Learning science concepts alongside language goals: A telehealth replication of a randomised controlled trial examining whether children with developmental language disorder can learn vocabulary or grammar in combination with curricular science content.

Purpose: We asked whether children with developmental language disorder can learn vocabulary or grammar targets and curricular content simultaneously. We replicated prior work integrating two language interventions into a first-grade science curriculum and extended it by testing delivery via teletherapy.

Method: A parallel arm randomised controlled trial was conducted using telehealth approaches.

Subcortical brain iron and its link to verbal memory in children with developmental language disorder.

Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) is a common neurodevelopmental condition characterized by significant difficulty with language learning, comprehension, and expression. The neurocognitive bases of DLD are underspecified but are thought to be related, in part, to altered basal ganglia (BG). The BG are known to have a high level of brain iron, which contributes to myelination and dopaminergic pathways among other physiological mechanisms.

Inferring Word Class and Meaning From Spoken and Written Texts: A Comparison of Children With and Without Developmental Language Disorder.

Purpose: The aim of the study was to determine the ability of children with developmental language disorder (DLD) to infer word class and meaning from text and to document variations by word class (noun, verb, adjective) and modality (listening, reading). We also asked whether the children could integrate global cues across the entire passage as well as local cues from the immediate sentence frame to support inferences.

Method: Fourth graders with DLD ( = 28) and typical language development (TLD; = 41) read and listened to expository texts and guessed the noun, verb, and adjective removed from each.

Four Cases of Children With Phonological Impairment and Precocious Vocabulary: Making Sense of a Clinical Conundrum.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe the speech production, speech perception, vocabulary, and word learning abilities of lexically precocious 4-year-old children with phonological impairment, in an effort to better understand the underlying nature of phonological impairment in children.

Method: Using a case series approach, we identified four children with phonological impairment and precocious vocabulary abilities. Each child completed routine speech production and vocabulary assessments, as well as experimental speech perception and word learning tasks.

We Have to Talk About Something: Why NOT Talk About the Curriculum? A Guide to Embedding Language Interventions in Curricular Content.

Purpose: Children with developmental language disorder frequently have difficulty with both academic success and language learning and use. This clinical focus article describes core principles derived from a larger program of research (National Science Foundation 1748298) on language intervention combined with science instruction for preschoolers. It serves as an illustration of a model for integrating language intervention with curricular content delivery.

Preparing Student Clinicians to Provide Recast Therapy on Complement Clauses: A Training Program.

Purpose: This study reports on a program to train student clinicians to provide recast therapy on complement clauses to children with developmental language disorder (DLD). To determine the efficacy of the program, we conducted secondary data analysis based on Owen Van Horne et al. (2023) and examined student clinicians' recasts after training and children's progress after treatment.

I remembered the chorm! Word learning abilities of children with and without phonological impairment.

Background: Children with phonological impairment present with pattern-based errors in their speech production. While some children have difficulties with speech perception and/or the establishment of robust underlying phonological representations, the nature of phonological impairment in children is still not well understood. Given that phonological and lexical development are closely linked, one way to better understand the nature of the problem in phonological impairment is to examine word learning abilities in children.

A First-Person Account of Developmental Language Disorder.

Purpose: The aim of this study is to share the lived experiences of an adult with developmental language disorder (DLD) and relate her experience to the evidence base and issues in clinical practice.

Method: We co-wrote a first-person account grounded in the research literature. We organized the account into six main sections: (a) the early signs of DLD; (b) diagnosis; (c) treatment; (d) the impact of DLD on family relationships, social-emotional health, and academic performance; and (e) considerations for practicing speech-language pathologists.

Abilities and Disabilities Among Children With Developmental Language Disorder.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to situate developmental language disorder (DLD) within the impairment and disability framework of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF); describe the functional strengths and weaknesses of a cohort of first-grade children with DLD and their peers; and explore the ways that language-related disabilities relate to language impairment, developmental risk, and receipt of language services.

Method: We queried the caregivers of 35 children with DLD and 44 peers with typical language development about their children's language-related functions, developmental risks, and language services using mixed quantitative and qualitative methods.

Results: The children with DLD presented with weaknesses in domains that are highly dependent upon language skill, including communication, community function, interpersonal relationships, and academics.

Teaching little kids big sentences: A randomized controlled trial showing that children with DLD respond to complex syntax intervention embedded within the context of preschool/kindergarten science instruction.

Background: The language of the science curriculum is complex, even in the early grades. To communicate their scientific observations, children must produce complex syntax, particularly complement clauses (e.g.

The Relationship Between Speech Perception, Speech Production, and Vocabulary Abilities in Children: Insights From By-Group and Continuous Analyses.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between speech perception, speech production, and vocabulary abilities in children with and without speech sound disorders (SSDs), analyzing the data both by group and continuously.

Method: Sixty-one Australian English-speaking children aged 48-69 months participated in this study. Children's speech production abilities ranged along the continuum from SSDs through to typical speech.

Direct Instruction Improves Word Learning for Children With Developmental Language Disorder.

Purpose: The current study compared the effects of direct instruction versus indirect exposure on multiple aspects of novel word learning for children with developmental language disorder (DLD) and children with typical language development (TLD).

Method: Participants included 36 children with DLD and 45 children with TLD. All children were in the first grade and 6-8 years of age ( = 7 years; 2 months).

Editorial Perspective: Speaking up for developmental language disorder - the top 10 priorities for research.

Developmental language disorder (DLD) is one of the most common neurodevelopmental conditions, yet is chronically underserved, with far fewer children receiving clinical services than expected from prevalence estimates, and very little research attention relative to other neurodevelopmental conditions of similar prevalence and severity. This editorial describes a research priority-setting exercise undertaken by the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, which aims to redress this imbalance. From consultations with researchers, practitioners and individuals with lived experience, 10 research priorities emerge.

What Children with Developmental Language Disorder Teach Us About Cross-Situational Word Learning.

Children with developmental language disorder (DLD) served as a test case for determining the role of extant vocabulary knowledge, endogenous attention, and phonological working memory abilities in cross-situational word learning. First-graders (M = 7 years; 3 months), 44 with typical development (TD) and 28 with DLD, completed a cross-situational word-learning task comprised six cycles, followed by retention tests and independent assessments of attention, memory, and vocabulary. Children with DLD scored lower than those with TD on all measures of learning and retention, a performance gap that emerged in the first cycle of the cross-situational protocol and that we attribute to weaknesses in initial encoding.

Early Phonological Neural Specialization Predicts Later Growth in Word Reading Skills.

According to the Interactive Specialization Theory, cognitive skill development is facilitated by a process of neural specialization. In line with this theory, the current study investigated whether neural specialization for phonological and semantic processing at 5-to-6 years old was predictive of growth in word reading skills 2 years later. Specifically, four regression models were estimated in which reading growth was predicted from: (1) an intercept-only model; (2) measures of semantic and phonological neural specialization; (3) performance on semantic and phonological behavioral tasks; or (4) a combination of neural specialization and behavioral performance.

The Challenge of Rich Vocabulary Instruction for Children With Developmental Language Disorder.

Purpose The aims of the study were to explore responses of children with developmental language disorder (DLD) to rich vocabulary instruction and to identify potential factors that contribute to outcomes. Method Children with DLD participated in a language intervention embedded within a science camp. Using parent and clinician reports, standardized tests, probes, notes, and video, we derived descriptions of seven of the campers who received a vocabulary intervention that incorporated principles of rich instruction.

Children's language abilities predict success in remote communication contexts.

Remote communicative contexts are part of everyday social, familial, and academic interactions for the modern child. We investigated the ability of second-graders to engage in remote discourse, and we determined whether language ability, theory of mind, and shy temperament predicted their success. Fifty 7-to-9-year-old monolingual English speakers with a wide range of language abilities participated in standardized testing and an expository discourse task in which they taught two adults to solve the Tower of London, one in an audiovisual condition to simulate video chat and a second in an audio-only condition to simulate phone communication.

Sustained Attention in Developmental Language Disorder and Its Relation to Working Memory and Language.

Purpose Based on evidence of deficits in domain-general cognitive abilities associated with developmental language disorder (DLD), the current study examined sustained attention performance in children with DLD compared to children with typical language development (TLD) and the interrelations between visual-spatial sustained attention, visual-spatial working memory, and language abilities across groups. Method Participants included 67 children at 7 years of age: 25 children with DLD (13 girls and 12 boys) and 42 children with TLD (23 girls and 19 boys). We assessed children's visual-spatial sustained attention, visual-spatial working memory, and language ability on a test of narrative language.

Optimising word learning in post-secondary students with Developmental Language Disorder: The roles of retrieval difficulty and retrieval success during training.

Purpose: Learning words to the level that they can be readily retrieved and produced can be challenging. The primary aim of the current study is to determine how retrieval difficulty, based on the level of cuing provided, and retrieval success during training relate to the phonological precision with which words are produced after a delay.

Method: We performed additional analyses on data from McGregor, Gordon, Eden, Arbisi-Kelm, & Oleson, (Encoding deficits impede word learning and memory in adults with Developmental Language Disorders.

The Fast-Mapping Abilities of Adults With Developmental Language Disorder.

Purpose The aim of the study was to determine the integrity of fast mapping among adults with developmental language disorder (DLD). Method Forty-eight adults with DLD or typical language development (TD) were presented with 24 novel words and photos of their unfamiliar referents from the semantic categories of or in two conditions. In the fast-mapping condition, 12 of the 24 unfamiliar referents were presented, one at a time alongside a familiar referent (e.

How We Fail Children With Developmental Language Disorder.

Purpose For over two decades, we have known that children with developmental language disorder (DLD) are underserved. We have also known that DLD does not attract the research attention that it merits given its prevalence and impact. The purposes of this clinical focus article are to present evidence that these failures continue, explore the reasons behind these failures, and propose solutions.

Performance of Children With Hearing Loss on an Audiovisual Version of a Nonword Repetition Task.

Purpose The aims of this study were to (a) determine if a high-quality adaptation of an audiovisual nonword repetition task can be completed by children with wide-ranging hearing abilities and to (b) examine whether performance on that task is sensitive to child demographics, hearing status, language, working memory, and executive function abilities. Method An audiovisual version of a nonword repetition task was adapted and administered to 100 school-aged children grouped by hearing status: 35 with normal hearing, 22 with mild bilateral hearing loss, 17 with unilateral hearing loss, and 26 cochlear implant users. Participants also completed measures of vocabulary, working memory, and executive function.

The word learning profile of adults with developmental language disorder.

Background And Aims: Previous investigations of word learning problems among people with developmental language disorder suggest that encoding, not retention, is the primary deficit. We aimed to replicate this finding; test the prediction that word form, not the linking of form to referent, is particularly problematic; and determine whether women with developmental language disorder are better word learners than men with developmental language disorder.

Methods: Twenty adults with developmental language disorder and 19 age-, sex-, and education-matched peers with typical language development attempted to learn 15 words by retrieval practice.

Learning While Playing: A Randomized Trial of Serious Games as a Tool for Word Mastery.

Objectives The aim of this study was to determine whether college students build their vocabularies by playing a serious game that incorporates principles of learning and memory. Design This study used a single-site, prospective, randomized trial with 2 branches: immediate and delayed treatment. Outcome measures were obtained after a 1-month intervention and, for the immediate group only, after a 1-month retention interval.

The role of maternal psychosocial perceptions in parent-training programs: a preliminary randomized controlled trial.

Parent-child interaction is critical for early language and literacy development. Parent training programs have proliferated to support early interactions. However, many environmental and psychosocial factors can impact the quality of parent-child language and literacy interactions as well as training program outcomes.