Czech Republic for global evaluation of lexicon. Keywords: receptive vocabulary, expressive vocabulary, diagnostic test, pre-school age

Globalisation and technological advancements actualize the necessity for comprehensive English language proficiency. This highlights the importance of an effective English as a foreign language (EFL) education in order to meet this demand. Despite the broad scope of research in multimodal methods as an aid in a reading comprehension context, there is a significant gap, which is particularly evident in addressing students in grades four to six and especially from a Scandinavian perspective. This study employed a quasi-experimental design to investigate the impact of integrating dual multimodal methods (visual aid + text) on the acquisition of receptive vocabulary and reading comprehension proficiency of EFL students in Swedish compulsory school year six. The study also aimed to explore which proficiency levels among students benefit from the incorporation of visual aids. Forty-eight participants from two urban schools in Stockholm, Sweden, were divided into an intervention group (visuals + text) and a control group (text) before subsequently undergoing a pretest, posttest, and delayed posttest focused on receptive vocabulary acquisition. A reading comprehension assignment was carried out with the aim of evaluating participants' reading comprehension proficiency. The treatment was completed by the control and intervention group with the difference being that the latter received the assignment with visual aids. The results illustrate that the use of multimodal methods improved participants' reading comprehension proficiency and short-term vocabulary recall. However, in the long term, reliance on visual aids led to a decline in scores, while traditional text-based instruction showed further improvement. The results suggest that less proficient learners were aided to a greater extent by visual aids than highly proficient learners. These results shed light on the benefits and limitations of multimodal methods, emphasising the need for further research to assess their long-term effects and to further decide who they may aid or harm.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

<p>Cochleaimplantat (CI) är ett tekniskt hjälpmedel som ges till personer med dövhet eller grav hörselnedsättning. Ett CI kan hos barn ge en möjlighet till ökad utveckling av kognitiva och språkliga förmågor. Syftet med föreliggande studie var att undersöka utvecklingen av kognitiva och språkliga förmågor hos barn med CI. Studien är en del av en longitudinell studie som tidigare genomförts 2007 och 2008. Deltagarna var sju barn med CI mellan 8;8 och 14;5 år. Jämförelser gjordes mellan prestationerna hos barnen med CI 2007, 2008 och 2009 samt mellan prestationerna hos barn med CI och normalhörande barn. Resultatet visade att barnen med CI hade en positiv utveckling av prestationerna i test av visuospatialt och komplext arbetsminne samt läsningens avkodningsdel. Samma tydliga positiva utveckling sågs inte av fonologiska representationer, fonologiskt arbetsminne, receptivt ordförråd samt läsförståelse. Den utplanande utvecklingen av fonologiska representationer kan vara en anledning till avsaknaden av positiv utveckling av fonologiskt arbetsminne och receptivt ordförråd.  Trots brister i fonologisk bearbetning kan barn med CI ha en positiv utveckling av läsning när det gäller avkodning. Samma tydliga positiva utveckling sågs inte av läsförståelse vilket kan bero på högre krav på arbetsminne och receptivt ordförråd. En grundlig utredning av varje barn bör göras för att upptäcka individuella styrkor och svagheter.</p> / <p>A Cochlear implant (CI) is a technical device given to individuals with severe to profound hearing impairment/deafness. CI can provide children with increased possibilities to develop cognitive and linguistic abilities. The purpose of this study was to investigate the development of cognitive and linguistic abilities in children with CI. This study is part of a longitudinal study previously carried out in 2007 and 2008. The participants were seven children with CI between the ages of 8;8 and 14;5. Comparisons were made both between the performances of the children with CI 2007, 2008 and 2009 and between the performances of the children with CI and the reference group of children with normal hearing. The result demonstrated that the children with CI showed a positive development of visuo-spatial and complex working memory as well as the decoding part of reading. This pattern of development was not seen in tests of phonological representations, phonological working memory, receptive vocabulary and reading comprehension. The poor development of phonological representations may be related to the poor development of phonological working memory and receptive vocabulary. Despite difficulties with phonological processing a positive development of the decoding abilities was seen. This pattern of development was not seen in reading comprehension which could be due to higher demands on working memory and receptive vocabulary. A thorough assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of each individual child should always be carried out.</p><p> </p><p> </p>

Cochleaimplantat (CI) är ett tekniskt hjälpmedel som ges till personer med dövhet eller grav hörselnedsättning. Ett CI kan hos barn ge en möjlighet till ökad utveckling av kognitiva och språkliga förmågor. Syftet med föreliggande studie var att undersöka utvecklingen av kognitiva och språkliga förmågor hos barn med CI. Studien är en del av en longitudinell studie som tidigare genomförts 2007 och 2008. Deltagarna var sju barn med CI mellan 8;8 och 14;5 år. Jämförelser gjordes mellan prestationerna hos barnen med CI 2007, 2008 och 2009 samt mellan prestationerna hos barn med CI och normalhörande barn. Resultatet visade att barnen med CI hade en positiv utveckling av prestationerna i test av visuospatialt och komplext arbetsminne samt läsningens avkodningsdel. Samma tydliga positiva utveckling sågs inte av fonologiska representationer, fonologiskt arbetsminne, receptivt ordförråd samt läsförståelse. Den utplanande utvecklingen av fonologiska representationer kan vara en anledning till avsaknaden av positiv utveckling av fonologiskt arbetsminne och receptivt ordförråd.  Trots brister i fonologisk bearbetning kan barn med CI ha en positiv utveckling av läsning när det gäller avkodning. Samma tydliga positiva utveckling sågs inte av läsförståelse vilket kan bero på högre krav på arbetsminne och receptivt ordförråd. En grundlig utredning av varje barn bör göras för att upptäcka individuella styrkor och svagheter. / A Cochlear implant (CI) is a technical device given to individuals with severe to profound hearing impairment/deafness. CI can provide children with increased possibilities to develop cognitive and linguistic abilities. The purpose of this study was to investigate the development of cognitive and linguistic abilities in children with CI. This study is part of a longitudinal study previously carried out in 2007 and 2008. The participants were seven children with CI between the ages of 8;8 and 14;5. Comparisons were made both between the performances of the children with CI 2007, 2008 and 2009 and between the performances of the children with CI and the reference group of children with normal hearing. The result demonstrated that the children with CI showed a positive development of visuo-spatial and complex working memory as well as the decoding part of reading. This pattern of development was not seen in tests of phonological representations, phonological working memory, receptive vocabulary and reading comprehension. The poor development of phonological representations may be related to the poor development of phonological working memory and receptive vocabulary. Despite difficulties with phonological processing a positive development of the decoding abilities was seen. This pattern of development was not seen in reading comprehension which could be due to higher demands on working memory and receptive vocabulary. A thorough assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of each individual child should always be carried out.

Theory of mind är att kunna tillskriva andra människor mentala tillstånd som förklarar deras beteenden. Dessa mentala tillstånd kan röra sig om uppfattningar, intentioner eller känslor.    Theory of Mind Scale är en bedömningsskala utformad av Wellman och Liu (2004), som undersöker olika nivåer av theory of mind. Theory of Mind Scale är uppbyggd i skalsteg med stigande svårighetsgrad. Syftet med föreliggande studie var att översätta Theory of Mind Scale från engelska till svenska samt validera bedömningsskalan för barn mellan 3 och 4 år. Studien syftade även till att se om det fanns ett samband mellan dessa barns förmåga till theory of mind, impressiva grammatiska förmåga och impressiva ordförråd.      Valideringen i föreliggande studie visade att skalstegen i den amerikanska originalversionen av Theory of Mind Scale var applicerbara på barnen i föreliggande studie, med undantag för den sista uppgiften. Istället för att exkludera den sista uppgiften skulle ett alternativ till en bedömningsskala kunna vara att jämföra barns resultat mot ett medelvärde med en normalvariation. I föreliggande studie kunde ett barn mellan 3;0 och 3;11 års ålder förväntas klara 2,83 ± 2,50 uppgifter och ett barn mellan 4;0 och 4;11 års ålder förväntas klara 3,71 ± 1,50 uppgifter.    Resultaten visade att sambandet var starkare mellan ickeverbal intelligens och theory of mind än mellan impressivt ordförråd och theory of mind. Inget signifikant samband fanns mellan impressiv grammatisk förmåga och theory of mind. Översättningen och valideringen som gjorts i samband med föreliggande uppsats gör det möjligt att kvalitativt använda bedömningsskalan i det kliniska arbetet med barn som misstänks ha svårigheter med theory of mind. / Theory of mind is an ability to ascribe other people mental states to explain their behaviors. These mental states may regard beliefs, intentions or feelings.    Theory of Mind Scale is an evaluation scale designed by Wellman and Liu (2004). The scale consists of different scale steps of theory of mind, with an increasing difficulty. The purpose of this study was to translate Theory of Mind Scale from English to Swedish and validate the scale for children from the age of 3 to 4 years. The study also aims to examine if there is any relationship between children’s theory of mind, grammatical understanding, receptive vocabulary and non-verbal intelligence.    The validation of the present study showed that the order of the scale steps in the American original version of the Theory of Mind Scale was applicable to the children in the present study, with an exeption of the last task (real-apparent emotion). An alternative to the scale would be to compare the children’s performance against a normal variation. According to the present study a child between the age of 3;0 and 3;11 years could be expected to complete 2,83 ± 2,50 tasks and a child between the age of 4;0 and 4;11 years could be expected to complete 3,71 ± 1,50 tasks.    The results indicated a stronger correlation between theory of mind and non-verbal inteligence than between theory of mind and receptive vocabulary in children between the age of 3;0 and 4;11 years. No significant correlation existed between receptive grammar and theory of mind. The translation and validation of Theory of Mind Scale enables qualitative clinical investigations of theory of mind deficits in children.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal