Word Recognition and Word Prediction in Preschoolers With (a Suspicion of) a Developmental Language Disorder: Evidence From Eye Tracking

Abstract

Purpose This study compares online word recognition and prediction in preschoolers with (a suspicion of) a developmental language disorder (DLD) and typically developing (TD) controls. Furthermore, it investigates correlations between these measures and the link between online and off-line language scores in the DLD group. Method Using the visual world paradigm, Dutch children ages 3;6 (years;months) with (a suspicion of) DLD ( n = 51) and TD peers ( n = 31) listened to utterances such as, “Kijk, een hoed!” ( Look, a hat! ) in a word recognition task, and sentences such as, “Hé, hij leest gewoon een boek” (literal translation: Hey, he reads just a book ) in a word prediction task, while watching a target and distractor picture. Results Both groups demonstrated a significant word recognition effect that looked similar directly after target onset. However, the DLD group looked longer at the target than the TD group and shifted slower from the distractor to target pictures. Within the DLD group, word recognition was linked to off-line expressive language scores. For word prediction, the DLD group showed a smaller effect and slower shifts from verb onset compared to the TD group. Interestingly, within the DLD group, prediction behavior varied considerably, and was linked to receptive and expressive language scores. Finally, slower shifts in word recognition were related to smaller prediction effects. Conclusions While the groups' word recognition abilities looked similar, and only differed in processing speed and dwell time, the DLD group showed atypical verb-based prediction behavior. This may be due to limitations in their processing capacity and/or their linguistic knowledge, in particular of verb argument structure.

The Language Environment at Home of Children With (a Suspicion of) a Developmental Language Disorder and Relations With Standardized Language Measures

“…It is possible that these weak relationships are specific to DLD and are related to the processing limitations that children with DLD experience. For example, children with DLD process sentences slower (Montgomery, 2006), are less able to retain information in phonological memory (Archibald & Gathercole, 2006), are slower to predict upcoming words in a sentence (van Alphen et al, 2021), and have difficulties sustaining attention to audio-linguistic stimuli (Ebert & Kohnert, 2011). These processing and attentional limitations may hamper using linguistic experiences for language learning resulting in weaker relations between home language environment measures and language skill.…”

Infants’ Implicit Rhyme Perception in Child Songs and Its Relationship With Vocabulary

“…This might be due to a more reliable parental estimate of productive vocabulary. Another tentative explanation would be the use of prediction in production (van Alphen et al, 2021), which might also have impacted processing of our predictable rhyming stimuli.…”

Insights from real-time comprehension of Spanish verbal tense in children with developmental language disorder: An eye-tracking study

“…Most studies that address the phenomenon of language comprehension in children with DLD have been based on offline methodologies. Such offline measures provide useful information on the outcome of language processes; however, online technics allow capturing difficulties in the underlying language process (van Alphen et al, 2021). In this respect, Andreu et al (2013) suggested that the previous studies based on offline tools could have limitations when recording the real linguistic comprehension capacity of children with DLD.…”