L’étude présente l’élaboration du premier outil d’évaluation normalisée du langage destiné aux enfants francophones d’âge préscolaire des pays africains qui se caractérisent par l’absence de services publics en orthophonie et la méconnaissance des retards de langage. En s’inspirant des techniques psychométriques langagières utilisées en Amérique du nord et en se basant sur les théories d’acquisition du langage, on a construit un outil appelé Batterie de tests de dépistage approfondi (BATEDA) qui compte onze tests répartis en trois sous-batteries évaluant respectivement l’intégrité des modalités de transmission du langage (BATEM), les composantes langagières (BATEL) et la mémoire verbale (TMV). A partir d’un échantillon de 159 enfants camerounais francophones, on a normalisé la batterie suivant la cote z et les rangs en centile. Les tests présentent une fiabilité inter-juge et intra-juge (p<0,05), une cohérence interne globale d’environ 96% (α de Cronbach=0,958) et une validité prédictive de la réussite scolaire des enfants (r=0,700). Les stratégies d’application de la BATEDA visent à favoriser la pratique du dépistage systématique et la prise en charge des retards de langage au Cameroun, en mettant à contribution les enseignants et les parents comme principaux intervenants. Les implications de cette étude sont de trois ordres : (1) une meilleure connaissance des difficultés langagières, la revalorisation des personnes atteintes et une attitude de vigilance sociale; (2) l’instauration de la pratique de dépistage précoce favorable à l’intervention; (3) une potentielle diminution du taux d’exclusion et d’abandon scolaire d’enfants présentant des retards langagiers à travers un enseignement ciblé en leur faveur. / The study aims at the building of the first normalized language assessment test intended for French-speaking preschoolers living in African countries where language delays are ignored and where there is a lack of public services in speech-language therapy. Being inspired by the format of standardized language tests, and based on language acquisition theories, we developed a tool named Batterie de tests de dépistage approfondi (BATEDA) which combine eleven tests organized in three batteries assessing respectively modalities (BATEM), language components (BATEL) and memory (TMV). From a sample of 159 Cameroonian French-speaking four-to-five-years old children, the tool has been normalized using standard scores technique (the z score and the percentile). Tests have an inter-scorer reliability, an internal consistency of 96% (α de Cronbach=0,958) and a predictive validity of the primary school success of children (r=0,700). The application strategies of BATEDA aim at encouraging the screening of language delays in order to take charge of these difficulties in Cameroon by implicating teachers and parents as main participants. Among the implications of this study, we have the better knowledge of difficulties related to language delays, the better consideration of children affected, the establishment of early screening and language assessment on behalf of intervention, and a potential decrease of the rate of school abandon and expulsion of children with language delays.

Low-grade gliomas (LGGs) constitute a major challenge for health care because of their location and nature. LGGs are often found in eloquent areas, and their infiltrative growth cause neurological reorganization, which complicates the mapping of important functions. Awake surgery in combination with direct electrical stimulation (DES) and intraoperative tests is a relatively new method for mapping the brain's functional limits, thus eliminating as much of the tumor as possible while maintaining important functions. At present there is no available intraoperative test for semantic processing in Swedish. Tests of specific linguistic abilities improves the specificity of mapping which reduces post-operative linguistic impairments. Intraoperative tests can thus contribute to increased quality of life in the patient group. This study was based on the Dutch Lingusistic Intraoperative Protocol (DuLIP) test battery to create a Swedish version of the subtest semantic odd word out (SOWO). SOWO tests semantic processing via lexical reading. The adjusted and extended version of SOWO was tested during a pilot trial on 26 standard-language people. The study has resulted in a new semantic intraoperative test in Swedish that will be clinically examined at University Hospital in Uppsala. Hopefully, the new test contributes to better treatment options for patients with LGG. / Lågmaligna tumörer (LGG) utgör en stor utmaning för vården på grund av deras lokalisation och karaktär. LGG återfinns ofta i elokventa områden och deras infiltrativa växtsätt orsakar neurologisk omorganisering, vilket komplicerar kartläggning av viktiga funktioner. Vakenkirurgi i kombination med direkt elektrisk stimulering (DES) och intraoperativa tester är en relativt ny metod för att kartlägga hjärnans funktionella gränser och därmed kunna avlägsna så stor del av tumören som möjligt samtidigt som viktiga funktioner kan bevaras. I dagsläget finns det inget tillgängligt intraoperativt test för semantisk bearbetning på svenska. Tester av specifika lingvistiska förmågor förbättrar specificiteten av kartläggningen vilket minskar postoperativa språkliga nedsättningar. Intraoperativa tester kan därmed bidra till ökad livskvalitet hos patientgruppen. Denna studie har utgått från det nederländska testbatteriet Dutch Lingusistic Intraoperative Protocol (DuLIP) för att skapa en svensk version av deltestet semantic odd word out (SOWO). SOWO testar semantisk bearbetning via lexikal läsning. Den anpassade och utökade versionen av SOWO pilottestades på 26 normalspråkiga personer. Studien har resulterat i ett nytt semantiskt intraoperativt test på svenska som ska prövas kliniskt på Akademiska sjukhuset i Uppsala. Förhoppningsvis bidrar det nya testet till bättre behandlingsmöjligheter för patienter med LGG.

Abstract Children with hearing disorders face particular challenges in developing their vocabulary. They often have difficulty in acquiring spoken language at the same rate as their normal hearing peers, despite progress regarding hearing aid technology.Aim. The main aim of this study was to describe aspects of expressive vocabulary for school-age children with mild to moderately severe hearing impairment (HI-group), and to compare with results for a group of normal hearing children (NH-group) of the same age. One aim was also to test whether there were differences, between children with hearing impairment and normal hearing children, in the ability to repeat non-words and sentences and to compare these results within each group with results on two newly constructed vocabulary tests. An additional aim was also to investigate whether background factors, such as age of diagnosis, age of hearing aid fitting and amount of hearing aid use, were related to results on vocabulary tests.Method: 24 children age 7-11 with mild to moderately severe bilateral hearing impairment, and 82 normal hearing children of similar age, were included in this cross-sectional study. Assessments of picture naming, word definition, repetition of nonwords and repetition of sentences were performed with all participants. Age, hearing, use of hearing aid and parents' level of education were included in the analyzes.Results: The HI-group performed significantly below the results of the NH-group regarding picture naming, word definition, nonword repetition and repetition of sentences. The HI-group also produced significantly more words with deficiencies in phonological structure, than the NH-group, during picture naming. In the HI-group there was a significant positive correlation between amount of hearing aid use per day and nonword repetition. Age of diagnose and age of hearing aid fitting did not show statistically significant associations with outcomes on the language tests in this study.Conclusion: Despite the technical development of hearing aids, the expressive vocabulary in school-aged children with bilateral, mild to moderately severe, hearing impairment, does not reach the same level as in normal-hearing peers, although there is a variation within the group. Amount of hearing aid use seems to be important for the ability to perceive new words.