Late-talking toddlers: MLU and IPSyn outcomes at 3;0 and 4;0

Abstract

Expressive language outcomes measured by MLU and the Index of Productive Syntax (IPSyn) at ages 3;0 and 4;0 were investigated in 34 late talkers with normal receptive language identified between 2;0 to 2;7 and 16 typically developing comparison children matched on age, SES, and nonverbal ability. Late talkers made greater gains than comparison children between 3;0 and 4;0 in both MLU and IPSyn raw score. However, when age-standardized z-scores were analysed, the late talkers were about 2·5 standard deviations below comparison children on both measures at both ages. At 3;0, 41% of the late talkers had MLUs above the 10th percentile based on Scarborough's (1990) benchmark sample; by 4;0, 71% did so. Using the IPSyn, a more stringent measure, 34% scored above the 10th percentile at 3;0 and only 29% did so at 4;0. MLU was significantly correlated with the IPSyn at both ages for the late talkers, but only at 3;0 for the comparison children. A converging set of regression analyses indicated no group differences in the predictive relationship between MLU and IPSyn, suggesting that the late talkers were delayed on both measures but not deviant in their development.

Language Development in Sub-Saharan Africa

“…Although here we will not examine literacy, and will only review a small proportion of the literature on spoken language in school-age children where it elucidates other points, early spoken language abilities are highly predictive of preschool and school performance in typically developing children, including those at risk and those in poverty (Hoff, 2003;Locke, Ginsborg, & Peers, 2002;Molfese, Molfese, & Modgline, 2001;Noble, Norman, & Farah, 2005;Pan, Rowe, Spier, & Tamis-Lemonda, 2004;Rescorla, Dahlsgaard, & Roberts, 2000), and in a setting where children have limited opportunities for education, it is important to maximise school readiness.…”

Babbling and first words in children with slow expressive development

“…It has often been hypothesized that the first speech-like articulation and the babbling phase, which occur at approximately 10 months of age, allow infants to develop a link between articulatory settings and the resulting auditory consequences, thus laying down the basis for the development of the phonetic inventory and adaptation to the ambient language (Westermann and Miranda, 2004). Several longitudinal studies, conducted on different populations and using different modes of analysis, indicated a continuity between prelinguistic production (babbling) and first words both in typically developing children (Bates, Benigni, Bretherton, Camaioni and Volterra, 1979;Leonard and Bortolini, 1998;Locke, 1989;Oller, Eilers, Neal and Schwartz, 1999;Vihman and McCune, 1994) and in children with language delay (D'Odorico, Bortolini, De Gasperi and Assanelli, 1999;Oller, Eilers, Neal and Cobo-Lewis, 1998;Rescorla, Dahlsgaard and Roberts, 2000;Stoel-Gammon, 1989).…”

Grammatical profile of three- to four-year-old Estonian children

“…Kõne hindamiseks on vaja teada tunnuseid, mis eristavad kõnehilistusega lapsi eakohase aren guga lastest. Eelkõige inglise keele baasil tehtud uuringutest (Rescorla, 2011;Rescorla, Dahlsgaard, & Roberts, 2000;Rescorla & Roberts, 2002;Rescorla & Turner, 2015;Rice, Taylor, & Zubrick, 2008) ilmneb, et hilis kõnelejatele on iseloomulik grammatiliste oskuste, eriti verbimorfoloogia hilisem kujune mine. Just 3-4aastastel kõne arengu hilistusega lastel on grammatiliste oskuste tase eakohase arenguga laste omast madalam, samas 5-6aastastel hakkab see jõudma eakaaslastele järele.…”

“…Seega on tegemist vaid ühe arenguvaldkonna -kõne -ebatüüpi lise arenguga, mille aluseks peetakse keele omandamise võime nõrkust (Rescorla et al, 2000;Rescorla & Turner, 2015). Kõne arengu hiline algus on seotud neurobioloogilise ja geneetilise mehhanismiga: üheks pea miseks riski faktoriks kõnehilistumise tekkel on peres esinevad keelepuuded ja lugemiskirjutamisraskused (Desmarais et al, 2008;Everitt et al, 2013;Hawa & Spanoudis, 2014).…”

“…Kuna eakohase arenguga (EK) laste grammatika hakkab eri keeltes arenema 2. eluaastal (vt Dressler, 2005), siis piiratud sõnavara ja fonoloogia taustal on selge, et KAP lastel nende oskuste kujunemine hilineb. Ingliskeelsetes uurimustes esines KAP lastel EK lastega võrreldes mahajäämus süntaktilistes oskustes nii 3 kui ka 4 aasta vanuses (Rescorla et al, 2000;Rescorla & Turner, 2015). Nad kasutasid spontaanses kõnes lühemaid ütlusi ning ka lihtsama struk tuuriga lauseid.…”