Parent Teaching Using the Enhanced Moved by Reading to Accelerate Comprehension in English Intelligent Tutoring System to Teach Question-Asking During Shared Book Reading in Latino Families.

Purpose: The Parent-Enhanced Moved by Reading to Accelerate Comprehension in English (Parent EMBRACE) program offers a bilingual parent-training literacy intervention for Latino families. Within the context of shared book reading, the application leverages both the home language and technology to increase parent question-asking during shared reading. Research goals were to (a) examine the potential of the Parent EMBRACE tutoring system at teaching parents to increase the quantity and variety of their question-asking during shared book reading, (b) examine changes to parents' reading attitudes or motivation, and (c) examine whether children's reading attitude is correlated with parent interactions.

Learning to Listen: Changes in Children's Brain Activity Following a Listening Comprehension Intervention.

"Are you LISTENING?" may be one of the most frequent questions preschoolers hear from their parents and teachers, but can children be taught to listen carefully-and thus better comprehend language-and if so, what changes occur in their brains? Twenty-seven four- and five-year-old children were taught a language simulation strategy to use while listening to stories: first, they practiced moving graphics on an iPad to correspond to the story actions, and then they practiced imagining the movements. Compared to a control condition, children in the intervention answered comprehension questions more accurately when imagining moving the graphics and on a measure of transfer using a new story without any instruction and with only immovable graphics. Importantly, for children in the intervention, the change in comprehension from the first to the sixth day was strongly correlated with changes in EEG mu and alpha desynchronization, suggesting changes in motor and visual processing following the intervention.

Incorporation of an Intermediate Polyelectrolyte Layer for Improved Interfacial Polymerization on PAI Hollow Fiber Membranes.

In a single-step spinning process, we create a thin-walled, robust hollow fiber support made of Torlon polyamide-imide featuring an intermediate polyethyleneimine (PEI) lumen layer to facilitate the integration and covalent attachment of a dense selective layer. Subsequently, interfacial polymerization of m-phenylenediamine and trimesoyl chloride forms a dense selective polyamide (PA) layer on the inside of the hollow fiber. The resulting thin-film composite hollow fiber membranes show high NaCl rejections of around 96% with a pure water permeability of 1.

Relationships Among Motor, First, and Second Language Skills Among Bilingual Children With Language Disorders.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the significance and directions of the relationships among oral and manual fine motor skills and language abilities among Spanish-English bilingual children. If such relationships exist, this would support a shared biological influence on motor and language development.

Method: Participants included 56 bilingual children, 24 of whom met criteria for developmental language disorder (DLD), recruited based on teacher concern for language and/or reading comprehension abilities.

The use of mazes over time in Spanish heritage speakers in the US.

Introduction: Mazes are linguistic disfluencies such as filled pauses, repetitions, or revisions of grammatical, phonological, or lexical aspects of words that do not contribute to the meaning of a sentence. Bilingual children are believed to increase the numbers of mazes in their native or heritage language, the minority language, as they become more proficient in the second language, the societal language. Mazes may increase over time in bilingual Spanish-speaking children as they become more proficient in English, the societal language in the United States.

Assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic among Venezuelan refugees and migrants in Colombia using respondent-driven sampling (RDS).

Objectives: To determine factors associated with adherence to COVID-19 mitigation measures, related symptoms and testing, as well as pandemic-related income loss among Venezuelan refugee and migrant adults in urban and border areas of Colombia.

Design: Phone-based respondent-driven sampling SETTING: Bogotá and Norte de Santander, Colombia.

Participants: 605 adult Venezuelan refugees and migrants residing in Bogotá (n=305) and Norte de Santander (n=300), who arrived in Colombia after 2014 and completed the survey in August and September 2020.

Measuring English Narrative Microstructure in Preschool Dual Language Learners.

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to examine the change in specific English microstructure features according to language ability in preschool Spanish-English dual language learners.

Method: We collected English narratives from 22 Spanish-English dual language learners with typical language development (TD) and 22 Spanish-English dual language learners with developmental language disorder (DLD) at the beginning and end of their first year in Head Start. Children came from Spanish-speaking homes and were exposed to English and Spanish in their preschool classrooms.

A Reading Comprehension Intervention for Dual Language Learners With Weak Language and Reading Skills.

Purpose: We evaluated the efficacy of a reading comprehension intervention with dual language learners (DLLs) with documented English reading comprehension difficulties, half of whom had a developmental language disorder. The intervention EMBRACE (Enhanced Moved by Reading to Accelerate Comprehension in English) required children to move images on an iPad to both improve and demonstrate understanding of multichapter stories. Additionally, we determined the characteristics of students who most benefit from the intervention.

The Process and Product of Coherence Monitoring in Young Readers: Effects of Reader and Text Characteristics.

We examined sixth graders' detection of inconsistencies in narrative and expository passages, contrasting participants who were monolingual speakers (N = 85) or Spanish-English DLLs (N = 94) when recruited in pre-kindergarten (PK). We recorded self-paced reading times and judgments about whether the text made sense, and took an independent measure of word reading. Main findings were that inconsistency detection was better for narratives, for participants who were monolingual speakers in PK, and for those who were better word readers.

Is Oral Bilingualism an Advantage for Word Learning in Children With Hearing Loss?

Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine whether oral bilingualism could be an advantage for children with hearing loss when learning new words. Method Twenty monolingual and 13 bilingual children with hearing loss were compared with each other and with 20 monolingual and 20 bilingual children with normal hearing on receptive vocabulary and on three word-learning tasks containing nonsense words in familiar (English and Spanish) and unfamiliar (Arabic) languages. We measured word learning on the day of the training and retention the next day using an auditory recognition task.

Vulnerability of Clitics and Articles to Bilingual Effects in Typically Developing Spanish-English Bilingual Children.

This study examines bilingual effects in Spanish-English bilingual children with good maintenance of the minority language. The present study compares the performance of a group of Spanish-monolingual children (MON; =30) with two groups of Spanish-speaking bilingual children (Low English proficiency group: LEP; =36; High English proficiency group, HEP; =36) on the elicited productions of Spanish articles and object clitics. Our results suggest that children with LEP performed significantly lower than MON children of the same age on both articles and clitics in Spanish.

Beyond Scores: Using Converging Evidence to Determine Speech and Language Services Eligibility for Dual Language Learners.

Purpose Speech-language pathologists have both a professional and ethical responsibility to provide culturally competent services to dual language learners (DLLs). In this tutorial, we recommend that clinicians use a comprehensive assessment of converging evidence to make diagnostic decisions in DLLs in accordance with the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association's Code of Ethics. The content of this tutorial is most appropriate for Spanish-English DLLs between the ages of 4 and 8 years.

Cultural Competence and Self-Efficacy After Study Abroad Experiences.

Purpose Cultural competence is crucial for the successful provision of speech, language, and hearing services. The purpose of this study was to assess and describe gains in cultural awareness, cultural competence, and self-efficacy after service-learning study abroad experiences and to examine whether gains in these areas are related to higher clinical skills ratings in speech-language pathology and audiology students. Method Sixteen speech-language pathology and audiology students participated in two international study abroad experiences (Nicaragua and Malawi).

Predictors of Vocabulary Outcomes in Children Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing From Spanish-Speaking Families.

Purpose The goal of this study was to identify predictors of expressive vocabulary in young Spanish-speaking children who are deaf or hard of hearing living in the United States. Method This cross-sectional study considered 53 children with bilateral hearing loss between 8 and 34 months of age ( M = 24, SD = 6.9).

Dynamic Assessment of Narratives Among Navajo Preschoolers.

Purpose: This study examined whether the Predictive Early Assessment of Reading and Language (PEARL), a dynamic assessment of narratives that measures language comprehension and production, accurately classifies Navajo preschoolers with typically developing (TD) language or with language impairment (LI).

Method: Ninety 4- and 5-year-old Navajo preschoolers were identified as having LI or are TD (n = 45 each) via a 5-measure battery: parent report, teacher report, English narrative, independent educational plan, and the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamental Preschool-Second Edition (Wiig, Secord, & Semel, 2004). Children completed a PEARL pretest, a narrative mediation phase providing principles of narrative structure, and a PEARL posttest.

The Complexity of the Spanish Subjunctive in Bilingual Children with SLI.

This study investigated the use of the Spanish subjunctive in bilingual children with and without specific language impairments (SLI). Using an elicited production task, we examined: (1) the potential of the subjunctive as a grammatical marker of SLI in Spanish-English bilingual children, (2) the extent to which degree of bilingualism affects performance, and (3) the specific patterns of errors across groups. The participants in this study were 16 children with SLI and 16 typically developing children (TD) matched on age, English language proficiency, and mother's education level.

Interactions between Bilingual Effects and Language Impairment: Exploring Grammatical Markers in Spanish-Speaking Bilingual Children.

This study examines the interaction between language impairment and different levels of bilingual proficiency. Specifically, we explore the potential of articles and direct object pronouns as clinical markers of primary language impairment (PLI) in bilingual Spanish-speaking children. The study compared children with PLI and typically developing children (TD) matched on age, English language proficiency, and mother's education level.

The efficacy of a vocabulary intervention for dual-language learners with language impairment.

Purpose: In this study, the authors evaluated the efficacy of a Spanish-English versus English-only vocabulary intervention for dual-language learners (DLLs) with language impairment compared to mathematics intervention groups and typically developing controls with no intervention. Further, in this study the authors also examined whether the language of instruction affected English, Spanish, and conceptual vocabulary differentially.

Method: The authors randomly assigned 202 preschool DLLs with language impairment to 1 of 4 conditions: bilingual vocabulary, English-only vocabulary, bilingual mathematics, or English-only mathematics.

Seasonal and Pandemic A (H1N1) 2009 influenza vaccination coverage and attitudes among health-care workers in a Spanish University Hospital.

Influenza vaccination coverage among health-care workers (HCWs) remains the lowest compared with other priority groups for immunization. Little is known about the acceptability and compliance with the pandemic (H1N1) 2009 influenza vaccine among HCWs during the current campaign. Between 23 December 2009 and 13 January 2010, once the workplace vaccination program was over, we conducted a cross-sectional, questionnaire-based survey at the University Hospital 12 de Octubre (Madrid, Spain).

The insulin gradient phenomenon: a manifestation of the effects of body weight on blood pressure and insulin resistance.

The relationship between hyperinsulinemia and hypertension is frequently observed in overweight patients; however, population studies have not confirmed an independent association. A population study was conducted to assess whether differences in body mass index and levels of insulinemia modify cardiovascular hemodynamics and arterial pressure. In all, 322 healthy adults underwent a medical evaluation including insulin sensitivity and cardiac performance assessment with echocardiography.

Optimizing literacy in English language learners.

Children in the United States who are English language learners characteristically do not exhibit the same levels of reading achievement as their peers. The article describes the development of English literacy in English language learners and the relationship between a child's second language (L2) and his or her native language (L1) in literacy development. It is organized first to consider the issue of language of instruction and language transfer, specifically the aspects of L1 literacy that appear to transfer to the second language (L2), English.

Screening for conduct disorder in an adolescent male sample from Colombia.

This study assessed the validity, reliability, and utility of a screening measure for detecting the signs or symptoms of Conduct Disorder in male adolescents from schools in Medellín, Colombia. A first study examined the differences between 70 male offender adolescents (aged 12-16 years) attending alternative education institutions, and 68 (sex, age, and socioeconomic status (SES)-matched) adolescent controls attending regular schools. A CD checklist (CD-CL) was constructed to be used by mothers (CD-CL-M) and for self-report by adolescents (CD-CL-SR).

Performance on the PPVT-III and the EVT: applicability of the measures with African American and European American preschool children.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine whether two vocabulary measures were appropriate for the evaluation of African American children and children whose mothers have low education levels, regardless of gender.

Method: Data were collected for 210 high-risk, preschool children from a southeastern state in the United States on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test--Third Edition (PPVT-III; L. M.