Reciprocal relationships between lexical and syntactic skills of children with Developmental Language Disorder and the role of executive functions

Blom, Elma; Boerma, Tessel

doi:10.1177/2396941519863984

Cited by 21 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 77 publications

(140 reference statements)

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“…Results from the exploratory analyses indicated bi-directional influences, but with greater support for syntactic bootstrapping. Findings extend prior work suggesting that acquisition of phrase structure in school age children may allow for the more effective learning of word meanings (e.g., Blom & Boerma, 2019 ; Caglar-Ryend et al, 2019 ). The current findings complement prior behavioral studies showing reliance on lexical knowledge to facilitate grammatical development in younger children.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 79%

“…Longitudinal research using cross-lagged designs allows us to infer causal directionality ( Kearney, 2017 ). However, a shortcoming of many prior behavioral studies that have used predictive models is that they have not controlled for children’s initial skill levels (e.g., Blom & Boerma, 2019 ; Moyle et al, 2007 ). By accounting for autoregressive relations in the present study, we are able to draw better inferences about bidirectional influences in children’s semantic and syntactic development.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, there was no association in either direction from 5–6 years old. Lastly, Blom & Boerma (2019) examined receptive vocabulary and sentence repetition skills across three timepoints, at ages 5–6, 6–7, and 7–8 years old, in children with Developmental Language Disorders (DLD) and typically developing peers. The authors found that syntactic skills predicted lexical skills from ages 5–7 years old, but only in children with DLD.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Neuro-cognitive development of semantic and syntactic bootstrapping in 6- to 7.5-year-old children

Wagley

Booth

2021

NeuroImage

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The present study examined the longitudinal relations of brain and behavior from ages 6–7.5 years old to test the bootstrapping account of language development. Prior work suggests that children’s vocabulary development is foundational for acquiring grammar (e.g., semantic bootstrapping) and that children rely on the syntactic context of sentences to learn the meaning of new words (e.g., syntactic bootstrapping). Yet, little is known about the dynamics underlying semantic and syntactic development as children enter elementary school. In a series of preregistered and exploratory analyses, we tested how semantic and syntactic behavioral skills may influence the development of brain regions implicated in these processes, i.e. left posterior middle temporal gyrus (pMTG) and inferior frontal gyrus (pars opercularis, IFGop), respectively. Vice-a-versa, we tested how these brain regions may influence the development of children’s semantic and syntactic behavioral skills. We assessed semantic (N = 26) and syntactic (N = 30) processes behaviorally and in the brain when children were ages 5.5–6.5 years old (Time 1) and again at 7–8 years old (Time 2). All brain-behavior analyses controlled for T1 autoregressive effects and phonological memory. Exploratory hierarchical regression analyses suggested bi-directional influences, but with greater support for syntactic bootstrapping. Across the analyses, there was a small to medium effect of change in variance in models where semantics predicted syntax. Conversely, there was medium to large change in variance in models where syntax predicted semantics. In line with prior literature, results suggest a close relationship between lexical and grammatical development in children ages 6–7.5 years old. However, there was more robust evidence for syntactic bootstrapping, suggesting that acquisition of phrase structure in school age children may allow for more effective learning of word meanings. This complements prior behavioral studies and suggests a potential shift in the early reliance on semantics to later reliance on syntax in development.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 79%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Neuro-cognitive development of semantic and syntactic bootstrapping in 6- to 7.5-year-old children

Wagley

Booth

2021

NeuroImage

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“…To answer the research question, we analyzed longitudinal data from a group of children with DLD between ages 5 and 8 years, thereby building on two previous studies about the same DLD sample as investigated for the purpose of the current study. One study demonstrated that executive functioning predicted receptive vocabulary in children with DLD (Blom & Boerma, 2019). In the other study, it was observed that children with DLD had lower outcomes on nonverbal executive functioning (Blom & Boerma, 2020).…”

Section: This Studymentioning

confidence: 98%

Reading outcomes in children with developmental language disorder: A person-centered approach

Erisman

Blom

2020

Autism & Developmental Language Impairments

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Background and aims Many children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) develop reading difficulties. The purpose of this study is to better understand variation in the reading outcomes of children with DLD using a person-centered approach. Method 87 monolingual Dutch children diagnosed with DLD performed at ages 5 or 6 years nine tests of nonverbal IQ, oral language proficiency, phonological memory (PM) and executive functioning (EF). Two years later, the same children were tested on single (non-)word reading. Latent profile analyses were conducted to identify profiles based on oral language proficiency, phonological memory and executive functioning at age 5–6 years, which, in turn, were related to nonverbal IQ and to single-word reading two years later. Results Four profiles were identified and labelled relative to their position within the DLD-sample: 1. Weak performance overall, 2. Strong EF-average language and PM, 3. Mild working memory (WM) deficiencies-average language and PM, 4. Strong development overall. Profiles 1 and 3 had below average nonverbal IQ scores and were associated with low word reading outcomes two years later. Conclusions Within the group of children with DLD, children with relatively weak oral language, phonological memory and executive functioning, or children with working memory deficiencies are most at risk for developing reading difficulties. The findings support a multiple risk framework and confirm that a person-centered approach is promising in predicting reading outcomes in DLD. Implications: Research into individual differences in DLD is dominated by variable-centered approaches. This study illustrates how a person-centered approach, which views variables as properties of individuals, captures variation in the DLD-population. Using this bottom-up approach, the study highlights how an individual’s strengths and weaknesses across different developmental domains can be combined into profiles that relate to later reading outcomes. As such, it can provide an example for future DLD research.

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“…It is important to note here that a sentence recall task is not a purely syntactic task; although CELF recalling sentences performance is influenced by syntactic complexity and long-term memory representations of language (i.e., lexical knowledge; Klem et al, 2015), it is also affected by a child's verbal short-term memory (Alloway & Gathercole, 2005). Nevertheless, it is typically considered a measure of syntactic competence (e.g., Blom & Boerma, 2019;Frizelle & Fletcher, 2014).…”

Section: Measures Of Grammatical Performancementioning

confidence: 99%

Grammatical performance in children with dyslexia: the contributions of individual differences in phonological memory and statistical learning

Witteloostuijn

Boersma

Wijnen

et al. 2021

Applied Psycholinguistics

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Several studies have signaled grammatical difficulties in individuals with developmental dyslexia. These difficulties may stem from a phonological deficit, but may alternatively be explained through a domain-general deficit in statistical learning. This study investigates grammar in children with and without dyslexia, and whether phonological memory and/or statistical learning ability contribute to individual differences in grammatical performance. We administered the CELF “word structure” and “recalling sentences” subtests and measures of phonological memory (digit span, nonword repetition) and statistical learning (serial reaction time, nonadjacent dependency learning) among 8- to 11-year-old children with and without dyslexia (N = 50 per group). Consistent with previous findings, our results show subtle difficulties in grammar, as children with dyslexia achieved lower scores on the CELF (word structure: p = .0027, recalling sentences: p = .053). While the two phonological memory measures were found to contribute to individual differences in grammatical performance, no evidence for a relationship with statistical learning was found. An error analysis revealed errors in irregular morphology (e.g., plural and past tense), suggesting problems with lexical retrieval. These findings are discussed in light of theoretical accounts of the underlying deficit in dyslexia.

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Reciprocal relationships between lexical and syntactic skills of children with Developmental Language Disorder and the role of executive functions

Cited by 21 publications

References 77 publications

Neuro-cognitive development of semantic and syntactic bootstrapping in 6- to 7.5-year-old children

Neuro-cognitive development of semantic and syntactic bootstrapping in 6- to 7.5-year-old children

Reading outcomes in children with developmental language disorder: A person-centered approach

Grammatical performance in children with dyslexia: the contributions of individual differences in phonological memory and statistical learning

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