It is well known that language processing depends on specialized areas in the left side of the brain in the majority of the population. A popular view is that developmental language disorders result from a poorly lateralized brain, but evidence in support of this has been weak and inconsistent. In this thesis, I investigated language-related asymmetries in brain structure and function, and their behavioural relevance in both individuals with specific language impairment (SLI) and typically developing adults. Combining different brain imaging techniques, I looked at group-level as well as individual estimates of language laterality and its relationship to language abilities. The aim of my first two studies was to investigate the neural underpinnings of SLI in terms of white matter microstructure and functional organization associated with auditory processing. For this, diffusion and functional MRI data was obtained in a small number of families with a history of SLI and in control families. Compared with neurotypical controls, children with SLI had lower white matter integrity in the corpus callosum, and in white matter areas corresponding to the dorsal and ventral language pathways. The expected functional lateralization for auditory processing was not observed in either group. In the second half of my thesis, I assessed language laterality in 215 neurotypical adults. I demonstrated that functional transcranial Doppler (FTCD) ultrasonography could reliably assess functional lateralization across different language processes. From this large group, I identified 16 individuals with atypical language lateralization and compared them to a group of 16 typically lateralized individuals using a combination of FTCD, MRI and behavioural measures of language laterality and language abilities. The two groups differed significantly in terms of lateralization assessed by functional MRI and diffusion imaging. The atypical group had lower left and greater right hemisphere activation compared with the typical group, and lacked the leftwards asymmetry in the ventral language tract seen in the typical group. The groups did not differ in terms of cognitive measures. Different functional laterality assessments were concordant in the typically lateralized individuals but were inconsistent in the individuals assessed as atypical by FTCD. In brief, my findings suggest that for some individuals language lateralization may be unstable and varies depending on task or other factors. Even so, such differences do not appear to have consequences for language or other cognitive development.

Syftet med undersökningen är att få en uppfattning kring arbetet som sker på förskolan då det förekommer ett barn med språkstörning. Undersökningen består av fyra intervjuade pedagoger som delar sina kunskaper och erfarenheter kring att arbeta med språkstörning, vilka metoder de använder sig av, hur de anser att miljön på förskolan bör vara utformad samt hur de lägger upp en pedagogisk verksamhet för att barnen på bästa sätt ska utveckla sitt språk Ur resultatet så framkommer det väldigt stor skillnad i både kunskap och pedagogernas kompetens gällande språkstörning, samt att de använder sig av metoder med både manuell och hjälpmedelsbaserad alternativ kompletterande kommunikation. Flera uppfattningar från pedagogerna avser utformning av förskolans miljö samt hur de lägger upp den pedagogiska verksamheten för att barnen ska få bästa möjlighet till språkutveckling. Sammanfattningsvis anser alla de intervjuade pedagogerna att deras viktigaste plikt och förhållningssätt är att de är närvarande pedagoger så att barnen får de rätta förutsättningarna att lära sig språk. / The aim of this study is to gain an understanding of the work that takes place in a preschool when there are children with specific language impairment. The study consists of interviews with four pedagogues who share their knowledge and experience of working with language impairment; the methods they use, how, in their opinion, the preschool environment should be designed, and how they create pedagogical activities for the children to be able to develop their language in the best possible way. The result shows that there is a vast difference in both knowledge and competence among the pedagogues as regards language impairment, and that they use methods of both manual and aided alternative and augmentative communication. Several ideas among the pedagogues concern the design of the preschool environment and how they organize the teaching activity, in order to give the children the best possible chance to develop their language. To sum up, all the pedagogues in the interviews think that as teachers the obligation and attitude that is most important for them is to be present, so that the children will receive the right prerequisites to be able to develop their language.

Background: This study formed part of a larger longitudinal research study by Jordaan (2009), who tracked the development of language for academic purposes in grade 1- 3 English Additional Language (EAL) and English First Language (EFL) learners attending English only programmes in Gauteng over a period of three years. These learners attended schools in two different educational contexts where there is a marked heterogeneity in the linguistic backgrounds of both the learners and teachers investigated. Results from Jordaan’s (2009) study revealed that some EAL and EFL learners appeared to be slow in the development of their academic language abilities (as no progress was evident over the period of three years), relative to their peers, and thus these learners may have a language impairment. Purpose: This study investigated in detail, these “slow to learn” EAL and EFL learners in the foundation phase, in order to determine whether they have a language impairment and to determine how the language impairment manifests in these learners. Participants: Sixteen learners (5 EFL learners and 16 EAL learners) who demonstrated no improvement in their academic language abilities from grade one to grade two as determined by their performance on the Diagnostic Evaluation of Language Variation Criterion Referenced (DELV-CR) test were the participants of this study. Method: The participants were assessed on the Automated Working Memory Assessment (AWMA) test, a Non Word Repetition test (Dollaghan & Campbell, 1998), a Sentence Repetition test (Redmond, 2005) and the Gray Oral Reading Test (GORT-4). Educators were also asked to rate these learners’ oral language, written language and reading comprehension abilities on a scale of 0- 5. The research design utilized was a non experimental, descriptive quantitative design, involving both correlational and comparative components. The data obtained was then analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated to establish whether there was a relationship between the cognitive processing and the language proficiency measures as well as the teacher ratings in order to provide information regarding these tests as assessment tools for EAL learners as well as to further enhance the validity of this study. Independent sample t-tests were also conducted to determine whether there were any significant differences between the EFL and EAL learners’ performance in the two different educational contexts, so as to establish whether bilingual learners with language impairment are more severely impaired than monolingual learners with language impairment. Results: Based on the analysis of these learners’ performance on the DELV-CR test, results indicated that all sixteen participants presented with SLI and were not just “slow to learn”. The EAL-SLI learners in both contexts performed poorly on the reading comprehension test and were rated lower than their aged matched peers on the teacher rating scales. Furthermore, when comparing these EAL-SLI learners’ performance on the DELV-CR test to the performance of the EFL-SLI learners, the EAL-SLI learners as a group appeared to have performed more poorly than the EFL-SLI learners on all three subtests. As significant differences were found between the EAL and EFL learners’ performance on the DELV-CR test, the results suggested that bilingual learners with SLI, who acquire a second language sequentially, are more impaired than monolingual learners with SLI. The EAL-SLI learners also presented with visuo-spatial short term and working memory deficits and even though a large majority of the learners presented with verbal short term and working memory difficulties, not all the learners presented with cognitive processing difficulties. This finding has implications for the theories of SLI. However, the sentence repetition task was found to be a useful tool in differentiating between the “slow to learn” EAL learners and EAL-SLI learners and furthermore this test also positively correlated with various sections of the DELV-CR test which adds to the value of this test as an assessment tool in EAL learners. Positive correlations were also found between the teacher ratings of the EAL-SLI learners and the subtests of the DELV-CR test which indicates that teachers have the ability to correctly identify learners with language learning difficulties. Positive correlations were also found between the digit repetition subtest, the non word repetition test and the sentence repetition test which adds to the validity of this study. Conclusion: The results obtained from this study demonstrated that bilingual learners with SLI who acquire a second language sequentially are additionally disadvantaged compared to their EFL-SLI peers in the acquisition of certain aspects of academic language. Furthermore, although research has shown that cognitive processing measures are less biased in the assessment of linguistically diverse learners, results indicated that the DELV-CR test identified more accurately, learners with language impairment whereas the cognitive processing measures provided contradictory and biased results with the verbal working memory subtest over identifying learners “at risk” for language impairment. Finally, the use of sentence repetition tasks in the differentiation between “slow to learn” and language impaired EAL learners proves to be promising.

This thesis solves deals with special pedagogical problems of primary literacy acquisition of the children with specific language impairment. The aim is to analyze the phenomena, which disrupt the process of acquiring written language forms of the pupils with this diagnosis and to record factors, which help to streamline this process. Another task is to propose the steps to help overcome the problems caused by impaired communication skills by teaching analytic-synthetic method. The theoretical part is the basis for meeting the targets. It describes specific language impairment as one of the categories of impaired communication skills and its consequences for education. Attention is given to the topic of literacy. Emphasis is particularly given on the initial reading literacy. This period is seen in the context of the speech development and the psycholinguistic concept of literacy is introduced, where the skill of phonemic awareness has a central position. At the end of the theoretical part, the methods of teaching of reading are described. The practical part presents the research study, which was carried out in several consecutive phases: initial diagnostic phase, observation of pupils in various stages of teaching of reading, implementation of methodical support measures and the final assessment of the...

Der vorliegende Tagungsband enthält alle Beiträge des 1. Herbsttreffens Patholinguistik, das am 24.11.2007 an der Universität Potsdam stattgefunden hat. Sowohl die drei Hauptvorträge zum Thema „Der Erwerb von Lexikon und Semantik – Meilensteine, Störungen und Therapie“ als auch die Kurzvorträge promovierter Patholinguisten sind ausführlich dokumentiert. Außerdem enthält der Tagungsband die Abstracts der präsentierten Poster. / These proceedings contain the contributions presented at the “1st Herbsttreffen Patholinguistik” that took place on November 24, 2007 at the University of Potsdam. Three main lectures focused on "The acquisition of lexicon and semantics - milestones, impairments, and intervention". In addition, the proceedings contain short presentations on patholinguistic research and the abstracts of the presented posters.

<p>Children with cleft lip and palate (CLP) and children with specific language impairment (SLI) may be affected emotionally and psychosocially by their disorders. Thus, it is important to investigate the psychosocial risk factors that these children are exposed to. The aim of this study was to examine how parents assess the emotional and psychosocial well-being of children with CLP and children with SLI, and if the two parental groups differ in their assessments using the standardized instrument Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL). Participants in the study were the parents of ten children with unilateral and bilateral CLP between ages 6;7-9;0 (mean age 7;5) and the parents of 13 children between ages 6;4-8;8 (mean age 7;3) who are attending preschools and schools for children with SLI. These parents were asked to complete the questionnaires CBCL and Child Health Questionnaire (CHQ).</p><p> </p><p>The children with CLP had lower scores than the children with SLI in all domains of the CBCL, indicating that these children with CLP had better emotional and psychosocial well-being. The scores in the domains "withdrawn" and "delinquent behaviour" were significantly lower for the group of children with CLP who also had lower total mean scores of CBCL compared to the standardization group. The children with SLI had significantly higher mean scores for all domains compared to this group, indicating that these children with SLI were more emotionally and psychosocially affected than the other groups. Correlations between CBCL and CHQ were found for the children with CLP and the children with SLI.<strong> </strong></p> / <p>Barn med läpp-käk-gomspalt (LKG) och barn med språkstörning kan påverkas emotionellt och psykosocialt på grund av sina avvikelser. Det föreligger därför ett behov av att undersöka vilka aspekter som kan utgöra psykosociala riskfaktorer hos dessa grupper. Syftet med föreliggande studie var att undersöka hur föräldrar skattar emotionellt och psykosocialt välbefinnande hos barn med LKG och barn med språkstörning samt om dessa föräldragruppers skattningar skiljer sig åt. Vidare var syftet att undersöka hur studiens skattningar är relaterat till skattningarna i standardiseringen av instrumentet Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL). Föräldrar till tio barn med unilateral och bilateral spalt mellan 6;7-9;0 år (medelålder 7;5) samt föräldrar till 13 barn på språkförskola eller språkskola mellan 6;4-8;8 år (medelålder 7;3) fick fylla i frågeformulären CBCL samt Child Health Questionnaire (CHQ).</p><p> </p><p>Resultaten visade att gruppen barn med LKG hade lägre medelvärden än gruppen barn med språkstörning för samtliga domäner i CBCL, vilket indikerar att gruppen barn med LKG hade större emotionellt och psykosocialt välbefinnande. Medelvärdena för domänerna ”tillbakadragenhet” och ”asocialt beteende” var signifikant lägre för gruppen barn med LKG som också hade lägre totalt medelvärde jämfört med aktuella normeringsvärden för CBCL. Medelvärdena för gruppen barn med språkstörning var högre än normeringsvärdena för samtliga domäner, vilket indikerar att gruppen barn med språkstörning hade sämre emotionellt och psykosocialt välbefinnande än de andra grupperna. Slutligen visade korrelationsberäkningar ett signifikant samband mellan CBCL och CHQ för båda deltagargrupperna.</p>

Children with cleft lip and palate (CLP) and children with specific language impairment (SLI) may be affected emotionally and psychosocially by their disorders. Thus, it is important to investigate the psychosocial risk factors that these children are exposed to. The aim of this study was to examine how parents assess the emotional and psychosocial well-being of children with CLP and children with SLI, and if the two parental groups differ in their assessments using the standardized instrument Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL). Participants in the study were the parents of ten children with unilateral and bilateral CLP between ages 6;7-9;0 (mean age 7;5) and the parents of 13 children between ages 6;4-8;8 (mean age 7;3) who are attending preschools and schools for children with SLI. These parents were asked to complete the questionnaires CBCL and Child Health Questionnaire (CHQ).   The children with CLP had lower scores than the children with SLI in all domains of the CBCL, indicating that these children with CLP had better emotional and psychosocial well-being. The scores in the domains "withdrawn" and "delinquent behaviour" were significantly lower for the group of children with CLP who also had lower total mean scores of CBCL compared to the standardization group. The children with SLI had significantly higher mean scores for all domains compared to this group, indicating that these children with SLI were more emotionally and psychosocially affected than the other groups. Correlations between CBCL and CHQ were found for the children with CLP and the children with SLI. / Barn med läpp-käk-gomspalt (LKG) och barn med språkstörning kan påverkas emotionellt och psykosocialt på grund av sina avvikelser. Det föreligger därför ett behov av att undersöka vilka aspekter som kan utgöra psykosociala riskfaktorer hos dessa grupper. Syftet med föreliggande studie var att undersöka hur föräldrar skattar emotionellt och psykosocialt välbefinnande hos barn med LKG och barn med språkstörning samt om dessa föräldragruppers skattningar skiljer sig åt. Vidare var syftet att undersöka hur studiens skattningar är relaterat till skattningarna i standardiseringen av instrumentet Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL). Föräldrar till tio barn med unilateral och bilateral spalt mellan 6;7-9;0 år (medelålder 7;5) samt föräldrar till 13 barn på språkförskola eller språkskola mellan 6;4-8;8 år (medelålder 7;3) fick fylla i frågeformulären CBCL samt Child Health Questionnaire (CHQ).   Resultaten visade att gruppen barn med LKG hade lägre medelvärden än gruppen barn med språkstörning för samtliga domäner i CBCL, vilket indikerar att gruppen barn med LKG hade större emotionellt och psykosocialt välbefinnande. Medelvärdena för domänerna ”tillbakadragenhet” och ”asocialt beteende” var signifikant lägre för gruppen barn med LKG som också hade lägre totalt medelvärde jämfört med aktuella normeringsvärden för CBCL. Medelvärdena för gruppen barn med språkstörning var högre än normeringsvärdena för samtliga domäner, vilket indikerar att gruppen barn med språkstörning hade sämre emotionellt och psykosocialt välbefinnande än de andra grupperna. Slutligen visade korrelationsberäkningar ett signifikant samband mellan CBCL och CHQ för båda deltagargrupperna.

Samtalsanalys har tidigare använts som ett komplement till traditionellt använda standardiserade tester för att undersöka mer funktionella aspekter av kommunikation (Wells &amp; Local, 1992; Yont, Hewitt &amp; Miccio, 2002; Samuelsson 2009). Syftet med föreliggande studie är att utifrån sytematiska analyser av vardagliga samtal och logopedisk intervention utforska relationen mellan kommunikativa behov i vardagen och mål med intervention för barn med språkstörning. Tre barn med språkstörning filmades i vardagliga samtal hemma och på förskolan samt vid ett behandlingsbesök hos logopeden. Materialet transkriberades och analyserades enligt samtalsanalytiska principer. Intervjuer och retrospektioner genomfördes med föräldrar, förskolepersonal samt behandlande logoped för att ytterligare belysa barnens kommunikativa situation. I föreliggande studie framkommer att de kommunikativa behov barnen har relaterar till de mål som sätts upp i logopedisk behandling. På grund av deras fonologiska svårigheter påverkas barnens kommunikation då det ofta uppstår problemkällor, deras yttranden ignoreras och deras talutrymme inskränks. Reparationsstrategier används av både vuxna och barn för att reda ut de situationer där missförstånd uppstår. Dessa strategier kan, med hjälp av retrospektioner, uppmärksammas och diskuteras i logopedisk intervention i syfte att undvika framtida situationer där barnens svårförståeliga yttranden inte reds ut. / Conversation analysis has been used as a complement to traditional standardized testing to evaluate the functional aspect of communication (Wells &amp; Local, 1992; Yont, Hewitt &amp; Miccio, 2002; Samuelsson 2009). The purpose of the present study is to explore the relationship between everyday communicative needs and objectives set in speech and language intervention through systematic analysis of everyday conversations and speech and language intervention. Three children with language impairment were video recorded during everyday interaction at home, at the preschool and during one speech and language therapy session. The material was transcribed and analyzed according to principles of conversation analysis. Interviews and retrospections were conducted with parents, preschool teachers and the treating speech and language pathologists in order to further illustrate the participating children’s communicational situation. The results in the present study show that the communicational needs does relate to the objectives set up in speech and language intervention for the children in the current study. The children’s communication is primarily afflicted by their phonological difficulties in the way that it fuels for sources of communicational breakdowns, the children’s utterances become ignored and it restrains their participation in conversation. Repair strategies are used by both adults and children to solve sequences where mutual understanding is not achieved. These strategies may, through retrospections, be identified and discussed in speech and language intervention in order to avoid future situations where unintelligible utterances are not solved.

This Masters thesis focuses on issues of Specific Language Impairment - SLI of children of pre-school age. It monitors and evaluates development of their communication and motor skills during their time in kindergarten. The theoretical part focuses on defining basic terms which relate to communication and communication disorder with the emphasis on SLI. The psychomotor and communicational development of child from birth to entering school is described too. Also how this all affected creating the Framework Educational Programme for preschool education. The aim of the empirical part was to observe four children with SLI during their attendance at a pre-school for children with specific needs. Speech and psychomotor development of these children and its changes in connection to their teachers' intervention was observed. Part of the research included interviews with children's parents and those are also evaluated. The survey was done by the qualitative method. We get four case histories. At the end was evaluated the aims of the survey and answered questions asked and summarized the results of my investigation.