Does simultaneous bilingualism aggravate children's specific language problems?

Aim: There is little data on whether or not a bilingual upbringing may aggravate specific language problems in children. This study analysed whether there was an interaction of such problems and simultaneous bilingualism.

Methods: Participants were 5- to 7-year-old children with specific language problems (LANG group, N = 56) or who were typically developing (CONTR group, N = 60).

Language profiles of monolingual and bilingual Finnish preschool children at risk for language impairment.

Background: A large proportion of children are exposed to more than one language, yet research on simultaneous bilingualism has been relatively sparse. Traditionally, there has been concern that bilingualism may aggravate language difficulties of children with language impairment. However, recent studies have not found specific language impairment (SLI) or language-related problems to be increased by bilingualism.

Language impairment is reflected in auditory evoked fields.

Specific language impairment (SLI) is diagnosed when a child has problems in producing or understanding language despite having a normal IQ and there being no other obvious explanation. There can be several associated problems, and no single underlying cause has yet been identified. Some theories propose problems in auditory processing, specifically in the discrimination of sound frequency or rapid temporal frequency changes.

Group intervention changes brain activity in bilingual language-impaired children.

This investigation assessed the effectiveness of a phonological intervention program on the brain functioning of bilingual Finnish 6- to 7-year-old preschool children diagnosed with specific language impairment (SLI). The intervention program was implemented by preschool teachers to small groups of children including children with SLI. A matched group of other bilingual children with SLI received a physical exercise program and served as a control group.

Magnetic fields evoked by speech sounds in preschool children.

Objective: Our objective was to study how well the auditory evoked magnetic fields (EF) reflect the behavioral discrimination of speech sounds in preschool children, and if they reveal the same information as simultaneously recorded evoked potentials (EP).

Methods: EFs and EPs were recorded in 11 preschool children (mean age 6 years 9 months) using an oddball paradigm with two sets of speech stimuli consisting both of one standard and two deviants. After the brain activity recording, children were tested on behavioural discrimination of the same stimuli presented in pairs.

Visual field constriction in 91 Finnish children treated with vigabatrin.

Purpose: To study the prevalence and features of visual field constrictions (VFCs) associated with vigabatrin (VGB) in children.

Methods: A systematic collection of all children with any history of VGB treatment in fifteen Finnish neuropediatric units was performed, and children were included after being able to cooperate reliably in repeated visual field tests by Goldmann kinetic perimetry. This inclusion criterion yielded 91 children (45 boys; 46 girls) between ages 5.