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Purpose: In this clinical focus article, we discuss the nature of critical thinking, its importance for adolescents, and its interaction with later language development. We also introduce a language arts program, "Philosophy for Adolescents." The program aims to support critical thinking, narrative and expository discourse, and the use of complex syntax and literate vocabulary. Method: In designing "Philosophy for Adolescents," we examined research from education, psychology, philosophy, and speech-language pathology in the areas of critical thinking and narrative discourse. The resulting program encourages students to think independently, listen to others, offer reasons and evidence to support their views, and express themselves with accuracy, clarity, and efficiency. Implementation is illustrated with a case study of a 12-year-old girl. Results: Although critical thinking improves during adolescence, many students struggle in this area, particularly in the ability to offer reasons and evidence to support their views. This suggests that these adolescents could benefit from instruction in critical thinking. Research also indicates that competence in critical thinking is associated with narrative and expository discourse, and with the use of complex syntax and literate words such as metacognitive verbs. Instruction using "Philosophy for Adolescents" may be carried out in small groups or individually by a speech-language pathologist working collaboratively with a teacher, teaching assistant, or other professional. Designed for flexible application, the program may be used with adolescents who have language disorders and those who have typical language development. Conclusion: Research is necessary to evaluate the program with students from diverse backgrounds, having differing levels of language competence and academic achievement.

Purpose: Critical thinking pervades formal educational benchmarks in the United States, including the Common Core State Standards. However, little information is available on how it develops. Hence, the primary purpose of this study was to examine the development of critical thinking in adolescents using a written language-sampling task. We also examined related aspects of development: verbal productivity, syntactic complexity, and metacognitive verb use. Method: The participants included two groups of adolescents, aged 13 and 16 years (n = 40 per group). All testing took place in classrooms at a middle school or high school. Participants read four fables by the Greek storyteller Aesop (circa 620-560 B.C.) and explained in writing why they agreed or disagreed with the moral message of each story. To examine critical thinking, we evaluated their explanations using a unique 0- to 4-point scoring system. We also examined each participant's transcript for verbal productivity, syntactic complexity, and metacognitive verb use. Results: On the critical thinking task, the 16-year-olds outperformed the 13-year-olds, providing explanations that were more elaborate and detailed. However, there were many individual differences within groups, and even the older group did not consistently perform at the highest level, indicating that critical thinking is a late-developing ability. Age-related gains also occurred on verbal productivity and metacognitive verb use but not on syntactic complexity. Conclusion: Information gleaned from this study demonstrates how critical thinking develops during adolescence but remains incomplete. The study also has implications for assessing critical thinking in adolescents and knowing how to prompt complex language and thought.

Purpose: The primary purpose of this study was to examine the development of past tense counterfactual (PTCF) sentences ("If the dog had stayed in the house, he would not have bitten the police officer") in young adolescents and young adults, addressing both production and comprehension. The goal was to determine if growth occurs during the years between early adolescence and early adulthood and when or if mastery of these sentences occurs. We also examined the development of past tense irregular verbs to determine growth and mastery. Method: The participants included one group of young adolescents (M[subscript age] = 12.44 years, n = 80) and one group of young adults (M[subscript age] = 21.30 years, n = 80). All were monolingual speakers of Mainstream American English. Using a written language task, each participant completed a set of 40 sentences. For each sentence, the missing element affected the main clause (present perfect verb omitted), the subordinate clause (past perfect verb omitted), or either the main or the subordinate clause (past tense irregular verb omitted). To examine differences in production versus comprehension, half the participants in each group used a fill-in response format (production task), and half used a multiple-choice response format (comprehension task). Results: On the PTCF sentences, the adults outperformed the adolescents, comprehension exceeded production, both groups experienced greater difficulty with the past perfect compared to the present perfect verb form, and the adults were more likely to show mastery of PTCF sentences than were the adolescents. Similarly, on the past irregular verbs, the adults outperformed the adolescents, and the adults were more likely to show mastery of these verbs. Implications: The findings of this study contribute to the knowledge base in later syntactic development and suggest that some adolescents and adults may require formal instruction in subtle aspects of English grammar used in literate contexts, such as PTCF sentences.

Purpose: This study examined narrative discourse in youth offenders, focusing on quality of story retelling, story comprehension, critical thinking, and the use of complex syntax. Method: The participants were 15 incarcerated adolescents, ages 13–18 years (Mage = 16 years). Each was evaluated at their detention center via Zoom, using a standardized language test and language samples that elicited narrative speaking with fables. After retelling a fable, the participant answered questions that examined story comprehension and critical thinking. Results: Most participants performed below average on the standardized language test and had difficulty on one or more of the language sampling measures. Areas of concern included quality of story retelling, story comprehension, critical thinking, and the use of complex syntax. Had language sampling not been employed, those weaknesses might have been overlooked. Conclusions: When evaluating youth offenders, it is important to elicit language samples that can provide detailed information about an adolescent’s ability to communicate for genuine purposes. In this regard, the tasks employed in the current study could be helpful to speech-language pathologists in working with youth offenders, enabling them to pinpoint deficits and offer targeted intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Critical thinking pervades formal educational benchmarks in the United States, including the Common Core State Standards. However, little information is available on how it develops. Hence, the primary purpose of this study was to examine the development of critical thinking in adolescents using a written language-sampling task. We also examined related aspects of development: verbal productivity, syntactic complexity, and metacognitive verb use. Method: The participants included two groups of adolescents, aged 13 and 16 years (n = 40 per group). All testing took place in classrooms at a middle school or high school. Participants read four fables by the Greek storyteller Aesop (circa 620560 B.C.) and explained in writing why they agreed or disagreed with the moral message of each story. To examine critical thinking, we evaluated their explanations using a unique 0- to 4-point scoring system. We also examined each participant's transcript for verbal productivity, syntactic complexity, and metacognitive verb use. Results: On the critical thinking task, the 16-year-olds outperformed the 13-year-olds, providing explanations that were more elaborate and detailed. However, there were many individual differences within groups, and even the older group did not consistently perform at the highest level, indicating that critical thinking is a late-developing ability. Age-related gains also occurred on verbal productivity and metacognitive verb use but not on syntactic complexity. Conclusion: Information gleaned from this study demonstrates how critical thinking develops during adolescence but remains incomplete. The study also has implications for assessing critical thinking in adolescents and knowing how to prompt complex language and thought. Supplemental Material: https://doi.org/10.23641/ asha.12100989, Critical thinking (CT) is the ability to decide for oneself what to believe about a particular topic, claim, or controversy, based on an objective analysis of the relevant information, clear [...]

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to discuss the controversial topic of stuttering in preschool children and how to evaluate the options for treatment, emphasizing the role of external research evidence. Method: A hypothetical but realistic case study of a 3-year-old boy who stutters is described. Two contrasting approaches to treatment are presented, the Lidcombe Program (LP) and the demands and capacities model (DCM). Studies published in peer-reviewed research journals that have examined the effectiveness of each approach are summarized and critiqued. Results: The review indicates that the LP is the preferred treatment approach for stuttering in preschool children and that it offers the best opportunity for rapid success. Conclusion: The LP should be carried out by knowledgeable, experienced, and flexible speech-language pathologists who are able to accommodate the individual needs and differences of every child and family.

Purpose: The purpose of this clinical focus article is to present an innovative language intervention program for adolescents that attempts to build critical thinking skills by addressing logical fallacies. Method: Fourteen logical fallacies that often occur in spoken and written discourse are defined and discussed. These include the hasty generalization, the false dichotomy, equivocation, circular reasoning, the anecdote, the appeal to hypocrisy, the slippery slope, the appeal to ridicule, the red herring, the bandwagon, the false cause, the omission of evidence, the appeal to authority, and ad hominem. The consequences of passively accepting biased, illogical, and inaccurate statements are highlighted, and ways to address these concerns are explained. Results: Given their expertise in spoken and written language development and disorders, speech-language pathologists, collaborating with classroom teachers, are well suited to teach adolescents with developmental language disorder or weak language skills how to unlock--or deconstruct--logical fallacies to reveal their hidden meaning. All of this can be achieved while addressing students' basic competencies in speaking, listening, reading, and writing--skills that are essential for well-informed and self-reliant thinking. Conclusion: In addition to helping students manage their own lives more successfully and to communicate more effectively, instruction in critical thinking by unlocking logical fallacies may help to increase levels of social justice in our institutions and daily interactions over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: In this study, we examined syntactic complexity in the spoken language samples of young adults. Its purpose was to contribute to the expanding knowledge base in later language development and to begin building a normative database of language samples that potentially could be used to evaluate young adults with known or suspected language impairment. Method: Forty adults (mean age = 22 years, 10 months) with typical language development participated in an interview that consisted of 3 speaking tasks: a general conversation about common, everyday topics; a narrative retelling task that involved fables; and a question-and-answer, critical-thinking task about the fables. Each speaker's interview was audio-recorded, transcribed, broken into communication units, coded for main and subordinate clauses, entered into Systematic Analysis of Language Transcripts (Miller, Iglesias, & Nockerts, 2004), and analyzed for mean length of communication unit and clausal density. Results: Both the narrative and critical-thinking tasks elicited significantly greater syntactic complexity than the conversational task. It was also found that syntactic complexity was significantly greater during the narrative task than the critical-thinking task. Conclusion: Syntactic complexity was best revealed by a narrative task that involved fables. The study offers benchmarks for language development during early adulthood.

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to discuss reading comprehension deficits in adolescents in relation to their word reading skills and lexical and syntactic development. Although reading comprehension strategies (e.g., "Find the main idea") are often recommended, it is argued that before these can be effective, students' underlying language deficits should be addressed. Method: Data from a longitudinal study are analyzed to determine the relationship between reading comprehension, word reading, and lexical and syntactic development in adolescents. Results: The findings indicate that poor reading comprehension in adolescents is predicted by concurrent deficits in word reading ability, lexical development, and syntactic development. Conclusion: When poor comprehension is accompanied by deficits in word reading ability and/or lexical and syntactic development, intervention should target the underlying areas of deficiency. Studies designed to improve reading comprehension in adolescents are needed.

Purpose: This study was designed primarily to determine if a critical-thinking task involving fables would elicit greater syntactic complexity than a conversational task in adolescents. Another purpose was to determine how well adolescents understand critical-thinking questions about fables. Method: Forty adolescents (N = 20 boys and 20 girls; mean age = 14 years) with typical language development answered critical-thinking questions about the deeper meanings of fables. They also participated in a standard conversational task. The syntactic complexity of their responses during the speaking tasks was analyzed for mean length of communication unit (MLCU) and clausal density (CD). Results: Both measures of syntactic complexity, MLCU and CD, were substantially greater during the critical-thinking task compared with the conversational task. It was also found that the adolescents understood the questions quite well, earning a mean accuracy score of 80%. Conclusions: The critical-thinking task has potential for use as a new type of language-sampling tool to examine language production and comprehension in adolescents.

Purpose: In this study, we examined syntactic complexity in the spoken language samples of young adults. Its purpose was to contribute to the expanding knowledge base in later language development and to begin building a normative database of language samples that potentially could be used to evaluate young adults with known or suspected language impairment. Method: Forty adults (mean age = 22 years, 10 months) with typical language development participated in an interview that consisted of 3 speaking tasks: a general conversation about common, everyday topics; a narrative retelling task that involved fables; and a question-and-answer, critical-thinking task about the fables. Each speaker's interview was audio-recorded, transcribed, broken into communication units, coded for main and subordinate clauses, entered into Systematic Analysis of Language Transcripts (Miller, Iglesias, & Nockerts, 2004), and analyzed for mean length of communication unit and clausal density. Results: Both the narrative and critical-thinking tasks elicited significantly greater syntactic complexity than the conversational task. It was also found that syntactic complexity was significantly greater during the narrative task than the critical-thinking task. Conclusion: Syntactic complexity was best revealed by a narrative task that involved fables. The study offers benchmarks for language development during early adulthood., Early adulthood is a time in life when many young people are completing their formal educations, building relationships, securing employment, and becoming independent and self-supporting. It is also a time [...]

Purpose: Few tools are available to examine the narrative speaking ability of adolescents. Hence, the authors designed a new narrative task and sought to determine whether it would elicit a higher level of syntactic complexity than a conversational task in adolescents with typical language development. Method: Forty adolescents (M[subscript age] = 14;0 [years;months]; 20 boys and 20 girls) were individually interviewed. Each adolescent participated in a standard conversational task followed by a narrative task that involved listening to fables and retelling the stories. It was predicted that the narrative task would elicit a higher level of syntactic complexity than the conversational task because fables, although superficially simple stories, express rather sophisticated meanings. Results: The narrative task elicited greater syntactic complexity than the conversational task as measured by mean length of C-unit and clausal density. Additionally, the 2 syntactic measures, mean length of C-unit and clausal density, were closely associated on both tasks. Conclusion: Fables can elicit a high level of syntactic complexity in adolescents with typical language development. Future studies are needed to build a normative database using fables.

Purpose: In this article, the author discusses 2 points raised by Kamhi (2014) in his lead article to this clinical forum: (a) the need for speech-language pathologists to consider typical language development as they plan intervention and (b) the importance of addressing complex syntax. Method: A hypothetical scenario of a 7th grade English class assignment is presented, and aspects of the assignment that would be quite challenging to middle school adolescents with language impairments are highlighted. The author then describes strategies that a speech-language pathologist could use to enhance students' success with the assignment. This approach emphasizes the importance of collaborating with the classroom teacher and reading specialist, having knowledge of the Common Core State Standards and the language demands of the classroom, and understanding later language development and the reasons why speakers and writers use complex syntax. Conclusion: When language intervention incorporates these points, adolescents with language impairments can acquire skills that will help them make meaningful progress in the classroom.

Purpose: This prologue introduces a clinical forum on adolescent language disorders, a topic that has long been of interest to school-based speech-language pathologists/therapists. Method: A rationale for the clinical forum is provided, and the content is contrasted with a previous forum on the same topic that was published nearly 20 years ago. Implications and directions for future research and practice in adolescent language disorders are discussed. Conclusions: Considerable progress has occurred in our understanding of the nature, assessment, and treatment of language and communication disorders in adolescents and young adults. Yet we continue to need to build the evidence base on the most effective and efficient ways of enhancing the spoken and written language skills of young people with language and communication disorders in academic, social, emotional, and vocational domains.

Purpose: This article explains why it is reasonable to question the view that stuttering and language ability in children are linked--the so-called "stuttering-language connection." Method: Studies that focused on syntactic, morphologic, and lexical development in children who stutter (CWS) are examined for evidence to support the following claims: (a) that CWS, as a group, are more likely to have disordered or weak language skills ("language deficits") than children who do not stutter (CWNS); (b) that language deficits play a causal role in the onset of stuttering; and (c) that stuttering, over time, restricts children's language development. Results: Analysis of the evidence suggests that CWS, like CWNS, show the full range of language abilities (high, average, low); that language deficits are not associated with stuttering onset or persistence; and that stuttering has little or no impact on language development. Conclusions: A connection between stuttering and language ability was not supported. An alternative perspective is that CWS have a compromised motor control system that makes it difficult for them to move forward in speech and that the tie to language lies not in a deficient linguistic system but in difficulty expressing the intended meaning via a fully functional speech system. (Contains 1 footnote and 1 table.)

Purpose: This prologue serves to introduce a research forum composed of studies that address the topic of stuttering in school-age children and adolescents. Researchers are encouraged to continue to build the knowledge base that sustains evidence-based practice in this area. Method: The nature of stuttering as it evolves from early childhood into the school years is briefly described. Beyond the preschool years, children are unlikely to spontaneously recover from stuttering, and they often go on to suffer negative consequences, academically and socially, because of their disorder. If they are to overcome or manage their stuttering successfully, school-age children and adolescents require high-quality treatment. Three data-based studies that address the topic of stuttering in school-age children or adolescents are described, the ongoing need for empirical evidence regarding the management of stuttering is emphasized, and several issues relevant to future studies in this area are discussed. Conclusion: Progress has occurred in the management of stuttering in school-age children and adolescents. Nevertheless, important questions remain unanswered concerning the most effective techniques and strategies to use in helping students who stutter achieve more fluent and natural-sounding speech in their quest to become more confident and effective communicators.

Purpose: This study was designed primarily to examine the use of abstract nouns and metacognitive verbs in the narrative writing of school-age children and adolescents. Method: Three groups of typically developing students ages 11, 14, and 17 years (n = 40 per group) were asked to write a story about something funny, sad, or scary that had happened to them and a friend. Each student's narrative essay was examined for the use of abstract nouns (e.g., "accomplishment," "loneliness," "mystery") and metacognitive verbs (e.g., "assume," "discover," "realize") and for the production of complex syntax as measured by mean length of T-unit (MLTU) and clausal density (CD). Results: Age-related growth in narrative writing was documented for both types of words. Additionally, the use of abstract nouns and metacognitive verbs was associated with the production of complex syntax, reflecting the lexicon-syntax interface. Conclusion: The narrative writing task employed in this study was effective in eliciting literate words and complex syntax in school-age children and adolescents.

Argumentative writing is a challenging communication task that calls upon sophisticated cognitive and linguistic abilities. Pre-adolescents (n = 80; mean age = 11;10; range = 10;6-13:5) were asked to write an argumentative essay on the controversial topic of training animals to perform in circuses. Additionally, they were asked to solve a set of verbal reasoning problems. Children whose essays reflected a more flexible attitude toward the controversy (Conditional subgroup) outperformed their peers whose attitude was more rigid (Absolute subgroup) on all key measures: Verbal Analogical Reasoning, Total Number of Reasons, and Mean Length of Utterance in Words. Implications for instruction and intervention with pre-adolescents are discussed. (Contains 1 table.)

Purpose: This study examined language productivity and syntactic complexity in school-age children in relation to their knowledge of the topic of discussion--the game of chess. Method: Children (N = 32; mean age = 10;11 [years;months]) who played chess volunteered to be interviewed by an adult examiner who had little or no experience playing chess. Children's chess knowledge and experience was assessed, and each child was classified as a novice or an expert player. Each child participated in 3 speaking tasks: General Conversation, Chess Conversation, and Chess Explanation. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed into Systematic Analysis of Language Transcripts (J. F. Miller & R. Chapman, 2003), segmented into T-units, and coded for finite clauses. Each speaking task was analyzed for total T-units; mean length of T-unit; clausal density; and nominal, relative, and adverbial clause use. Results: Total T-units, mean length of T-unit, clausal density, and the use of each type of subordinate clause was substantially higher in the Chess Explanation task compared with the Chess Conversation task or the General Conversation task. Compared with the novices, the experts knew more about chess, had played longer, and were stronger players. Nevertheless, the novices and experts did not differ on any of the language factors for any of the speaking tasks. Conclusions: Language productivity and syntactic complexity in school-age children are strongly influenced by the speaking task. When children are presented with a motivating and challenging topic, they rise to the occasion to explain the finer details of it to a naive adult. (Contains 6 tables, 4 figures and 1 footnote.)

Purpose: Syntactic development in adolescents was examined using a spoken discourse task and standardized testing. The primary goal was to determine whether adolescents with a history of language impairments would differ from those with a history of typical language development (TLD). This is a companion study to one that examined these same adolescents 2 years earlier (M. A. Nippold, T. C. Mansfield, J. L. Billow, & J. B. Tomblin, 2008). Method: The participants were 15-year-old adolescents with a history of specific language impairment (SLI; n = 102), nonspecific language impairment (NLI; n = 77), or TLD (n = 247). A sample of spoken discourse was elicited using a Peer Conflict Resolution (PCR) task and analyzed for mean length of T-unit, clausal density, and subordinate clause use. In addition, 2 subtests from the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals, Third Edition (E. Semel, E. H. Wiig, & W. A. Secord, 1995), Concepts and Directions and Recalling Sentences, were administered. Results: On the PCR task, the TLD group outperformed the SLI and NLI groups on mean length of T-unit, clausal density, and nominal clause use, and the TLD group outperformed the NLI group on relative clause use. On the standardized testing, the TLD group outperformed the SLI and NLI groups, and the SLI group outperformed the NLI group. Correlation coefficients calculated between the nonstandardized and standardized measures of syntax were statistically significant and positive. Conclusions: Speech-language pathologists may wish to employ the PCR task to examine syntactic development in adolescents as a supplement to standardized testing. (Contains 4 tables.)

Purpose: This study examined syntactic development in a large cohort of adolescents. At kindergarten, each participant had been identified as having specific language impairment (SLI), nonspecific language impairment (NLI), or typical language development (TLD). Method: The participants (n = 444) had a mean age of 13;11 (years;months; range = 12;10-15;5). Language samples were elicited in 2 genres, conversational and expository, and analyzed for mean length of T-unit and subordinate clause production. Results: Mean length of T-unit and the use of nominal, relative, and adverbial clauses were greater during the expository task than the conversational task for all groups. Thus, even the SLI and NLI groups produced longer sentences containing greater amounts of subordination when speaking in the expository genre than in the conversational genre. No group differences were revealed by the conversational task. However, on the expository task, the TLD group outperformed both the SLI and NLI groups on mean length of T-unit, and the TLD group outperformed the NLI group on relative clause use. Conclusions: Speech-language pathologists may wish to employ expository discourse tasks rather than conversational tasks to examine syntactic development in adolescents. (Contains 2 tables.)

Purpose: This study examined knowledge of derived nominals (e.g., measurement, prediction) and derived adjectives (e.g., algebraic, molecular) in older children and young adolescents. Little was known about students' comprehension of these morphologically complex words that occur in textbooks that are used in public schools to teach challenging subjects such as science, mathematics, social studies, health, and literature. Method: The Word Knowledge Task (WKT), designed for the present study, was used to examine participants' comprehension of 15 derived nominals and 15 derived adjectives that were selected from state-adopted textbooks. This written, multiple-choice task was administered to 10-year-old children and 13-year-old adolescents (N = 94) who were attending public schools. All participants spoke English and were typical achievers. Results: The findings indicated that the adolescents outperformed the children on both types of derived words; the derived nominals were more difficult than the derived adjectives for both groups; and comprehension was associated with frequency of occurrence in print, with easier words generally more common than more difficult ones. Implications: Knowledge of morphologically complex words such as derived nominals and derived adjectives is a late linguistic attainment. Given the importance of these words for academic success, instructional programs are needed to ensure that children and adolescents are able to learn their meanings using appropriate strategies.

The development of mental imagery in relation to the comprehension of concrete proverbs (e.g., "one rotten apple spoils the barrel") was examined in children, adolescents, and adults who were ages 11 to 29 years old (n = 210). The findings indicated that age-related changes occurred in mental imagery and in proverb comprehension during the years between late childhood and early adulthood, and that the two domains were associated in children and adults but not in adolescents. Children and adults were more likely to describe relevant mental imagery (age 11: "A big barrel of apples and a woman picks up one that is rotten and there are worms in it and the worms go to all the other apples") when they also comprehended the proverb on a multiple-choice task. It was also found that participants' mental images became more metaphorical in relation to increasing age (age 21: "One bad comment can spoil the entire conversation"). The findings are consistent with "dual coding theory", the view that nonverbal information (relevant visual imagery) in addition to verbal information (related words and phrases) supports language comprehension in the case of concrete meanings. The results also support the view that mental imagery reflects figurative understanding and the individual's tacit awareness of underlying metaphorical concepts.

Purpose: Expository discourse, the use of language to convey information, requires facility with complex syntax. Although expository discourse is often employed in school and work settings, little is known about its development in children, adolescents, and adults. Hence, it is difficult to evaluate this genre in students who have language disorders. This study examined syntactic complexity in expository discourse in an effort to begin to establish a normative database. Method: Speakers with typical development whose mean ages were 11, 17, and 25 years old (n = 60) participated in a peer conflict resolution (PCR) task designed to elicit expository discourse. The results were compared with an additional measure of expository discourse, the favorite game or sport (FGS) task, reported in a previous study that included these same participants (M. A. Nippold, L. J. Hesketh, J. K. Duthie, & T. C. Mansfield, 2005). Results: The PCR task elicited expository discourse from speakers in all 3 groups. Older speakers packed more information into their utterances than did younger ones, and the PCR task elicited greater syntactic complexity than did the FGS task. Conclusions: The PCR task is potentially a useful tool for examining expository discourse. Research is needed to expand the database and administer the task to clinical groups. (Contains 1 table.)

In this cross-sectional investigation, syntactic development was compared in conversational versus expository discourse in 120 typically developing children, adolescents, and adults, age 7 to 49 years. Each participant was asked to discuss common topics such as school, family, and friends to elicit conversational discourse and to explain the rules and strategies of a favorite game or sport to elicit expository discourse. The results showed greater syntactic complexity in expository discourse than in conversational for all age groups, supporting the view that complex thought is driving the development of complex language. For both genres, growth in syntax continued throughout childhood and adolescence and into early adulthood (age 20-29 years) and remained stable into middle age (age 40-49 years). The 2 best indicators of growth were mean length of T-unit and relative clause production, both of which showed age-related increases into early adulthood. Another variable that was sensitive to growth was the total number of T-units produced, a measure of language output. In general, older speakers talked more than younger ones regardless of genre. Despite the statistically significant group effects, there were wide individual differences. For example, in the expository genre, some of the younger children used rather elaborate syntax whereas some of the older adults spoke quite simply. Thus, it appears that individual variability can exist at all points along the age continuum, despite the trend toward greater syntactic complexity as a function of increasing chronological age. (Contains 3 tables and 6 figures.)

Purpose: Persuasive writing is a demanding task that requires the use of complex language to analyze, discuss, and resolve controversies in a way that is clear, convincing, and considerate of diverse points of view. This investigation examined selected aspects of later language development in the context of persuasive writing. The purpose of the study was to obtain current information that could be used to design collaborative instruction involving speech-language pathologists and classroom teachers. In schools today, these professionals often work closely together to facilitate students' language development, including their ability to write persuasively. Method: Persuasive writing was investigated in typically developing children, adolescents, and adults (N=180) whose mean ages were 11, 17, and 24 years, respectively. Each participant wrote an essay on the controversial topic of animals being trained to perform in circuses. Following this, the essays were examined in detail, focusing on selected aspects of syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic development. Results: Performance improved in each of these domains during the years between childhood and adulthood. Age-related changes included gradual increases in essay length; mean length of utterance; relative clause production; and the use of literate words, including adverbial conjuncts (e.g., "typically," "however," "finally"), abstract nouns(e.g., "longevity," "respect," "kindness"), and metalinguistic and metacognitive verbs (e.g., "reflect," "argue," "disagree"). In addition, older writers produced a greater number of different reasons in their essays and were more likely to acknowledge diverse points of view as compared to younger writers, thereby evidencing greater flexibility of thought. Clinical Implications: The study offers useful implications for speech-language pathologists and classroom teachers working together to improve students' persuasive writing skills. Suggestions are offered for ways to accomplish this by focusing on key aspects of later language development in the areas of syntax, semantics, and pragmatics.

Purpose: Literacy plays an important role in the development of language in school-age children and adolescents. For example, by reading a variety of books, magazines, and newspapers, students gain exposure to complex vocabulary, and reading becomes a prime opportunity for learning new words. Despite the importance of reading for lexical development, little is known about the pleasure reading habits of today's youth. The first goal of this investigation was to examine the preferences of older children and young adolescents with respect to reading as a leisure-time activity and its relationship to other free-time options that are likely to compete for their attention. The second goal was to examine the amount of time that young people spend reading for pleasure each day and the types of materials they most enjoy reading. The third goal was to determine if preferences for free-time activities and reading materials would evince age- and gender-related differences during the period of development from late childhood through early adolescence (ages 11-15 years). The findings could serve as a reference point for understanding what is reasonable to expect of students during this age range. Method: The participants were 100 sixth graders (mean age=11;7 [years;months]) and 100 ninth graders (mean age=14;8) attending public schools in western Oregon. Each group contained an equal number of boys and girls, all of whom spoke English as their primary language and were considered to be typical achievers. All participants completed a survey concerning their preferred free-time activities and reading materials. They also reported the average amount of time they spent reading for pleasure each day. Results: The most popular free-time activities were listening to music/going to concerts, watching television or videos, playing sports, and playing computer or video games. Least preferred activities were cooking, running or walking, writing, and arts and crafts. Reading was moderately popular. The most popular reading materials were magazines, novels, and comics; least popular were plays, technical books, and newspapers. Interest in pleasure reading declined during this age range (11-15 years), and boys were more likely than girls to report that they spent no time reading for pleasure. Clinical Implications: Given the importance of reading to lexical development in school-age children and adolescents, reading should be promoted as a leisure activity during these years. School-based speech-language pathologists (SLPs), in their role as language consultants, can benefit from understanding the pleasure-reading patterns of today's youth. It is especially important for SLPs to monitor these patterns in students who have language disorders, as it is common for these young people to experience deficits in reading and in lexical development. Fortunately, much can be done in school settings to encourage strong literacy habits in all students if SLPs work collaboratively with teachers, principals, psychologists, librarians, parents, and students. Suggestions are offered for ways to encourage young people to spend more time reading for pleasure.

Purpose: This study was designed primarily to determine if a critical-thinking task involving fables would elicit greater syntactic complexity than a conversational task in adolescents. Another purpose was to determine how well adolescents understand critical-thinking questions about fables. Method: Forty adolescents (N = 20 boys and 20 girls; mean age = 14 years) with typical language development answered critical-thinking questions about the deeper meanings of fables. They also participated in a standard conversational task. The syntactic complexity of their responses during the speaking tasks was analyzed for mean length of communication unit (MLCU) and clausal density (CD). Results: Both measures of syntactic complexity, MLCU and CD, were substantially greater during the critical-thinking task compared with the conversational task. It was also found that the adolescents understood the questions quite well, earning a mean accuracy score of 80%. Conclusions: The critical-thinking task has potential for use as a new type of language-sampling tool to examine language production and comprehension in adolescents., Syntax, the structural foundation of language, allows a speaker to arrange words within sentences to express thoughts, feelings, preferences, and observations in a clear, precise, and efficient manner. Although syntax [...]

In the profession of speech-language pathology, it is commonly reported that children who stutter, as a group, are more likely to have phonological and language disorders than their non-stuttering peers. Some support for this belief comes from survey studies that have questioned speech-language pathologists about the children on their caseloads who stutter. Recently, one such study reported that 44% of children who stuttered had at least one additional communication disorder (Arndt & Healey, 2001). In the present investigation, speech-language pathologists (n =127) who were treating children with speech and language disorders were questioned about their views on the treatment of stuttering. The results indicated that children who stutter and have at least one additional disorder are more likely to be recommended for treatment than those whose only disorder is stuttering. This suggests that caseload surveys may overestimate the rate of additional communication disorders in children who stutter. The results provide reason to question the widespread belief that children who stutter have a high rate of concomitant disorders, especially when it is based on caseload surveys. Suggestions are offered for ways to determine more precisely the frequency with which stuttering co-occurs with other speech and language disorders in children through large-scale epidemiological research.

This study compared judgments of idiom familiarity and transparency by 50 11-year-old children and 50 16-year-old adolescents. Although the children had less familiarity and greater difficulty comprehending the idioms than did adolescents, their transparency judgments were similar. For both groups the easiest idioms were also judged as the most transparent. (Contains references.) (Author/DB)

Proverb comprehension through reading was examined in 42 preadolescent students, 24 of whom were identified as "proficient readers," and 18 as "less proficient readers." Comprehension on both unfamiliar concrete and abstract proverbs was associated with reading proficiency, word knowledge, and analogical reasoning. (Contains references.) (Author/DB)

Relationships between word knowledge and proverb comprehension was examined in 150 typically achieving adolescents (ages 12, 15, and 18). Word knowledge was associated with proverb comprehension in all groups, particularly in the case of abstract proverbs. Results support a model of proverb comprehension in adolescents that includes bottom-up in addition to top-down processes. (Contains references.) (Author/DB)

Aspects of language that develop during the adolescent years are discussed in the domains of pragmatics, syntax, and semantics. Selected topics include complex conversational behaviors that adolescents employ, syntactic attainments associated with persuasive writing; and the understanding of proverbs and figurative expressions. Relevant developmental studies are reviewed. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)

Students, ages 12, 15, 18, and 23 (n=60 per group), wrote definitions for 16 abstract nouns. Responses were analyzed for Aristotelian style. There was an increasing tendency for students to mention the appropriate category to which a word belongs, core features of the word, and subtle aspects of meaning. (DB)

Comparison of the comprehension of proverbs of 200 students (50 each in Grades 6, 8, 10, and 12) found growth in proverb comprehension was most pronounced at two transitional points in development: when students move from late childhood into early adolescence, and again when they move from late adolescence into adulthood. Implications for instruction in proverb comprehension are described. (DB)

Purpose: Few tools are available to examine the narrative speaking ability of adolescents. Hence, the authors designed a new narrative task and sought to determine whether it would elicit a higher level of syntactic complexity than a conversational task in adolescents with typical language development. Method: Forty adolescents (Mage = 14;0 [years; months]; 20 boys and 20 girls) were individually interviewed. Each adolescent participated in a standard conversational task followed by a narrative task that involved listening to fables and retelling the stories. It was predicted that the narrative task would elicit a higher level of syntactic complexity than the conversational task because fables, although superficially simple stories, express rather sophisticated meanings. Results: The narrative task elicited greater syntactic complexity than the conversational task as measured by mean length of C-unit and clausal density. Additionally, the 2 syntactic measures, mean length of C-unit and clausal density, were closely associated on both tasks. Conclusion: Fables can elicit a high level of syntactic complexity in adolescents with typical language development. Future studies are needed to build a normative database using fables. Key Words: adolescents, fables, narrative speaking, complex syntax, Narrative speaking, or storytelling, is an essential communicative ability during adolescence, the period of development between 12 and 18 years of age (Kail, 2004). During this time of transition from [...]

A proverb explanation task consisting of 24 low-familiarity expressions was administered to 353 individuals (ages 13-79) to examine how patterns of language growth in adults compared to those observed in adolescents. Results indicate performance improved markedly during adolescence and into early adulthood, and then began to decline during the 60s. (Author/CR)

Evaluation of the role of concreteness and familiarity in the development of proverb comprehension in 180 students in grades 5, 8, and 11 found that both concreteness and familiarity as well as student age, influenced comprehension. Results support the "metasemantic" and the "language experience" hypotheses of language comprehension development. (DB)

This article discusses word definitions within the context of language development in school-age children and adolescents. It explains the importance of the ability to define words, reviews the growth of word definition during school years, describes standardized tests, and offers suggestions for expanding the normative database for word definition. (Author/DB)

This critical review of the literature finds little evidence to indicate that parents of children who stutter differ from parents of children who do not stutter in the way they talk with their children. Similarly, there is little support that parents' speech behaviors contribute to children's stuttering or that modifying parents' speech behaviors facilitates children's fluency. (Author/DB)

Elementary and secondary students (N=150) were given a forced-choice task of idiom understanding. Performance on tasks steadily improved with age, and idioms with higher familiarity and transparency were easier for students to understand. Results support the language experience model of figurative language development and the hypothesis that metalinguistic activity facilitates later language development. (Author/PB)

This article reviews the developmental literature in spoken persuasion and discusses implications for assessment and intervention with students with language-learning disorders, in terms of persuading others, analyzing persuasive appeals, and responding to persuasive appeals. (JDD)

Students (n=150) ages 11, 14, and 17 were asked to explain the meanings of 24 different idiomatic expressions. Performance on the task gradually improved as subject age increased. High-familiarity idioms were easier to explain than moderate-familiarity or low-familiarity expressions. Easier idioms tended to be more transparent. (Author/JDD)