Search

Purpose: This pilot study examined the extent and nature of associations in the linguistic complexity used by child and clinician within conversational interactions. Method: Correlation analyses focused on semantic and morphosyntactic language sample measures from an experienced speech-language clinician and 29 children with language impairment. Results: Positive associations emerged between a variety of child and clinician measures, even when the effect of child age was removed. The most robust effect related to clinician adjustments in both morphosyntactic complexity and vocabulary diversity associated with differences in children's developmental sentence scores. Conclusions: Within a conversational exchange, the clinician in this study made significant adjustments in her linguistic complexity that were due, at least in part, to the linguistic complexity used by the children with whom she was interacting. Associations were similar to adjustments reported in prior studies of parent and teacher interactions with children with differing language abilities. However, the extent to which these findings generalize to other clinicians needs to be examined. Results from the present study challenge clinicians to dedicate conscious thought toward how their linguistic input should be structured, taking into consideration both the goal of the interaction and each child's profile of linguistic strengths and weaknesses. Directions for future research are also provided. (Contains 3 tables.)

This study evaluated the accuracy of automated methods of grammatical categorization ("tagging") of transcribed conversational language samples from 30 normally developing children. On a word-by-word basis, automated accuracy levels averaged 95.1%; accuracy of tagging whole utterances averaged 77.7%. Results suggest that further improvement of automated grammatical tagging is necessary before widespread use is warranted. (Author/DB)

Each year in the United States, roughly half a million babies are born prematurely. Prematurity raises a child's risk of myriad morbidities, including impaired neurodevelopment, deficits in vision and hearing, [...], Purpose: The existing literature on language outcomes in children born prematurely focuses almost exclusively on standardized test scores rather than discourse-level abilities. The authors of this study looked longitudinally at school-age language outcomes and potential moderating variables for a group of twins born prematurely versus a control group of twins born at full term, analyzing both standardized test results and language sample data from the population-based Western Reserve Reading Project (WRRP; Petrill, DeaterDeckard, Thompson, DeThorne, & Schatschneider, 2006). Method: Fifty-seven children born prematurely, at Results: Regression models showed significant differences between the 2 groups for standardized test results, although the mean score for both groups fell in the normal range. For the discourse-level language measures, however, differences never reached statistical significance. Parental education was significantly associated with improved standardized test scores. Conclusions: These findings suggest that in the absence of frank neurological impairment, sophisticated semantic and syntactic skills may be relatively intact in the discourse-level language of children born prematurely. Implications for assessment, particularly the potential role of attention and executive function in standardized testing tasks, are reviewed. Key Words: child language, school-age language, prematurity

This study found moderately high correlations for performance of 60 children (ages 4-8) on 4 grammatic completion measures: Berry-Talbott Developmental Guide to Comprehension of Grammar, Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities--Grammatic Closure subtest, Test of Language Development (Primary)--Grammatic Completion subtest, and Morphological Rules section of the Bankson Language Screening Text. (Author/JDD)

Purpose: The present study examined the extent of genetic and environmental influences on individual differences in children's conversational language use. Method: Behavioral genetic analyses focused on conversational measures and 2 [...]

Comparison of the Picture Vocabulary subtest of the Test of Language Development--Primary (TOLD-P-PV) and the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test--Revised (PPVT-R) with first- through third-graders (N=48) revealed a strong correlation between the two receptive vocabulary measures. (CB)

Thirty-six children, aged four-five, completed four vocabulary measures: Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised, Picture Vocabulary subtest of the Test of Oral Language Development, Expressive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test, and Receptive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test. Only moderate correlations were found among these tests, implying that a child might pass one but fail another. (Author/JDD)

Objective: This study examined the effects of a topical vocal fold hydration treatment on voice production over time.Study Design: Prospective, longitudinal, within-subjects A (baseline), B (treatment), A (withdrawal/reversal), B (treatment) experimental design.Methods: Eight individuals with primary Sjögren's syndrome (SS), an autoimmune disease causing laryngeal dryness, completed an 8-week A-B-A-B experiment. Participants performed twice-daily audio recordings of connected speech and sustained vowels and then rated vocal effort, mouth dryness, and throat dryness. Two-week treatment phases introduced twice-daily 9-mL doses of nebulized isotonic saline (0.9% Na(+)Cl(-)). Voice handicap and patient-based measures of SS disease severity were collected before and after each 2-week phase. Connected speech and sustained vowels were analyzed using the Cepstral Spectral Index of Dysphonia (CSID). Acoustic and patient-based ratings during each baseline and treatment phase were analyzed and compared.Results: Baseline CSID and patient-based ratings were in the mild-to-moderate range. CSID measures of voice severity improved by approximately 20% with nebulized saline treatment and worsened during treatment withdrawal. Posttreatment CSID values fell within the normal-to-mild range. Similar patterns were observed in patient-based ratings of vocal effort and dryness. CSID values and patient-based ratings correlated significantly (P < .05).Conclusion: Nebulized isotonic saline improves voice production based on acoustic and patient-based ratings of voice severity. Future work should optimize topical vocal fold hydration treatment formulations, dose, and delivery methodologies for various patient populations. This study lays the groundwork for future topical vocal fold hydration treatment development to manage and possibly prevent dehydration-related voice disorders.Level Of Evidence: 2b. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The existing literature on language outcomes in children born prematurely focuses almost exclusively on standardized test scores rather than discourse-level abilities. The authors of this study looked longitudinally at school-age language outcomes and potential moderating variables for a group of twins born prematurely versus a control group of twins born at full term, analyzing both standardized test results and language sample data from the population-based Western Reserve Reading Project (WRRP; Petrill, Deater- Deckard, Thompson, DeThorne, & Schatschneider, 2006). Method: Fifty-seven children born prematurely, at ≤32 weeks or <1,500 g, were compared with 57 children born at full term and were matched for age, gender, race, and parental education. Data included discourse-level language samples and standardized test results, collected at average ages 7, 8, and 10 years. The language samples were analyzed to yield a number of semantic and syntactic measures that were consolidated via factor analysis. Results: Regression models showed significant differences between the 2 groups for standardized test results, although the mean score for both groups fell in the normal range. For the discourse-level language measures, however, differences never reached statistical significance. Parental education was significantly associated with improved standardized test scores. Conclusions: These findings suggest that in the absence of frank neurological impairment, sophisticated semantic and syntactic skills may be relatively intact in the discourse-level language of children born prematurely. Implications for assessment, particularly the potential role of attention and executive function in standardized testing tasks, are reviewed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]