Morphosyntactic Development and Severe Parental Neglect in 4-Year-Old French-Speaking Children: ELLAN study

Abstract

Language is the most frequently compromised area of development in English-speaking neglected children, particularly the morphosyntactic component of language. This is very worrisome given its central role in academic success and social participation. No previous study has examined the morphosyntactic skills of French-speaking neglected children, despite the morphological richness of French. This study aimed to fill this gap. Forty-four neglected (mean age = 48.32 months, SD = 0.45) and 92 non-neglected (mean age = 48.07 months, SD = 0.24) French-speaking children participated. Measures of morphosyntactic skills were derived from a sample of spontaneous language collected during standardized semistructured play and analyzed using Systematic Analysis of Language Transcripts software (2012) . Four morphosyntactic indicators were compared using analyses of variance and Kolmogorov–Smirnov tests: the mean length of utterances (MLU), verbal inflections, word-level errors, and omission errors. The results indicate that 25.6% of the neglected children presented clinically significant morphosyntactic difficulties, as evidenced by a significantly shorter MLU ( M = 5.60, SD = 1.13; M = 6.90, SD = 1.30), fewer verbal inflections, and more frequent word omission errors compared to their non-neglected peers. The results confirm that French-speaking neglected children present many morphosyntactic difficulties. This study argues for sustained speech–language services for these children.

Quality of interactions in ECE settings and mean length of utterances among 4-year-old neglected children: Results from the ELLAN Study

“…Second, are these strategies adjusted to the developmental level of children exposed to neglect with MLU-Ds? Researchers have suggested that 4-year-old French-speaking children experiencing neglect show a level of morphosyntactic skills comparable to that of children as young as age 2 (Julien et al, 2019). The use of scaffolding strategies, for example, that elicit higher level language skills (e.g.…”

“…Overall, they displayed morphosyntactical skills similar to those of children as young as 2 (Julien et al, 2019). More specifically, their MLU, calculated in morphemes (MLU m ), appeared to be the most compromised indicator of other morphosyntactic skills, like word-omission errors or verbal inflections (Julien et al, 2019).…”

“…In Beeghly and Cicchetti’s (1994) study, children experiencing neglect are therefore in the low average, whereas non-neglected peers are in the upper average. A recent study of 4-year-old French-speaking children exposed to neglect found that 25.6% of these children had clinically significant language difficulties based on their MLU (Julien et al, 2019). Overall, they displayed morphosyntactical skills similar to those of children as young as 2 (Julien et al, 2019).…”

“…A recent study of 4-year-old French-speaking children exposed to neglect found that 25.6% of these children had clinically significant language difficulties based on their MLU (Julien et al, 2019). Overall, they displayed morphosyntactical skills similar to those of children as young as 2 (Julien et al, 2019). More specifically, their MLU, calculated in morphemes (MLU m ), appeared to be the most compromised indicator of other morphosyntactic skills, like word-omission errors or verbal inflections (Julien et al, 2019).…”

Psychological Applications and Trends 2022

“…Child neglect generally includes a lack of parental supervision, protection, and provision of basic needs such as nutrition, medical care, clothing, shelter, and education. Neglect may be physical, medical, educational, emotional (which includes a lack of affection and empathy), environmental, and supervisory (Julien et al, 2019;Morrongiello & Cox, 2020).…”