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Bilingual children's total vocabulary in each of their languages is often smaller than that of monolinguals. In their seminal study, Bialystok et al. (2010. 'Receptive vocabulary differences in monolingual and bilingual children.' Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 13 (4): 525–531) divided children's vocabulary into 'home' and 'school' words and found no differences in bilinguals' knowledge of 'school' words compared to monolinguals. In Study 1, we asked 292 parents and teachers to categorize words into 'home' or 'school' contexts, and in Study 2, we analyzed the vocabulary of 220 Polish-English bilingual and monolingual (English and Polish) children aged 4.5–7. The results show that bilinguals knew fewer 'home' and 'school' words than monolinguals in each language. However, bilinguals were likely to be exposed to these words either at home or at school, whereas monolinguals would hear them in both contexts. For a small subset of English words that bilinguals heard in both contexts, bilinguals showed similar performance to monolinguals. Our results provide evidence for exposure effects in vocabulary acquisition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Being a late talker constitutes a risk factor for later neurodevelopmental disorders; however, its neurobiological basis remains unexplored. We aimed to determine the unique and mutual correlates of late talking and developmental dyslexia on brain structure and behavioral outcomes in a large sample of 8- to 10-year-old children in a between-groups design (N = 120). Brain structure was examined using voxel-based morphometry (to measure gray matter volume) and surface-based morphometry (to measure gray matter volume, cortical thickness, surface area, and curvature of the cortex). Behaviorally, late talking and dyslexia are independently connected to language and literacy skills, and late talkers have difficulties in grammar, phonological awareness, and reading accuracy. Children with dyslexia show impairments in all of the above, as well as in vocabulary, spelling, reading speed, and rapid automatized naming. Neuroanatomically, dyslexia is related to lower total intracranial volume and total surface area. Late talking is related to reduced cortical thickness in the left posterior cingulate gyrus and the right superior temporal gyrus, which are structures belonging to the dorsal speech articulatory-phonetic perception system. Finally, a cumulative effect of late talking and dyslexia was found on the left fusiform gray matter volume. This might explain inconsistencies in previous neuroanatomical studies of dyslexia. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What is the relationship between literacy skills and implicit learning? To address previous mixed findings, we compared school‐aged readers, typical (CON, n = 54) and with dyslexia (DYS, n = 53), in relation to their performance on a serial reaction time task. For the first time, we also included an isolated spelling deficit group (ISD, n = 30) to control for distinctive effects of reading and spelling deficits. A linear reaction times analysis did not reveal between‐group differences in implicit learning. However, further examination revealed that most CON (65%) and ISD (63%) were implicit learners, whereas most DYS were nonlearners (64%). Brain activity showed differences in early learning phases: CON learners and DYS nonlearners activated the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and left insula more than other groups. Our findings imply that implicit learning is more frequently disrupted in children with dyslexia than in typical readers, and that activation of the left IFG and insula contributes to effective learning in the latter group but it does not in the former. A one‐page Accessible Summary of this article in nontechnical language is freely available in the Supporting Information online and at https://oasis‐database.org [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on the role of numerous cognitive skills such as phonological awareness (PA), rapid automatized naming (RAN), visual and selective attention, auditory skills, and implicit learning in developmental dyslexia. We examined the (co)existence of cognitive deficits in dyslexia and assessed cognitive skills' predictive value for reading. First, we compared school‐aged children with severe reading impairment (n = 51) to typical readers (n = 71) to explore the individual patterns of deficits in dyslexia. Children with dyslexia, as a group, presented low PA and RAN scores, as well as limited implicit learning skills. However, we found no differences in the other domains. We found a phonological deficit in 51% and a RAN deficit in 26% of children with dyslexia. These deficits coexisted in 14% of the children. Deficits in other cognitive domains were uncommon and most often coexisted with phonological or RAN deficits. Despite having a severe reading impairment, 26% of children with dyslexia did not present any of the tested deficits. Second, in a group of children presenting a wide range of reading abilities (N = 211), we analysed the relationship between cognitive skills and reading level. PA and RAN were independently related to reading abilities. Other skills did not explain any additional variance. The impact of PA and RAN on reading skills differed. While RAN was a consistent predictor of reading, PA predicted reading abilities particularly well in average and good readers with a smaller impact in poorer readers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]