Influences of early child nutritional status and home learning environment on child development in Vietnam.

PubMed

Nguyen, Phuong H; DiGirolamo, Ann M; Gonzalez-Casanova, Ines; Young, Melissa; Kim, Nicole; Nguyen, Son; Martorell, Reynaldo; Ramakrishnan, Usha

2018-01-01

Early childhood development plays a key role in a child's future health, educational success, and economic status. However, suboptimal early development remains a global challenge. This study examines the influences of quality of the home learning environment (HOME) and child stunting in the first year of life on child development. We used data collected from a randomized controlled trial of preconceptional micronutrient supplementation in Vietnam (n = 1,458). The Bayley Scales of Infant Development-III were used to assess cognition, language, and motor development domains at 2 years. At 1 year, 14% of children were stunted, and 15%, 58%, and 28% of children lived in poor, medium, and high HOME environments, respectively. In multivariate generalized linear regression models, living in a high HOME environment was significantly associated with higher scores (0.10 to 0.13 SD) in each of the developmental domains. Stunted children scored significantly lower for cognitive, language, and motor development (-0.11 to -0.18), compared to nonstunted children. The negative associations between stunting on development were modified by HOME; the associations were strong among children living in homes with a poor learning environment whereas they were nonsignificant for those living in high-quality learning environments. In conclusion, child stunting the first year of life was negatively associated with child development at 2 years among children in Vietnam, but a high-quality HOME appeared to attenuate these associations. Early interventions aimed at improving early child growth as well as providing a stimulating home environment are critical to ensure optimal child development. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Early Language and Reading Development of Bilingual Preschoolers From Low-Income Families.

PubMed

Hammer, Carol Scheffner; Miccio, Adele W

2006-01-01

Learning to read is a complex process and a number of factors affect a child's success in beginning reading. This complexity increases when a child's home language differs from that of the school and when the child comes from a home with limited economic resources. This article discusses factors that have been shown to contribute to children's success in early reading, namely-phonological awareness, letter-word identification, oral language, and the home literacy environment. Preliminary evidence suggests that bilingual children from low-income backgrounds initially perform poorly on phonological awareness and letter identification tasks, but appear to acquire these abilities quickly in kindergarten once these abilities are emphasized in early reading instruction. In addition, the findings show that bilingual preschoolers' receptive language abilities in English and Spanish positively impact their early letter-word identification abilities at the end of kindergarten. A positive relationship between bilingual preschoolers' home literacy environment and early reading outcomes has not been found to date. Educational implications for serving young, bilingual children from programs such as Head Start are discussed.

Community-based early intervention for language delay: a preliminary investigation.

PubMed

Ciccone, Natalie; Hennessey, Neville; Stokes, Stephanie F

2012-01-01

A trial parent-focused early intervention (PFEI) programme for children with delayed language development is reported in which current research evidence was translated and applied within the constraints of available of clinical resources. The programme, based at a primary school, was run by a speech-language pathologist with speech-language pathology students. To investigate the changes in child language development and parent and child interactions following attendance at the PFEI. Eighteen parents and their children attended six, weekly group sessions in which parents were provided with strategies to maximize language learning in everyday contexts. Pre- and post-programme assessments of vocabulary size and measures of parent-child interaction were collected. Parents and children significantly increased their communicative interactions from pre- to post-treatment. Children's expressive vocabulary size and language skills increased significantly. Large-effect sizes were observed. The positive outcomes of the intervention programme contribute to the evidence base of intervention strategies and forms of service delivery for children at risk of language delay. © 2012 Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.

Caregiver-Child Verbal Interactions in Child Care: A Buffer against Poor Language Outcomes when Maternal Language Input is Less

PubMed Central

Vernon-Feagans, Lynne; Bratsch-Hines, Mary E.

2013-01-01

Recent research has suggested that high quality child care can buffer young children against poorer cognitive and language outcomes when they are at risk for poorer language and readiness skills. Most of this research measured the quality of parenting and the quality of the child care with global observational measures or rating scales that did not specify the exact maternal or caregiver behaviors that might be causally implicated in the buffering of these children from poor outcomes. The current study examined the actual language by the mother to her child in the home and the verbal interactions between the caregiver and child in the child care setting that might be implicated in the buffering effect of high quality childcare. The sample included 433 rural children from the Family Life Project who were in child care at 36 months of age. Even after controlling for a variety of covariates, including maternal education, income, race, child previous skill, child care type, the overall quality of the home and quality of the child care environment; observed positive caregiver-child verbal interactions in the child care setting interacted with the maternal language complexity and diversity in predicting children’s language development. Caregiver-child positive verbal interactions appeared to buffer children from poor language outcomes concurrently and two years later if children came from homes where observed maternal language complexity and diversity during a picture book task was less. PMID:24634566

The Contribution of Early Communication Quality to Low-Income Children's Language Success.

PubMed

Hirsh-Pasek, Kathy; Adamson, Lauren B; Bakeman, Roger; Owen, Margaret Tresch; Golinkoff, Roberta Michnick; Pace, Amy; Yust, Paula K S; Suma, Katharine

2015-07-01

The disparity in the amount and quality of language that low-income children hear relative to their more-affluent peers is often referred to as the 30-million-word gap. Here, we expand the literature about this disparity by reporting the relative contributions of the quality of early parent-child communication and the quantity of language input in 60 low-income families. Including both successful and struggling language learners from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, we noted wide variation in the quality of nonverbal and verbal interactions (symbol-infused joint engagement, routines and rituals, fluent and connected communication) at 24 months, which accounted for 27% of the variance in expressive language 1 year later. These indicators of quality were considerably more potent predictors of later language ability than was the quantity of mothers' words during the interaction or sensitive parenting. Bridging the word gap requires attention to how caregivers and children establish a communication foundation within low-income families. © The Author(s) 2015.

Maternal cell phone use in early pregnancy and child's language, communication and motor skills at 3 and 5 years: the Norwegian mother and child cohort study (MoBa).

PubMed

Papadopoulou, Eleni; Haugen, Margaretha; Schjølberg, Synnve; Magnus, Per; Brunborg, Gunnar; Vrijheid, Martine; Alexander, Jan

2017-09-05

Cell phone use during pregnancy is a public health concern. We investigated the association between maternal cell phone use in pregnancy and child's language, communication and motor skills at 3 and 5 years. This prospective study includes 45,389 mother-child pairs, participants of the MoBa, recruited at mid-pregnancy from 1999 to 2008. Maternal frequency of cell phone use in early pregnancy and child language, communication and motor skills at 3 and 5 years, were assessed by questionnaires. Logistic regression was used to estimate the associations. No cell phone use in early pregnancy was reported by 9.8% of women, while 39%, 46.9% and 4.3% of the women were categorized as low, medium and high cell phone users. Children of cell phone user mothers had 17% (OR = 0.83, 95% CI: 0.77, 0.89) lower adjusted risk of having low sentence complexity at 3 years, compared to children of non-users. The risk was 13%, 22% and 29% lower by low, medium and high maternal cell phone use. Additionally, children of cell phone users had lower risk of low motor skills score at 3 years, compared to children of non-users, but this association was not found at 5 years. We found no association between maternal cell phone use and low communication skills. We reported a decreased risk of low language and motor skills at three years in relation to prenatal cell phone use, which might be explained by enhanced maternal-child interaction among cell phone users. No evidence of adverse neurodevelopmental effects of prenatal cell phone use was reported.

Papers and Reports on Child Language Development, Volume 25. Proceedings of the Annual Child Language Research Forum (18th, Stanford, CA, April 4-6, 1986).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stanford Univ., CA. Dept. of Linguistics.

Papers on child language development include: "Sentence Frame Effects on Children's Category Judgments" (Alison K. Adams); "Color Similarity in Children's Classifications and Extension of Object Labels" (Dare Baldwin); "Situational Properties of Early Verb Meaning" (Pol Cuvelier); "Similarity, Specificity, and…

Child Development and the Language Arts.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Russell, David H., Ed.; And Others

This monograph presents research findings on child development and points out implications for the language arts program, examining both the learner and the learning process. Chapters include "Introduction: The Child Study Movement and the Language Arts Curriculum," which traces the development of child study research and lists five influences on…

Handbook of Child Language Acquisition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ritchie, William C., Ed.; Bhatia, Tej K., Ed.

This volume provides a comprehensive overview of the major areas of research in the field of child language acquisition. It is divided into seven parts and 19 chapters. Part I is an introduction and overview. Part II covers central issues in the study of child language acquisition, focusing on syntax, including those of innateness, maturation, and…

[Formula: see text]Associations among parent-child relationships and cognitive and language outcomes in a clinical sample of preschool children.

PubMed

Leiser, Kara; Heffelfinger, Amy; Kaugars, Astrida

2017-02-01

To examine associations among parent-child relationship characteristics and child cognitive and language outcomes. Preschool children (n = 72) with early neurological insult completed assessments of cognitive and language functioning and participated in a parent-child semi-structured interaction. Quality of the parent-child relationship accounted for a significant amount of unique variance (12%) in predicting children's overall cognitive and language functioning. Impact of neurological insult was a significant predictor. Caregiver-child interactions that are harmonious and reciprocal as evidenced by affective and/or verbal exchanges support children's cognitive and language development. Observations of interactions can guide providers in facilitating child- and family-centered interventions.

Early Parenting Beliefs and Academic Achievement: The Mediating Role of Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Im-Bolter, Nancie; Zadeh, Zohreh Yaghoub; Ling, Daphne

2013-01-01

Studies have demonstrated the association between parenting style and children's academic achievement, but the specific mechanisms underlying this relationship remain unclear. The development of skills that lay the foundation for academic success might be found in early parent-child interactions that foster language competence. Early negative…

Early Markers of Language and Attention: Mutual Contributions and the Impact of Parent-Infant Interactions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gartstein, Maria A.; Crawford, Jennifer; Robertson, Christopher D.

2008-01-01

This study was conducted to explore the contribution of attentional skills to early language, and the influence of early language markers on the development of attention, simultaneously examining the impact of parent-child interaction factors (reciprocity/synchrony and sensitivity/responsivity), including their potential moderator effects. All…

Relationships between Early Child Factors and School Readiness Skills in Young Children with Hearing Loss

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harrington, Marjorie; DesJardin, Jean L.; Shea, Lynn C.

2010-01-01

The goal of this longitudinal study is to examine the relationships between early child factors (i.e., age at identification, enrollment in early intervention, oral language skills) and school readiness skills (i.e., conceptual knowledge) in a group of young children with hearing loss (HL). Standardized language, cognition, and conceptual…

Relationship between early language skills and the development of inattention/hyperactivity symptoms during the preschool period: Results of the EDEN mother-child cohort.

PubMed

Peyre, Hugo; Galera, Cedric; van der Waerden, Judith; Hoertel, Nicolas; Bernard, Jonathan Y; Melchior, Maria; Ramus, Franck

2016-11-08

This study aims to examine bidirectional relationships between children's language skills and Inattention/Hyperactivity (IH) symptoms during preschool. Children (N = 1459) from the EDEN mother-child cohort were assessed at ages 3 and 5.5 years. Language skills were evaluated using the WPPSI-III, NEPSY and ELOLA batteries. Children's behavior, including IH symptoms, was assessed using the parent-rated Strengths & Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Using a Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) approach, we examined the relationship between language skills and IH symptoms, as well as potential mediating processes. SEM analyses indicated a small negative effect of language skills at 3 years on ADHD symptoms at 5.5 years after adjusting for IH symptoms at 3 years (β =-0.12, SE = 0.04, p-value = 0.002). Interpersonal difficulties did not mediate the relationship between early language skills and later IH symptoms, nor was this association reduced after adjusting for a broad range of pre- and postnatal environmental factors and performance IQ. Among different language skills, receptive syntax at 3 years was most strongly related to IH symptoms at 5.5 years. Poor language skills at age 3 may predict IH symptoms when a child enters primary school. Implications for the understanding and the prevention of the co-occurrence of language disorders and ADHD are discussed.

Early language development in Indian children: A population-based pilot study

PubMed Central

Sidhu, Manjit; Malhi, Prahbhjot; Jerath, Jagat

2013-01-01

Objectives: To study the prevalence of language delay and to examine its socio-economic correlates in children less than 3 years. Materials and Methods: Participants were 130 children (males = 56%) aged 12-35 months (mean age = 1.81 years, SD = 0.58), from an urban center in north India. The language quotient (LQ) of the child was measured by the Clinical Linguistic Auditory Milestone Scale (CLAMS). Children with an LQ score of less than 70 were considered language delayed. Results: Overall, 6.2% of the children were language delayed with a higher prevalence found for girls (7%) than for boys (5.5%), although the difference was not statistically significant. Several significant correlations between socio-economic and demographic variables and the LQ of the child were found. Stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed that 31.4% of the variance in the LQ scores of girls was accounted for by income (F = 23.80, P = 0.000) and 18.1% of the variance in the LQ scores of boys was accounted for by education of the mother and income (F = 15.67, P = 0.000). Conclusions: Developmental problems in early years are often precursors of problems in later life and early intervention can facilitate favorable outcomes among children with multiple risks. The high prevalence of language difficulties in young children underscores the need to target language delay in early years, to reduce the likelihood of adverse outcomes and thus optimize chances of improvement. PMID:24101819

Early identification: Language skills and social functioning in deaf and hard of hearing preschool children.

PubMed

Netten, Anouk P; Rieffe, Carolien; Theunissen, Stephanie C P M; Soede, Wim; Dirks, Evelien; Korver, Anna M H; Konings, Saskia; Oudesluys-Murphy, Anne Marie; Dekker, Friedo W; Frijns, Johan H M

2015-12-01

Permanent childhood hearing impairment often results in speech and language problems that are already apparent in early childhood. Past studies show a clear link between language skills and the child's social-emotional functioning. The aim of this study was to examine the level of language and communication skills after the introduction of early identification services and their relation with social functioning and behavioral problems in deaf and hard of hearing children. Nationwide cross-sectional observation of a cohort of 85 early identified deaf and hard of hearing preschool children (aged 30-66 months). Parents reported on their child's communicative abilities (MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory III), social functioning and appearance of behavioral problems (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire). Receptive and expressive language skills were measured using the Reynell Developmental Language Scale and the Schlichting Expressive Language Test, derived from the child's medical records. Language and communicative abilities of early identified deaf and hard of hearing children are not on a par with hearing peers. Compared to normative scores from hearing children, parents of deaf and hard of hearing children reported lower social functioning and more behavioral problems. Higher communicative abilities were related to better social functioning and less behavioral problems. No relation was found between the degree of hearing loss, age at amplification, uni- or bilateral amplification, mode of communication and social functioning and behavioral problems. These results suggest that improving the communicative abilities of deaf and hard of hearing children could improve their social-emotional functioning. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Why does parental language input style predict child language development? A twin study of gene-environment correlation.

PubMed

Dale, Philip S; Tosto, Maria Grazia; Hayiou-Thomas, Marianna E; Plomin, Robert

2015-01-01

There are well-established correlations between parental input style and child language development, which have typically been interpreted as evidence that the input style causes, or influences the rate of, changes in child language. We present evidence from a large twin study (TEDS; 8395 pairs for this report) that there are also likely to be both child-to-parent effects and shared genetic effects on parent and child. Self-reported parental language style at child age 3 and age 4 was aggregated into an 'informal language stimulation' factor and a 'corrective feedback' factor at each age; the former was positively correlated with child language concurrently and longitudinally at 3, 4, and 4.5 years, whereas the latter was weakly and negatively correlated. Both parental input factors were moderately heritable, as was child language. Longitudinal bivariate analysis showed that the correlation between the language stimulation factor and child language was significantly and moderately due to shared genes. There is some suggestive evidence from longitudinal phenotypic analysis that the prediction from parental language stimulation to child language includes both evocative and passive gene-environment correlation, with the latter playing a larger role. The reader will understand why correlations between parental language and rate of child language are by themselves ambiguous, and how twin studies can clarify the relationship. The reader will also understand that, based on the present study, at least two aspects of parental language style - informal language stimulation and corrective feedback - have substantial genetic influence, and that for informal language stimulation, a substantial portion of the prediction to child language represents the effect of shared genes on both parent and child. It will also be appreciated that these basic research findings do not imply that parental language input style is unimportant or that interventions cannot be effective. Copyright �

Why does parental language input style predict child language development? A twin study of gene–environment correlation

PubMed Central

Dale, Philip S.; Tosto, Maria Grazia; Hayiou-Thomas, Marianna E.; Plomin, Robert

2015-01-01

There are well-established correlations between parental input style and child language development, which have typically been interpreted as evidence that the input style causes, or influences the rate of, changes in child language. We present evidence from a large twin study (TEDS; 8395 pairs for this report) that there are also likely to be both child-to-parent effects and shared genetic effects on parent and child. Self-reported parental language style at child age 3 and age 4 was aggregated into an ‘informal language stimulation’ factor and a ‘corrective feedback’ factor at each age; the former was positively correlated with child language concurrently and longitudinally at 3, 4, and 4.5 years, whereas the latter was weakly and negatively correlated. Both parental input factors were moderately heritable, as was child language. Longitudinal bivariate analysis showed that the correlation between the language stimulation factor and child language was significantly and moderately due to shared genes. There is some suggestive evidence from longitudinal phenotypic analysis that the prediction from parental language stimulation to child language includes both evocative and passive gene–environment correlation, with the latter playing a larger role. Learning outcomes: The reader will understand why correlations between parental language and rate of child language are by themselves ambiguous, and how twin studies can clarify the relationship. The reader will also understand that, based on the present study, at least two aspects of parental language style – informal language stimulation and corrective feedback – have substantial genetic influence, and that for informal language stimulation, a substantial portion of the prediction to child language represents the effect of shared genes on both parent and child. It will also be appreciated that these basic research findings do not imply that parental language input style is unimportant or that interventions

Chaos, Poverty, and Parenting: Predictors of Early Language Development

PubMed Central

Vernon-Feagans, Lynne; Garrett-Peters, Patricia; Willoughby, Mike; Mills-Koonce, Roger

2011-01-01

Studies have shown that distal family risk factors like poverty and maternal education are strongly related to children's early language development. Yet, few studies have examined these risk factors in combination with more proximal day-to-day experiences of children that might be critical to understanding variation in early language. Young children's exposure to a chronically chaotic household may be one critical experience that is related to poorer language, beyond the contribution of SES and other demographic variables. In addition, it is not clear whether parenting might mediate the relationship between chaos and language. The purpose of this study was to understand how multiple indicators of chaos over children's first three years of life, in a representative sample of children living in low wealth rural communities, were related to child expressive and receptive language at 36 months. Factor analysis of 10 chaos indicators over five time periods suggested two factors that were named household disorganization and instability. Results suggested that after accounting for thirteen covariates like maternal education and poverty, one of two chaos composites (household disorganization) accounted for significant variance in receptive and expressive language. Parenting partially mediated this relationship although household disorganization continued to account for unique variance in predicting early language. PMID:23049162

The Practical Side of Working with Parent-Child Interaction Therapy with Preschool Children with Language Impairments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Klatte, Inge S.; Roulstone, Sue

2016-01-01

A common early intervention approach for preschool children with language problems is parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT). PCIT has positive effects for children with expressive language problems. It appears that speech and language therapists (SLTs) conduct this therapy in many different ways. This might be because of the variety of…

Stability of Core Language Skill from Early Childhood to Adolescence: A Latent Variable Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bornstein, Marc H.; Hahn, Chun-Shin; Putnick, Diane L.; Suwalsky, Joan T. D.

2014-01-01

This four-wave prospective longitudinal study evaluated stability of language in 324 children from early childhood to adolescence. Structural equation modeling supported loadings of multiple age-appropriate multisource measures of child language on single-factor core language skills at 20 months and 4, 10, and 14 years. Large stability…

Early Childhood Programs for Language Minority Students. ERIC Digest.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nissani, Helen

Early childhood programs should be designed to serve the whole child's development within the context of the family and community. This is especially important for children who speak a language other than English at home. Programs must employ developmentally and culturally appropriate practices that respect individual differences and choices and…

Clinical assessment of early language development: a simplified short form of the Mandarin communicative development inventory.

PubMed

Soli, Sigfrid D; Zheng, Yun; Meng, Zhaoli; Li, Gang

2012-09-01

The purpose of this study was to develop a practical mean for clinical evaluation of early pediatric language development by establishing developmental trajectories for receptive and expressive vocabulary growth in children between 6 and 32 months of age using a simple, time-efficient assessment tool. Simplified short form versions of the Words and Gestures and Words and Sentences vocabulary inventories in the Mandarin Communicative Development Inventory [1] were developed and used to assess early language development in developmentally normal children from 6 to 32 months of age during routine health checks. Developmental trajectories characterizing the rate of receptive and expressive vocabulary growth between 6 and 32 months of age are reported. These trajectories allow the equivalent age corresponding to a score to be determined after a brief structured interview with the child's parents that can be conducted in a busy clinical setting. The simplified short forms of the Mandarin Communicative Development Inventories can serve as a clinically useful tool to assess early child language development, providing a practical mean of objectively assessing early language development following early interventions to treat young children with hearing impairment as well as speech and language delays. Objective evidence of language development is essential for achievement of effective (re)habilitation outcomes. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Home Literacy Exposure and Early Language and Literacy Skills in Children Who Struggle with Behavior and Attention Problems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Haak, Jill; Downer, Jason; Reeve, Ronald

2012-01-01

Research Findings: This study investigated the relationships between behavior and attention problems and early language and literacy outcomes for 4-year-olds who experienced varied early home literacy environments. Participants were 1,364 children enrolled in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care…

Timing of High-Quality Child Care and Cognitive, Language, and Preacademic Development

PubMed Central

Li, Weilin; Farkas, George; Duncan, Greg J.; Burchinal, Margaret R.; Vandell, Deborah Lowe

2014-01-01

The effects of high- versus low-quality child care during 2 developmental periods (infant–toddlerhood and preschool) were examined using data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care. Propensity score matching was used to account for differences in families who used different combinations of child care quality during the 2 developmental periods. Findings indicated that cognitive, language, and preacademic skills prior to school entry were highest among children who experienced high-quality care in both the infant–toddler and preschool periods, somewhat lower among children who experienced high-quality child care during only 1 of these periods, and lowest among children who experienced low-quality care during both periods. Irrespective of the care received during infancy–toddlerhood, high-quality preschool care was related to better language and preacademic outcomes at the end of the preschool period; high-quality infant–toddler care, irrespective of preschool care, was related to better memory skills at the end of the preschool period. PMID:23127299

Timing of high-quality child care and cognitive, language, and preacademic development.

PubMed

Li, Weilin; Farkas, George; Duncan, Greg J; Burchinal, Margaret R; Vandell, Deborah Lowe

2013-08-01

The effects of high- versus low-quality child care during 2 developmental periods (infant-toddlerhood and preschool) were examined using data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care. Propensity score matching was used to account for differences in families who used different combinations of child care quality during the 2 developmental periods. Findings indicated that cognitive, language, and preacademic skills prior to school entry were highest among children who experienced high-quality care in both the infant-toddler and preschool periods, somewhat lower among children who experienced high-quality child care during only 1 of these periods, and lowest among children who experienced low-quality care during both periods. Irrespective of the care received during infancy-toddlerhood, high-quality preschool care was related to better language and preacademic outcomes at the end of the preschool period; high-quality infant-toddler care, irrespective of preschool care, was related to better memory skills at the end of the preschool period. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved).

Language development in the early school years: the importance of close relationships with teachers.

PubMed

Spilt, Jantine L; Koomen, Helma M Y; Harrison, Linda J

2015-02-01

This longitudinal study examined developmental links between closeness in teacher-child relationships and children's receptive language ability from the end of the preschool years into the early elementary years, while controlling for changes in peer interaction quality and child behavioral functioning. The sample included children and their parents and teachers (N = 4,983) participating in the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC) at ages 4-5, 6-7, and 8-9 years (3 waves). Teachers reported on levels of closeness in relationships with individual children. Independent assessments of receptive language were employed. Parents and teachers reported on peer interaction problems and child conduct problems. Results indicated reciprocal associations between close teacher-child relationships and receptive language development above and beyond associations with peer interaction quality and child behavioral functioning. However, the effects were only modest. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved.

The impact of input quality on early sign development in native and non-native language learners.

PubMed

Lu, Jenny; Jones, Anna; Morgan, Gary

2016-05-01

There is debate about how input variation influences child language. Most deaf children are exposed to a sign language from their non-fluent hearing parents and experience a delay in exposure to accessible language. A small number of children receive language input from their deaf parents who are fluent signers. Thus it is possible to document the impact of quality of input on early sign acquisition. The current study explores the outcomes of differential input in two groups of children aged two to five years: deaf children of hearing parents (DCHP) and deaf children of deaf parents (DCDP). Analysis of child sign language revealed DCDP had a more developed vocabulary and more phonological handshape types compared with DCHP. In naturalistic conversations deaf parents used more sign tokens and more phonological types than hearing parents. Results are discussed in terms of the effects of early input on subsequent language abilities.

Joint Engagement and Early Language in Young Children With Fragile X Syndrome

PubMed Central

Brady, Nancy C.; Fleming, Kandace K.; Warren, Steven F.

2016-01-01

Purpose In this study, we examine joint engagement (JE) in young children with fragile X syndrome (FXS) and its relationship to language abilities and autism spectrum disorder symptomatology at 24 to 36 months (toddler period) and 59 to 68 months (child period). Method Participants were 28 children with FXS (24 boys, four girls) and their mothers. Videotaped home observations were conducted during the toddler period and coded for JE. Language abilities were measured at both ages from a developmental assessment, a functional measure, and from a language sample. The Childhood Autism Rating Scale (Schopler, Reichler, & Renner, 1988) was completed at both ages. Results Children with FXS spent more time in supported JE than in coordinated JE. Using a weighted JE variable, we found that children with FXS who had higher weighted JE scores also had more advanced expressive language skills at both the toddler and child periods. Weighted JE was negatively related to autism symptomatology in the toddler period. Conclusion This study provides evidence that children with FXS who use more JE also have more advanced expressive language skills in early development. Therefore, existing early interventions that target JE behaviors may be effective for promoting language, social communication, and social interaction in this population. PMID:27681878

Retrospectively Assessed Early Motor and Current Pragmatic Language Skills in Autistic and Neurotypical Children.

PubMed

Stevenson, Jennifer L; Lindley, Caitlin E; Murlo, Nicole

2017-08-01

Autistic individuals often struggle developmentally, even in areas that are not explicit diagnostic criteria, such as motor skills. This study explored the relation between early motor skills, assessed retrospectively, and current pragmatic language skills. Caregivers of neurotypical and autistic children, matched on gender and age, completed assessments of their child's early motor development and current language abilities. Early motor skills were correlated with later pragmatic language skills, and autistic children exhibited fewer motor skills than neurotypical children. In fact, motor skills were a better predictor of an autism spectrum diagnosis than were scores on a measure of current pragmatic language. These results highlight the important role of motor skills in autism spectrum disorders.

Language, Play and Early Literacy for Deaf Children: The Role of Parent Input

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, P. Margaret; Watson, Linda M.

2017-01-01

This paper reviews and synthesizes research into the ways in which parents support their child across three major developmental domains in early childhood: early language, play and early literacy. We show how these domains are linked to each other and suggest that there is some evidence that interventions in all of them will promote mutual…

Language Development in the Early School Years: The Importance of Close Relationships with Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spilt, Jantine L.; Koomen, Helma M. Y.; Harrison, Linda J.

2015-01-01

This longitudinal study examined developmental links between closeness in teacher-child relationships and children's receptive language ability from the end of the preschool years into the early elementary years, while controlling for changes in peer interaction quality and child behavioral functioning. The sample included children and their…

The development of executive function and language skills in the early school years.

PubMed

Gooch, Debbie; Thompson, Paul; Nash, Hannah M; Snowling, Margaret J; Hulme, Charles

2016-02-01

The developmental relationships between executive functions (EF) and early language skills are unclear. This study explores the longitudinal relationships between children's early EF and language skills in a sample of children with a wide range of language abilities including children at risk of dyslexia. In addition, we investigated whether these skills independently predict children's attention/behaviour skills. Data are presented from 243 children at four time points. Children were selected for being at risk of reading difficulties either because of a family history of dyslexia (FR; N = 90) or because of concerns regarding their language development (LI; N = 79) or as typically developing controls (TD; N = 74). The children completed tasks to assess their executive function and language skills at ages 4, 5 and 6 years. At 6 (T4) and 7 years (T5) parents and teachers rated the children's attention/behaviour skills. There was a strong concurrent relationship between language and EF at each assessment. Longitudinal analyses indicated a considerable degree of stability in children's language and EF skills: the influence of language on later EF skills (and vice versa) was weak and not significant in the current sample. Children's EF, but not language, skills at T3 predicted attention/behaviour ratings at T4/T5. There is a strong concurrent association between language and EF skills during the preschool and early school years, when children with language impairment show persistent EF deficits. Latent variables measuring language and EF show high longitudinal stability with little evidence of significant or strong reciprocal influences between these constructs. EF, but not language, skills predict later ratings of children's attention and behaviour. © 2015 The Authors. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

Music and Sign Language to Promote Infant and Toddler Communication and Enhance Parent-Child Interaction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Colwell, Cynthia; Memmott, Jenny; Meeker-Miller, Anne

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of using music and/or sign language to promote early communication in infants and toddlers (6-20 months) and to enhance parent-child interactions. Three groups used for this study were pairs of participants (care-giver(s) and child) assigned to each group: 1) Music Alone 2) Sign Language…

The Agreement between Parent-Reported and Directly Measured Child Language and Parenting Behaviors

PubMed Central

Bennetts, Shannon K.; Mensah, Fiona K.; Westrupp, Elizabeth M.; Hackworth, Naomi J.; Reilly, Sheena

2016-01-01

Parenting behaviors are commonly targeted in early interventions to improve children’s language development. Accurate measurement of both parenting behaviors and children’s language outcomes is thus crucial for sensitive assessment of intervention outcomes. To date, only a small number of studies have compared parent-reported and directly measured behaviors, and these have been hampered by small sample sizes and inaccurate statistical techniques, such as correlations. The Bland–Altman Method and Reduced Major Axis regression represent more reliable alternatives because they allow us to quantify fixed and proportional bias between measures. In this study, we draw on data from two Australian early childhood cohorts (N = 201 parents and slow-to-talk toddlers aged 24 months; and N = 218 parents and children aged 6–36 months experiencing social adversity) to (1) examine agreement and quantify bias between parent-reported and direct measures, and (2) to determine socio-demographic predictors of the differences between parent-reported and direct measures. Measures of child language and parenting behaviors were collected from parents and their children. Our findings support the utility of the Bland–Altman Method and Reduced Major Axis regression in comparing measurement methods. Results indicated stronger agreement between parent-reported and directly measured child language, and poorer agreement between measures of parenting behaviors. Child age was associated with difference scores for child language; however, the direction varied for each cohort. Parents who rated their child’s temperament as more difficult tended to report lower language scores on the parent questionnaire, compared to the directly measured scores. Older parents tended to report lower parenting responsiveness on the parent questionnaire, compared to directly measured scores. Finally, speaking a language other than English was associated with less responsive parenting behaviors on the

Overall intelligibility, articulation, resonance, voice and language in a child with Nager syndrome.

PubMed

Van Lierde, Kristiane M; Luyten, Anke; Mortier, Geert; Tijskens, Anouk; Bettens, Kim; Vermeersch, Hubert

2011-02-01

The purpose of this study was to provide a description of the language and speech (intelligibility, voice, resonance, articulation) in a 7-year-old Dutch speaking boy with Nager syndrome. To reveal these features comparison was made with an age and gender related child with a similar palatal or hearing problem. Language was tested with an age appropriate language test namely the Dutch version of the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals. Regarding articulation a phonetic inventory, phonetic analysis and phonological process analysis was performed. A nominal scale with four categories was used to judge the overall speech intelligibility. A voice and resonance assessment included a videolaryngostroboscopy, a perceptual evaluation, acoustic analysis and nasometry. The most striking communication problems in this child were expressive and receptive language delay, moderately impaired speech intelligibility, the presence of phonetic and phonological disorders, resonance disorders and a high-pitched voice. The explanation for this pattern of communication is not completely straightforward. The language and the phonological impairment, only present in the child with the Nager syndrome, are not part of a more general developmental delay. The resonance disorders can be related to the cleft palate, but were not present in the child with the isolated cleft palate. One might assume that the cul-de-sac resonance and the much decreased mandibular movement and the restricted tongue lifting are caused by the restricted jaw mobility and micrognathia. To what extent the suggested mandibular distraction osteogenesis in early childhood allows increased mandibular movement and better speech outcome with increased oral resonance is subject for further research. According to the results of this study the speech and language management must be focused on receptive and expressive language skills and linguistic conceptualization, correct phonetic placement and the modification of

Cumulative environmental risk in substance abusing women: early intervention, parenting stress, child abuse potential and child development☆

PubMed Central

Schuler, Maureen E.; Black, Maureen M.; Kettinger, Laurie; Harrington, Donna

2011-01-01

Objective To assess the relationship between cumulative environmental risks and early intervention, parenting attitudes, potential for child abuse and child development in substance abusing mothers. Method We studied 161 substance-abusing women, from a randomized longitudinal study of a home based early intervention, who had custody of their children through 18 months. The intervention group received weekly home visits in the first 6 months and biweekly visits from 6 to 18 months. Parenting stress and child abuse potential were assessed at 6 and 18 months postpartum. Children’s mental and motor development (Bayley MDI and PDI) and language development (REEL) were assessed at 6, 12, and 18 months postpartum. Ten maternal risk factors were assessed: maternal depression, domestic violence, nondomestic violence, family size, incarceration, no significant other in home, negative life events, psychiatric problems, homelessness, and severity of drug use. Level of risk was recoded into four categories (2 or less, 3, 4, and 5 or more), which had adequate cell sizes for repeated measures analysis. Data analysis Repeated measures analyses were run to examine how level of risk and group (intervention or control) were related to parenting stress, child abuse potential, and children’s mental, motor and language development over time. Results Parenting stress and child abuse potential were higher for women with five risks or more compared with women who had four or fewer risks; children’s mental, motor, and language development were not related to level of risk. Children in the intervention group had significantly higher scores on the PDI at 6 and 18 months (107.4 vs. 103.6 and 101.1 vs. 97.2) and had marginally better scores on the MDI at 6 and 12 months (107.7 vs. 104.2 and 103.6 vs. 100.1), compared to the control group. Conclusion Compared to drug-abusing women with fewer than five risks, women with five or more risks found parenting more stressful and indicated greater

Case report: acquisition of three spoken languages by a child with a cochlear implant.

PubMed

Francis, Alexander L; Ho, Diana Wai Lam

2003-03-01

There have been only two reports of multilingual cochlear implant users to date, and both of these were postlingually deafened adults. Here we report the case of a 6-year-old early-deafened child who is acquiring Cantonese, English and Mandarin in Hong Kong. He and two age-matched peers with similar educational backgrounds were tested using common, standardized tests of vocabulary and expressive and receptive language skills (Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (Revised) and Reynell Developmental Language Scales version II). Results show that this child is acquiring Cantonese, English and Mandarin to a degree comparable to two classmates with normal hearing and similar educational and social backgrounds.

Estimated effects of in utero cocaine exposure on language development through early adolescence.

PubMed

Bandstra, Emmalee S; Morrow, Connie E; Accornero, Veronica H; Mansoor, Elana; Xue, Lihua; Anthony, James C

2011-01-01

The potential longitudinal effects of prenatal cocaine exposure (PCE) on language functioning were estimated from early childhood through early adolescence in a large, well-retained urban sample of 451 full-term children (242 cocaine-exposed, 209 non-cocaine-exposed) participating in the Miami Prenatal Cocaine Study (MPCS). The sample was enrolled prospectively at birth, with documentation of prenatal drug exposure status through maternal interview, and toxicology assays of maternal and infant urine, and infant meconium. Age-appropriate versions of the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals (CELF) were used to measure total, expressive, and receptive language at ages 3, 5, and 12years. Longitudinal latent growth curve (LLGC) modeling of the data revealed an association between PCE (measured dichotomously as yes/no) and lower functioning in expressive and total language scores, after considering other sources of variation including child's age at testing, sex, prenatal exposure to alcohol, marijuana, and tobacco, and additional medical and social-demographic covariates. Analyses of level of PCE showed a gradient, i.e. dose-dependent, relationship between PCE level and expressive, receptive, and total language scores in the models controlling for age, child's sex, and other prenatal drug exposures. With additional covariate control these findings were most stable for the total language score. The evidence supports an inference about an enduring stable cocaine-specific effect on children's language abilities, with no effect on language growth over time in the longitudinal trajectory of language development. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Infant communication and subsequent language development in children from low-income families: the role of early cognitive stimulation.

PubMed

Cates, Carolyn Brockmeyer; Dreyer, Benard P; Berkule, Samantha B; White, Lisa J; Arevalo, Jenny A; Mendelsohn, Alan L

2012-09-01

To explore the relationship between early cognitive stimulation in the home, 6-month infant communication, and 24-month toddler language in a low-socioeconomic status sample. Longitudinal analyses of mother-child dyads participating in larger study of early child development were performed. Dyads enrolled postpartum in an urban public hospital. Cognitive stimulation in the home at 6 months was assessed using StimQ-lnfant, including provision of toys, shared reading, teaching, and verbal responsivity. Early infant communication was assessed at 6 months including the following: (1) Emotion and eye gaze (Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scale DP-CSBS DP), (2) Communicative bids (CSBS DP), and (3) Expression of emotion (Short Temperament Scale for Infants). Toddler language was assessed at 24 months using the Preschool Language Scale-4, including the following: (1) expressive language and (2) auditory comprehension. Three hundred twenty families were assessed. In structural equation models, cognitive stimulation in the home was strongly associated with early infant communication (β = 0.63, p <.0001) and was predictive of 24-month language (β = 0.20, p <.05). The effect of early cognitive stimulation on 24-month language was mediated through early impacts on infant communication (Indirect β = 0.28, p =.001). Reading, teaching, availability of learning materials, and other reciprocal verbal interactions were all related directly to infant communication and indirectly to language outcomes. The impact of early cognitive stimulation on toddler language is manifested through early associations with infant communication. Pediatric primary care providers should promote cognitive stimulation beginning in early infancy and support the expansion and dissemination of intervention programs such as Reach Out and Read and the Video Interaction Project.

Enhancing early child care quality and learning for toddlers at risk: the responsive early childhood program.

PubMed

Landry, Susan H; Zucker, Tricia A; Taylor, Heather B; Swank, Paul R; Williams, Jeffrey M; Assel, Michael; Crawford, April; Huang, Weihua; Clancy-Menchetti, Jeanine; Lonigan, Christopher J; Phillips, Beth M; Eisenberg, Nancy; Spinrad, Tracy L; de Villiers, Jill; de Villiers, Peter; Barnes, Marcia; Starkey, Prentice; Klein, Alice

2014-02-01

Despite reports of positive effects of high-quality child care, few experimental studies have examined the process of improving low-quality center-based care for toddler-age children. In this article, we report intervention effects on child care teachers' behaviors and children's social, emotional, behavioral, early literacy, language, and math outcomes as well as the teacher-child relationship. The intervention targeted the use of a set of responsive teacher practices, derived from attachment and sociocultural theories, and a comprehensive curriculum. Sixty-five childcare classrooms serving low-income 2- and 3-year-old children were randomized into 3 conditions: business-as-usual control, Responsive Early Childhood Curriculum (RECC), and RECC plus explicit social-emotional classroom activities (RECC+). Classroom observations showed greater gains for RECC and RECC+ teachers' responsive practices including helping children manage their behavior, establishing a predictable schedule, and use of cognitively stimulating activities (e.g., shared book reading) compared with controls; however, teacher behaviors did not differ for focal areas such as sensitivity and positive discipline supports. Child assessments demonstrated that children in the interventions outperformed controls in areas of social and emotional development, although children's performance in control and intervention groups was similar for cognitive skills (language, literacy, and math). Results support the positive impact of responsive teachers and environments providing appropriate support for toddlers' social and emotional development. Possible explanations for the absence of systematic differences in children's cognitive skills are considered, including implications for practice and future research targeting low-income toddlers.

AAC and Early Intervention for Children with Cerebral Palsy: Parent Perceptions and Child Risk Factors

PubMed Central

Smith, Ashlyn L.; Hustad, Katherine C.

2015-01-01

The current study examined parent perceptions of communication, the focus of early intervention goals and strategies, and factors predicting the implementation of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) for 26, 2-year-old children with cerebral palsy. Parents completed a communication questionnaire and provided early intervention plans detailing child speech and language goals. Results indicated that receptive language had the strongest association with parent perceptions of communication. Children who were not talking received a greater number of intervention goals, had a greater variety of goals, and had more AAC goals than children who were emerging and established talkers. Finally, expressive language had the strongest influence on AAC decisions. Results are discussed in terms of the relationship between parent perceptions and language skills, communication as an emphasis in early intervention, AAC intervention decisions, and the importance of receptive language. PMID:26401966

CDC Kerala 7: Effect of early language intervention among children 0-3 y with speech and language delay.

PubMed

Nair, M K C; Mini, A O; Leena, M L; George, Babu; Harikumaran Nair, G S; Bhaskaran, Deepa; Russell, Paul Swamidhas Sudhakar

2014-12-01

To assess the effect of systematic clinic and home based early language intervention program in children reporting to the early language intervention clinic with full partnership of specially trained developmental therapist and the parents. All babies between 0 and 3 y referred to Child Development Centre (CDC) Kerala for suspected speech/language delay were assessed and those without hearing impairment were screened first using Language Evaluation Scale Trivandrum (LEST) and assessed in detail using Receptive Expressive Emergent Language Scale (REELS). Those having language delay are enrolled into the early language intervention program for a period of 6 mo, 1 h at the CDC clinic once every month followed by home stimulation for rest of the month by the mother trained at CDC. Out of the total 455 children between 0 and 3 y, who successfully completed 6 mo intervention, the mean pre and post intervention language quotient (LQ) were 60.79 and 70.62 respectively and the observed 9.83 increase was statistically significant. The developmental diagnosis included developmental delay (62.4%), global developmental delay (18.5%), Trisomy and other chromosomal abnormalities (10.5%), microcephaly and other brain problems (9.9%), misarticulation (8.4%), autistic features (5.3%) and cleft palate and lip (3.3%) in the descending order. In the present study among 455 children between 0 and 3 y without hearing impairment, who successfully completed 6 mo early language intervention, the mean pre and post intervention LQ were 60.79 and 70.62 respectively and the observed 9.83 increase was statistically significant.

Child Language Acquisition: Contrasting Theoretical Approaches

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ambridge, Ben; Lieven, Elena V. M.

2011-01-01

Is children's language acquisition based on innate linguistic structures or built from cognitive and communicative skills? This book summarises the major theoretical debates in all of the core domains of child language acquisition research (phonology, word-learning, inflectional morphology, syntax and binding) and includes a complete introduction…

Social Dialectics and Language: Mother and Child Construct the Discourse

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harris, Adrienne E.

1975-01-01

The child's development of productive control over the adults language system is seen as an outcome of the dynamic social discourse of parent and child. Traditional approaches to child language are reviewed and a dialectical analysis is developed using concepts from information theory and a general systems approach. (JMB)

Early writing deficits in preschoolers with oral language difficulties.

PubMed

Puranik, Cynthia S; Lonigan, Christopher J

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether preschool children with language impairments (LI), a group with documented reading difficulties, also experience writing difficulties. In addition, a purpose was to examine if the writing outcomes differed when children had concomitant cognitive deficits in addition to oral language problems. A group of 293 preschool children were administered an assessment battery that included measures to examine oral language, nonverbal cognition, emergent reading, and writing. Children were divided into four groups based on their language and cognitive performance. The findings from this study show that as early as preschool, children with weaker oral language skills lag behind their peers with stronger oral language skills in terms of their writing-related skills. Children with oral language and cognitive deficits performed more poorly than children whose deficits were confined to oral language. A child's cognitive ability also has an impact on emergent writing skills, but it appears to be moderated by oral language skills. These results are consistent with research documenting links between preschool language and emergent reading in children with a history of LI. © Hammill Institute on Disabilities 2012.

Language competence in forensic interviews for suspected child sexual abuse.

PubMed

Fontes, Lisa A; Tishelman, Amy C

2016-08-01

Forensic interviews with children for suspected child sexual abuse require meeting children "where they are" in terms of their developmental level, readiness to disclose, culture, and language. The field lacks research indicating how to accommodate children's diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. This article focuses on language competence, defined here as the ability of an organization and its personnel (in this case, Child Advocacy Centers and forensic interviewers) to communicate effectively with clients regardless of their preferred language(s). In this qualitative study, 39 U.S. child forensic interviewers and child advocacy center directors discussed their experiences, practices, and opinions regarding interviews with children and families who are not native speakers of English. Topics include the importance of interviewing children in their preferred language, problems in interpreted interviews, bilingual interviews, and current and recommended procedures. Recommendations for practice and further research are included. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Helping Your Child through Early Adolescence -- Helping Your Child Series

MedlinePlus

... Bibliography Acknowledgements Tips to Help Your Child through Early Adolescence No Child Left Behind < Previous page | ^ Top ^ | Next page > Printable ... Information About... Transforming Teaching Family and Community Engagement Early Learning Helping Your Child Our mission is to promote student achievement and ...

Pathophysiology of language switching and mixing in an early bilingual child with subcortical aphasia.

PubMed

Mariën, Peter; Abutalebi, Jubin; Engelborghs, Sebastiaan; De Deyn, Peter P

2005-12-01

Acquired aphasia after circumscribed vascular subcortical lesions has not been reported in bilingual children. We report clinical and neuroimaging findings in an early bilingual boy who incurred equally severe transcortical sensory aphasia in his first language (L1) and second language (L2) after a posterior left thalamic hemorrhage. Following recurrent bleeding of the lesion the aphasic symptoms substantially aggravated. Spontaneous pathological language switching and mixing were found in both languages. Remission of these phenomena was reflected on brain perfusion SPECT revealing improved perfusion in the left frontal lobe and left caudate nucleus. The parallelism between the evolution of language symptoms and the SPECT findings may demonstrate that a subcortical left frontal lobe circuity is crucially involved in language switching and mixing.

Dynamic Adaptation in Child-Adult Language Interaction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

van Dijk, Marijn; van Geert, Paul; Korecky-Kröll, Katharina; Maillochon, Isabelle; Laaha, Sabine; Dressler, Wolfgang U.; Bassano, Dominique

2013-01-01

When speaking to young children, adults adapt their language to that of the child. In this article, we suggest that this child-directed speech (CDS) is the result of a transactional process of dynamic adaptation between the child and the adult. The study compares developmental trajectories of three children to those of the CDS of their caregivers.…

The Impact of Bimodal Bilingual Parental Input on the Communication and Language Development of a Young Deaf Child

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Levesque, Elizabeth; Brown, P. Margaret; Wigglesworth, Gillian

2014-01-01

This study explores the impact of bimodal bilingual parental input on the communication and language development of a young deaf child. The participants in this case study were a severe-to-profoundly deaf boy and his hearing parents, who were enrolled in a bilingual (English and Australian Sign Language) homebased early intervention programme. The…

Promoting language and social communication development in babies through an early storybook reading intervention.

PubMed

Brown, Michelle I; Westerveld, Marleen F; Trembath, David; Gillon, Gail T

2017-12-15

This study examined the effectiveness of low- and high-intensity early storybook reading (ESR) intervention workshops delivered to parents for promoting their babies language and social communication development. These workshops educated parents on how to provide a stimulating home reading environment and engage in parent-child interactions during ESR. Parent-child dyads (n = 32); child age: 3-12 months, were assigned into two intervention conditions: low and high intensity (LI versus HI) groups. Both groups received the same ESR strategies; however, the HI group received additional intervention time, demonstrations and support. Outcome measures were assessed pre-intervention, one and three months post-intervention and when the child turned 2 years of age. A significant time-group interaction with increased performance in the HI group was observed for language scores immediately post-intervention (p = 0.007) and at 2-years-of-age (p = 0.022). Significantly higher broader social communication scores were associated with the HI group at each of the time points (p = 0.018, p = 0.001 and p = 0.021, respectively). Simple main effect revealed that both groups demonstrated a significant improvement in language, broader social communication and home reading practices scores. ESR intervention workshops may promote language and broader social communication skills. The HI ESR intervention workshop was associated with significantly higher language and broader social communication scores.

The Significance of the Poetic in Early Childhood Education: Stanley Cavell and Lucy Sprague Mitchell on Language Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Frank, Jeff

2012-01-01

This paper begins with a discussion of Stanley Cavell's philosophy of language learning. Young people learn more than the meaning of words when acquiring language: they learn about (the quality of) our form of life. If we--as early childhood educators--see language teaching as something like handing some inert thing to a child, then we unduly…

Child vs. Adult in Second Language Acquisition: Some Reflections.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Banu, Rahela

The popular view that children have an advantage in learning a second language has considerable support in research, although it is not uncontested. One approach proposes that the child possesses a unique capacity for language that the adult no longer has. Another view argues that the child's brain is more flexible. A third approach assumes that…

Working with the Bilingual Child Who Has a Language Delay. Meeting Learning Challenges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Greenspan, Stanley I.

2005-01-01

It is very important to determine if a bilingual child's language delay is simply in English or also in the child's native language. Understandably, many children have higher levels of language development in the language spoken at home. To discover if this is the case, observe the child talking with his parents. Sometimes, even without…

Characteristics of Parent-Child Interactions: A Systematic Review of Studies Comparing Children with Primary Language Impairment and Their Typically Developing Peers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blackwell, Anna K. M.; Harding, Sam; Babayigit, Selma; Roulstone, Sue

2015-01-01

The importance of parent-child interaction (PCI) for language development has been well established. This has led many speech and language therapy (SLT) interventions to focus on modifying PCI as a means to improving children's early language delay. However, the success of such programs is mixed. The current review compares PCI, observed in…

Literacy Skills in Children With Cochlear Implants: The Importance of Early Oral Language and Joint Storybook Reading

PubMed Central

Ambrose, Sophie E.; Eisenberg, Laurie S.

2009-01-01

The goal of this study was to longitudinally examine relationships between early factors (child and mother) that may influence children's phonological awareness and reading skills 3 years later in a group of young children with cochlear implants (N = 16). Mothers and children were videotaped during two storybook interactions, and children's oral language skills were assessed using the “Reynell Developmental Language Scales, third edition.” Three years later, phonological awareness, reading skills, and language skills were assessed using the “Phonological Awareness Test,” the “Woodcock–Johnson-III Diagnostic Reading Battery,” and the “Oral Written Language Scales.” Variables included in the data analyses were child (age, age at implant, and language skills) and mother factors (facilitative language techniques) and children's phonological awareness and reading standard scores. Results indicate that children's early expressive oral language skills and mothers’ use of a higher level facilitative language technique (open-ended question) during storybook reading, although related, each contributed uniquely to children's literacy skills. Individual analyses revealed that the children with expressive standard scores below 70 at Time 1 also performed below average (<85) on phonological awareness and total reading tasks 3 years later. Guidelines for professionals are provided to support literacy skills in young children with cochlear implants. PMID:18417463

Early Mother-Child Separation, Parenting, and Child Well-Being in Early Head Start Families

PubMed Central

Howard, Kimberly; Martin, Anne; Berlin, Lisa J.; Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne

2011-01-01

Drawing on theories of attachment and family instability, this study examined associations between early mother-child separation and subsequent maternal parenting behaviors and children’s outcomes in a sample of 2080 families who participated in the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project, the vast majority of whom were poor. Multiple regression models revealed that, controlling for baseline family and maternal characteristics and indicators of family instability, the occurrence of a mother-child separation of a week or longer within the first two years of life was related to higher levels of child negativity (at age 3) and aggression (at ages 3 and 5). The effect of separation on child aggression at age 5 was mediated by aggression at age 3, suggesting that the effects of separation on children’s aggressive behavior are early and persistent. PMID:21240692

Volubility as a Mediator in the Associations between Conversational Language Measures and Child Temperament

PubMed Central

DeThorne, Laura Segebart; Deater-Deckard, Kirby; Mahurin-Smith, Jamie; Coletto, Mary-Kelsey; Petrill, Stephen A.

2015-01-01

Background Despite support for the use of conversational language measures, concerns remain regarding the extent to which they may be confounded with aspects of child temperament, extraversion in particular. Aims This study of 161 twins from the Western Reserve Reading Project (WRRP) examined the associations between children’s conversational language use and three key aspects of child temperament: Surgency (i.e., introversion/extraversion), Effortful Control (i.e., attention and task persistence), and Negative Affectivity (e.g., fear, anger, sadness). Child biological sex was considered as a possible moderating factor. Methods & Procedures Correlational analyses were conducted between aspects of temperament during early school-age years (i.e., 7 to 8 yrs), as measured by the Children’s Behavior Questionnaire-Short Form (CBQ; Putnam & Rothbart, 2006), and six different measures of children’s conversational language use: total number of complete and intelligible utterances (TCICU), number of total words (NTW), mean length of utterance (MLU), total number of conjunctions (TNC), number of different words (NDW), and measure D (i.e., a measure of lexical diversity). Values for NTW, TNC, and NDW were derived both on the entire sample and on the first 100 C-units. Correlations between language and temperament were compared between girls and boys using the Fisher r-to-z transformation to examine the significance of potential moderating effects. Outcomes & Results Children’s reported variability in Effortful Control did not correlate significantly with any of the child language measures. In contrast, children’s Negative Affectivity and Surgency tended to demonstrate positive, albeit modest, correlations with those conversational language measures that were derived from the sample as a whole, rather than from a standardized number of utterances. MLU, as well as measures of NDW and NTW derived from standardized sample lengths of 100 C-units, did not correlate with

Early second language acquisition: a comparison of the linguistic output of a pre-school child acquiring English as a second language with that of a monolingual peer.

PubMed

Letts, C A

1991-08-01

Two pre-school children were recorded at regular intervals over a 9-month period while playing freely together. One child was acquiring English as a second language, whilst the other was a monolingual English speaker. The sociolinguistic domain was such that the children were likely to be motivated to communicate with each other in English. A variety of quantitative measures were taken from the transcribed data, including measures of utterance type, length, type-token ratios, use of auxiliaries and morphology. The child for whom English was a second language was found to be well able to interact on equal terms with his partner, despite being somewhat less advanced in some aspects of English language development by the end of the sampling period. Whilst he appeared to be consolidating his language skills during this time, his monolingual partner appeared to be developing rapidly. It is hoped that normative longitudinal data of this kind will be of use in the accurate assessment of children from dual language backgrounds, who may be referred for speech and language therapy.

Relationship between Maternal Language Parameters and the Child's Language Competency and Developmental Condition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hooshyar, Nahid T.

Maternal language directed to 21 nonhandicapped, 21 Down syndrome, and 19 language impaired preschool children was examined. The three groups (all Caucasian and middle-class) were matched in mean length of utterance (MLU) and in developmental skills as measured on the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale. Mother-child language interaction was…

The Language Development of a Deaf Child with a Cochlear Implant

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mouvet, Kimberley; Matthijs, Liesbeth; Loots, Gerrit; Taverniers, Miriam; Van Herreweghe, Mieke

2013-01-01

Hearing parents of deaf or partially deaf infants are confronted with the complex question of communication with their child. This question is complicated further by conflicting advice on how to address the child: in spoken language only, in spoken language supported by signs, or in signed language. This paper studies the linguistic environment…

Prospective relations between maternal autonomy support and child executive functioning: investigating the mediating role of child language ability.

PubMed

Matte-Gagné, Célia; Bernier, Annie

2011-12-01

Although emerging evidence suggests that parental behavior is related to the development of child executive functioning (EF), the mechanisms through which parenting affects child EF have yet to be investigated. The goal of this study was to examine the potential mediating role of child language in the prospective relation between maternal autonomy support and child EF. A total of 53 mother-infant dyads took part in three home visits at 15months, 2years, and 3years, allowing for the assessment of maternal autonomy support (T1), child expressive vocabulary (T2), and child EF (T3). The results suggested that child language played a mediating role in the relation between maternal autonomy support and child performance on EF tasks entailing a strong impulse control component above and beyond child previous EF and family socioeconomic status (SES). In contrast, no such mediating role of language was found with EF tasks tapping mostly into working memory and set shifting. Thus, this study highlights one pathway through which parenting can affect child executive control. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Language of perfectionistic parents predicting child anxiety diagnostic status.

PubMed

Affrunti, Nicholas W; Geronimi, Elena M C; Woodruff-Borden, Janet

2015-03-01

Previous research has identified parental perfectionism as a risk factor for child anxiety. Yet few studies investigated why parental perfectionism may play such a role. Based on research suggesting parental verbal information and language use are associated with increased child fear beliefs and anxiety, the current study investigated the linguistic style of perfectionistic mothers and its relation to child anxiety. Participants were 71 mother-child dyads. Children were 3-12 years old, 57.7% female, and 30 were diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. Analyses showed that parental perfectionism was associated with increased second person pronouns, decreased adverbs, negative emotion words, and anger words. Second person pronouns and negative emotion words predicted child anxiety diagnostic status and mediated the relation between maternal perfectionism and child anxiety. These findings suggest that parental perfectionism may be associated with a specific language style that is related to child anxiety. Implications and future directions are discussed. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Professional Issues of Child and Youth Care through the Language Lens

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gharabaghi, Kiaras

2008-01-01

This article explores the role of language and forms of communication in professional child and youth care practice. It is argued that all the professional issues of child and youth care practice are significantly impacted by language and the manner in which practitioners use language and a variety of communication forms to articulate their work.…

Child Modifiability as a Predictor of Language Abilities in Deaf Children Who Use American Sign Language.

PubMed

Mann, Wolfgang; Peña, Elizabeth D; Morgan, Gary

2015-08-01

This research explored the use of dynamic assessment (DA) for language-learning abilities in signing deaf children from deaf and hearing families. Thirty-seven deaf children, aged 6 to 11 years, were identified as either stronger (n = 26) or weaker (n = 11) language learners according to teacher or speech-language pathologist report. All children received 2 scripted, mediated learning experience sessions targeting vocabulary knowledge—specifically, the use of semantic categories that were carried out in American Sign Language. Participant responses to learning were measured in terms of an index of child modifiability. This index was determined separately at the end of the 2 individual sessions. It combined ratings reflecting each child's learning abilities and responses to mediation, including social-emotional behavior, cognitive arousal, and cognitive elaboration. Group results showed that modifiability ratings were significantly better for stronger language learners than for weaker language learners. The strongest predictors of language ability were cognitive arousal and cognitive elaboration. Mediator ratings of child modifiability (i.e., combined score of social-emotional factors and cognitive factors) are highly sensitive to language-learning abilities in deaf children who use sign language as their primary mode of communication. This method can be used to design targeted interventions.

[Environmental and genetic variables related with alterations in language acquisition in early childhood].

PubMed

Moriano-Gutierrez, A; Colomer-Revuelta, J; Sanjuan, J; Carot-Sierra, J M

2017-01-01

A great deal of research has addressed problems in the correct acquisition of language, but with few overall conclusions. The reasons for this lie in the individual variability, the existence of different measures for assessing language and the fact that a complex network of genetic and environmental factors are involved in its development. To review the environmental and genetic variables that have been studied to date, in order to gain a better under-standing of the causes of specific language impairment and create new evidence that can help in the development of screening systems for the early detection of these disorders. The environmental variables related with poorer early child language development include male gender, low level of education of the mother, familial history of problems with language or psychiatric problems, perinatal problems and health problems in early childhood. Bilingualism seems to be a protective factor. Temperament and language are related. Within the genetic factors there are several specific genes associated with language, two of which have a greater influence on its physiological acquisition: FOXP2 and CNTNAP2. The other genes that are most related with specific language disorders are ATP2C2, CMIP, ROBO2, ZNF277 and NOP9. The key to comprehending the development of specific language disorders lies in reaching an understanding of the true role played by genes in the ontogenesis, in the regulation of the different developmental processes, and how this role is modulated by the environment.

Longitudinal Relations Among Language Skills, Anger Expression, and Regulatory Strategies in Early Childhood

PubMed Central

Roben, Caroline K.P.; Cole, Pamela M.; Armstrong, Laura Marie

2012-01-01

Researchers have suggested that as children’s language skill develops in early childhood, it comes to help children regulate their emotions (Cole, Armstrong, & Pemberton, 2010; Kopp, 1989), but the pathways by which this occurs have not been studied empirically. In a longitudinal study of 120 children from 18 to 48 months of age, associations among child language skill, observed anger expression, and regulatory strategies during a delay task were examined. Toddlers with better language skill, and whose language skill increased more over time, appeared less angry at 48 months and their anger declined more over time. Two regulatory strategies, support-seeking and distraction, explained a portion of the variance in the association between language skill and anger expression by 36 months. PMID:23278601

Hindrances for Parents in Enhancing Child Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Topping, Keith; Dekhinet, Rayenne; Zeedyk, Suzanne

2011-01-01

This review explores challenges and barriers to parent-child interaction which leads to language development in the first 3 years of the child's life. Seven databases yielded 1,750 hits, reduced to 49 evidence-based studies, many of which still had methodological imperfections. Evidence was quite strong in relation to socio-economic status,…

Language Maintenance in a Multilingual Family: Informal Heritage Language Lessons in Parent-Child Interactions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kheirkhah, Mina; Cekaite, Asta

2015-01-01

The present study explores language socialization patterns in a Persian-Kurdish family in Sweden and examines how "one-parent, one-language" family language policies are instantiated and negotiated in parent-child interactions. The data consist of video-recordings and ethnographic observations of family interactions, as well as…

Language development in a non-vocal child.

PubMed

Rogow, S M

1994-01-01

Many children who cannot speak, comprehend both oral and written language. Having knowledge of language is not the same as being able to use language for social transactions. Non-vocal children learn to use augmented and assisted systems, but they experience specific difficulties in initiating and maintaining conversations and making use of the pragmatic functions of language. The purpose of this study was to investigate the semantic and syntactic knowledge of a child with severe multiple disabilities who can read and write and comprehend two languages, but does not initiate conversation. The study demonstrates that high levels of language comprehension and ability to read and write do not automatically transfer to conversational competence or narrative ability.

Early Brain and Child Development: Connections to Early Education and Child Care

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Romano, Judith T.

2013-01-01

The vast majority of young children spend time in settings outside of the home, and the nature of those settings directly impacts the child's health and development. The ecobiodevelopmental framework of early brain and child development serve as the backdrop for establishing quality. This article describes the use of quality rating systems,…

Fostering Language Acquisition in Daycare Settings: What Does the Research Tell Us? Working Papers in Early Childhood Development, No. 49

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beller, Simone

2008-01-01

The ways in which children learn a language--be it their mother tongue or their second language--can have a strong influence on their success in school. Researchers in linguistics and early child development have tried to determine the factors that can help and hinder language acquisition in young children, with some conflicting results. In this…

Caregiver communication to the child as moderator and mediator of genes for language.

PubMed

Onnis, Luca

2017-05-15

Human language appears to be unique among natural communication systems, and such uniqueness impinges on both nature and nurture. Human babies are endowed with cognitive abilities that predispose them to learn language, and this process cannot operate in an impoverished environment. To be effectively complete the acquisition of human language in human children requires highly socialised forms of learning, scaffolded over years of prolonged and intense caretaker-child interactions. How genes and environment operate in shaping language is unknown. These two components have traditionally been considered as independent, and often pitted against each other in terms of the nature versus nurture debate. This perspective article considers how innate abilities and experience might instead work together. In particular, it envisages potential scenarios for research, in which early caregiver verbal and non-verbal attachment practices may mediate or moderate the expression of human genetic systems for language. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A method to develop vocabulary checklists in new languages and their validity to assess early language development.

PubMed

Prado, Elizabeth L; Phuka, John; Ocansey, Eugenia; Maleta, Kenneth; Ashorn, Per; Ashorn, Ulla; Adu-Afarwuah, Seth; Oaks, Brietta M; Lartey, Anna; Dewey, Kathryn G

2018-05-11

Since the adoption of United Nations' Sustainable Goal 4.2 to ensure that all children have access to quality early child development (ECD) so that they are ready for primary education, the demand for valid ECD assessments has increased in contexts where they do not yet exist. The development of early language ability is important for school readiness. Our objective was to evaluate the validity of a method to develop vocabulary checklists in new languages to assess early language development, based on the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories. Through asking mothers of young children what words their children say and through pilot testing, we developed 100-word vocabulary checklists in multilingual contexts in Malawi and Ghana. In Malawi, we evaluated the validity of the vocabulary checklist among 29 children age 17-25 months compared to three language measures assessed concurrently: Developmental Milestones Checklist-II (DMC-II) language scale, Malawi Developmental Assessment Tool (MDAT) language scale, and the number of different words (NDW) in 30-min recordings of spontaneous speech. In Ghana, we assessed the predictive validity of the vocabulary checklist at age 18 months to forecast language, pre-academic, and other skills at age 4-6 years among 869 children. We also compared the predictive validity of the vocabulary checklist scores to that of other developmental assessments administered at age 18 months. In Malawi, the Spearman's correlation of the vocabulary checklist score with DMC-II language was 0.46 (p = 0.049), with MDAT language was 0.66 (p = 0.016) and with NDW was 0.50 (p = 0.033). In Ghana, the 18-month vocabulary checklist score showed the strongest (rho = 0.12-0.26) and most consistent (8/12) associations with preschool scores, compared to the other 18-month assessments. The largest coefficients were the correlations of the 18-month vocabulary score with the preschool cognitive factor score (rho = 0

[Early development of language in small children with autism spectrum disorder using alternative systems].

PubMed

Fortea-Sevilla, M Sol; Escandell-Bermúdez, M Olga; Castro-Sánchez, José Juan; Martos-Pérez, Juan

2015-02-25

The latest research findings show the importance of early intervention in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in all areas of development, including language. The use of augmentative and alternative communication systems (AACS) favors linguistic and communicative development. To show the effectiveness of AACS to develop oral language in non-verbal toddlers diagnosed with ASD. Thirty children (25 males and 5 females) diagnosed with ASD when they were between 18 and 30 months of age, through the instruments ADOS and ADIR. None of them displayed oral language development at the time of assessment. An intervention program in the area of language was designed based on the use of total communication by the therapist and training the child in the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS). One year later, the formal aspects of language were assessed with the PLON-R because oral language had been developed. All the children had developed oral language to some extent over a one-year period. Early intervention and the use of AACS with visual props favor the development of oral language in children with ASD in the first years of life.

Sex hormones in early infancy seem to predict aspects of later language development.

PubMed

Schaadt, Gesa; Hesse, Volker; Friederici, Angela D

2015-02-01

Sex differences in the development of cognitive behavior such as language have long been of great research interest. Lately, researchers have started to associate language function and brain differences with diverse sex hormones (e.g., testosterone/estradiol). However, results concerning the impact of early postnatal sex hormone concentration on the child's later language development are rare. Here, we analyze the impact of testosterone and estradiol in girls and boys as well as their neurophysiological phonemic discrimination at age 5months on language development at age 4years. Interestingly, we found strong positive estradiol and negative testosterone impact on later language performance at age 4years, which was true for both girls and boys. These results demonstrate that postnatal sex hormone surge might be viewed as one factor determining later language development, independent of gender. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Child Language Research: Building on the Past, Looking to the Future.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Perera, Katharine

1994-01-01

Outlines descriptive, theoretical, and methodological advances in child language research since the first volume of the "Journal of Child Language" was published. Papers in this volume build on earlier research, point the way to new research avenues, and open new lines of inquiry. (Contains 36 references.) (JP)

Formulas in First and Second Language Acquisition. Papers and Reports on Child Language Development, No. 18.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vihman, Marilyn May

The use of formulaic speech is seen as a learning strategy in children's first language (L1) acquisition to a limited extent, and to an even greater extent in their second language (L2) acquisition. While the first utterances of the child learning L1 are mostly one-word constructions, many of them are routine words or phrases that the child learns…

The ESSENCE in child psychiatry: Early Symptomatic Syndromes Eliciting Neurodevelopmental Clinical Examinations.

PubMed

Gillberg, Christopher

2010-01-01

Co-existence of disorders--including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, tic disorder, developmental coordination disorder, and autism spectrum disorder--and sharing of symptoms across disorders (sometimes referred to as comorbidity) is the rule rather than the exception in child psychiatry and developmental medicine. The acronym ESSENCE refers to Early Symptomatic Syndromes Eliciting Neurodevelopmental Clinical Examinations. It is a term I have coined to refer to the reality of children (and their parents) presenting in clinical settings with impairing child symptoms before age 3 (-5) years in the fields of (a) general development, (b) communication and language, (c) social inter-relatedness, (d) motor coordination, (e) attention, (f) activity, (g) behaviour, (h) mood, and/or (i) sleep. Children with major difficulties in one or more (usually several) of these fields, will be referred to and seen by health visitors, nurses, social workers, education specialists, pediatricians, GPs, speech and language therapists, child neurologists, child psychiatrists, psychologists, neurophysiologists, dentists, clinical geneticists, occupational therapists and physiotherapists, but, usually they will be seen only by one of these specialists, when they would have needed the input of two or more of the experts referred to. Major problems in at least one ESSENCE domain before age 5 years often signals major problems in the same or overlapping domains years later. There is no time to wait; something needs to be done, and that something is unlikely to be just in the area of speech and language, just in the area of autism or just in special education. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Reciprocal Influences between Maternal Language and Children's Language and Cognitive Development in Low-Income Families

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Song, Lulu; Spier, Elizabeth T.; Tamis-Lemonda, Catherine S.

2014-01-01

We examined reciprocal associations between early maternal language use and children's language and cognitive development in seventy ethnically diverse, low-income families. Mother-child dyads were videotaped when children were aged 2;0 and 3;0. Video transcripts were analyzed for quantity and lexical diversity of maternal and child language.…

The Weaker Language in Early Child Bilingualism: Acquiring a First Language as a Second Language?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meisel, Jurgen M.

2007-01-01

Past research demonstrates that first language (L1)-like competence in each language can be attained in simultaneous acquisition of bilingualism by mere exposure to the target languages. The question is whether this is also true for the "weaker" language (WL). The WL hypothesis claims that the WL differs fundamentally from monolingual L1 and…

Harmonic biases in child learners: In support of language universals

PubMed Central

Culbertson, Jennifer; Newport, Elissa L.

2015-01-01

A fundamental question for cognitive science concerns the ways in which languages are shaped by the biases of language learners. Recent research using laboratory language learning paradigms, primarily with adults, has shown that structures or rules that are common in the languages of the world are learned or processed more easily than patterns that are rare or unattested. Here we target child learners, investigating a set of biases for word order learning in the noun phrase studied by Culbertson, Smolensky & Legendre (2012) in college-age adults. We provide the first evidence that child learners exhibit a preference for typologically common harmonic word order patterns—those which preserve the order of the head with respect to its complements—validating the psychological reality of a principle formalized in many different linguistic theories. We also discuss important differences between child and adult learners in terms of both the strength and content of the biases at play during language learning. In particular, the bias favoring harmonic patterns is markedly stronger in children than adults, and children (unlike adults) acquire adjective ordering more readily than numeral ordering. The results point to the importance of investigating learning biases across development in order to understand how these biases may shape the history and structure of natural languages. PMID:25800352

Effects of Home Environment and Center-Based Child Care Quality on Children's Language, Communication, and Literacy Outcomes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pinto, Ana Isabel; Pessanha, Manuela; Aguiar, Cecilia

2013-01-01

This study examined the joint effects of home environment and center-based child care quality on children's language, communication, and early literacy development, while also considering prior developmental level. Participants were 95 children (46 boys), assessed as toddlers (mean age = 26.33 months; Time 1) and preschoolers (mean age = 68.71…

Language in Early Childhood Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cazden, Courtney B., Ed.

Eight articles about oral language education for preschool children are presented. They are: (1) a point of view on oral language education--"Suggestions from Studies of Early Language Acquisition,""Language Programs for Young Children: Notes from England and Wales," and "The Issue of Structure," by Courtney Cazden; (2) suggestions for curriculum…

Oral Language: Expression of Thought.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anastasiow, Nicholas

A child's language reflects his thought processes and his level of development. Motor, emotional, and language development all have a direct relationship to the child's cognitive functioning--each follows the pattern of moving from gross and loosely differentiated states to refined and differentiated systems. Research in early childhood education…

Speech and language support: How physicians can identify and treat speech and language delays in the office setting.

PubMed

Moharir, Madhavi; Barnett, Noel; Taras, Jillian; Cole, Martha; Ford-Jones, E Lee; Levin, Leo

2014-01-01

Failure to recognize and intervene early in speech and language delays can lead to multifaceted and potentially severe consequences for early child development and later literacy skills. While routine evaluations of speech and language during well-child visits are recommended, there is no standardized (office) approach to facilitate this. Furthermore, extensive wait times for speech and language pathology consultation represent valuable lost time for the child and family. Using speech and language expertise, and paediatric collaboration, key content for an office-based tool was developed. early and accurate identification of speech and language delays as well as children at risk for literacy challenges; appropriate referral to speech and language services when required; and teaching and, thus, empowering parents to create rich and responsive language environments at home. Using this tool, in combination with the Canadian Paediatric Society's Read, Speak, Sing and Grow Literacy Initiative, physicians will be better positioned to offer practical strategies to caregivers to enhance children's speech and language capabilities. The tool represents a strategy to evaluate speech and language delays. It depicts age-specific linguistic/phonetic milestones and suggests interventions. The tool represents a practical interim treatment while the family is waiting for formal speech and language therapy consultation.

Early Language Abilities of High-Risk Infants.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hubatch, Leona M.; And Others

1985-01-01

Ten children with a history of prematurity and respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) were matched with 101 full-term controls in the single-word stage of language. Control subjects demonstrated superior performance on all receptive language and child verbosity measures despite their younger age. (Author/CL)

Rocking & Rolling: Supporting Infants, Toddlers, and Their Families. One Language, Two Languages, Three Languages . . . More?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Prieto, H. Victoria

2009-01-01

The belief that a child has to abandon his home language to learn English implies that the young brain has limited learning capacity. Early childhood teachers need to help families understand that children can learn two languages at the same time. What matters is that the infant/toddler is in an effective language-learning environment, whether it…

Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) in school-aged children with specific language impairment.

PubMed

Allen, Jessica; Marshall, Chloë R

2011-01-01

Parents play a critical role in their child's language development. Therefore, advising parents of a child with language difficulties on how to facilitate their child's language might benefit the child. Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) has been developed specifically for this purpose. In PCIT, the speech-and-language therapist (SLT) works collaboratively with parents, altering interaction styles to make interaction more appropriate to their child's level of communicative needs. This study investigates the effectiveness of PCIT in 8-10-year-old children with specific language impairment (SLI) in the expressive domain. It aimed to identify whether PCIT had any significant impact on the following communication parameters of the child: verbal initiations, verbal and non-verbal responses, mean length of utterance (MLU), and proportion of child-to-parent utterances. Sixteen children with SLI and their parents were randomly assigned to two groups: treated or delayed treatment (control). The treated group took part in PCIT over a 4-week block, and then returned to the clinic for a final session after a 6-week consolidation period with no input from the therapist. The treated and control group were assessed in terms of the different communication parameters at three time points: pre-therapy, post-therapy (after the 4-week block) and at the final session (after the consolidation period), through video analysis. It was hypothesized that all communication parameters would significantly increase in the treated group over time and that no significant differences would be found in the control group. All the children in the treated group made language gains during spontaneous interactions with their parents. In comparison with the control group, PCIT had a positive effect on three of the five communication parameters: verbal initiations, MLU and the proportion of child-to-parent utterances. There was a marginal effect on verbal responses, and a trend towards such an effect

Asking for Action or Information? Crosslinguistic Comparison of Interrogative Functions in Early Child Cantonese and Mandarin

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Li, Hui; Wong, Eileen Chin Mei; Tse, Shek Kam; Leung, Shing On; Ye, Qianling

2015-01-01

Request for information (RfI) is believed to be the universally dominant function of young children's questioning, whereas request for action (RfA) has been reported to be the leading interrogative form used in early child Cantonese. The possibility of crosslinguistic variability prompts further research and comparison with additional languages.…

Movement Based Language: The Van Dijk Model.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Magin, Kevin D.

The paper examines the development of language in the deaf blind child with emphasis on the child's motoric behavior and imitation as the initial step in language acquisition. Discussed are the following early developmental stages: symbionic (the close physical and emotional identification of child with the mother to be or new mother); resonance…

Child Care Effects in Context: Quality, Stability, and Multiplicity in Nonmaternal Child Care Arrangements during the First 15 Months of Life

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tran, Henry; Weinraub, Marsha

2006-01-01

Main and interactive effects of child care quality, stability, and multiplicity on infants' attachment security, language comprehension, language production, and cognitive development at 15 months were examined using data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Study of Early Child Care. Thirty-nine percent of the…

Using early standardized language measures to predict later language and early reading outcomes in children at high risk for language-learning impairments.

PubMed

Flax, Judy F; Realpe-Bonilla, Teresa; Roesler, Cynthia; Choudhury, Naseem; Benasich, April

2009-01-01

The aim of the study was to examine the profiles of children with a family history (FH+) of language-learning impairments (LLI) and a control group of children with no reported family history of LLI (FH-) and identify which language constructs (receptive or expressive) and which ages (2 or 3 years) are related to expressive and receptive language abilities, phonological awareness, and reading abilities at ages 5 and 7 years. Participants included 99 children (40 FH+ and 59 FH-) who received a standardized neuropsychological battery at 2, 3, 5, and 7 years of age. As a group, the FH+ children had significantly lower scores on all language measures at 2 and 3 years, on selected language and phonological awareness measures at 5 years, and on phonological awareness and nonword reading at 7 years. Language comprehension at 3 years was the best predictor of later language and early reading for both groups. These results support past work suggesting that children with a positive family history of LLI are at greater risk for future language and reading problems through their preschool and early school-age years. Furthermore, language comprehension in the early years is a strong predictor of future language-learning status.

Child-Adult Differences in Implicit and Explicit Second Language Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lichtman, Karen Melissa

2012-01-01

Mainstream linguistics has long held that there is a fundamental difference between adult and child language learning (Bley-Vroman, 1990; Johnson & Newport, 1989; DeKeyser, 2000; Paradis, 2004). This difference is often framed as a change from implicit language learning in childhood to explicit language learning in adulthood, which is…

Parents' Child-Directed Communication and Child Language Development: A Longitudinal Study with Italian Toddlers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Majorano, Marinella; Rainieri, Chiara; Corsano, Paola

2013-01-01

The present study focuses on the characteristics of parental child-directed communication and its relationship with child language development. For this purpose, thirty-six toddlers (18 males and 18 females) and their parents were observed in a laboratory during triadic free play at ages 1;3 and 1;9. The characteristics of the maternal and…

Speech and Language Development of the Preschool Child; A Survey.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McElroy, Colleen Wilkinson

Language acquisition and development by the child is explored and related to other areas of maturation and the environment. The nine chapters of the book are: I. Historical Perspective (discusses the student's attitude toward language, the effects of his attitude, factors that might hamper the study of language, and, briefly, various theories of…

Talking to children matters: Early language experience strengthens processing and builds vocabulary

PubMed Central

Weisleder, Adriana; Fernald, Anne

2016-01-01

Infants differ substantially in their rates of language growth, and slower growth predicts later academic difficulties. This study explored how the amount of speech to infants in Spanish-speaking families low in socioeconomic status (SES) influenced the development of children's skill in real-time language processing and vocabulary learning. All-day recordings of parent-infant interactions at home revealed striking variability among families in how much speech caregivers addressed to their child. Infants who experienced more child-directed speech became more efficient in processing familiar words in real time and had larger expressive vocabularies by 24 months, although speech simply overheard by the child was unrelated to vocabulary outcomes. Mediation analyses showed that the effect of child-directed speech on expressive vocabulary was explained by infants’ language-processing efficiency, suggesting that richer language experience strengthens processing skills that facilitate language growth. PMID:24022649

Deficits in Narrative Abilities in Child British Sign Language Users with Specific Language Impairment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Herman, Ros; Rowley, Katherine; Mason, Kathryn; Morgan, Gary

2014-01-01

This study details the first ever investigation of narrative skills in a group of 17 deaf signing children who have been diagnosed with disorders in their British Sign Language development compared with a control group of 17 deaf child signers matched for age, gender, education, quantity, and quality of language exposure and non-verbal…

Caught in the Middle: Child Language Brokering as a Form of Unrecognised Language Service

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Antonini, Rachele

2016-01-01

This paper will present the findings of a wide-scale research aimed at studying the phenomenon of Child Language Brokering (henceforth CLB) in Italy. After providing a description of recent immigration patterns and the provision of language services in Italy, and an overview of current research in this field, this study will discuss narrative data…

Using No Child Left Behind Waivers to Improve English Language Learner Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chang, Theodora

2012-01-01

The No Child Left Behind law fundamentally changed the expectations and data that schools should have for their English language learner students. The landmark 1974 Lau v. Nichols Supreme Court case concluded that students who speak English as a second language have a right to a "meaningful education." But No Child Left Behind--a…

Speech and language support: How physicians can identify and treat speech and language delays in the office setting

PubMed Central

Moharir, Madhavi; Barnett, Noel; Taras, Jillian; Cole, Martha; Ford-Jones, E Lee; Levin, Leo

2014-01-01

Failure to recognize and intervene early in speech and language delays can lead to multifaceted and potentially severe consequences for early child development and later literacy skills. While routine evaluations of speech and language during well-child visits are recommended, there is no standardized (office) approach to facilitate this. Furthermore, extensive wait times for speech and language pathology consultation represent valuable lost time for the child and family. Using speech and language expertise, and paediatric collaboration, key content for an office-based tool was developed. The tool aimed to help physicians achieve three main goals: early and accurate identification of speech and language delays as well as children at risk for literacy challenges; appropriate referral to speech and language services when required; and teaching and, thus, empowering parents to create rich and responsive language environments at home. Using this tool, in combination with the Canadian Paediatric Society’s Read, Speak, Sing and Grow Literacy Initiative, physicians will be better positioned to offer practical strategies to caregivers to enhance children’s speech and language capabilities. The tool represents a strategy to evaluate speech and language delays. It depicts age-specific linguistic/phonetic milestones and suggests interventions. The tool represents a practical interim treatment while the family is waiting for formal speech and language therapy consultation. PMID:24627648

The efficacy of early language intervention in mainstream school settings: a randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Fricke, Silke; Burgoyne, Kelly; Bowyer-Crane, Claudine; Kyriacou, Maria; Zosimidou, Alexandra; Maxwell, Liam; Lervåg, Arne; Snowling, Margaret J; Hulme, Charles

2017-10-01

Oral language skills are a critical foundation for literacy and more generally for educational success. The current study shows that oral language skills can be improved by providing suitable additional help to children with language difficulties in the early stages of formal education. We conducted a randomized controlled trial with 394 children in England, comparing a 30-week oral language intervention programme starting in nursery (N = 132) with a 20-week version of the same programme starting in Reception (N = 133). The intervention groups were compared to an untreated waiting control group (N = 129). The programmes were delivered by trained teaching assistants (TAs) working in the children's schools/nurseries. All testers were blind to group allocation. Both the 20- and 30-week programmes produced improvements on primary outcome measures of oral language skill compared to the untreated control group. Effect sizes were small to moderate (20-week programme: d = .21; 30-week programme: d = .30) immediately following the intervention and were maintained at follow-up 6 months later. The difference in improvement between the 20-week and 30-week programmes was not statistically significant. Neither programme produced statistically significant improvements in children's early word reading or reading comprehension skills (secondary outcome measures). This study provides further evidence that oral language interventions can be delivered successfully by trained TAs to children with oral language difficulties in nursery and Reception classes. The methods evaluated have potentially important policy implications for early education. © 2017 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

Child-Robot Interactions for Second Language Tutoring to Preschool Children

PubMed Central

Vogt, Paul; de Haas, Mirjam; de Jong, Chiara; Baxter, Peta; Krahmer, Emiel

2017-01-01

In this digital age social robots will increasingly be used for educational purposes, such as second language tutoring. In this perspective article, we propose a number of design features to develop a child-friendly social robot that can effectively support children in second language learning, and we discuss some technical challenges for developing these. The features we propose include choices to develop the robot such that it can act as a peer to motivate the child during second language learning and build trust at the same time, while still being more knowledgeable than the child and scaffolding that knowledge in adult-like manner. We also believe that the first impressions children have about robots are crucial for them to build trust and common ground, which would support child-robot interactions in the long term. We therefore propose a strategy to introduce the robot in a safe way to toddlers. Other features relate to the ability to adapt to individual children’s language proficiency, respond contingently, both temporally and semantically, establish joint attention, use meaningful gestures, provide effective feedback and monitor children’s learning progress. Technical challenges we observe include automatic speech recognition (ASR) for children, reliable object recognition to facilitate semantic contingency and establishing joint attention, and developing human-like gestures with a robot that does not have the same morphology humans have. We briefly discuss an experiment in which we investigate how children respond to different forms of feedback the robot can give. PMID:28303094

Child-Robot Interactions for Second Language Tutoring to Preschool Children.

PubMed

Vogt, Paul; de Haas, Mirjam; de Jong, Chiara; Baxter, Peta; Krahmer, Emiel

2017-01-01

In this digital age social robots will increasingly be used for educational purposes, such as second language tutoring. In this perspective article, we propose a number of design features to develop a child-friendly social robot that can effectively support children in second language learning, and we discuss some technical challenges for developing these. The features we propose include choices to develop the robot such that it can act as a peer to motivate the child during second language learning and build trust at the same time, while still being more knowledgeable than the child and scaffolding that knowledge in adult-like manner. We also believe that the first impressions children have about robots are crucial for them to build trust and common ground, which would support child-robot interactions in the long term. We therefore propose a strategy to introduce the robot in a safe way to toddlers. Other features relate to the ability to adapt to individual children's language proficiency, respond contingently, both temporally and semantically, establish joint attention, use meaningful gestures, provide effective feedback and monitor children's learning progress. Technical challenges we observe include automatic speech recognition (ASR) for children, reliable object recognition to facilitate semantic contingency and establishing joint attention, and developing human-like gestures with a robot that does not have the same morphology humans have. We briefly discuss an experiment in which we investigate how children respond to different forms of feedback the robot can give.

Cradling Literacy: Building Teachers' Skills to Nurture Early Language and Literacy from Birth to Five. A ZERO TO THREE Training Curriculum

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Im, Janice H.; Osborn, Carol A.; Sanchez, Sylvia Y.; Thorp, Eva K.

2007-01-01

"Cradling Literacy" provides field-tested instructional materials for instructors to help early childhood teachers develop knowledge and skills in nurturing early language and literacy in young children from birth to 5 years. The research and strategies presented in the instructional manual center on how child, parent, and teacher can work…

Evaluation of Child Care Subsidy Strategies: Massachusetts Family Child Care Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Collins, Ann; Goodson, Barbara; Luallen, Jeremy; Fountain, Alyssa Rulf; Checkoway, Amy

2010-01-01

This report presents findings from the Massachusetts Family Child Care study, a two-year evaluation of the impacts of an early childhood education program on providers and children in family child care. The program--"LearningGames"--is designed to train caregivers to stimulate children's cognitive, language, and social-emotional…

The Relationship between Early Language, Cognitive and Social Development through a Longitudinal Study of Autistic Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ogura, Tamiko

The development of and relationship between early language, symbolic play, sensorimotor skills, and social development were examined in a longitudinal study conducted in Japan with two young autistic males who were observed from the approximate ages of 2 to 4 years in clinic, day care, and home settings. One child acquired speech; the other did…

Cross-language synonyms in the lexicons of bilingual infants: one language or two?

PubMed

Pearson, B Z; Fernández, S; Oller, D K

1995-06-01

This study tests the widely-cited claim from Volterra & Taeschner (1978), which is reinforced by Clark's PRINCIPLE OF CONTRAST (1987), that young simultaneous bilingual children reject cross-language synonyms in their earliest lexicons. The rejection of translation equivalents is taken by Volterra & Taeschner as support for the idea that the bilingual child possesses a single-language system which includes elements from both languages. We examine first the accuracy of the empirical claim and then its adequacy as support for the argument that bilingual children do not have independent lexical systems in each language. The vocabularies of 27 developing bilinguals were recorded at varying intervals between ages 0;8 and 2;6 using the MacArthur CDI, a standardized parent report form in English and Spanish. The two single-language vocabularies of each bilingual child were compared to determine how many pairs of translation equivalents (TEs) were reported for each child at different stages of development. TEs were observed for all children but one, with an average of 30% of all words coded in the two languages, both at early stages (in vocabularies of 2-12 words) and later (up to 500 words). Thus, Volterra & Taeschner's empirical claim was not upheld. Further, the number of TEs in the bilinguals' two lexicons was shown to be similar to the number of lexical items which co-occurred in the monolingual lexicons of two different children, as observed in 34 random pairings for between-child comparisons. It remains to be shown, therefore, that the bilinguals' lexicons are not composed of two independent systems at a very early age. Furthermore, the results appear to rule out the operation of a strong principle of contrast across languages in early bilingualism.

Constructing Language: Evidence from a French-English Bilingual Child

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Macrory, Gee

2007-01-01

This paper presents evidence from a French-English bilingual child between the ages of two years three months and three years five months, growing up bilingually from birth, with a French mother and English father in an English speaking environment. In focussing upon questions in the child's two languages, and charting in some detail the emergence…

Does Improving Joint Attention in Low-Quality Child-Care Enhance Language Development?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rudd, Loretta C.; Cain, David W.; Saxon, Terrill F.

2008-01-01

This study examined effects of professional development for child-care staff on language acquisition of children ages 14-36 months. Child-care staff from 44 child-care centres agreed to participate in the study. Child-care staff from one-half of the child-care centres were randomly assigned to a one-time, four-hour workshop followed by three…

Early pragmatic language difficulties in siblings of children with autism: implications for DSM-5 social communication disorder?

PubMed

Miller, Meghan; Young, Gregory S; Hutman, Ted; Johnson, Scott; Schwichtenberg, A J; Ozonoff, Sally

2015-07-01

We evaluated early pragmatic language skills in preschool-age siblings of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and examined correspondence between pragmatic language impairments and general language difficulties, autism symptomatology, and clinical outcomes. Participants were younger siblings of children with ASD (high-risk, n = 188) or typical development (low-risk, n = 119) who were part of a prospective study of infants at risk for ASD; siblings without ASD outcomes were included in analyses. Pragmatic language skills were measured via the Language Use Inventory (LUI). At 36 months, the high-risk group had significantly lower parent-rated pragmatic language scores than the low-risk group. When defining pragmatic language impairment (PLI) as scores below the 10(th) percentile on the LUI, 35% of the high-risk group was identified with PLI versus 10% of the low-risk group. Children with PLI had higher rates of general language impairment (16%), defined as scores below the 10(th) percentile on the Receptive or Expressive Language subscales of the Mullen Scales of Early Learning, relative to those without PLI (3%), but most did not evidence general language impairments. Children with PLI had significantly higher ADOS scores than those without PLI and had higher rates of clinician-rated atypical clinical best estimate outcomes (49%) relative to those without PLI (15%). Pragmatic language problems are present in some siblings of children with ASD as early as 36 months of age. As the new DSM-5 diagnosis of Social (Pragmatic) Communication Disorder (SCD) is thought to occur more frequently in family members of individuals with ASD, it is possible that some of these siblings will meet criteria for SCD as they get older. Close monitoring of early pragmatic language development in young children at familial risk for ASD is warranted. © 2014 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

"It's the Way You Talk to Them." The Child's Environment: Early Years Practitioners' Perceptions of Its Influence on Speech and Language Development, Its Assessment and Environment Targeted Interventions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marshall, Julie; Lewis, Elizabeth

2014-01-01

Speech and language delay occurs in approximately 6% of the child population, and interventions to support this group of children focus on the child and/or the communicative environment. Evidence about the effectiveness of interventions that focus on the environment as well as the (reported) practices of speech and language therapists (SLTs) and…

Child language interventions in public health: a systematic literature review.

PubMed

De Cesaro, Bruna Campos; Gurgel, Léia Gonçalves; Nunes, Gabriela Pisoni Canedo; Reppold, Caroline Tozzi

2013-01-01

Systematically review the literature on interventions in children's language in primary health care. One searched the electronic databases (January 1980 to March 2013) MEDLINE (accessed by PubMed), Scopus, Lilacs and Scielo. The search terms used were "child language", "primary health care", "randomized controlled trial" and "intervention studies" (in English, Portuguese and Spanish). There were included any randomized controlled trials that addressed the issues child language and primary health care. The analysis was based on the type of language intervention conducted in primary health care. Seven studies were included and used intervention strategies such as interactive video, guidance for parents and group therapy. Individuals of both genders were included in the seven studies. The age of the children participant in the samples of the articles included in this review ranged from zero to 11 years. These seven studies used approaches that included only parents, parents and children or just children. The mainly intervention in language on primary health care, used in randomized controlled trials, involved the use of interactional video. Several professionals, beyond speech and language therapist, been inserted in the language interventions on primary health care, demonstrating the importance of interdisciplinary work. None of the articles mentioned aspects related to hearing. There was scarcity of randomized controlled trials that address on language and public health, either in Brazil or internationally.

Deficits in narrative abilities in child British Sign Language users with specific language impairment.

PubMed

Herman, Ros; Rowley, Katherine; Mason, Kathryn; Morgan, Gary

2014-01-01

This study details the first ever investigation of narrative skills in a group of 17 deaf signing children who have been diagnosed with disorders in their British Sign Language development compared with a control group of 17 deaf child signers matched for age, gender, education, quantity, and quality of language exposure and non-verbal intelligence. Children were asked to generate a narrative based on events in a language free video. Narratives were analysed for global structure, information content and local level grammatical devices, especially verb morphology. The language-impaired group produced shorter, less structured and grammatically simpler narratives than controls, with verb morphology particularly impaired. Despite major differences in how sign and spoken languages are articulated, narrative is shown to be a reliable marker of language impairment across the modality boundaries. © 2014 Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.

Factors influencing speech and language outcomes of children with early identified severe/profound hearing loss: Clinician-identified facilitators and barriers.

PubMed

Fulcher, Anne Nivelles; Purcell, Alison; Baker, Elise; Munro, Natalie

2015-06-01

Early identification of severe/profound childhood hearing loss (HL) gives these children access to hearing devices and early intervention to facilitate improved speech and language outcomes. Predicting which infants will go on to achieve such outcomes remains difficult. This study describes clinician identified malleable and non-malleable factors that may influence speech and language outcomes for children with severe/profound HL. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six experienced auditory verbal clinicians. A collective case study design was implemented. The interviews were transcribed and coded into themes using constant comparative analysis. Clinicians identified that, for children with severe/profound HL, early identification, early amplification and commencing auditory-verbal intervention under 6 months of age may facilitate child progress. Possible barriers were living in rural/remote areas, the clinicians' lack of experience and confidence in providing intervention for infants under age 6-months and belonging to a family with a culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) background. The results indicate that multiple factors need to be considered by clinicians working with children with HL and their families to determine how each child functions within their own environment and personal contexts, consistent with the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) framework. Such an approach is likely to empower clinicians to carefully balance potential barriers to, and facilitators of, optimal speech and language outcomes for all children with HL.

Prospective Relations between Maternal Autonomy Support and Child Executive Functioning: Investigating the Mediating Role of Child Language Ability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Matte-Gagne, Celia; Bernier, Annie

2011-01-01

Although emerging evidence suggests that parental behavior is related to the development of child executive functioning (EF), the mechanisms through which parenting affects child EF have yet to be investigated. The goal of this study was to examine the potential mediating role of child language in the prospective relation between maternal autonomy…

Early Sign Language Exposure and Cochlear Implantation Benefits.

PubMed

Geers, Ann E; Mitchell, Christine M; Warner-Czyz, Andrea; Wang, Nae-Yuh; Eisenberg, Laurie S

2017-07-01

Most children with hearing loss who receive cochlear implants (CI) learn spoken language, and parents must choose early on whether to use sign language to accompany speech at home. We address whether parents' use of sign language before and after CI positively influences auditory-only speech recognition, speech intelligibility, spoken language, and reading outcomes. Three groups of children with CIs from a nationwide database who differed in the duration of early sign language exposure provided in their homes were compared in their progress through elementary grades. The groups did not differ in demographic, auditory, or linguistic characteristics before implantation. Children without early sign language exposure achieved better speech recognition skills over the first 3 years postimplant and exhibited a statistically significant advantage in spoken language and reading near the end of elementary grades over children exposed to sign language. Over 70% of children without sign language exposure achieved age-appropriate spoken language compared with only 39% of those exposed for 3 or more years. Early speech perception predicted speech intelligibility in middle elementary grades. Children without sign language exposure produced speech that was more intelligible (mean = 70%) than those exposed to sign language (mean = 51%). This study provides the most compelling support yet available in CI literature for the benefits of spoken language input for promoting verbal development in children implanted by 3 years of age. Contrary to earlier published assertions, there was no advantage to parents' use of sign language either before or after CI. Copyright © 2017 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Language Acquisition in a Child with Cornelia De Lange Syndrome.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goodban, Marjorie T.

The paper describes a successful attempt to stimulate expressive language in Becky, a young child with Cornelia de Lange syndrome, a condition characterized by moderate to severe mental retardation, dwarfed stature, and excessive body hair. The child participated in infant stimulation and individual speech therapy and her expressive output has…

Accelerating Early Language Development with Multi-Sensory Training

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bjorn, Piia M.; Kakkuri, Irma; Karvonen, Pirkko; Leppanen, Paavo H. T.

2012-01-01

This paper reports the outcome of a multi-sensory intervention on infant language skills. A programme titled "Rhyming Game and Exercise Club", which included kinaesthetic-tactile mother-child rhyming games performed in natural joint attention situations, was intended to accelerate Finnish six- to eight-month-old infants' language development. The…

English Language Proficiency and Early School Attainment Among Children Learning English as an Additional Language.

PubMed

Whiteside, Katie E; Gooch, Debbie; Norbury, Courtenay F

2017-05-01

Children learning English as an additional language (EAL) often experience lower academic attainment than monolingual peers. In this study, teachers provided ratings of English language proficiency and social, emotional, and behavioral functioning for 782 children with EAL and 6,485 monolingual children in reception year (ages 4-5). Academic attainment was assessed in reception and Year 2 (ages 6-7). Relative to monolingual peers with comparable English language proficiency, children with EAL displayed fewer social, emotional, and behavioral difficulties in reception, were equally likely to meet curriculum targets in reception, and were more likely to meet targets in Year 2. Academic attainment and social, emotional, and behavioral functioning in children with EAL are associated with English language proficiency at school entry. © 2016 The Authors. Child Development published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society for Research in Child Development.

Roots and Rogues in German Child Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Duffield, Nigel

2008-01-01

This article is concerned with the proper characterization of subject omission at a particular stage in German child language. It focuses on post-verbal null subjects in finite clauses, here termed Rogues. It is argued that the statistically significant presence of Rogues, in conjunction with their distinct developmental profile, speaks against a…

Prenatal chemical exposures and child language development.

PubMed

Dzwilewski, Kelsey L C; Schantz, Susan L

2015-01-01

The goal of this review is to summarize the evidence that prenatal and/or early postnatal exposure to certain chemicals, both manmade (insulating materials, flame retardants, pesticides) and naturally occurring (e.g., lead, mercury), may be associated with delays or impairments in language development. We focus primarily on a subset of more extensively studied chemicals-polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), lead, and methyl mercury-for which a reasonable body of literature on neurodevelopmental outcomes is available. We also briefly summarize the smaller body of evidence for other chemicals including polybrominated diphenyl ether flame retardants (PBDEs) and organophosphate pesticides. Very few studies have used specific assessments of language development and function. Therefore, we included discussion of aspects of cognitive development such as overall intellectual functioning and verbal abilities that rely on language, as well as aspects of cognition such as verbal and auditory working memory that are critical underpinnings of language development. A high percentage of prospective birth cohort studies of PCBs, lead, and mercury have reported exposure-related reductions in overall IQ and/or verbal IQ that persist into middle or late childhood. Given these findings, it is important that clinicians and researchers in communication sciences and disorders are aware of the potential for environmental chemicals to impact language development. The goal of this review is to summarize the evidence that prenatal and/or early postnatal exposure to certain chemicals may be associated with delays or impairments in language development. Readers will gain an understanding of the literature suggesting that early exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), lead, and mercury may be associated with decrements in cognitive domains that depend on language or are critical for language development. We also briefly summarize the smaller body of evidence regarding polybrominated diphenyl

LANGUAGE AND COGNITION IN THE YOUNG CHILD.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

ANISFELD, MOSHE

THE LITERATURE ON INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT APPEARS TO ATTRIBUTE TO THE YOUNG CHILD A HIGH LEVEL OF LINGUISTIC DEVELOPMENT AND A RELATIVELY LOW LEVEL OF DEVELOPMENT IN OTHER COGNITIVE SPHERES. IN AN ATTEMPT TO RESOLVE THIS DISCREPANCY, THE AUTHOR ADVANCED THE HYPOTHESIS THAT THE DESCRIPTIONS OF LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT ARE BASED ON AN ANALYSIS OF THE…

Two functions of early language experience.

PubMed

Arshavsky, Yuri I

2009-05-01

The unique human ability of linguistic communication, defined as the ability to produce a practically infinite number of meaningful messages using a finite number of lexical items, is determined by an array of "linguistic" genes, which are expressed in neurons forming domain-specific linguistic centers in the brain. In this review, I discuss the idea that infants' early language experience performs two complementary functions. In addition to allowing infants to assimilate the words and grammar rules of their mother language, early language experience initiates genetic programs underlying language production and comprehension. This hypothesis explains many puzzling characteristics of language acquisition, such as the existence of a critical period for acquiring the first language and the absence of a critical period for the acquisition of additional language(s), a similar timetable for language acquisition in children belonging to families of different social and cultural status, the strikingly similar timetables in the acquisition of oral and sign languages, and the surprisingly small correlation between individuals' final linguistic competence and the intensity of their training. Based on the studies of microcephalic individuals, I argue that genetic factors determine not only the number of neurons and organization of interneural connections within linguistic centers, but also the putative internal properties of neurons that are not limited to their electrophysiological and synaptic properties.

Thirty-Five Years of Care of Child Language in Egypt

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kotby, M. Nasser; El-Sady, Safaa; Hegazi, Mona

2010-01-01

The team of the Unit of Phoniatrics and Logopedics of the Ain Shams University Clinic in Cairo, Egypt, has worked for three and half decades to spread awareness of child language disorders. This involved publications to inform the public, as well as health care professionals, about the needs of children with delayed language, through description…

Heterogeneity and plasticity in the development of language: a 17-year follow-up of children referred early for possible autism.

PubMed

Pickles, Andrew; Anderson, Deborah K; Lord, Catherine

2014-12-01

Delayed, abnormal language is a common feature of autism and language therapy often a significant component of recommended treatment. However, as with other disorders with a language component, we know surprisingly little about the language trajectories and how varied these might be across different children. Thus, we know little about how and when language problems might resolve, whether there are periods of relative stability or lack of change and what periods might offer more favourable circumstances for intervention. Expressive and receptive language was measured on six occasions between age 2 and 19 on a cohort of 192 children initially referred for autism. Latent class growth models were fitted to characterize the patterns of heterogeneous development. Latent class growth analysis identified seven classes. Between age 6 and 19, all classes tracked in parallel. Between ages 2 and 6, development was more heterogeneous with considerable variation in relative progress. In all groups, receptive and expressive language developed very largely in tandem. The results confirmed previous analysis of children with specific language impairment where progress beyond age 6 was remarkably uniform. Greater variation was evident before this age with some groups making clearly better or worse progress compared to others. While this developmental heterogeneity may simply be a reflection of variation in preexisting and unchanging biological disposition, it may also reflect, at least in part, greater sensitivity in the early years to environments that are more or less supportive of language development. These findings contribute to the case for the importance of early intervention. © 2014 The Authors. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

A randomized trial examining the effects of parent engagement on early language and literacy: the Getting Ready intervention.

PubMed

Sheridan, Susan M; Knoche, Lisa L; Kupzyk, Kevin A; Edwards, Carolyn Pope; Marvin, Christine A

2011-06-01

Language and literacy skills established during early childhood are critical for later school success. Parental engagement with children has been linked to a number of adaptive characteristics in preschoolers including language and literacy development, and family-school collaboration is an important contributor to school readiness. This study reports the results of a randomized trial of a parent engagement intervention designed to facilitate school readiness among disadvantaged preschool children, with a particular focus on language and literacy development. Participants included 217 children, 211 parents, and 29 Head Start teachers in 21 schools. Statistically significant differences in favor of the treatment group were observed between treatment and control participants in the rate of change over 2 academic years on teacher reports of children's language use (d=1.11), reading (d=1.25), and writing skills (d=0.93). Significant intervention effects on children's direct measures of expressive language were identified for a subgroup of cases where there were concerns about a child's development upon entry into preschool. Additionally, other child and family moderators revealed specific variables that influenced the treatment's effects. Copyright © 2011 Society for the Study of School Psychology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Family-centered early intervention: an opportunity for creative practice in speech-language pathology.

PubMed

Gillette, Y

1992-01-01

the family first, yet meets the needs of the child. Although alternative models of delivering speech-language service have been explored, the process of early intervention will continue to require professionals who can creatively match family priorities with the child's intervention needs.

Automatic generation of the index of productive syntax for child language transcripts.

PubMed

Hassanali, Khairun-nisa; Liu, Yang; Iglesias, Aquiles; Solorio, Thamar; Dollaghan, Christine

2014-03-01

The index of productive syntax (IPSyn; Scarborough (Applied Psycholinguistics 11:1-22, 1990) is a measure of syntactic development in child language that has been used in research and clinical settings to investigate the grammatical development of various groups of children. However, IPSyn is mostly calculated manually, which is an extremely laborious process. In this article, we describe the AC-IPSyn system, which automatically calculates the IPSyn score for child language transcripts using natural language processing techniques. Our results show that the AC-IPSyn system performs at levels comparable to scores computed manually. The AC-IPSyn system can be downloaded from www.hlt.utdallas.edu/~nisa/ipsyn.html .

Language Acquisition Patterns in Normal and Handicapped Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Warren, Steven F.; Rogers-Warren, Ann

Delayed language development is compared to normal development along six basic parameters, and the problem of language delay among handicapped children is addressed. Interaction characteristics that occur at an early stage between the mother and handicapped child are also reviewed, along with the way parents tend to compensate for their child's…

The Relative Importance of English versus Spanish Language Skills for Low-Income Latino English Language Learners' Early Language and Literacy Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sonnenschein, Susan; Metzger, Shari R.; Dowling, Rebecca; Baker, Linda

2017-01-01

The association between monolingual children's early language abilities and their later reading performance is well established. However, for English language learners, the pattern of associations between early language skills and later literacy is much less well understood for English language learners. This study examined language predictors of…

Assessing Child and Adolescent Pragmatic Language Competencies: Toward Evidence-Based Assessments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Russell, Robert L.; Grizzle, Kenneth L.

2008-01-01

Using language appropriately and effectively in social contexts requires pragmatic language competencies (PLCs). Increasingly, deficits in PLCs are linked to child and adolescent disorders, including autism spectrum, externalizing, and internalizing disorders. As the role of PLCs expands in diagnosis and treatment of developmental psychopathology,…

Are There Long-Term Effects of Early Child Care?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Belsky, Jay; Vandell, Deborah Lowe; Burchinal, Margaret; Clarke-Stewart, K. Alison; McCartney, Kathleen; Owen, Margaret Tresch

2007-01-01

Effects of early child care on children's functioning from 4 1/2 years through the end of 6th grade (M age=12.0 years) were examined in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (n=1,364). The results indicated that although parenting was a stronger and more consistent predictor of…

Language development of internationally adopted children: Adverse early experiences outweigh the age of acquisition effect.

PubMed

Rakhlin, Natalia; Hein, Sascha; Doyle, Niamh; Hart, Lesley; Macomber, Donna; Ruchkin, Vladislav; Tan, Mei; Grigorenko, Elena L

2015-01-01

We compared English language and cognitive skills between internationally adopted children (IA; mean age at adoption=2.24, SD=1.8) and their non-adopted peers from the US reared in biological families (BF) at two time points. We also examined the relationships between outcome measures and age at initial institutionalization, length of institutionalization, and age at adoption. On measures of general language, early literacy, and non-verbal IQ, the IA group performed significantly below their age-peers reared in biological families at both time points, but the group differences disappeared on receptive vocabulary and kindergarten concept knowledge at the second time point. Furthermore, the majority of children reached normative age expectations between 1 and 2 years post-adoption on all standardized measures. Although the age at adoption, age of institutionalization, length of institutionalization, and time in the adoptive family all demonstrated significant correlations with one or more outcome measures, the negative relationship between length of institutionalization and child outcomes remained most robust after controlling for the other variables. Results point to much flexibility and resilience in children's capacity for language acquisition as well as the potential primacy of length of institutionalization in explaining individual variation in IA children's outcomes. (1) Readers will be able to understand the importance of pre-adoption environment on language and early literacy development in internationally adopted children. (2) Readers will be able to compare the strength of the association between the length of institutionalization and language outcomes with the strength of the association between the latter and the age at adoption. (3) Readers will be able to understand that internationally adopted children are able to reach age expectations on expressive and receptive language measures despite adverse early experiences and a replacement of their first

Language-Independent and Language-Specific Aspects of Early Literacy: An Evaluation of the Common Underlying Proficiency Model.

PubMed

Goodrich, J Marc; Lonigan, Christopher J

2017-08-01

According to the common underlying proficiency model (Cummins, 1981), as children acquire academic knowledge and skills in their first language, they also acquire language-independent information about those skills that can be applied when learning a second language. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relevance of the common underlying proficiency model for the early literacy skills of Spanish-speaking language-minority children using confirmatory factor analysis. Eight hundred fifty-eight Spanish-speaking language-minority preschoolers (mean age = 60.83 months, 50.2% female) participated in this study. Results indicated that bifactor models that consisted of language-independent as well as language-specific early literacy factors provided the best fits to the data for children's phonological awareness and print knowledge skills. Correlated factors models that only included skills specific to Spanish and English provided the best fits to the data for children's oral language skills. Children's language-independent early literacy skills were significantly related across constructs and to language-specific aspects of early literacy. Language-specific aspects of early literacy skills were significantly related within but not across languages. These findings suggest that language-minority preschoolers have a common underlying proficiency for code-related skills but not language-related skills that may allow them to transfer knowledge across languages.

The Development of Language Behavior in an Autistic Child Using a Total Communication Approach.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cohen, Morris

Following a review of the literature, the paper describes a total communication approach to the language development of a 4-year-old autistic child. It is explained that the child was videotaped while being trained to simultaneously use elements of American sign language together with the correct spoken word or words. Training procedures are…

Early Language Learning and Literacy: Neuroscience Implications for Education

PubMed Central

Kuhl, Patricia K.

2011-01-01

The last decade has produced an explosion in neuroscience research examining young children’s early processing of language that has implications for education. Noninvasive, safe functional brain measurements have now been proven feasible for use with children starting at birth. In the arena of language, the neural signatures of learning can be documented at a remarkably early point in development, and these early measures predict performance in children’s language and pre-reading abilities in the second, third, and fifth year of life, a finding with theoretical and educational import. There is evidence that children’s early mastery of language requires learning in a social context, and this finding also has important implications for education. Evidence relating socio-economic status (SES) to brain function for language suggests that SES should be considered a proxy for the opportunity to learn and that the complexity of language input is a significant factor in developing brain areas related to language. The data indicate that the opportunity to learn from complex stimuli and events are vital early in life, and that success in school begins in infancy. PMID:21892359

Prenatal mercury exposure, maternal seafood consumption and associations with child language at five years.

PubMed

Vejrup, Kristine; Brandlistuen, Ragnhild Eek; Brantsæter, Anne Lise; Knutsen, Helle Katrine; Caspersen, Ida Henriette; Alexander, Jan; Lundh, Thomas; Meltzer, Helle Margrete; Magnus, Per; Haugen, Margaretha

2018-01-01

Methyl mercury (MeHg) is a well-known neurotoxin and evidence suggests that also low level exposure may affect prenatal neurodevelopment. Uncertainty exists as to whether the maternal MeHg burden in Norway might affect child neurodevelopment. To evaluate the association between prenatal mercury exposure, maternal seafood consumption and child language and communication skills at age five. The study sample comprised 38,581 mother-child pairs in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study. Maternal mercury blood concentration in gestational week 17 was analysed in a sub-sample of 2239 women. Prenatal mercury exposure from maternal diet was calculated from a validated FFQ answered in mid-pregnancy. Mothers reported children's language and communications skills at age five by a questionnaire including questions from the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ), the Speech and Language Assessment Scale (SLAS) and the Twenty Statements about Language-Related Difficulties (language 20). We performed linear regression analyses adjusting for maternal characteristics, nutritional status and socioeconomic factors. Median maternal blood mercury concentration was 1.03μg/L, dietary mercury exposure was 0.15μg/kgbw/wk, and seafood intake was 217g/wk. Blood mercury concentrations were not associated with any language and communication scales. Increased dietary mercury exposure was significantly associated with improved SLAS scores when mothers had a seafood intake below 400g/wk in the adjusted analysis. Sibling matched analysis showed a small significant adverse association between those above the 90th percentile dietary mercury exposure and the SLAS scores. Maternal seafood intake during pregnancy was positively associated with the language and communication scales. Low levels of prenatal mercury exposure were positively associated with language and communication skills at five years. However, the matched sibling analyses suggested an adverse association between mercury and child

Associations among Head Start Fathers' Involvement with Their Preschoolers and Child Language Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fagan, Jay; Iglesias, Aquiles; Kaufman, Rebecca

2016-01-01

This study examined the associations among child language competence during father-child play interactions, fathers' time spent volunteering in their preschool-age child's Head Start classroom over the course of one school year, amount of father play and reading to the child at home, and fathers' positive control during play. The sample of 68…

Mitigating the Effects of Family Poverty on Early Child Development through Parenting Interventions in Primary Care.

PubMed

Cates, Carolyn Brockmeyer; Weisleder, Adriana; Mendelsohn, Alan L

2016-04-01

Poverty related disparities in early child development and school readiness are a major public health crisis, the prevention of which has emerged in recent years as a national priority. Interventions targeting parenting and the quality of the early home language environment are at the forefront of efforts to address these disparities. In this article we discuss the innovative use of the pediatric primary care platform as part of a comprehensive public health strategy to prevent adverse child development outcomes through the promotion of parenting. Models of interventions in the pediatric primary care setting are discussed with evidence of effectiveness reviewed. Taken together, a review of this significant body of work shows the tremendous potential to deliver evidence-based preventive interventions to families at risk for poverty related disparities in child development and school readiness at the time of pediatric primary care visits. We also addresss considerations related to scaling and maximizing the effect of pediatric primary care parenting interventions and provide key policy recommendations. Copyright © 2016 Academic Pediatric Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Conversational Language Use as a Predictor of Early Reading Development: Language History as a Moderating Variable

PubMed Central

DeThorne, Laura Segebart; Petrill, Stephen A.; Schatschneider, Chris; Cutting, Laurie

2010-01-01

Purpose The present study examined the nature of concurrent and predictive associations between conversational language use and reading development during early school-age years. Method Language and reading data from 380 twins in the Western Reserve Reading Project were examined via phenotypic correlations and multilevel modeling on exploratory latent factors. Results In the concurrent prediction of children’s early reading abilities, a significant interaction emerged between children’s conversational language abilities and their history of reported language difficulties. Specifically, conversational language concurrently predicted reading development above and beyond variance accounted for by formal vocabulary scores, but only in children with a history of reported language difficulties. A similar trend was noted in predicting reading skills 1 year later, but the interaction was not statistically significant. Conclusions Findings suggest a more nuanced view of the association between spoken language and early reading than is commonly proposed. One possibility is that children with and without a history of reported language difficulties rely on different skills, or the same skills to differing degrees, when completing early reading-related tasks. Future studies should examine the causal link between conversational language and early reading specifically in children with a history of reported language difficulties. PMID:20150410

Beyond Baby Talk: From Sounds to Sentences--A Parent's Complete Guide to Language Development.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Apel, Kenn; Masterson, Julie J.

Noting that the early years of a child's life are the most critical for speech and language development and that parents are the child's primary language role model, this book is designed to help parents become knowledgeable on the topic of child language development during their first six years. Chapter 1 covers the infant's first year and the…

Equity Starts Early: Addressing Racial Inequities in Child Care and Early Education Policy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson-Staub, Christine

2017-01-01

Child care and early education policies are shaped by a history of systemic and structural racism. This has created major racial disparities in children's access to quality child care that meets their cultural and linguistic needs and enables their parents to work. Early care and education workers are overwhelmingly in low-quality jobs with…

Child-Staff Ratios in Early Childhood Education and Care Settings and Child Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

PubMed

Perlman, Michal; Fletcher, Brooke; Falenchuk, Olesya; Brunsek, Ashley; McMullen, Evelyn; Shah, Prakesh S

2017-01-01

Child-staff ratios are a key quality indicator in early childhood education and care (ECEC) programs. Better ratios are believed to improve child outcomes by increasing opportunities for individual interactions and educational instruction from staff. The purpose of this systematic review, and where possible, meta-analysis, was to evaluate the association between child-staff ratios in preschool ECEC programs and children's outcomes. Searches of Medline, PsycINFO, ERIC, websites of large datasets and reference sections of all retrieved articles were conducted up to July 3, 2015. Cross-sectional or longitudinal studies that evaluated the relationship between child-staff ratios in ECEC classrooms serving preschool aged children and child outcomes were independently identified by two reviewers. Data were independently extracted from included studies by two raters and differences between raters were resolved by consensus. Searches revealed 29 eligible studies (31 samples). Child-staff ratios ranged from 5 to 14.5 preschool-aged children per adult with a mean of 8.65. All 29 studies were included in the systematic review. However, the only meta-analysis that could be conducted was based on three studies that explored associations between ratios and children's receptive language. Results of this meta-analysis were not significant. Results of the qualitative systematic review revealed few significant relationships between child-staff ratios and child outcomes construed broadly. Thus, the available literature reveal few, if any, relationships between child-staff ratios in preschool ECEC programs and children's developmental outcomes. Substantial heterogeneity in the assessment of ratios, outcomes measured, and statistics used to capture associations limited quantitative synthesis. Other methodological limitations of the research integrated in this synthesis are discussed.

Child-Staff Ratios in Early Childhood Education and Care Settings and Child Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

PubMed Central

Perlman, Michal; Fletcher, Brooke; Falenchuk, Olesya; Brunsek, Ashley; McMullen, Evelyn; Shah, Prakesh S.

2017-01-01

Child-staff ratios are a key quality indicator in early childhood education and care (ECEC) programs. Better ratios are believed to improve child outcomes by increasing opportunities for individual interactions and educational instruction from staff. The purpose of this systematic review, and where possible, meta-analysis, was to evaluate the association between child-staff ratios in preschool ECEC programs and children’s outcomes. Searches of Medline, PsycINFO, ERIC, websites of large datasets and reference sections of all retrieved articles were conducted up to July 3, 2015. Cross-sectional or longitudinal studies that evaluated the relationship between child-staff ratios in ECEC classrooms serving preschool aged children and child outcomes were independently identified by two reviewers. Data were independently extracted from included studies by two raters and differences between raters were resolved by consensus. Searches revealed 29 eligible studies (31 samples). Child-staff ratios ranged from 5 to 14.5 preschool-aged children per adult with a mean of 8.65. All 29 studies were included in the systematic review. However, the only meta-analysis that could be conducted was based on three studies that explored associations between ratios and children’s receptive language. Results of this meta-analysis were not significant. Results of the qualitative systematic review revealed few significant relationships between child-staff ratios and child outcomes construed broadly. Thus, the available literature reveal few, if any, relationships between child-staff ratios in preschool ECEC programs and children’s developmental outcomes. Substantial heterogeneity in the assessment of ratios, outcomes measured, and statistics used to capture associations limited quantitative synthesis. Other methodological limitations of the research integrated in this synthesis are discussed. PMID:28103288

Early motor development and later language and reading skills in children at risk of familial dyslexia.

PubMed

Viholainen, Helena; Ahonen, Timo; Lyytinen, Paula; Cantell, Marja; Tolvanen, Asko; Lyytinen, Heikki

2006-05-01

Relationships between early motor development and language and reading skills were studied in 154 children, of whom 75 had familial risk of dyslexia (37 females, 38 males; at-risk group) and 79 constituted a control group (32 females, 47 males). Motor development was assessed by a structured parental questionnaire during the child's first year of life. Vocabulary and inflectional morphology skills were used as early indicators of language skills at 3 years 6 months and 5 years or 5 years 6 months of age, and reading speed was used as a later indicator of reading skills at 7 years of age. The same subgroups as in our earlier study (in which the cluster analysis was described) were used in this study. The three subgroups of the control group were 'fast motor development', 'slow fine motor development', and 'slow gross motor development', and the two subgroups of the at-risk group were 'slow motor development' and 'fast motor development'. A significant difference was found between the development of expressive language skills. Children with familial risk of dyslexia and slow motor development had a smaller vocabulary with poorer inflectional skills than the other children. They were also slower in their reading speed at the end of the first grade at the age of 7 years. Two different associations are discussed, namely the connection between early motor development and language development, and the connection between early motor development and reading speed.

A minority perspective in the diagnosis of child language disorders.

PubMed

Seymour, H N; Bland, L

1991-01-01

The effective diagnosis and treatment of persons from diverse minority language backgrounds has become an important issue in the field of speech and language pathology. Yet, many SLPs have had little or no formal training in minority language, there is a paucity of normative data on language acquisition in minority groups, and there are few standardized speech and language tests appropriate for these groups. We described a diagnostic process that addresses these problems. The diagnostic protocol we have proposed for a child from a Black English-speaking background characterizes many of the major issues in treating minority children. In summary, we proposed four assessment strategies: gathering referral source data; making direct observations; using standardized tests of non-speech and language behavior (cognition, perception, motor, etc.); and eliciting language samples and probes.

Child gender influences paternal behavior, language, and brain function

PubMed Central

Mascaro, Jennifer S.; Rentscher, Kelly E.; Hackett, Patrick D.; Mehl, Matthias R.; Rilling, James K.

2017-01-01

Multiple lines of research indicate that fathers often treat boys and girls differently in ways that impact child outcomes. The complex picture that has emerged, however, is obscured by methodological challenges inherent to the study of parental caregiving, and no studies to date have examined the possibility that gender differences in observed real-world paternal behavior are related to differential paternal brain responses to male and female children. Here we compare fathers of daughters and fathers of sons in terms of naturalistically observed everyday caregiving behavior and neural responses to child picture stimuli. Compared to fathers of sons, fathers of daughters were more attentively engaged with their daughters, sang more to their daughters, used more analytical language and language related to sadness and the body with their daughters, and had a stronger neural response to their daughter’s happy facial expressions in areas of the brain important for reward and emotion regulation (medial and lateral orbitofrontal cortex [OFC]). In contrast, fathers of sons engaged in more rough and tumble play (RTP), used more achievement language with their sons, and had a stronger neural response to their son’s neutral facial expressions in the medial OFC (mOFC). Whereas the mOFC response to happy faces was negatively related to RTP, the mOFC response to neutral faces was positively related to RTP, specifically for fathers of boys. These results indicate that real world paternal behavior and brain function differ as a function of child gender. PMID:28541079

Early declarative memory predicts productive language: A longitudinal study of deferred imitation and communication at 9 and 16months.

PubMed

Sundqvist, Annette; Nordqvist, Emelie; Koch, Felix-Sebastian; Heimann, Mikael

2016-11-01

Deferred imitation (DI) may be regarded as an early declarative-like memory ability shaping the infant's ability to learn about novelties and regularities of the surrounding world. In the current longitudinal study, infants were assessed at 9 and 16months. DI was assessed using five novel objects. Each infant's communicative development was measured by parental questionnaires. The results indicate stability in DI performance and early communicative development between 9 and 16months. The early achievers at 9months were still advanced at 16months. Results also identified a predictive relationship between the infant's gestural development at 9months and the infant's productive and receptive language at 16months. Moreover, the results show that declarative memory, measured with DI, and gestural communication at 9months independently predict productive language at 16months. These findings suggest a connection between the ability to form non-linguistic and linguistic mental representations. These results indicate that the child's DI ability when predominantly preverbal might be regarded as an early domain-general declarative memory ability underlying early productive language development. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Language Arts: Exceptional Child Education Curriculum K-12.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Curran, Teresa; And Others

The Exceptional Child Education (ECE) program of Jefferson County Public Schools in Louisville, Kentucky, presents this language arts curriculum for use with K-12 students who have learning problems. The ECE program uses the curriculum and materials of the general education program whenever appropriate, but has access to special instructional…

Early Career Elementary Mathematics Teachers' Noticing Related to Language and Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Turner, Erin Elizabeth; McDuffie, Amy Roth; Sugimoto, Amanda Tori; Stoehr, Kathleen Jablon; Witters, Angela; Aguirre, Julia; Bartell, Tonya; Drake, Corey; Foote, Mary Q.

2016-01-01

There has been limited attention to early career teachers' (ECTs) understandings and practices related to language in teaching and learning mathematics. In this qualitative case study, we drew upon frameworks for teacher noticing to study the language practices of six early career elementary and middle school mathematics teachers. We describe…

Quality of caregiver-child play interactions with toddlers born preterm and full term: Antecedents and language outcome.

PubMed

Loi, Elizabeth C; Vaca, Kelsey E C; Ashland, Melanie D; Marchman, Virginia A; Fernald, Anne; Feldman, Heidi M

2017-12-01

Preterm birth may leave long-term effects on the interactions between caregivers and children. Language skills are sensitive to the quality of caregiver-child interactions. Compare the quality of caregiver-child play interactions in toddlers born preterm (PT) and full term (FT) at age 22months (corrected for degree of prematurity) and evaluate the degree of association between caregiver-child interactions, antecedent demographic and language factors, and subsequent language skill. A longitudinal descriptive cohort study. 39 PT and 39 FT toddlers individually matched on sex and socioeconomic status (SES). The outcome measures were dimensions of caregiver-child interactions, rated from a videotaped play session at age 22months in relation to receptive language assessments at ages 18 and 36months. Caregiver intrusiveness was greater in the PT than FT group. A composite score of child interactional behaviors was associated with a composite score of caregiver interactional behaviors. The caregiver composite measure was associated with later receptive vocabulary at 36months. PT-FT group membership did not moderate the association between caregiver interactional behavior and later receptive vocabulary. The quality of caregiver interactional behavior had similar associations with concurrent child interactional behavior and subsequent language outcome in the PT and FT groups. Greater caregiver sensitivity/responsiveness, verbal elaboration, and less intrusiveness support receptive language development in typically developing toddlers and toddlers at risk for language difficulty. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Causal effects on child language development: A review of studies in communication sciences and disorders.

PubMed

Rogers, Clare R; Nulty, Karissa L; Betancourt, Mariana Aparicio; DeThorne, Laura S

2015-01-01

We reviewed recent studies published across key journals within the field of communication sciences and disorders (CSD) to survey what causal influences on child language development were being considered. Specifically, we reviewed a total of 2921 abstracts published within the following journals between 2003 and 2013: Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools (LSHSS); American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology (AJSLP); Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research (JSLHR); Journal of Communication Disorders (JCD); and the International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders (IJLCD). Of the 346 eligible articles that addressed causal factors on child language development across the five journals, 11% were categorized as Genetic (37/346), 83% (287/346) were categorized as Environmental, and 6% (22/346) were categorized as Mixed. The bulk of studies addressing environmental influences focused on therapist intervention (154/296=52%), family/caregiver linguistic input (65/296=22%), or family/caregiver qualities (39/296=13%). A more in-depth review of all eligible studies published in 2013 (n=34) revealed that family/caregiver qualities served as the most commonly controlled environmental factor (e.g., SES) and only 3 studies explicitly noted the possibility of gene-environment interplay. This review highlighted the need to expand the research base for the field of CSD to include a broader range of environmental influences on child language development (e.g., diet, toxin exposure, stress) and to consider more directly the complex and dynamic interplay between genetic and environmental effects. Readers will be able to highlight causal factors on child language development that have been studied over the past decade in CSD and recognize additional influences worthy of consideration. In addition, readers will become familiar with basic tenets of developmental systems theory, including the complex interplay between genetic and environmental factors

A Case Study: A Guide to Working with a Language Impaired Child.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sapir, Selma G.; Rainho, Sergio

The document presents the case study of the interaction of a graduate student in traning, her supervisor, an 8 year old child with a language learning problem, and the child's mother. It involves a process which entails the careful matching of the child to tutor, the tutor to supervisor, and intensive work with the mother. It also is based on what…

Our Blind Child: Bringing Up a Blind Child During Its Early Years.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pielasch, Helmut, Ed.; And Others

The document contains 10 author contributed chapters (in four languages) which resulted from a 1976 international symposium on problems concerning the preschool education of blind children and the guidance of their parents. Chapters have the following titles (with authors and nationality in parentheses): "Development of the Blind Child"…

Setting Limits: The Child Who Uses Inappropriate Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Greenberg, Polly

2004-01-01

This article discusses how to work with a child who uses inappropriate language. The words inappropriately used by young children are grouped into five categories: (1) names of body parts considered as private, and their nicknames; (2) bathroom words and body products; (3) religion-related words; (4) sexually charged words overheard when adults…

Peer Tutoring with Child-Centered Play Therapy Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vavreck, Sarah; Esposito, Judy

2012-01-01

The focus of this paper is on responses from fifth grade peer tutors who were trained to use child-centered play therapy language during tutoring sessions with kindergarteners. The focus of this project was to identify academic and social/emotional benefits of participating in the program. Results indicated that participation in the program…

The Role of Early Language Difficulties in the Trajectories of Conduct Problems Across Childhood.

PubMed

Yew, Shaun Goh Kok; O'Kearney, Richard

2015-11-01

This study uses latent growth curve modelling to contrast the developmental trajectories of conduct problems across childhood for children with early language difficulties (LD) and those with typical language (TL). It also examines whether the presence of early language difficulties moderates the influence of child, parent and peers factors known to be associated with the development of conduct problems. Unconditional and language status conditional latent growth curves of conduct problems were estimated for a nationally representative cohort of children, comprising of 1627 boys (280 LD) and 1609 girls (159 LD) measured at ages 4-5, 6-7, 8-9 and 10-11. Multiple regression tested interaction between language status and predictors of the level and slope of the development of conduct symptoms. On average, children's conduct problems followed a curvilinear decrease. Compared to their TL peers, LD boys and girls had trajectories of conduct problems that had the same shape but with persistently higher levels. Among boys, LD amplified the contributions of parental hostility and SES and protected against the contributions of sociability and maternal psychological distress to a high level of conduct problems. In low SES boys, LD was a vulnerability to a slower rate of decline in conduct problems. Among girls, LD amplified the contributions of low pro-social behaviour to a higher level and sociability to a slower rate of decline of conduct problems while dampening the contribution of peer problems to a higher level of problems.

Naturalistic Language Intervention in Inclusive Environments.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lowenthal, Barbara

1995-01-01

This review considers use of natural language instruction by early childhood teachers for children with language disabilities in inclusive environments. The following factors are addressed: child-centered approach, family involvement, classroom strategies, activity-based intervention, environmental influences, the function of play, preliteracy…

The Mexican American Child: Language, Cognition, and Social Development.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Garcia, Eugene E., Ed.

The nine articles are divided into three general topics: language, cognition, and social development. Eduardo Hernandez-Chavez discusses strategies in early second language acquisition and their implications for bilingual instruction. Eugene E. Garcia, Lento Maez, and Gustavo Gonzales examine the incidence of language switching in Spanish/English…

Otitis Media in Early Childhood and Later Language.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roberts, Joanne E.; And Others

1991-01-01

The relationship between early otitis media with effusion (OME) and later language development was examined in a prospective cohort of 30 children from middle class families and 33 children from low income families. Findings suggested no reliable relationship between early OME experience and later language development. (Author/DB)

Quality Early Education and Child Care From Birth to Kindergarten.

PubMed

Donoghue, Elaine A

2017-08-01

High-quality early education and child care for young children improves physical and cognitive outcomes for the children and can result in enhanced school readiness. Preschool education can be viewed as an investment (especially for at-risk children), and studies show a positive return on that investment. Barriers to high-quality early childhood education include inadequate funding and staff education as well as variable regulation and enforcement. Steps that have been taken to improve the quality of early education and child care include creating multidisciplinary, evidence-based child care practice standards; establishing state quality rating and improvement systems; improving federal and state regulations; providing child care health consultation; as well as initiating other innovative partnerships. Pediatricians have a role in promoting quality early education and child care for all children not only in the medical home but also at the community, state, and national levels. Copyright © 2017 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

The Influence of Maternal Pragmatics on the Language Skills of Children with Autism.

PubMed

Stern, Yael S; Maltman, Nell; Roberts, Megan Y

2017-06-01

This study examined the relationship between mothers' pragmatics and child language in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and non-ASD language delay (LD) mother-child dyads. Participants consisted of 20 dyads of mothers and their toddlers aged 24 to 48 months, with ASD (n = 10) or non-ASD LD (n = 10). Groups were matched on child chronological age, language, and cognition. Maternal pragmatic language was qualified based on the degree of pragmatic violations during a semistructured interview, and was examined in relation to both child language, as measured by the Preschool Language Scale-4 and maternal use of language facilitation strategies during play. Lower rates of maternal pragmatic violations were associated with higher expressive language scores in children with ASD, and with higher receptive language scores for children with non-ASD LD. Within ASD dyads, maternal pragmatic violations were negatively related to mothers' use of linguistic expansions. These findings indicate that parental pragmatics likely contribute to early language learning, and that the effects of maternal pragmatics on early language in ASD may be indirect (e.g., through parents' use of facilitative strategies). Parent-mediated language interventions for ASD should therefore consider parent pragmatics, especially given that pragmatic differences have been identified in unaffected family members of individuals with ASD.

The Influence of Maternal Pragmatics on the Language Skills of Children with Autism

PubMed Central

Stern, Yael S.; Maltman, Nell; Roberts, Megan Y.

2017-01-01

Objective This study examined the relationship between mothers’ pragmatics and child language in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and non-ASD language delay (LD) mother-child dyads. Methods Participants consisted of 20 dyads of mothers and their toddlers aged 24 to 48 months, with ASD (n = 10) or non-ASD LD (n = 10). Groups were matched on child chronological age, language, and cognition. Maternal pragmatic language was qualified based on the degree of pragmatic violations during a semistructured interview, and was examined in relation to both child language, as measured by the Preschool Language Scale-4 and maternal use of language facilitation strategies during play. Results Lower rates of maternal pragmatic violations were associated with higher expressive language scores in children with ASD, and with higher receptive language scores for children with non-ASD LD. Within ASD dyads, maternal pragmatic violations were negatively related to mothers’ use of linguistic expansions. Conclusion These findings indicate that parental pragmatics likely contribute to early language learning, and that the effects of maternal pragmatics on early language in ASD may be indirect (e.g., through parents’ use of facilitative strategies). Parent-mediated language interventions for ASD should therefore consider parent pragmatics, especially given that pragmatic differences have been identified in unaffected family members of individuals with ASD. PMID:28514238

Teacher-Child Relationships in Preschool Period: The Roles of Child Temperament and Language Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yoleri, Sibel

2016-01-01

The aim of this study was to determine how children's temperament and language skills predict the effects of teacher-child relationships in preschool. Parents and preschool teachers completed three questionnaires: The Student-Teacher Relationship Scale, the Marmara Development Scale and the Short Temperament Scale for Children. The relational…

Child gender influences paternal behavior, language, and brain function.

PubMed

Mascaro, Jennifer S; Rentscher, Kelly E; Hackett, Patrick D; Mehl, Matthias R; Rilling, James K

2017-06-01

Multiple lines of research indicate that fathers often treat boys and girls differently in ways that impact child outcomes. The complex picture that has emerged, however, is obscured by methodological challenges inherent to the study of parental caregiving, and no studies to date have examined the possibility that gender differences in observed real-world paternal behavior are related to differential paternal brain responses to male and female children. Here we compare fathers of daughters and fathers of sons in terms of naturalistically observed everyday caregiving behavior and neural responses to child picture stimuli. Compared with fathers of sons, fathers of daughters were more attentively engaged with their daughters, sang more to their daughters, used more analytical language and language related to sadness and the body with their daughters, and had a stronger neural response to their daughter's happy facial expressions in areas of the brain important for reward and emotion regulation (medial and lateral orbitofrontal cortex [OFC]). In contrast, fathers of sons engaged in more rough and tumble play (RTP), used more achievement language with their sons, and had a stronger neural response to their son's neutral facial expressions in the medial OFC (mOFC). Whereas the mOFC response to happy faces was negatively related to RTP, the mOFC response to neutral faces was positively related to RTP, specifically for fathers of boys. These results indicate that real-world paternal behavior and brain function differ as a function of child gender. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Mother-child language style matching predicts children's and mothers' emotion reactivity.

PubMed

Rasmussen, Hannah F; Borelli, Jessica L; Smiley, Patricia A; Cohen, Chloe; Cheung, Ryan Cheuk Ming; Fox, Schuyler; Marvin, Matthew; Blackard, Betsy

2017-05-15

Co-regulation of behavior occurring within parent-child attachment relationships is thought to be the primary means through which children develop the capacity to regulate emotion, an ability that is protective across development. Existing research on parent-child co-regulation focuses predominantly on parent-infant dyads, and operationalizes co-regulation as the matching of facial expressions; however, matching can occur on other behaviors, including vocal tone, body movement, and language. Studies with young children find that greater matching is associated with children's lower emotion reactivity, but with unknown impacts on parents. In this study we examine a recently-developed metric of behavioral matching, language style matching (LSM), a composite measure of the similarity of function word use in spoken or written language between two or more people. We test whether LSM between mothers and their school-aged children is associated with children's and mothers' physiological and subjective emotion reactivity. Children completed a standardized stressor task while their mothers observed; children's and mother's cortisol and cardiovascular reactivity were assessed, as were their subjective reports of emotion reactivity. Following the stressor, children and mothers completed independent interviews about the experience, later assessed for LSM. Higher mother-child LSM was associated with lower emotion reactivity (lower cortisol reactivity, lower reports of negative emotion) for children, and with higher maternal cardiovascular but not cortisol or subjective reactivity. Further, higher LSM was more strongly associated with lower child cortisol reactivity when mothers were more reactive themselves. We conclude that mother-child LSM, thought to reflect a history of co-regulated interaction, confers protective benefits for children, but heightened reactivity for mothers. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Speech-Language Pathology: Preparing Early Interventionists

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Prelock, Patricia A.; Deppe, Janet

2015-01-01

The purpose of this article is to explain the role of speech-language pathology in early intervention. The expected credentials of professionals in the field are described, and the current numbers of practitioners serving young children are identified. Several resource documents available from the American Speech-­Language Hearing Association are…

Executive Function in Adolescence: Associations with Child and Family Risk Factors and Self-Regulation in Early Childhood.

PubMed

Berthelsen, Donna; Hayes, Nicole; White, Sonia L J; Williams, Kate E

2017-01-01

Executive functions are important higher-order cognitive skills for goal-directed thought and action. These capacities contribute to successful school achievement and lifelong wellbeing. The importance of executive functions to children's education begins in early childhood and continues throughout development. This study explores contributions of child and family factors in early childhood to the development of executive function in adolescence. Analyses draw on data from the nationally representative study, Growing up in Australia: The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children . Participants are 4819 children in the Kindergarten Cohort who were recruited at age 4-5 years. Path analyses were employed to examine contributions of early childhood factors, including family socio-economic position (SEP), parenting behaviors, maternal mental health, and a child behavioral risk index, to the development of executive function in adolescence. The influence of children's early self-regulatory behaviors (attentional regulation at 4-5 years and approaches to learning at 6-7 years) were also taken into account. A composite score for the outcome measure of executive function was constructed from scores on three Cogstate computerized tasks for assessing cognition and measured visual attention, visual working memory, and spatial problem-solving. Covariates included child gender, age at assessment of executive function, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status, speaking a language other than English at home, and child's receptive vocabulary skills. There were significant indirect effects involving child and family risk factors measured at 4-5 years on executive function at age 14-15 years, mediated by measures of self-regulatory behavior. Child behavioral risk, family SEP and parenting behaviors (anger, warmth, and consistency) were associated with attentional regulation at 4-5 years which, in turn, was significantly associated with approaches to learning at 6-7 years. Both

Relationship between the linguistic environments and early bilingual language development of hearing children in deaf-parented families.

PubMed

Kanto, Laura; Huttunen, Kerttu; Laakso, Marja-Leena

2013-04-01

We explored variation in the linguistic environments of hearing children of Deaf parents and how it was associated with their early bilingual language development. For that purpose we followed up the children's productive vocabulary (measured with the MCDI; MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory) and syntactic complexity (measured with the MLU10; mean length of the 10 longest utterances the child produced during videorecorded play sessions) in both Finnish Sign Language and spoken Finnish between the ages of 12 and 30 months. Additionally, we developed new methodology for describing the linguistic environments of the children (N = 10). Large variation was uncovered in both the amount and type of language input and language acquisition among the children. Language exposure and increases in productive vocabulary and syntactic complexity were interconnected. Language acquisition was found to be more dependent on the amount of exposure in sign language than in spoken language. This was judged to be related to the status of sign language as a minority language. The results are discussed in terms of parents' language choices, family dynamics in Deaf-parented families and optimal conditions for bilingual development.

Automated Analysis of Child Phonetic Production Using Naturalistic Recordings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Xu, Dongxin; Richards, Jeffrey A.; Gilkerson, Jill

2014-01-01

Purpose: Conventional resource-intensive methods for child phonetic development studies are often impractical for sampling and analyzing child vocalizations in sufficient quantity. The purpose of this study was to provide new information on early language development by an automated analysis of child phonetic production using naturalistic…

Early exposure to media violence and later child adjustment.

PubMed

Fitzpatrick, Caroline; Barnett, Tracie; Pagani, Linda S

2012-05-01

The extent to which early childhood exposure to violent media is associated with subsequent adverse child functioning remains disconcerting. In this study, we examine whether preschool child exposure to what parents generally characterize as violent television programming predicts a range of second-grade mental health outcomes. Participants are from the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development (N = 1786). At 41 and 53 months, parents reported whether the child had viewed television shows and videos consisting of what they judged as violent content. According to parents, children watched on average 1.8 hours of mixed programming per day. Parent-reported child exposure to televised violence was associated with teacher-reported antisocial symptoms (β = 0.180, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.026-0.333), emotional distress (β = 0.224, 95% CI: 0.010-0.438), inattention (β = 0.349, 95% CI: 0.048-0.651), and lower global academic achievement (β = -0.127, 95% CI: -0.237-0.017) in second grade. Violent televiewing was also associated with less child-reported academic self-concept (β = -0.175, 95% CI: -0.296-0.053) and intrinsic motivation (β = -0.162, 95% CI: -0.016-0.307) in second grade. Effects remained significant after adjusting for preexisting child and family characteristics such as baseline child aggression. This prospective study suggests risks associated with early childhood violent media exposure for long-term mental health in children. These findings, suggesting diffusive relationships between early childhood violent media exposure and negative socioemotional and academic outcomes, empirically support the notion that access to early childhood violent television represents a threat to population health and should be discouraged by adult caregivers.

Supporting Child Participation in the Early Years of Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sturges, Marion

2015-01-01

This paper aims to contribute to conversations around child participation within early childhood settings in Australia. Ethnographic approach was used for this study to explore child participatory workshops in Early Childhood Centers. The center in which this study took place was chosen as one of the sites of analysis for a broader PhD research…

Assessing Home Environment for Early Child Development in Pakistan

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nadeem, Sanober; Rafique, Ghazala; Khowaja, Liaquat; Yameen, Anjum

2014-01-01

Family environment plays a very important role in early child development and the availability of stimulating material in the early years of a child's life is crucial for optimising development. The Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME) inventory is one of the most widely used measures to assess the quality and quantity of…

The contribution of early language development to children's emotional and behavioural functioning at 6 years: an analysis of data from the Children in Focus sample from the ALSPAC birth cohort.

PubMed

Clegg, Judy; Law, James; Rush, Robert; Peters, Tim J; Roulstone, Susan

2015-01-01

An association between children's early language development and their emotional and behavioural functioning is reported in the literature. The nature of the association remains unclear and it has not been established if such an association is found in a population-based cohort in addition to clinical populations. This study examines the reported association between language development and emotional and behavioural functioning in a population-based cohort. Data from 1,314 children in the Children in Focus (CiF) sample from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) were analysed. Regression models identified the extent to which early language ability at 2 years of age and later language ability at 4 years of age is associated with emotional and behavioural functioning at 6 years while accounting for biological and social risk and adjusting for age and performance intelligence (PIQ). A series of univariable and multivariable analyses identified a strong influence of biological risk, social risk and early and later language ability to emotional and behavioural functioning. Interestingly, social risk dropped out of the multivariate analyses when age and PIQ were controlled for. Early expressive vocabulary at 2 years and receptive language at 4 years made a strong contribution to emotional and behavioural functioning at 6 years in addition to biological risk. The final model accounted for 11.6% of the variance in emotional and behavioural functioning at 6 years. The study identified that early language ability at 2 years, specifically expressive vocabulary and later receptive language at 4 years both made a moderate, but important contribution to emotional and behavioural functioning at 6 years of age. Although children's language development is important in understanding children's emotional and behavioural functioning, the study shows that it is one of many developmental factors involved. © 2014 The Authors. Journal of Child Psychology and

Beginning Literacy with Language: Young Children Learning at Home and School.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dickinson, David K., Ed.; Tabors, Patton O., Ed.

Based on findings of the Home-School Study of Language and Literacy Development, this book examines the relationship between early parent-child and teacher-child interactions and children's kindergarten language and literacy skills. Participating in the study were more than 70 young children from diverse backgrounds whose home and school…

GESTURE'S ROLE IN CREATING AND LEARNING LANGUAGE.

PubMed

Goldin-Meadow, Susan

2010-09-22

Imagine a child who has never seen or heard language. Would such a child be able to invent a language? Despite what one might guess, the answer is "yes". This chapter describes children who are congenitally deaf and cannot learn the spoken language that surrounds them. In addition, the children have not been exposed to sign language, either by their hearing parents or their oral schools. Nevertheless, the children use their hands to communicate--they gesture--and those gestures take on many of the forms and functions of language (Goldin-Meadow 2003a). The properties of language that we find in these gestures are just those properties that do not need to be handed down from generation to generation, but can be reinvented by a child de novo. They are the resilient properties of language, properties that all children, deaf or hearing, come to language-learning ready to develop. In contrast to these deaf children who are inventing language with their hands, hearing children are learning language from a linguistic model. But they too produce gestures, as do all hearing speakers (Feyereisen and de Lannoy 1991; Goldin-Meadow 2003b; Kendon 1980; McNeill 1992). Indeed, young hearing children often use gesture to communicate before they use words. Interestingly, changes in a child's gestures not only predate but also predict changes in the child's early language, suggesting that gesture may be playing a role in the language-learning process. This chapter begins with a description of the gestures the deaf child produces without speech. These gestures assume the full burden of communication and take on a language-like form--they are language. This phenomenon stands in contrast to the gestures hearing speakers produce with speech. These gestures share the burden of communication with speech and do not take on a language-like form--they are part of language.

Early Postimplant Speech Perception and Language Skills Predict Long-Term Language and Neurocognitive Outcomes Following Pediatric Cochlear Implantation

PubMed Central

Kronenberger, William G.; Castellanos, Irina; Pisoni, David B.

2017-01-01

Purpose We sought to determine whether speech perception and language skills measured early after cochlear implantation in children who are deaf, and early postimplant growth in speech perception and language skills, predict long-term speech perception, language, and neurocognitive outcomes. Method Thirty-six long-term users of cochlear implants, implanted at an average age of 3.4 years, completed measures of speech perception, language, and executive functioning an average of 14.4 years postimplantation. Speech perception and language skills measured in the 1st and 2nd years postimplantation and open-set word recognition measured in the 3rd and 4th years postimplantation were obtained from a research database in order to assess predictive relations with long-term outcomes. Results Speech perception and language skills at 6 and 18 months postimplantation were correlated with long-term outcomes for language, verbal working memory, and parent-reported executive functioning. Open-set word recognition was correlated with early speech perception and language skills and long-term speech perception and language outcomes. Hierarchical regressions showed that early speech perception and language skills at 6 months postimplantation and growth in these skills from 6 to 18 months both accounted for substantial variance in long-term outcomes for language and verbal working memory that was not explained by conventional demographic and hearing factors. Conclusion Speech perception and language skills measured very early postimplantation, and early postimplant growth in speech perception and language, may be clinically relevant markers of long-term language and neurocognitive outcomes in users of cochlear implants. Supplemental materials https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.5216200 PMID:28724130

How Early Child Care Affects Later Development. Science Briefs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, 2007

2007-01-01

"Science Briefs" summarize the findings and implications of a recent study in basic science or clinical research. This brief reports on the study "Are there Long-Term Effects of Early Child Care?" (J. Belsky, D. L. Vandell, M. Burchinal, K. A. Clarke-Stewart, K. McCartney, M. T. Owen, M. T., and The NICHD Early Child Care Research Network).…

Abusive early child rearing and early childhood aggression.

PubMed

Herrenkohl, R C; Russo, M J

2001-02-01

Childhood aggression is significant for children, their families, and the society because aggressive children often become violent adolescents. This article examines the relationship between maltreatment and early childhood aggression. Data are from a longitudinal study of maltreated and nonmaltreated children assessed as preschoolers and again at school age. The dependent variable is the child's teacher's rating of aggression at school age. The independent variables are from preschool and school age observations of the mother-child interaction and the mother's report of physical discipline practices. Using structural equation modeling, harshness of interaction at preschool age but not school age and severity of physical discipline at school age but not preschool age, relate to aggression at school age. Results suggest a difference in the developmental stage at which different features of harsh child rearing exert their influence. Strategies for intervening to prevent the development of childhood aggression are suggested.

Child first language and adult second language are both tied to general-purpose learning systems.

PubMed

Hamrick, Phillip; Lum, Jarrad A G; Ullman, Michael T

2018-02-13

Do the mechanisms underlying language in fact serve general-purpose functions that preexist this uniquely human capacity? To address this contentious and empirically challenging issue, we systematically tested the predictions of a well-studied neurocognitive theory of language motivated by evolutionary principles. Multiple metaanalyses were performed to examine predicted links between language and two general-purpose learning systems, declarative and procedural memory. The results tied lexical abilities to learning only in declarative memory, while grammar was linked to learning in both systems in both child first language and adult second language, in specific ways. In second language learners, grammar was associated with only declarative memory at lower language experience, but with only procedural memory at higher experience. The findings yielded large effect sizes and held consistently across languages, language families, linguistic structures, and tasks, underscoring their reliability and validity. The results, which met the predicted pattern, provide comprehensive evidence that language is tied to general-purpose systems both in children acquiring their native language and adults learning an additional language. Crucially, if language learning relies on these systems, then our extensive knowledge of the systems from animal and human studies may also apply to this domain, leading to predictions that might be unwarranted in the more circumscribed study of language. Thus, by demonstrating a role for these systems in language, the findings simultaneously lay a foundation for potentially important advances in the study of this critical domain.

Traces of an Early Learned Second Language in Discontinued Bilingualism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sadat, Jasmin; Pureza, Rita; Alario, F.-Xavier

2016-01-01

Can an early learned second language influence speech production after living many years in an exclusively monolingual environment? To address this issue, we investigated the consequences of discontinued early bilingualism in heritage speakers who moved abroad and switched language dominance from the second to the primary learned language. We used…

Determinants of early child development in rural Tanzania.

PubMed

Ribe, Ingeborg G; Svensen, Erling; Lyngmo, Britt A; Mduma, Estomih; Hinderaker, Sven G

2018-01-01

It has been estimated that more than 200 million children under the age of five do not reach their full potential in cognitive development. Much of what we know about brain development is based on research from high-income countries. There is limited evidence on the determinants of early child development in low-income countries, especially rural sub-Saharan Africa. The present study aimed to identify the determinants of cognitive development in children living in villages surrounding Haydom, a rural area in north-central Tanzania. This cohort study is part of the MAL-ED (The Interactions of Malnutrition & Enteric Infections: Consequences for Child Health and Development) multi-country consortium studying risk factors for ill health and poor development in children. Descriptive analysis and linear regression analyses were performed. Associations between nutritional status, socio-economic status, and home environment at 6 months of age and cognitive outcomes at 15 months of age were studied. The third edition of the Bayley Scales for Infant and Toddler Development was used to assess cognitive, language and motor development. There were 262 children enrolled into the study, and this present analysis included the 137 children with data for 15-month Bayley scores. Univariate regression analysis, weight-for-age and weight-for-length z-scores at 6 months were significantly associated with 15-month Bayley gross motor score, but not with other 15-month Bayley scores. Length-for-age z-scores at 6 months were not significantly associated with 15-month Bayley scores. The socio-economic status, measured by a set of assets and monthly income was significantly associated with 15-month Bayley cognitive score, but not with language, motor, nor total 15-month Bayley scores. Other socio-economic variables were not significantly associated with 15-month Bayley scores. No significant associations were found between the home environment and 15-month Bayley scores. In multivariate

Mothers' and Fathers' Support for Child Autonomy and Early School Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Developmental Psychology, 2008

2008-01-01

Data were analyzed from 641 children and their families in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development to test the hypotheses that in the early school years, mothers' and fathers' sensitive support for autonomy in observed parent-child interactions would each make unique predictions…

Caregiver Talk to Young Spanish-English Bilinguals: Comparing Direct Observation and Parent-Report Measures of Dual-Language Exposure

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marchman, Virginia A.; Martínez, Lucía Z.; Hurtado, Nereyda; Grüter, Theres; Fernald, Anne

2017-01-01

In research on language development by bilingual children, the early language environment is commonly characterized in terms of the relative amount of exposure a child gets to each language based on parent report. Little is known about how absolute measures of child-directed speech in two languages relate to language growth. In this study of…

Early Child Care and Adolescent Functioning at the End of High School: Results from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vandell, Deborah Lowe; Burchinal, Margaret; Pierce, Kim M.

2016-01-01

Relations between early child care and adolescent functioning at the end of high school (EOHS; M age = 18.3 years) were examined in a prospective longitudinal study of 1,214 children. Controlling for extensive measures of family background, early child care was associated with academic standing and behavioral adjustment at the EOHS. More…

Child, family, and neighborhood associations with parent and peer interactive play during early childhood.

PubMed

Kenney, Mary Kay

2012-04-01

To examine national patterns of peer and parent interactive play opportunities that enhance early learning/socialization. Bivariate and multivariable analyses of cross-sectional data on 22,797 children aged 1-5 years from the National Survey of Children's Health 2007 were performed to determine the child, family, and neighborhood factors associated with four parent-initiated activities. Outcomes measures included time (days/week) children spent: participating in peer play; being read to; sung to/told stories; and taken on family outings. Covariates included race/ethnicity, poverty, TV watching, childcare, child and maternal physical and mental health, family factors (structure, size, language, stress, education), and neighborhood factors (amenities, support, physical condition, safety). According to adjusted regression models, minority children from lower income, non-English-speaking households with limited education, poorer maternal health and greater parenting stress were read to/told stories less than children without these characteristics, while neighborhood factors exerted less influence. In contrast, significant reductions in days/week of peer play were associated with unsupportive neighborhoods and those with the poorest physical conditions and limited amenities. Likewise, reductions in outings were associated with fewer neighborhood amenities. The findings of this study indicate that a variety of child, family, and neighborhood factors are associated with parent-initiated behaviors such as reading, storytelling, peer interactive play, and family outings. Appropriate evidence-based home visiting interventions targeting child health, parenting skills, early childhood education, and social services in at-risk communities would appear to be appropriate vehicles for addressing such parent-initiated play activities that have the potential to enhance development.

From Early Starters to Late Finishers? A Longitudinal Study of Early Foreign Language Learning in School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jaekel, Nils; Schurig, Michael; Florian, Merle; Ritter, Markus

2017-01-01

Foreign language education has now been implemented at the elementary school level across Europe, and early foreign language education has gained traction following language policies set by the European Commission. The long-term effects of an early start, however, have not received ample scientific scrutiny. The present study assessed early…

Temperamental and Joint Attentional Predictors of Language Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Salley, Brenda J.; Dixon, Wallace E., Jr.

2007-01-01

Individual differences in child temperament have been associated with individual differences in language development. Similarly, relationships have been reported between early nonverbal social communication (joint attention) and both temperament and language. The present study examined whether individual differences in joint attention might…

The Relationship between Language and Culture

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, Wendy; Lorenzo-Hubert, Isabella

2008-01-01

This article was adapted from the chapter "Culture and Parental Expectations for Child Development: Concerns for Language Development and Early Learning" in "Learning to Read the World: Language and Literacy in the First Three Years" (see ED493629), published by "ZERO TO THREE." The authors describe how cultural expectations for children's…

Second Language Learning by Young Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

California Child Development Programs Advisory Committee, Sacramento.

Six papers presented at a conference on early childhood first and second language acquisition sponsored by the California state legislature's Child Development Programs Advisory Committee include: "Bilingual Development and the Education of Bilingual Children During Early Childhood" (Eugene E. Garcia); "An English-Only Preschool Program" (William…

Chaos, Poverty, and Parenting: Predictors of Early Language Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vernon-Feagans, Lynne; Garrett-Peters, Patricia; Willoughby, Michael; Mills-Koonce, Roger

2012-01-01

Studies have shown that distal family risk factors like poverty and maternal education are strongly related to children's early language development. Yet, few studies have examined these risk factors in combination with more proximal day-to-day experiences of children that might be critical to understanding variation in early language. Young…

"Is That What We Do?" Using a Conversation-Analytic Approach to Highlight the Contribution of Dialogic Reading Strategies to Educator-Child Interactions during Storybook Reading in Two Early Childhood Settings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cohrssen, Caroline; Niklas, Frank; Tayler, Collette

2016-01-01

In Australia, much emphasis in early childhood education is placed on the importance of supporting young children's literacy development, and book-reading occurs frequently during typical early-childhood education and care programmes. Reading a story to a child presents an opportunity for rich language-learning through reciprocal and extended…

Language learning, socioeconomic status, and child-directed speech.

PubMed

Schwab, Jessica F; Lew-Williams, Casey

2016-07-01

Young children's language experiences and language outcomes are highly variable. Research in recent decades has focused on understanding the extent to which family socioeconomic status (SES) relates to parents' language input to their children and, subsequently, children's language learning. Here, we first review research demonstrating differences in the quantity and quality of language that children hear across low-, mid-, and high-SES groups, but also-and perhaps more importantly-research showing that differences in input and learning also exist within SES groups. Second, in order to better understand the defining features of 'high-quality' input, we highlight findings from laboratory studies examining specific characteristics of the sounds, words, sentences, and social contexts of child-directed speech (CDS) that influence children's learning. Finally, after narrowing in on these particular features of CDS, we broaden our discussion by considering family and community factors that may constrain parents' ability to participate in high-quality interactions with their young children. A unification of research on SES and CDS will facilitate a more complete understanding of the specific means by which input shapes learning, as well as generate ideas for crafting policies and programs designed to promote children's language outcomes. WIREs Cogn Sci 2016, 7:264-275. doi: 10.1002/wcs.1393 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The Development of Early Childhood Teachers' Language Knowledge in Different Educational Tracks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Strohmer, Janina; Mischo, Christoph

2015-01-01

Early childhood teachers should have extensive knowledge about language and language development, because these facets of professional knowledge are considered as important requirements for fostering language development in early childhood education settings. It is assumed that early childhood teachers acquire this knowledge during pre-service…

Assessing recall in mothers' retrospective reports: concerns over children's speech and language development.

PubMed

Russell, Ginny; Miller, Laura L; Ford, Tamsin; Golding, Jean

2014-01-01

Retrospective recall about children's symptoms is used to establish early developmental patterns in clinical practice and is also utilised in child psychopathology research. Some studies have indicated that the accuracy of retrospective recall is influenced by life events. Our hypothesis was that an intervention: speech and language therapy, would adversely affect the accuracy of parent recall of early concerns about their child's speech and language development. Mothers (n = 5,390) reported on their child's speech development (child male to female ratio = 50:50) when their children were aged 18 or 30 months, and also reported on these early concerns retrospectively, 10 years later, when their children were 13 years old. Overall reliability of retrospective recall was good, 86 % of respondents accurately recalling their earlier concerns. As hypothesised, however, the speech and language intervention was strongly associated with inaccurate retrospective recall about concerns in the early years (Relative Risk Ratio = 19.03; 95 % CI:14.78-24.48). Attendance at speech therapy was associated with increased recall of concerns that were not reported at the time. The study suggests caution is required when interpreting retrospective reports of abnormal child development as recall may be influenced by intervening events.

Maternal Education, Early Child Care and the Reproduction of Advantage

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Augustine, Jennifer March; Cavanagh, Shannon E.; Crosnoe, Robert

2009-01-01

The social and human capital that educational attainment provides women enables them to better navigate their children's passages through school. In this study, we examine a key mechanism in this intergenerational process: mothers' selection of early child care. Analyses of the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development revealed that…

Effects of maternal sensitivity and cognitive and linguistic stimulation on cochlear implant users' language development over four years.

PubMed

Quittner, Alexandra L; Cruz, Ivette; Barker, David H; Tobey, Emily; Eisenberg, Laurie S; Niparko, John K

2013-02-01

To examine the effects of observed maternal sensitivity (MS), cognitive stimulation (CS), and linguistic stimulation on the 4-year growth of oral language in young, deaf children receiving a cochlear implant. Previous studies of cochlear implants have not considered the effects of parental behaviors on language outcomes. In this prospective, multisite study, we evaluated parent-child interactions during structured and unstructured play tasks and their effects on oral language development in 188 deaf children receiving a cochlear implant and 97 normal-hearing children as controls. Parent-child interactions were rated on a 7-point scale using the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development's Early Childcare Study codes, which have well-established psychometric properties. Language was assessed using the MacArthur Bates Communicative Development Inventories, the Reynell Developmental Language Scales, and the Comprehensive Assessment of Spoken Language. We used mixed longitudinal modeling to test our hypotheses. After accounting for early hearing experience and child and family demographics, MS and CS predicted significant increases in the growth of oral language. Linguistic stimulation was related to language growth only in the context of high MS. The magnitude of effects of MS and CS on the growth of language was similar to that found for age at cochlear implantation, suggesting that addressing parenting behaviors is a critical target for early language learning after implantation. Copyright © 2013 Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

An Analysis of Child Caregivers' Language during Book Sharing with Toddler-Age Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rhyner, Paula M.

2007-01-01

Increasing enrollment in childcare centers has led to questions about the extent to which those environments foster child development in areas such as language. This study examined the language of childcare center caregivers during book sharing with children to describe caregivers' use of linguistic structures (declarative, imperative, and …

Study of child language development and disorders in Iran: A systematic review of the literature.

PubMed

Kazemi, Yalda; Stringer, Helen; Klee, Thomas

2015-01-01

Child language development and disorder in Iran has been the focus for research by different professions, the most prominent ones among them being psychologists and speech therapists. Epidemiological studies indicate that between 8% and 12% of children show noticeable signs of language impairment in the preschool years; however, research on child language in Iran is not extensive compared to studies in English speaking countries, which are currently the basis of clinical decision-making in Iran. Consequently, there is no information about the prevalence of child language disorders in Iranian population. This review summarizes Iranian studies on child language development and disorder in the preschool years and aims to systematically find the most studied topics in the field of normal development, the assessment and diagnosis of language impairments as well as exploring the current gaps within the body of literature. Three main Iranian academic websites of indexed articles along with four other nonIranian databases were scrutinized for all relevant articles according to the inclusion criteria: Iranian studies within the field of Persian language development and disorders in preschool children published up to December 2013. They are classified according to the hierarchy of evidence and weighed against the criteria of critical appraisal of study types. As this is a type of nonintervention systematic review, the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses is modified to be more compatible to the designs of eligible studies, including descriptive studies, test-developing and/or diagnostic studies. Several limitations made the process of searching and retrieving problematic; e.g., lack of unified keywords and incompatibility of Persian typing structure embedded in Iranian search engines. Overall, eligible studies met the criteria up to the third level of the hierarchy of evidence that shows the necessity of conducting studies with higher levels of

Assessing Linguistic Competence: Verbal Inflection in Child Tamil

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lakshmanan, Usha

2006-01-01

Within child language acquisition research, there has been a fair amount of controversy regarding children's knowledge of the grammatical properties associated with verbal inflection (e.g., tense, agreement, and aspect). Some researchers have proposed that the child's early grammar is fundamentally different from the adult grammar, whereas others…

Clarifying Parent-Child Reciprocities during Early Childhood: The Early Childhood Coercion Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Scaramella, Laura V.; Leve, Leslie D.

2004-01-01

Consistent with existing theory, the quality of parent-child interactions during early childhood affects children's social relationships and behavioral adjustment during middle childhood and adolescence. Harsh parenting and a propensity toward emotional overarousal interact very early in life to affect risk for later conduct problems. Less…

Your Laptop to the Rescue: Using the Child Language Data Exchange System Archive and CLAN Utilities to Improve Child Language Sample Analysis.

PubMed

Ratner, Nan Bernstein; MacWhinney, Brian

2016-05-01

In this article, we review the advantages of language sample analysis (LSA) and explain how clinicians can make the process of LSA faster, easier, more accurate, and more insightful than LSA done "by hand" by using free, available software programs such as Computerized Language Analysis (CLAN). We demonstrate the utility of CLAN analysis in studying the expressive language of a very large cohort of 24-month-old toddlers tracked in a recent longitudinal study; toddlers in particular are the most likely group to receive LSA by clinicians, but existing reference "norms" for this population are based on fairly small cohorts of children. Finally, we demonstrate how a CLAN utility such as KidEval can now extract potential normative data from the very large number of corpora now available for English and other languages at the Child Language Data Exchange System project site. Most of the LSA measures that we studied appear to show developmental profiles suggesting that they may be of specifically higher value for children at certain ages, because they do not show an even developmental trajectory from 2 to 7 years of age. Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

Language Brokering, Autonomy, Parent-Child Bonding, Biculturalism, and Depression: A Study of Mexican American Adolescents from Immigrant Families

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Love, Julia A.; Buriel, Raymond

2007-01-01

This study examines the relationship between language brokering, parent-child bonding, perceived autonomy, biculturalism, and depression for Mexican American adolescents. It was hypothesized that adolescent language brokers who reported a strong parent-child bond and high levels of psychological autonomy, privilege, and responsibility would also…

The Role of Oral Language Interactions in English Literacy Learning: A Case Study of a First Grade Korean Child

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Kwangok

2011-01-01

This paper is a qualitative case study of a Korean first grade child. The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the nature of a first grade Korean child's oral language interactions with teachers, parents, peers, and community members and to examine how a child's oral language impacts his literacy learning in English. The data were…

Measuring the Quality of Teacher-Child Interactions in Toddler Child Care

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thomason, Amy C.; La Paro, Karen M.

2009-01-01

Research Findings: The toddler stage is a unique developmental period of early childhood. During this stage, children are developing autonomy, self-regulation, and language capabilities through interactions with significant adults in their lives. Increasing numbers of toddlers are being enrolled in child care. This article focuses on the need to…

Early Foreign Language Learning: The Biological Perspective.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peltzer-Karpf, Annemarie

A discussion of the biological and developmental issues in early second language learning first looks at psycholinguistic research on brain growth patterns and the relationship of first and second language learning. Focus is on three phenomena observed in the self-organization of living systems: selection of input data; organization of specialized…

Bilingual Mothers' Language Choice in Child-directed Speech: Continuity and Change.

PubMed

De Houwer, Annick; Bornstein, Marc H

2016-01-01

An important aspect of Family Language Policy in bilingual families is parental language choice. Little is known about the continuity in parental language choice and the factors affecting it. This longitudinal study explores maternal language choice over time. Thirty-one bilingual mothers provided reports of what language(s) they spoke with their children. Mother-child interactions were videotaped when children were pre-verbal (5M), producing words in two languages (20M), and fluent speakers (53M). All children had heard two languages from birth in the home. Most mothers reported addressing children in the same single language. Observational data confirmed mothers' use of mainly a single language in interactions with their children, but also showed the occasional use of the other language in over half the sample when children were 20 months. Once children were 53 months mothers again used only the same language they reported speaking to children. These findings reveal a possible effect of children's overall level of language development and demonstrate the difficulty of adhering to a strict "one person, one language" policy. The fact that there was longitudinal continuity in the language most mothers mainly spoke with children provided children with cumulative language input learning opportunities.

Quality of early maternal-child relationship and risk of adolescent obesity.

PubMed

Anderson, Sarah E; Gooze, Rachel A; Lemeshow, Stanley; Whitaker, Robert C

2012-01-01

The goal of this study was to determine whether obesity in adolescence is related to the quality of the early maternal-child relationship. We analyzed data from 977 of 1364 participants in the Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. Child attachment security and maternal sensitivity were assessed by observing mother-child interaction at 15, 24, and 36 months of age. A maternal-child relationship quality score was constructed as the number of times across the 3 ages that the child was either insecurely attached or experienced low maternal sensitivity. Adolescent obesity was defined as a measured BMI ≥95th percentile at age 15 years. Poor-quality maternal-child relationships (score: ≥3) were experienced by 24.7% of children compared with 22.0% who, at all 3 ages, were neither insecurely attached nor exposed to low maternal sensitivity (score: 0). The prevalence of adolescent obesity was 26.1%, 15.5%, 12.1%, and 13.0% for those with risk scores of ≥3, 2, 1, and 0, respectively. After adjustment for gender and birth weight, the odds (95% confidence interval) of adolescent obesity was 2.45 (1.49-4.04) times higher in those with the poorest quality early maternal-child relationships (score: ≥3) compared with those with the highest quality (score: 0). Low maternal sensitivity was more strongly associated with obesity than insecure attachment. Poor quality of the early maternal-child relationship was associated with a higher prevalence of adolescent obesity. Interventions aimed at improving the quality of maternal-child interactions should consider assessing effects on children's weight and examining potential mechanisms involving stress response and emotion regulation.

Bilingual Mothers' Language Choice in Child-directed Speech: Continuity and Change

PubMed Central

De Houwer, Annick; Bornstein, Marc H.

2016-01-01

An important aspect of Family Language Policy in bilingual families is parental language choice. Little is known about the continuity in parental language choice and the factors affecting it. This longitudinal study explores maternal language choice over time. Thirty-one bilingual mothers provided reports of what language(s) they spoke with their children. Mother-child interactions were videotaped when children were pre-verbal (5M), producing words in two languages (20M), and fluent speakers (53M). All children had heard two languages from birth in the home. Most mothers reported addressing children in the same single language. Observational data confirmed mothers' use of mainly a single language in interactions with their children, but also showed the occasional use of the other language in over half the sample when children were 20 months. Once children were 53 months mothers again used only the same language they reported speaking to children. These findings reveal a possible effect of children's overall level of language development and demonstrate the difficulty of adhering to a strict “one person, one language” policy. The fact that there was longitudinal continuity in the language most mothers mainly spoke with children provided children with cumulative language input learning opportunities. PMID:28210008

Early Inherited Risk for Anxiety Moderates the Association between Fathers’ Child-Centered Parenting and Early Social Inhibition

PubMed Central

Brooker, Rebecca J.; Alto, Kathleen M.; Marceau, Kristine; Najjar, Reema; Leve, Leslie D.; Ganiban, Jody M.; Shaw, Daniel S.; Reiss, David; Neiderhiser, Jenae M.

2016-01-01

Studies of the role of the early environment in shaping children’s risk for anxiety problems have produced mixed results. It is possible that inconsistencies in previous findings result from a lack of consideration of a putative role for inherited influences moderators on the impact of early experiences. Early inherited influences not only contribute to vulnerabilities for anxiety problems throughout the lifespan, but can also modulate the ways that the early environment impacts child outcomes. In the current study, we tested the effects of child-centered parenting behaviors on putative anxiety risk in young children who differed in levels of inherited vulnerability. We tested this using a parent-offspring adoption design and a sample in which risk for anxiety problems and parenting behaviors were assessed in both mothers and fathers. Inherited influences on anxiety problems were assessed as anxiety symptoms in biological parents. Child-centered parenting was observed in adoptive mothers and fathers when children were 9 months old. Social inhibition, an early temperament marker of anxiety risk, was observed at child ages 9 and 18 months. Inherited influences on anxiety problems moderated the link between paternal child-centered parenting during infancy and social inhibition in toddlerhood. For children whose birth parents reported high levels of anxiety symptoms, greater child-centered parenting in adoptive fathers was related to greater social inhibition 9 months later. For children whose birth parents reported low levels of anxiety symptoms, greater child-centered parenting in adoptive fathers was related to less social inhibition across the same period. PMID:27572913

Early inherited risk for anxiety moderates the association between fathers' child-centered parenting and early social inhibition.

PubMed

Brooker, R J; Alto, K M; Marceau, K; Najjar, R; Leve, L D; Ganiban, J M; Shaw, D S; Reiss, D; Neiderhiser, J M

2016-12-01

Studies of the role of the early environment in shaping children's risk for anxiety problems have produced mixed results. It is possible that inconsistencies in previous findings result from a lack of consideration of a putative role for inherited influences moderators on the impact of early experiences. Early inherited influences not only contribute to vulnerabilities for anxiety problems throughout the lifespan, but can also modulate the ways that the early environment impacts child outcomes. In the current study, we tested the effects of child-centered parenting behaviors on putative anxiety risk in young children who differed in levels of inherited vulnerability. We tested this using a parent-offspring adoption design and a sample in which risk for anxiety problems and parenting behaviors were assessed in both mothers and fathers. Inherited influences on anxiety problems were assessed as anxiety symptoms in biological parents. Child-centered parenting was observed in adoptive mothers and fathers when children were 9 months old. Social inhibition, an early temperament marker of anxiety risk, was observed at child ages 9 and 18 months. Inherited influences on anxiety problems moderated the link between paternal child-centered parenting during infancy and social inhibition in toddlerhood. For children whose birth parents reported high levels of anxiety symptoms, greater child-centered parenting in adoptive fathers was related to greater social inhibition 9 months later. For children whose birth parents reported low levels of anxiety symptoms, greater child-centered parenting in adoptive fathers was related to less social inhibition across the same period.

Teacher-child relationships and classroom-learning behaviours of children with developmental language disorders.

PubMed

Rhoad-Drogalis, Anna; Justice, Laura M; Sawyer, Brook E; O'Connell, Ann A

2018-03-01

Children with developmental language disorders (DLDs) often struggle with classroom behaviour. No study has examined whether positive teacher-child relationships may act as a protective factor for children with DLDs in that these serve to enhance children's important classroom-learning behaviours. To examine the association between the quality of teacher-child relationships and teacher-rated classroom-learning behaviours of children with DLDs in both preschool and kindergarten. Longitudinal data were collected on 191 preschoolers (mean = 42.4 months of age, SD = 11.6 months) with DLDs in special education classrooms during preschool and in kindergarten. Teacher-child relationship quality was assessed in preschool, and children's classroom-learning behaviours were measured in preschool and kindergarten. Regression models were used to examine the relationship between teacher-child relationship quality and children's concurrent and future classroom-learning behaviours. Positive teacher-child relationship quality in preschool was associated with better classroom-learning behaviours in preschool and kindergarten for children with DLDs. Preschool teacher-child relationship quality characterized by low levels of conflict and high levels of closeness was associated with positive classroom-learning behaviours during preschool. Teacher-child conflict but not closeness was predictive of children's classroom-learning behaviours in kindergarten. These results suggest that the quality of the teacher-child relationship for children with DLDs during preschool is associated within their learning-related behaviours in the classroom both concurrently and in the subsequent year. Findings suggest that teacher-child relationships should be explored as a mechanism for improving the learning-related behaviours of children with DLDs. © 2017 Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.

Native language change during early stages of second language learning.

PubMed

Bice, Kinsey; Kroll, Judith F

2015-11-11

Research on proficient bilinguals has demonstrated that both languages are always active, even when only one is required. The coactivation of the two languages creates both competition and convergence, facilitating the processing of cognate words, but slowing lexical access when there is a requirement to engage control mechanisms to select the target language. Critically, these consequences are evident in the native language (L1) as well as in the second language (L2). The present study questioned whether L1 changes can be detected at early stages of L2 learning and how they are modulated by L2 proficiency. Native English speakers learning Spanish performed an English (L1) lexical decision task that included cognates while event-related potentials were recorded. They also performed verbal fluency, working memory, and inhibitory control tasks. A group of matched monolinguals performed the same tasks in English only. The results revealed that intermediate learners demonstrate a reduced N400 for cognates compared with noncognates in English (L1), and an emerging effect is visually present in beginning learners as well; however, no behavioral cognate effect was present for either group. In addition, slower reaction times in English (L1) are related to a larger cognate N400 magnitude in English (L1) and Spanish (L2), and to better inhibitory control for learners but not for monolinguals. The results suggest that contrary to the claim that L2 affects L1 only when L2 speakers are highly proficient, L2 learning begins to impact L1 early in the development of the L2 skill.

Early Postimplant Speech Perception and Language Skills Predict Long-Term Language and Neurocognitive Outcomes Following Pediatric Cochlear Implantation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hunter, Cynthia R.; Kronenberger, William G.; Castellanos, Irina; Pisoni, David B.

2017-01-01

Purpose: We sought to determine whether speech perception and language skills measured early after cochlear implantation in children who are deaf, and early postimplant growth in speech perception and language skills, predict long-term speech perception, language, and neurocognitive outcomes. Method: Thirty-six long-term users of cochlear…

The impact of visual communication on the intersubjective development of early parent-child interaction with 18- to 24-month-old deaf toddlers.

PubMed

Loots, Gerrit; Devisé, Isabel; Jacquet, Wolfgang

2005-01-01

This article presents a study that examined the impact of visual communication on the quality of the early interaction between deaf and hearing mothers and fathers and their deaf children aged between 18 and 24 months. Three communication mode groups of parent-deaf child dyads that differed by the use of signing and visual-tactile communication strategies were involved: (a) hearing parents communicating with their deaf child in an auditory/oral way, (b) hearing parents using total communication, and (c) deaf parents using sign language. Based on Loots and colleagues' intersubjective developmental theory, parent-deaf child interaction was analyzed according to the occurrence of intersubjectivity during free play with a standard set of toys. The data analyses indicated that the use of sign language in a sequential visual way of communication enabled the deaf parents to involve their 18- to 24-month-old deaf infants in symbolic intersubjectivity, whereas hearing parents who hold on to oral-only communication were excluded from involvement in symbolic intersubjectivity with their deaf infants. Hearing parents using total communication were more similar to deaf parents, but they still differed from deaf parents in exchanging and sharing symbolic and linguistic meaning with their deaf child.

Mother-Child Interaction and Resilience in Children with Early Developmental Risk

PubMed Central

Fenning, Rachel M.; Baker, Jason K.

2014-01-01

Although prenatal and genetic factors make strong contributions to the emergence of intellectual disability (ID), children's early environment may have the potential to alter developmental trajectories and to foster resilience in children with early risk. The present study examined mother-child interaction and the promotion of competence in 50 children with early developmental delays. Three related but distinct aspects of mother-child interaction were considered: maternal technical scaffolding, maternal positive-sensitivity, and mother-child dyadic pleasure. Children were classified as exhibiting undifferentiated delays at age three based upon performance on developmental assessments and the absence of known genetic syndromes. Mother-child interaction was assessed at age four through observational ratings of structured laboratory tasks and through naturalistic home observations. ID was identified at age five using the dual criteria of clinically significant delays in cognitive functioning and adaptive behavior. Maternal technical scaffolding and dyadic pleasure each uniquely predicted reduced likelihood of later ID, beyond the contributions of children's early developmental level and behavioral functioning. Follow-up analyses suggested that mother-child interaction was primarily important to resilience in the area of adaptive behavior, with scaffolding and dyadic pleasure differentially associated with particular sub-domains. Implications for theories of intellectual disability and for family-based early intervention and prevention efforts are discussed. PMID:22662771

Home literacy environment profiles of children with language impairment: associations with caregiver- and child-specific factors.

PubMed

Tambyraja, Sherine R; Schmitt, Mary Beth; Farquharson, Kelly; Justice, Laura M

2017-03-01

Numerous studies suggest a positive relationship between the home literacy environment (HLE) and children's language and literacy skills, yet very little research has focused on the HLE of children with language impairment (LI). Children with LI are at risk for reading difficulties; thus, understanding the nature and frequency of their home literacy interactions is warranted. To identify unique HLE profiles within a large sample of children with LI, and to determine relevant caregiver- and child-specific factors that predict children's profile membership. Participants were 195 kindergarten and first-grade children with LI who were receiving school-based language therapy. Caregivers completed a comprehensive questionnaire regarding their child's HLE, and the extent to which their child engaged in shared book reading, were taught about letters, initiated or asked to be read to, and chose to read independently. Caregivers also answered questions regarding the highest level of maternal education, caregiver history of reading difficulties, and caregiver reading habits. Children completed a language and literacy battery in the fall of their academic year. Latent profile analyses indicated a three-profile solution, representing high, average and low frequency of the selected HLE indicators. Multinomial regression further revealed that caregivers' own reading habits influenced children's profile membership, as did child age and language abilities. These results highlight the considerable variability in the frequency of home literacy interactions of children with LI. Future work examining relations between familial reading practices and literacy outcomes for children with LI is warranted. © 2016 Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.

A Comparative Study of Vygotsky's Perspectives on Child Language Development with Nativism and Behaviorism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dastpak, Mehdi; Behjat, Fatemeh; Taghinezhad, Ali

2017-01-01

This study aimed at investigating the similarities and differences between Vygotsky's perspectives on child language development with nativism and behaviorism. Proposing the idea of the Zone of Proximal Development, Vygotsky emphasized the role of collaborative interaction, scaffolding, and guided participation in language learning. Nativists, on…

Parent-directed approaches to enrich the early language environments of children living in poverty.

PubMed

Leffel, Kristin; Suskind, Dana

2013-11-01

Children's early language environments are critical for their cognitive development, school readiness, and ultimate educational attainment. Significant disparities exist in these environments, with profound and lasting impacts upon children's ultimate outcomes. Children from backgrounds of low socioeconomic status experience diminished language inputs and enter school at a disadvantage, with disparities persisting throughout their educational careers. Parents are positioned as powerful agents of change in their children's lives, however, and evidence indicates that parent-directed intervention is effective in improving child outcomes. This article explores the efficacy of parent-directed interventions and their potential applicability to the wider educational achievement gap seen in typically developing populations of low socioeconomic status and then describes efforts to develop such interventions with the Thirty Million Words Project and Project ASPIRE (Achieving Superior Parental Involvement for Rehabilitative Excellence) curricula. Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

Quality of Early Maternal–Child Relationship and Risk of Adolescent Obesity

PubMed Central

Gooze, Rachel A.; Lemeshow, Stanley; Whitaker, Robert C.

2012-01-01

Objectives: The goal of this study was to determine whether obesity in adolescence is related to the quality of the early maternal–child relationship. Methods: We analyzed data from 977 of 1364 participants in the Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. Child attachment security and maternal sensitivity were assessed by observing mother–child interaction at 15, 24, and 36 months of age. A maternal–child relationship quality score was constructed as the number of times across the 3 ages that the child was either insecurely attached or experienced low maternal sensitivity. Adolescent obesity was defined as a measured BMI ≥95th percentile at age 15 years. Results: Poor-quality maternal–child relationships (score: ≥3) were experienced by 24.7% of children compared with 22.0% who, at all 3 ages, were neither insecurely attached nor exposed to low maternal sensitivity (score: 0). The prevalence of adolescent obesity was 26.1%, 15.5%, 12.1%, and 13.0% for those with risk scores of ≥3, 2, 1, and 0, respectively. After adjustment for gender and birth weight, the odds (95% confidence interval) of adolescent obesity was 2.45 (1.49–4.04) times higher in those with the poorest quality early maternal–child relationships (score: ≥3) compared with those with the highest quality (score: 0). Low maternal sensitivity was more strongly associated with obesity than insecure attachment. Conclusions: Poor quality of the early maternal–child relationship was associated with a higher prevalence of adolescent obesity. Interventions aimed at improving the quality of maternal–child interactions should consider assessing effects on children’s weight and examining potential mechanisms involving stress response and emotion regulation. PMID:22201144

The Integrated Early Childhood Curriculum.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Krogh, Suzanne

This textbook provides an outline of an integrated curriculum for early childhood education. Part 1 discusses the human element in school: the child and the teacher and child development. Part 2 contains the curriculum itself and covers the subjects of language, mathematics, science, social studies, art, music, and movement. Guidelines provide…

Comparison of child obesity prevention and control content in mainstream and Spanish-language US parenting magazines.

PubMed

Kalin, Sari R; Fung, Teresa T

2013-01-01

Mass media coverage of child obesity is rising, paralleling the child obesity epidemic's growth, and there is evidence that parents seek parenting advice from media sources. Yet little to no research has examined the coverage of child obesity in parenting magazines or Spanish-language media. The purpose of this study was to use qualitative and quantitative content analysis methods to identify, quantify, and compare strategies for child obesity prevention and control presented in mainstream and Spanish-language US parenting magazines. Child obesity-related editorial content in 68 mainstream and 20 Spanish-language magazine issues published over 32 months was gathered. Magazine content was coded with a manual developed by refining themes from the sample and from an evidence-based child obesity prevention action plan. Seventy-three articles related to child obesity prevention and control were identified. Most focused on parental behavior change rather than environmental change, and only 3 in 10 articles referred to the social context in which parental behavior change takes place. Child obesity-focused articles were not given high prominence; only one in four articles in the entire sample referred to child obesity as a growing problem or epidemic. Key differences between genres reflect culturally important Latino themes, including family focus and changing health beliefs around child weight status. Given mass media's potential influence on parenting practices and public perceptions, nutrition communication professionals and registered dietitians need to work to reframe media coverage of childhood obesity as an environmental problem that requires broad-based policy solutions. Spanish-speaking media can be an ally in helping Latina women change cultural health beliefs around child weight status. Copyright © 2013 Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Australian Early Development Index: Reshaping Family-Child Relationships in Early Childhood Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peers, Chris

2011-01-01

This article addresses the cultural significance of the Australian Early Development Index (AEDI) and discusses changes that the discourse of this instrument makes to the way in which the child is conceptualised. It analyses the technological function of the AEDI to examine how it makes the child a universal resource for human capital. The article…

Influence of first-time mothers' early employment on severe early childhood caries in their child.

PubMed

Plutzer, Kamila; Keirse, Marc J N C

2012-01-01

Aim. To examine whether mothers' early employment status is related to the development of severe early childhood caries in their child. Methods. Questionnaire survey of 429 first-time mothers in metropolitan Adelaide, South Australia, and dental examinations of their child at 20 months of age. Results. At 20 ± 2.5 months of age, 5.6% of children exhibited caries defined as one or more demineralized or cavitated lesions on the upper incisors. Of the mothers, 52.2% had no paid employment, 39.6% were part-time and 8.2% full-time employed. Overall, mothers' participation in the workforce had no influence on the frequency of severe early childhood caries in their child, but there was a significant interaction with family structure. For mothers without employment there was no difference between single, and two-parent families, but children with an employed single mother more frequently had caries than those with a working mother in a two-parent family (P < 0.04). However, there were no significant differences in children's reported general health. Conclusions. The data indicate a need to explore strategies that may assist single mothers and especially those in the workforce to prevent severe early childhood caries in their child.

Language Problems Among Abused and Neglected Children: A Meta-Analytic Review.

PubMed

Sylvestre, Audette; Bussières, Ève-Line; Bouchard, Caroline

2016-02-01

Research data show that exposure to abuse and neglect has detrimental effects on a child's language development. In this meta-analysis, we analyze studies (k = 23), to compare the language skills (receptive language, expressive language, pragmatics) of children who have experienced abuse and/or neglect with the language skills of children who have not experienced abuse and/or neglect and to examine whether age or type of maltreatment moderate the relationship between maltreatment and language skills. Results confirm that the language skills of children who have experienced abuse and/or neglect are delayed when compared to children who have not experienced abuse and/or neglect. Compared to older children, young children seem particularly vulnerable to abuse and neglect. No significant differences were demonstrated concerning the type of maltreatment suffered by the child. These findings support the necessity of early detection of language problems in abused and neglected children as well as early intervention in order to implement interventions that will positively stimulate their development. © The Author(s) 2015.

[Child maltreatment and new morbidity in pediatrics : Consequences for early child support and child protective interventions].

PubMed

Kindler, Heinz

2016-10-01

The effects of child maltreatment on children's chronic health conditions have become more visible during recent years. This is true for mental health problems as well as some chronic physical conditions, both summarized as new morbidity within pediatrics. As several Bradford Hill criteria (criteria from epidemiology for the determination of the causal nature of a statistical association) are met, the likely causal nature of underlying associations is discussed. Early family support may have the potential to modify such associations, although empirical evidence is lacking. At least for attachment-based interventions with foster carerers after child maltreatment, positive effects on child HPA axis dysregulation have been demonstrated.

Second-Language Learning in Early Childhood: Some Thoughts for Practitioners.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McLaughlin, Barry

There is much that can be done in early childhood education programs to foster second language learning in young children. The research literature on early childhood bilingualism clearly indicates that children can learn two languages simultaneously without apparent effort, without cognitive strain or interference in learning either language…

The Impact of Early Social Interactions on Later Language Development in Spanish-English Bilingual Infants

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ramírez-Esparza, Nairán; García-Sierra, Adrián; Kuhl, Patricia K.

2017-01-01

This study tested the impact of child-directed language input on language development in Spanish-English bilingual infants (N = 25, 11- and 14-month-olds from the Seattle metropolitan area), across languages and independently for each language, controlling for socioeconomic status. Language input was characterized by social interaction variables,…

Early neural disruption and auditory processing outcomes in rodent models: implications for developmental language disability

PubMed Central

Fitch, R. Holly; Alexander, Michelle L.; Threlkeld, Steven W.

2013-01-01

Most researchers in the field of neural plasticity are familiar with the “Kennard Principle,” which purports a positive relationship between age at brain injury and severity of subsequent deficits (plateauing in adulthood). As an example, a child with left hemispherectomy can recover seemingly normal language, while an adult with focal injury to sub-regions of left temporal and/or frontal cortex can suffer dramatic and permanent language loss. Here we present data regarding the impact of early brain injury in rat models as a function of type and timing, measuring long-term behavioral outcomes via auditory discrimination tasks varying in temporal demand. These tasks were created to model (in rodents) aspects of human sensory processing that may correlate—both developmentally and functionally—with typical and atypical language. We found that bilateral focal lesions to the cortical plate in rats during active neuronal migration led to worse auditory outcomes than comparable lesions induced after cortical migration was complete. Conversely, unilateral hypoxic-ischemic (HI) injuries (similar to those seen in premature infants and term infants with birth complications) led to permanent auditory processing deficits when induced at a neurodevelopmental point comparable to human “term,” but only transient deficits (undetectable in adulthood) when induced in a “preterm” window. Convergent evidence suggests that regardless of when or how disruption of early neural development occurs, the consequences may be particularly deleterious to rapid auditory processing (RAP) outcomes when they trigger developmental alterations that extend into subcortical structures (i.e., lower sensory processing stations). Collective findings hold implications for the study of behavioral outcomes following early brain injury as well as genetic/environmental disruption, and are relevant to our understanding of the neurologic risk factors underlying developmental language disability in

Preference for language in early infancy: the human language bias is not speech specific.

PubMed

Krentz, Ursula C; Corina, David P

2008-01-01

Fundamental to infants' acquisition of their native language is an inherent interest in the language spoken around them over non-linguistic environmental sounds. The following studies explored whether the bias for linguistic signals in hearing infants is specific to speech, or reflects a general bias for all human language, spoken and signed. Results indicate that 6-month-old infants prefer an unfamiliar, visual-gestural language (American Sign Language) over non-linguistic pantomime, but 10-month-olds do not. These data provide evidence against a speech-specific bias in early infancy and provide insights into those properties of human languages that may underlie this language-general attentional bias.

Executive Function in Adolescence: Associations with Child and Family Risk Factors and Self-Regulation in Early Childhood

PubMed Central

Berthelsen, Donna; Hayes, Nicole; White, Sonia L. J.; Williams, Kate E.

2017-01-01

Executive functions are important higher-order cognitive skills for goal-directed thought and action. These capacities contribute to successful school achievement and lifelong wellbeing. The importance of executive functions to children’s education begins in early childhood and continues throughout development. This study explores contributions of child and family factors in early childhood to the development of executive function in adolescence. Analyses draw on data from the nationally representative study, Growing up in Australia: The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. Participants are 4819 children in the Kindergarten Cohort who were recruited at age 4–5 years. Path analyses were employed to examine contributions of early childhood factors, including family socio-economic position (SEP), parenting behaviors, maternal mental health, and a child behavioral risk index, to the development of executive function in adolescence. The influence of children’s early self-regulatory behaviors (attentional regulation at 4–5 years and approaches to learning at 6–7 years) were also taken into account. A composite score for the outcome measure of executive function was constructed from scores on three Cogstate computerized tasks for assessing cognition and measured visual attention, visual working memory, and spatial problem-solving. Covariates included child gender, age at assessment of executive function, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status, speaking a language other than English at home, and child’s receptive vocabulary skills. There were significant indirect effects involving child and family risk factors measured at 4–5 years on executive function at age 14–15 years, mediated by measures of self-regulatory behavior. Child behavioral risk, family SEP and parenting behaviors (anger, warmth, and consistency) were associated with attentional regulation at 4–5 years which, in turn, was significantly associated with approaches to learning at 6

Child maltreatment and children's developmental trajectories in early to middle childhood.

PubMed

Font, Sarah A; Berger, Lawrence M

2015-01-01

Associations between experiencing child maltreatment and adverse developmental outcomes are widely studied, yet conclusions regarding the extent to which effects are bidirectional, and whether they are likely causal, remain elusive. This study uses the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a birth cohort of 4,898 children followed from birth through age 9. Hierarchical linear modeling and structural equation modeling are employed to estimate associations of maltreatment with cognitive and social-emotional well-being. Results suggest that effects of early childhood maltreatment emerge immediately, though developmental outcomes are also affected by newly occurring maltreatment over time. Additionally, findings indicate that children's early developmental scores predict their subsequent probability of experiencing maltreatment, though to a lesser extent than early maltreatment predicts subsequent developmental outcomes. © 2014 The Authors. Child Development © 2014 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Temperament in early childhood and peer interactions in third grade: the role of teacher-child relationships in early elementary grades.

PubMed

Rudasill, Kathleen Moritz; Niehaus, Kate; Buhs, Eric; White, Jamie M

2013-12-01

Children's interactions with peers in early childhood have been consistently linked to their academic and social outcomes. Although both child and classroom characteristics have been implicated as contributors to children's success, there has been scant research linking child temperament, teacher-child relationship quality, and peer interactions in the same study. The purpose of this study is to examine children's early temperament, rated at preschool age, as a predictor of interactions with peers (i.e., aggression, relational aggression, victimization, and prosociality) in third grade while considering teacher-child relationship quality in kindergarten through second grades as a moderator and mediator of this association. The sample (N=1364) was drawn from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. Results from structural equation models indicated that teacher-child conflict in early elementary grades mediated links between children's temperament and later peer interactions. Findings underscore the importance of considering children's temperament traits and teacher-child relationship quality when examining the mechanisms of the development of peer interactions. © 2013.

Toddler-Parent Playgroups: Empowering Parents in Language Intervention.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Haas, Julie; Popowicz, Louanne

In an attempt to provide a model of language intervention tailored to toddler needs, this poster session gives an overview of a playgroup program implemented by a speech-language pathologist and an early intervention specialist. The program's aim is to improve communicative abilities while maintaining the integrity of the child-caregiver…

Persistent Language Delay versus Late Language Emergence in Children with Early Cochlear Implantation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Geers, Ann E.; Nicholas, Johanna; Tobey, Emily; Davidson, Lisa

2016-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of the present investigation is to differentiate children using cochlear implants (CIs) who did or did not achieve age-appropriate language scores by mid-elementary grades and to identify risk factors for persistent language delay following early cochlear implantation. Materials and Method: Children receiving unilateral CIs at…

The nonlinear relations of the approximate number system and mathematical language to early mathematics development.

PubMed

Purpura, David J; Logan, Jessica A R

2015-12-01

Both mathematical language and the approximate number system (ANS) have been identified as strong predictors of early mathematics performance. Yet, these relations may be different depending on a child's developmental level. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relations between these domains across different levels of ability. Participants included 114 children who were assessed in the fall and spring of preschool on a battery of academic and cognitive tasks. Children were 3.12 to 5.26 years old (M = 4.18, SD = .58) and 53.6% were girls. Both mixed-effect and quantile regressions were conducted. The mixed-effect regressions indicated that mathematical language, but not the ANS, nor other cognitive domains, predicted mathematics performance. However, the quantile regression analyses revealed a more nuanced relation among domains. Specifically, it was found that mathematical language and the ANS predicted mathematical performance at different points on the ability continuum. These dual nonlinear relations indicate that different mechanisms may enhance mathematical acquisition dependent on children's developmental abilities. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

[Occurrence of child abuse: knowledge and possibility of action of speech-language pathologists].

PubMed

Noguchi, Milica Satake; de Assis, Simone Gonçalves; Malaquias, Juaci Vitória

2006-01-01

This work presents the results of an epidemiological survey about the professional experience of Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) with children and adolescents who are victims of domestic violence. To understand the occurrence of child abuse and neglect of children and adolescents treated by speech-language pathologists, characterizing the victims according to: most affected age group, gender, form of violence, aggressor, most frequent speech-language complaint, how the abuse was identified and follow-up. 500 self-administered mail surveys were sent to a random sample of professional living in Rio de Janeiro. The survey forms were identified only by numbers to assure anonymity. 224 completed surveys were mailed back. 54 respondents indicated exposure to at least one incident of abuse. The majority of victims were children, the main abuser was the mother, and physical violence was the most frequent form of abuse. The main speech disorder was late language development. In most cases, the victim himself told the therapist about the abuse--through verbal expression or other means of expression such as drawings, story telling, dramatizing or playing. As the majority of the victims abandoned speech-language therapy, it was not possible to follow-up the cases. Due to the importance if this issue and the limited Brazilian literature about Speech-Language and Hearing Sciences and child abuse, it is paramount to invest in the training of speech-language pathologists. It is the duty of speech-language pathologists to expose this complex problem and to give voice to children who are victims of violence, understanding that behind a speech-language complaint there might be a cry for help.

10-year effect of Oportunidades, Mexico's conditional cash transfer programme, on child growth, cognition, language, and behaviour: a longitudinal follow-up study.

PubMed

Fernald, Lia C H; Gertler, Paul J; Neufeld, Lynnette M

2009-12-12

Mexico's conditional cash transfer programme, Oportunidades, was started to improve the lives of poor families through interventions in health, nutrition, and education. We investigated the effect of Oportunidades on children almost 10 years after the programme began. From April, 1998, to October, 1999, low-income communities were randomly assigned to be enrolled in Oportunidades immediately (early treatment, n=320) or 18 months later (late treatment, n=186). In 2007, when 1093 children receiving early treatment and 700 late treatment in these communities were aged 8-10 years, they were assessed for outcomes including physical growth, cognitive and language development, and socioemotional development. The primary objective was to investigate outcomes associated with an additional 18 months in the programme. We used cluster-adjusted t tests and multivariate regressions to compare effects of programme participation for height-for-age, body-mass index (BMI), and cognitive language and behavioural assessment scores in early versus late treatment groups. Early enrolment reduced behavioural problems for all children in the early versus late treatment group (mean behaviour problem score -0.09 [SD 0.97] vs 0.13 [1.03]; p=0.0024), but we identified no difference between groups for mean height-for-age Z scores (-1.12 [0.96] vs -1.14 [0.97]; p=0.88), BMI-for-age Z scores (0.14 [0.99] vs 0.17 [1.06]; p=0.58), or assessment scores for language (98.8 [13.8] vs 98.4 [14.6] p=0.90) or cognition (98.8 [12.9] vs 100.2 [13.2]; p=0.26). An additional 18 months of the programme before age 3 years for children aged 8-10 years whose mothers had no education resulted in improved child growth of about 1.5 cm assessed as height-for-age [corrected] Z score (beta 0.23 [0.023-0.44] p=0.029), independently of cash received. An additional 18 months in the Oportunidades programme has independent beneficial effects other than money, especially for women with no formal education. The money itself

Influences of Early English Language Teaching on Oral Fluency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de Wolf, Stephana; Smit, Nienke; Lowie, Wander

2017-01-01

Elementary-level foreign language education is currently receiving a lot of attention in the literature on second language learning, and has emerged as an important educational policy issue. The present study aims to contribute to this discussion by focusing on the fluency benefits gained from early foreign language teaching. The participants were…

Promoting equity through integrated early child development and nutrition interventions.

PubMed

Black, Maureen M; Dewey, Kathryn G

2014-01-01

Sustainable development, a foundation of the post-2015 global agenda, depends on healthy and productive citizens. The origins of adult health begin early in life, stemming from genetic-environmental interactions that include adequate nutrition and opportunities for responsive learning. Inequities associated with inadequate nutrition and early learning opportunities can undermine children's health and development, thereby compromising their productivity and societal contributions. Transactional theory serves as a useful framework for examining the associations that link early child development and nutrition because it emphasizes the interplay that occurs between children and the environment, mediated through caregiver interactions. Although single interventions targeting early child development or nutrition can be effective, there is limited evidence on the development, implementation, evaluation, and scaling up of integrated interventions. This manuscript introduces a special edition of papers on six topics central to integrated child development/nutrition interventions: (1) review of integrated interventions; (2) methods and topics in designing integrated interventions; (3) economic considerations related to integrated interventions; (4) capacity-building considerations; (5) examples of integrated interventions; and (6) policy implications of integrated interventions. Ensuring the health and development of infants and young children through integrated child development/nutrition interventions promotes equity, a critical component of sustainable development. © 2014 New York Academy of Sciences.

Language Learning and the Young Child. Learning Package No. 43.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Simic, Marge, Comp.; Smith, Carl, Ed.

Originally developed as part of a project for the Department of Defense Schools (DoDDS) system, this learning package on language learning and the young child is designed for teachers who wish to upgrade or expand their teaching skills on their own. The package includes an overview of the project; a comprehensive search of the ERIC database; a…

Comparing Language and Literacy Environments in Two Types of Infant-Toddler Child Care Centers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Norris, Deborah J.

2017-01-01

Language development is a significant milestone in the infant/toddler years; vocabulary by 2 years of age is predictive of later school success. It has been recognized within the bioecological systems theoretical framework that language develops as a result of an interplay between characteristics of the child, features of the setting, and…

Prenatal phthalate exposure and language development in toddlers from the Odense Child Cohort.

PubMed

Olesen, Trine Staak; Bleses, Dorthe; Andersen, Helle Raun; Grandjean, Philippe; Frederiksen, Hanne; Trecca, Fabio; Bilenberg, Niels; Kyhl, Henriette Boye; Dalsager, Louise; Jensen, Inge Kjær; Andersson, Anna-Maria; Jensen, Tina Kold

Phthalates are a group of chemicals found in a variety of consumer products. They have anti-androgenic properties and human studies have reported associations between prenatal phthalate exposure and neuropsychological development in the offspring despite different cognitive tests, different ages and varying timing of exposure. To investigate the association between prenatal phthalate exposure and language development in children aged 20-36months. In the Odense Child Cohort, we analyzed 3rd trimester urine samples of 518 pregnant women for content of metabolites of diethyl, di-n-butyl, diisobutyl, butylbenzyl, di(2-ethylhexyl), and diisononyl phthalate, adjusted for osmolality. Language development was addressed using the Danish version of the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories "Words and Sentences". Associations were assessed using logistic regression models comparing children below and above the 15th percentile while stratifying by sex and adjusting for maternal age and educational level. Phthalate metabolites were detectable in all samples although in lower levels than previous studies. Among boys, increased prenatal phthalate exposure was associated with lower scores in language development; odds ratios for vocabulary score below the 15th percentile with doubling in monoethyl phthalate, and summed di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate metabolites were respectively 1.24 (95% confidence interval: 1.05,1.46), and 1.33 (1.01,1.75). Similar associations were found for language complexity. No associations were found for girls. Our findings are notable, as adverse associations were suggested even in this low-level exposed population, with only one spot urine sample for exposure assessment and control for confounders. Lower scores in early language development are of relevance to health as this test predicts later educational success. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Nuffield Early Language Intervention: Evaluation Report and Executive Summary

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sibieta, Luke; Kotecha, Mehul; Skipp, Amy

2016-01-01

The Nuffield Early Language Intervention is designed to improve the spoken language ability of children during the transition from nursery to primary school. It is targeted at children with relatively poor spoken language skills. Three sessions per week are delivered to groups of two to four children starting in the final term of nursery and…

The At Risk Child: Early Identification, Intervention, and Evaluation of Early Childhood Strategies.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lennon, Joan M.

A review of literature was conducted in order to: (1) determine whether factors placing the young child at risk for school failure can be identified; (2) determine whether early family interventions and early childhood programs are effective; and (3) identify policy implications. Findings are summarized, and recommendations are offered. Research…

Child Care and Cortisol across Early Childhood: Context Matters

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berry, Daniel; Blair, Clancy; Ursache, Alexandra; Wiloughy, Michael; Garrett-Peters, Patricia; Veron-Feagans, Lynne; Bratsch-Hines, Mary; Mills-Koonce, W. Roger; Granger, Douglas A.

2014-01-01

A considerable body of literature suggests that children's child-care experiences may impact adrenocortical functioning in early childhood. Yet emerging findings also suggest that the magnitude and sometimes the direction of child-care effects on development may be markedly different for children from higher risk contexts. Using data from a large…

The impact of early bilingualism on controlling a language learned late: an ERP study

PubMed Central

Martin, Clara D.; Strijkers, Kristof; Santesteban, Mikel; Escera, Carles; Hartsuiker, Robert J.; Costa, Albert

2013-01-01

This study asks whether early bilingual speakers who have already developed a language control mechanism to handle two languages control a dominant and a late acquired language in the same way as late bilingual speakers. We therefore, compared event-related potentials in a language switching task in two groups of participants switching between a dominant (L1) and a weak late acquired language (L3). Early bilingual late learners of an L3 showed a different ERP pattern (larger N2 mean amplitude) as late bilingual late learners of an L3. Even though the relative strength of languages was similar in both groups (a dominant and a weak late acquired language), they controlled their language output in a different manner. Moreover, the N2 was similar in two groups of early bilinguals tested in languages of different strength. We conclude that early bilingual learners of an L3 do not control languages in the same way as late bilingual L3 learners –who have not achieved native-like proficiency in their L2– do. This difference might explain some of the advantages early bilinguals have when learning new languages. PMID:24204355

Effects of early auditory experience on the spoken language of deaf children at 3 years of age.

PubMed

Nicholas, Johanna Grant; Geers, Ann E

2006-06-01

By age 3, typically developing children have achieved extensive vocabulary and syntax skills that facilitate both cognitive and social development. Substantial delays in spoken language acquisition have been documented for children with severe to profound deafness, even those with auditory oral training and early hearing aid use. This study documents the spoken language skills achieved by orally educated 3-yr-olds whose profound hearing loss was identified and hearing aids fitted between 1 and 30 mo of age and who received a cochlear implant between 12 and 38 mo of age. The purpose of the analysis was to examine the effects of age, duration, and type of early auditory experience on spoken language competence at age 3.5 yr. The spoken language skills of 76 children who had used a cochlear implant for at least 7 mo were evaluated via standardized 30-minute language sample analysis, a parent-completed vocabulary checklist, and a teacher language-rating scale. The children were recruited from and enrolled in oral education programs or therapy practices across the United States. Inclusion criteria included presumed deaf since birth, English the primary language of the home, no other known conditions that interfere with speech/language development, enrolled in programs using oral education methods, and no known problems with the cochlear implant lasting more than 30 days. Strong correlations were obtained among all language measures. Therefore, principal components analysis was used to derive a single Language Factor score for each child. A number of possible predictors of language outcome were examined, including age at identification and intervention with a hearing aid, duration of use of a hearing aid, pre-implant pure-tone average (PTA) threshold with a hearing aid, PTA threshold with a cochlear implant, and duration of use of a cochlear implant/age at implantation (the last two variables were practically identical because all children were tested between 40 and 44

Clinical abnormalities, early intervention program of Down syndrome children: Queen Sirikit National Institute of Child Health experience.

PubMed

Fuengfoo, Adidsuda; Sakulnoom, Kim

2014-06-01

Queen Sirikit National Institute of Child Health is a tertiary institute of children in Thailand, where early intervention programs have been provided since 1990 by multidisciplinary approach especially in Down syndrome children. This aim of the present study is to follow the impact of early intervention on the outcome of Down syndrome children. The school attendance number of Down syndrome children was compared between regular early intervention and non-regular early intervention. The present study group consists of 210 Down syndrome children who attended early intervention programs at Queen Sirikit National Institute of Child Health between June 2008 and January 2012. Data include clinical features, school attendance developmental quotient (DQ) at 3 years of age using Capute Scales Cognitive Adaptive Test/Scale (CAT/CLAMS). Developmental milestones have been recorded as to the time of appearance of gross motor, fine motor, language, personal-social development compared to those non-regular intervention patients. Of 210 Down syndrome children, 117 were boys and 93 were girls. About 87% received regular intervention, 68% attended speech training. Mean DQ at 3 years of age was 65. Of the 184 children who still did follow-up at developmental department, 124 children (59%) attended school: mainstream school children 78 (63%) and special school children 46 (37%). The mean age at entrance to school was 5.8 ± 1.4 years. The school attendance was correlated with maternal education and regular early intervention attendance. Regular early intervention starts have proven to have a positive effect on development. The school attendance number of Down syndrome children receiving regular early intervention was statistically and significantly higher than the number of Down syndrome children receiving non-regular early intervention was. School attendance correlated with maternal education and attended regularly early intervention. Regular early intervention together with maternal

Timing of High-Quality Child Care and Cognitive, Language, and Preacademic Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Li, Weilin; Farkas, George; Duncan, Greg J.; Burchinal, Margaret R.; Vandell, Deborah Lowe

2013-01-01

The effects of high- versus low-quality child care during 2 developmental periods (infant-toddlerhood and preschool) were examined using data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care. Propensity score matching was used to account for differences in families who used different combinations of child…

Remedial early numeracy education: can children identified as having a language deficiency benefit?

PubMed

Van Luit, Johannes E H; Toll, Sylke W M

2015-01-01

Growing attention has been paid to the possibility of supporting early numeracy in at-risk kindergartners. Furthermore, it is assumed that language proficiency is an important prerequisite in early maths skills. To examine whether remedial early numeracy education in kindergarten, which has been proven to be effective in general, is also beneficial for children with a language deficiency. Based on intensive selection, four different conditions were included: two groups received remedial education, one consisting of children being language proficient (N = 86) and one of children with a language deficiency (N = 26), and two groups followed the regular curriculum, one consisting of children being language proficient (N = 51) and one of children with a language deficiency (N = 24). Remedial education was for 1.5 school years (90 sessions, 30 min per session, twice per week), following the programme 'The Road to Mathematics'. During this period, the children receiving remedial education did not attend the regular maths lessons in the classroom, which were offered for at least 1 h per week. Effects were assessed for early numeracy and mathematical skills (operationalized as basic calculation fluency) in kindergarten and first grade. Three analyses of covariance (ANCOVAs) revealed that, when accounting for achievement at pre-test, children with a language deficiency who received remedial numeracy education performed better on early numeracy skills in kindergarten and first grade than kindergartners with a language deficiency that followed the regular curriculum. Furthermore, they were able to catch up with their language proficient peers in early numeracy. However, children with a language deficiency who received remedial numeracy education did not differ from children who followed the regular curriculum on mathematical skills, suggesting that benefits for numeracy did not generalize to more advanced skills of addition and subtraction. Since, in general, it can be

Learning Languages: The Journal of the National Network for Early Language Learning, 1998-1999.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rosenbusch, Marcia H., Ed.

1999-01-01

These three journals include articles on issues related to language learning. The fall 1998 journal presents: "Attention! Are You Seeking a Position with Excellent Long-Term Benefits? Be an Advocate!" (Mary Lynn Redmond); "National Town Meeting Energizes Support for Early Language Learning" (Marcia Harmon Rosenbusch);…

Shedding Further Light on the Effects of Various Types and Quality of Early Child Care on Infant-Mother Attachment Relationship: The Haifa Study of Early Child Care.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sagi, Abraham; Koren-Karie, Nina; Gini, Motti; Ziv, Yair; Joels, Tirtsa

2002-01-01

The Haifa Study of Early Child Care examined the unique contribution of various child-care-related correlates to infant-mother attachment. Findings indicated that, after controlling for other potential contributing variables (including mother characteristics, mother-child interaction, and mother- father relationship), center care adversely…

Effectiveness of Child Protection Training for Pre-Service Early Childhood Educators

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McKee, Bronagh E.; Dillenburger, Karola

2012-01-01

International evidence confirms that early childhood educators can enter professional practice unprepared for child protection due to inadequate pre-service preparation. This paper makes an original contribution by using the Child Protection Questionnaire for Educators (CPQE) to examine the pre- and post-intervention child maltreatment and…

Model of Early Support of Child Development in Poland

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Czyz, Anna Katarzyna

2018-01-01

The development of a child, especially a child with a disability, is conditional upon the initiation of rehabilitation measures immediately after the problem has been identified. The quality of the reaction is conditioned by the functioning of the therapeutic team. The main purpose of the research was the diagnosis of early support system for…

Socioeconomic Status and Parent-Child Relationships Predict Metacognitive Questions to Preschoolers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thompson, R. Bruce; Foster, Brandon J.

2014-01-01

The importance of metacognitive language exposure to early educational achievement is widely recognized in the development literature. However, few studies have explored parents' metacognitive language, while accounting for family SES and stress within the parent-child relationship. This is a preliminary descriptive study to explore…

Behavior problems in late childhood: the roles of early maternal attachment and teacher-child relationship trajectories.

PubMed

O'Connor, Erin E; Collins, Brian A; Supplee, Lauren

2012-01-01

The purposes of the current study were: (1) to examine the roles of early maternal attachment relationships and teacher-child relationships during childhood for externalizing and internalizing behaviors in late childhood, and (2) to investigate teacher-child relationships, as well as externalizing and internalizing behaviors in early childhood as possible mechanisms linking early maternal attachment relationships to behavior problems in late childhood. Longitudinal data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Early Child Care Research Network Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (N = 1140 mothers and children) were used in this investigation. There were three main findings. First, insecure/other maternal attachment relationships in early childhood (i.e., 36 months) were associated with externalizing and internalizing behaviors in late childhood (Grade 5). Second, elevated levels of teacher-child conflict during childhood were associated with externalizing behaviors in late childhood whereas low levels of teacher-child closeness were associated with internalizing behaviors. Third, the effects of insecure/other attachment on externalizing and internalizing behaviors in late childhood were mediated through teacher-child relationships during childhood and early externalizing and internalizing behaviors. Implications for attachment theory are discussed.

Early Health Shocks, Intra-household Resource Allocation and Child Outcomes*

PubMed Central

Yi, Junjian; Heckman, James J.; Zhang, Junsen; Conti, Gabriella

2016-01-01

An open question in the literature is whether families compensate or reinforce the impact of child health shocks. Discussions usually focus on one dimension of child investment. This paper examines multiple dimensions using household survey data on Chinese child twins whose average age is 11. We find that, compared with a twin sibling who did not suffer from negative early health shocks at ages 0–3, the other twin sibling who did suffer negative health shocks received RMB 305 more in terms of health investments, but received RMB 182 less in terms of educational investments in the 12 months prior to the survey. In terms of financial transfers over all dimensions of investment, the family acts as a net equalizer in response to early health shocks for children. We estimate a human capital production function and establish that, for this sample, early health shocks negatively affect child human capital, including health, education, and socioemotional skills. Compensating investments in health as measured by BMI reduce the adverse effects of health shocks by 50%, but exacerbate the adverse impact of shocks on educational attainment by 30%. PMID:27019517

Conditions Which Promote Urban Child Language: A Base for Beginning Reading.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Siegel, Florence

1979-01-01

Reports an investigation of the most appropriate tutorial setting for the generation of natural urban child language for experience stories. Concludes that the condition that tapped the most profuse linguistic performance for student-created reading material among Black sixth grade students was tutoring by a White adult professional teacher. (FL)

Best Practices for Building a Bimodal/Bilingual Child Language Corpus

PubMed Central

PICHLER, DEBORAH CHEN; HOCHGESANG, JULIE A.; LILLO-MARTIN, DIANE; REYNOLDS, WANETTE; DE QUADROS, RONICE MÜLLER

2017-01-01

This article addresses the special challenges associated with collecting longitudinal samples of the spontaneous sign language and spoken language production by young bimodal bilingual children. We discuss the methods used in our study of children in the United States and Brazil. Since one of our goals is to observe both sign language and speech, as well as any language mixing, it is important for us to address issues of language choice and techniques for directing the child participant toward primary use of the target language in each session. Suggestions and guidelines for achieving this in effective yet respectful ways are presented. We are especially dependent on the participation, flexibility, and direction of our participant children’s parents, who work with us to elicit samples that are genuinely representative of their children’s linguistic abilities. We illustrate our procedures for training parents and other interlocutors in data-collection sessions. In return for their generous participation in our research, we address parents’ questions and concerns about language development, especially in bimodal bilingual contexts. We take very seriously the need to negotiate with participants regarding their expectations for the use of the data they provide, and we abide by their wishes in this matter. The strategies presented here improve the quality of the investigations we can conduct by making the experiences of the participant families as pleasant as possible. PMID:28736476

Relation between language experiences in preschool classrooms and children's kindergarten and fourth-grade language and reading abilities.

PubMed

Dickinson, David K; Porche, Michelle V

2011-01-01

Indirect effects of preschool classroom indexes of teacher talk were tested on fourth-grade outcomes for 57 students from low-income families in a longitudinal study of classroom and home influences on reading. Detailed observations and audiotaped teacher and child language data were coded to measure content and quantity of verbal interactions in preschool classrooms. Preschool teachers' use of sophisticated vocabulary during free play predicted fourth-grade reading comprehension and word recognition (mean age=9; 7), with effects mediated by kindergarten child language measures (mean age=5; 6). In large group preschool settings, teachers' attention-getting utterances were directly related to later comprehension. Preschool teachers' correcting utterances and analytic talk about books, and early support in the home for literacy predicted fourth-grade vocabulary, as mediated by kindergarten receptive vocabulary. © 2011 The Authors. Child Development © 2011 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Language-Through-Literature; A Literary Language/Language Arts Program for Bilingual Education, ESL and Other Activities in Early Childhood. Books 1 and 2.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

King, Paul; King, Eva

This language-through-literature program is designed to be used as a native language program (language arts/reading readiness), as a second language program, or as a combined native and second language program in early childhood education. Sequentially developed over the year and within each unit, the program is subdivided into 14 units of about…

The Relation Between Child Versus Parent Report of Chronic Fatigue and Language/Literacy Skills in School-Age Children with Cochlear Implants.

PubMed

Werfel, Krystal L; Hendricks, Alison Eisel

2016-01-01

Preliminary evidence suggests that children with hearing loss experience elevated levels of chronic fatigue compared with children with normal hearing. Chronic fatigue is associated with decreased academic performance in many clinical populations. Children with cochlear implants as a group exhibit deficits in language and literacy skills; however, the relation between chronic fatigue and language and literacy skills for children with cochlear implants is unclear. The purpose of this study was to explore subjective ratings of chronic fatigue by children with cochlear implants and their parents, as well as the relation between chronic fatigue and language and literacy skills in this population. Nineteen children with cochlear implants in grades 3 to 6 and one of their parents separately completed a subjective chronic fatigue scale, on which they rated how much the child experienced physical, sleep/rest, and cognitive fatigue over the past month. In addition, children completed an assessment battery that included measures of speech perception, oral language, word reading, and spelling. Children and parents reported different levels of chronic child physical and sleep/rest fatigue. In both cases, parents reported significantly less fatigue than did children. Children and parents did not report different levels of chronic child cognitive fatigue. Child report of physical fatigue was related to speech perception, language, reading, and spelling. Child report of sleep/rest and cognitive fatigue was related to speech perception and language but not to reading or spelling. Parent report of child fatigue was not related to children's language and literacy skills. Taken as a whole, results suggested that parents under-estimate the fatigue experienced by children with cochlear implants. Child report of physical fatigue was robustly related to language and literacy skills. Children with cochlear implants are likely more accurate at reporting physical fatigue than cognitive

The Influence of Child-Directed Speech in Early Trilingualism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barnes, Julia

2011-01-01

Contexts of limited input such as trilingual families where a language is not spoken in the wider community but only by a reduced number of speakers in the home provide a unique opportunity to examine closely the relationship between a child's input and what she learns to say. Barnes reported on the relationship between maternal input and a…

Early Home Language Use and Later Vocabulary Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mancilla-Martinez, Jeannette; Lesaux, Nonie K.

2011-01-01

This longitudinal study examined the association between early patterns of home language use (age 4.5 years) and vocabulary growth (ages 4.5 to 12 years) in English and Spanish for 180 Spanish-speaking language minority learners followed from ages 4.5 to 12 years. Standardized measures of vocabulary were administered to children from ages 4.5 to…

A comparative analysis of early child health and development services and outcomes in countries with different redistributive policies.

PubMed

van den Heuvel, Meta; Hopkins, Jessica; Biscaro, Anne; Srikanthan, Cinntha; Feller, Andrea; Bremberg, Sven; Verkuijl, Nienke; Flapper, Boudien; Ford-Jones, Elizabeth Lee; Williams, Robin

2013-11-06

The social environment is a fundamental determinant of early child development and, in turn, early child development is a determinant of health, well-being, and learning skills across the life course. Redistributive policies aimed at reducing social inequalities, such as a welfare state and labour market policies, have shown a positive association with selected health indicators. In this study, we investigated the influence of redistributive policies specifically on the social environment of early child development in five countries with different political traditions. The objective of this analysis was to highlight similarities and differences in social and health services between the countries and their associations with other health outcomes that can inform better global early child development policies and improve early child health and development. Four social determinants of early child development were selected to provide a cross-section of key time periods in a child's life from prenatal to kindergarten. They included: 1) prenatal care, 2) maternal leave, 3) child health care, and 4) child care and early childhood education. We searched international databases and reports (e.g. Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, World Bank, and UNICEF) to obtain information about early child development policies, services and outcomes. Although a comparative analysis cannot claim causation, our analysis suggests that redistributive policies aimed at reducing social inequalities are associated with a positive influence on the social determinants of early child development. Generous redistributive policies are associated with a higher maternal leave allowance and pay and more preventive child healthcare visits. A decreasing trend in infant mortality, low birth weight rate, and under five mortality rate were observed with an increase in redistributive policies. No clear influence of redistributive policies was observed on breastfeeding and immunization

A Randomized Trial Examining the Effects of Parent Engagement on Early Language and Literacy: The Getting Ready Intervention

PubMed Central

Knoche, Lisa L.; Kupzyk, Kevin A.; Edwards, Carolyn Pope; Marvin, Christine A.

2011-01-01

Language and literacy skills established during early childhood are critical for later school success. Parental engagement with children has been linked to a number of adaptive characteristics in preschoolers including language and literacy development, and family-school collaboration is an important contributor to school readiness. This study reports the results of a randomized trial of a parent engagement intervention designed to facilitate school readiness among disadvantaged preschool children, with a particular focus on language and literacy development. Participants included 217 children, 211 parents, and 29 Head Start teachers in 21 schools. Statistically significant differences in favor of the treatment group were observed between treatment and control participants in the rate of change over 2 academic years on teacher reports of children’s language use (d = 1.11), reading (d = 1.25), and writing skills (d = .93). Significant intervention effects on children’s direct measures of expressive language were identified for a subgroup of cases where there were concerns about a child’s development upon entry into preschool. Additionally, other child and family moderators revealed specific variables that influenced the treatment’s effects. PMID:21640249

Language learning and brain reorganization in a 3.5-year-old child with left perinatal stroke revealed using structural and functional connectivity.

PubMed

François, Clément; Ripollés, Pablo; Bosch, Laura; Garcia-Alix, Alfredo; Muchart, Jordi; Sierpowska, Joanna; Fons, Carme; Solé, Jorgina; Rebollo, Monica; Gaitán, Helena; Rodriguez-Fornells, Antoni

2016-04-01

Brain imaging methods have contributed to shed light on the possible mechanisms of recovery and cortical reorganization after early brain insult. The idea that a functional left hemisphere is crucial for achieving a normalized pattern of language development after left perinatal stroke is still under debate. We report the case of a 3.5-year-old boy born at term with a perinatal ischemic stroke of the left middle cerebral artery, affecting mainly the supramarginal gyrus, superior parietal and insular cortex extending to the precentral and postcentral gyri. Neurocognitive development was assessed at 25 and 42 months of age. Language outcomes were more extensively evaluated at the latter age with measures on receptive vocabulary, phonological whole-word production and linguistic complexity in spontaneous speech. Word learning abilities were assessed using a fast-mapping task to assess immediate and delayed recall of newly mapped words. Functional and structural imaging data as well as a measure of intrinsic connectivity were also acquired. While cognitive, motor and language levels from the Bayley Scales fell within the average range at 25 months, language scores were below at 42 months. Receptive vocabulary fell within normal limits but whole word production was delayed and the child had limited spontaneous speech. Critically, the child showed clear difficulties in both the immediate and delayed recall of the novel words, significantly differing from an age-matched control group. Neuroimaging data revealed spared classical cortical language areas but an affected left dorsal white-matter pathway together with right lateralized functional activations. In the framework of the model for Social Communication and Language Development, these data confirm the important role of the left arcuate fasciculus in understanding and producing morpho-syntactic elements in sentences beyond two word combinations and, most importantly, in learning novel word-referent associations, a

Heidelberg Interaction Training for Language Promotion in Early Childhood Settings (HIT)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Buschmann, Anke; Sachse, Steffi

2018-01-01

Beside parents, teachers in early childhood education and care have the greatest potential to foster language acquisition in children. This is especially important for children with language delays, language disorders or bi-/multilingual children. However, they present teachers with a particular challenge in language support. Therefore, integrated…

The Lidcombe Program and child language development: Long-term assessment.

PubMed

Imeson, Juliet; Lowe, Robyn; Onslow, Mark; Munro, Natalie; Heard, Rob; O'Brian, Sue; Arnott, Simone

2018-03-15

This study was driven by the need to understand the mechanisms underlying Lidcombe Program treatment efficacy. The aim of the present study was to extend existing data exploring whether stuttering reductions observed when children successfully treated with the Lidcombe Program are associated with restricted language development. Audio recordings of 10-min parent-child conversations at home were transcribed verbatim for 11 pre-school-age children with various stuttering severities. Language samples from three assessments-pre-treatment, 9 and 18 months after beginning treatment-were analysed using SALT software for lexical diversity, utterance length and sentence complexity. At 18 months posttreatment commencement, the children had attained and maintained statistically significant stuttering reductions. During that period, there was no evidence that Lidcombe Program treatment was associated with restricted language development. The continued search for the mechanisms underlying this successful treatment needs to focus on other domains.

Longitudinal Effects on Early Adolescent Language: A Twin Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harlarr, Nicole; De Thorne, Laura Segebart; Smith, Jamie Mahurin; Betancourt, Mariana Aparicio; Petrill, Stephen A.

2016-01-01

Purpose: We evaluated genetic and environmental contributions to individual differences in language skills during early adolescence, measured by both language sampling and standardized tests, and examined the extent to which these genetic and environmental effects are stable across time. Purpose: We evaluated genetic and environmental…

A comparative analysis of early child health and development services and outcomes in countries with different redistributive policies

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background The social environment is a fundamental determinant of early child development and, in turn, early child development is a determinant of health, well-being, and learning skills across the life course. Redistributive policies aimed at reducing social inequalities, such as a welfare state and labour market policies, have shown a positive association with selected health indicators. In this study, we investigated the influence of redistributive policies specifically on the social environment of early child development in five countries with different political traditions. The objective of this analysis was to highlight similarities and differences in social and health services between the countries and their associations with other health outcomes that can inform better global early child development policies and improve early child health and development. Methods Four social determinants of early child development were selected to provide a cross-section of key time periods in a child’s life from prenatal to kindergarten. They included: 1) prenatal care, 2) maternal leave, 3) child health care, and 4) child care and early childhood education. We searched international databases and reports (e.g. Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, World Bank, and UNICEF) to obtain information about early child development policies, services and outcomes. Results Although a comparative analysis cannot claim causation, our analysis suggests that redistributive policies aimed at reducing social inequalities are associated with a positive influence on the social determinants of early child development. Generous redistributive policies are associated with a higher maternal leave allowance and pay and more preventive child healthcare visits. A decreasing trend in infant mortality, low birth weight rate, and under five mortality rate were observed with an increase in redistributive policies. No clear influence of redistributive policies was observed on

Economic gradients in early child neurodevelopment: A multi-country study

PubMed Central

Wehby, George L.; McCarthy, Ann Marie

2013-01-01

Little is known about the importance of household wealth for child neurodevelopment very early in life including during infancy. Previous studies have focused on specific developmental domains instead of more holistic multi-domain measures of neurodevelopment and on economic effects for the “average” child instead of evaluating the heterogeneity in economic gradients by different levels of developmental ability. Furthermore, not much is known about whether economic gradients in early child neurodevelopment are country-specific or generalizable between populations. We evaluate wealth gradients in child neurodevelopment, an important predictor of future health and human capital, between ages 3 and 24 months in four South American countries. We also assess the heterogeneity in these gradients at different locations of the neurodevelopment distribution using quantile regression. Employing a unique dataset of 2032 children with neurodevelopment measures obtained by physicians in 2005–2006, we find a large positive wealth gradient in neurodevelopment in Brazil. The wealth gradient is larger for children at higher neurodevelopment rankings, suggesting that wealth is associated with child development inequalities in the form of a wider gap between low and high achievers on neurodevelopment in Brazil. This result highlights the need to target poverty in Brazil as a key factor in health and human capital disparities earlier in life rather than later as early developmental deficits will be carried forward and possibly multiplied later in life. More importantly, small or insignificant wealth gradients are generally found in the other countries. These results suggest that wealth gradients in child neurodevelopment are country-specific and vary with population demographic, health, and socioeconomic characteristics. Therefore, findings from previous studies based on specific populations may not be generalizable to other countries. Furthermore, wealth gradients in child

Child Development, Early Childhood Education and Family Life: A Bibliography.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reardon, Beverly, Comp.

This bibliographical listing of approximately 2500 books on child development, early childhood education and family life was compiled as a resource for parents and students. Books are listed alphabetically by author and are grouped according to the following categories: child development; observation of children; adolescence; language…

The Development of Executive Function and Language Skills in the Early School Years

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gooch, Debbie; Thompson, Paul; Nash, Hannah M.; Snowling, Margaret J.; Hulme, Charles

2016-01-01

Background: The developmental relationships between executive functions (EF) and early language skills are unclear. This study explores the longitudinal relationships between children's early EF and language skills in a sample of children with a wide range of language abilities including children at risk of dyslexia. In addition, we investigated…

Celebrating African Men's Role in Child Care and Early Childhood Development Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ejuu, Godfrey

2016-01-01

In many cultures, early child care and education has been considered the purview of women, who were thought to be more nurturing and better suited to the role. Hand-in-hand with this notion is the historical misconception that early child care and education is unimportant, and that the most valued members of society should focus on other, more…

Meconium Atazanavir Concentrations and Early Language Outcomes in HIV-Exposed Uninfected Infants With Prenatal Atazanavir Exposure.

PubMed

Himes, Sarah K; Huo, Yanling; Siberry, George K; Williams, Paige L; Rice, Mabel L; Sirois, Patricia A; Frederick, Toni; Hazra, Rohan; Huestis, Marilyn A

2015-06-01

To investigate whether prenatal atazanavir (ATV) exposure, assessed by meconium antiretroviral (ARV) quantification, predicts early child language outcomes. Prenatal ATV exposure previously was associated with poorer language development in 1-year olds. Pregnant women with HIV and their uninfected infants enrolled in the Surveillance Monitoring of Antiretroviral Therapy Toxicities study. Meconium ARV concentrations were quantified by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Language development at 1 year was assessed with MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory (CDI) and Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development-Third Edition (Bayley-III). Late language emergence was defined as ≥ 1 of 4 CDI scores ≤ 10th percentile for age. Associations between fetal ATV exposure timing and duration, meconium ATV concentration, and language outcomes were evaluated, adjusting for potential confounders. Through 2013, meconium samples were available from 175 of 432 infants with prenatal ATV exposure. Valid Bayley-III (n = 93) and CDI (n = 106) assessments also were available. After adjustment for potential confounders, higher ATV meconium concentrations were associated with lower late language emergence risk (P = 0.04) and cumulative ATV exposure duration also was associated with higher Bayley-III Language scores (P = 0.03). Maternal ATV duration and initiation week correlated with ATV meconium concentrations (positively and negatively, respectively). Higher meconium ATV concentrations were protective against developmental language delays at 1 year, suggesting the importance of fetal ATV detoxification into meconium. This information supports ATV exposure safety for infant language development. ATV is a preferred ARV for pregnant women with HIV, suggesting the importance of ATV safety investigations. Additionally, further pursuit of the influences on language development in HIV-exposed uninfected infants is required.

Early Language Impairments and Developmental Pathways of Emotional Problems across Childhood

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goh Kok Yew, Shaun; O'Kearney, Richard

2015-01-01

Background: Language impairments are associated with an increased likelihood of emotional difficulties later in childhood or adolescence, but little is known about the impact of LI on the growth of emotional problems. Aims: To examine the link between early language status (language impaired (LI), typical language (TL)) and the pattern and…

Teacher-Child Relationships, Behavior Regulation, and Language Gain among At-Risk Preschoolers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schmitt, Mary Beth; Pentimonti, Jill M.; Justice, Laura M.

2012-01-01

Many preschoolers from low socioeconomic-status (SES) backgrounds demonstrate lags in their language development, and preschool participation is viewed as an important means for mitigating these lags. In this study, we investigated how teacher-child relationship quality and children's behavior regulation within preschool classrooms were associated…

Implementing an Inpatient Social Early Warning System for Child Maltreatment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Atabaki, Armita; Heddaeus, Daniela; Metzner, Franka; Schulz, Holger; Siefert, Sonke; Pawils, Silke

2013-01-01

Objectives: The current article describes the process evaluation of a social early warning system (SEWS) for the prevention of child maltreatment in the federal state of Hamburg. This prevention initiative targets expectant mothers and their partners including an initial screening of risk factors for child maltreatment, a subsequent structured…

Predicting behavior problems in deaf and hearing children: The influences of language, attention, and parent–child communication

PubMed Central

Barker, David H.; Quittner, Alexandra L.; Fink, Nancy E.; Eisenberg, Laurie S.; Tobey, Emily A.; Niparko, John K.

2009-01-01

The development of language and communication may play an important role in the emergence of behavioral problems in young children, but they are rarely included in predictive models of behavioral development. In this study, cross-sectional relationships between language, attention, and behavior problems were examined using parent report, videotaped observations, and performance measures in a sample of 116 severely and profoundly deaf and 69 normally hearing children ages 1.5 to 5 years. Secondary analyses were performed on data collected as part of the Childhood Development After Cochlear Implantation Study, funded by the National Institutes of Health. Hearing-impaired children showed more language, attention, and behavioral difficulties, and spent less time communicating with their parents than normally hearing children. Structural equation modeling indicated there were significant relationships between language, attention, and child behavior problems. Language was associated with behavior problems both directly and indirectly through effects on attention. Amount of parent–child communication was not related to behavior problems. PMID:19338689

Predicting behavior problems in deaf and hearing children: the influences of language, attention, and parent-child communication.

PubMed

Barker, David H; Quittner, Alexandra L; Fink, Nancy E; Eisenberg, Laurie S; Tobey, Emily A; Niparko, John K

2009-01-01

The development of language and communication may play an important role in the emergence of behavioral problems in young children, but they are rarely included in predictive models of behavioral development. In this study, cross-sectional relationships between language, attention, and behavior problems were examined using parent report, videotaped observations, and performance measures in a sample of 116 severely and profoundly deaf and 69 normally hearing children ages 1.5 to 5 years. Secondary analyses were performed on data collected as part of the Childhood Development After Cochlear Implantation Study, funded by the National Institutes of Health. Hearing-impaired children showed more language, attention, and behavioral difficulties, and spent less time communicating with their parents than normally hearing children. Structural equation modeling indicated there were significant relationships between language, attention, and child behavior problems. Language was associated with behavior problems both directly and indirectly through effects on attention. Amount of parent-child communication was not related to behavior problems.

Early Intervention Methods for Child Abuse Prevention.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wolfe, David A.

A longitudinal study was made of a prevention-oriented early intervention program intended to help parents who had insufficient and inappropriate childrearing abilities. The program was designed for young parents with fewer than 5 years of childrearing experience; participants were referred from a child protection agency following investigation of…

The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health and the version for children and youth as a tool in child habilitation/early childhood intervention--feasibility and usefulness as a common language and frame of reference for practice.

PubMed

Björck-Åkesson, Eva; Wilder, Jenny; Granlund, Mats; Pless, Mia; Simeonsson, Rune; Adolfsson, Margareta; Almqvist, Lena; Augustine, Lilly; Klang, Nina; Lillvist, Anne

2010-01-01

Early childhood intervention and habilitation services for children with disabilities operate on an interdisciplinary basis. It requires a common language between professionals, and a shared framework for intervention goals and intervention implementation. The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) and the version for children and youth (ICF-CY) may serve as this common framework and language. This overview of studies implemented by our research group is based on three research questions: Do the ICF-CY conceptual model have a valid content and is it logically coherent when investigated empirically? Is the ICF-CY classification useful for documenting child characteristics in services? What difficulties and benefits are related to using ICF-CY model as a basis for intervention when it is implemented in services? A series of studies, undertaken by the CHILD researchers are analysed. The analysis is based on data sets from published studies or master theses. Results and conclusion show that the ICF-CY has a useful content and is logically coherent on model level. Professionals find it useful for documenting children's body functions and activities. Guidelines for separating activity and participation are needed. ICF-CY is a complex classification, implementing it in services is a long-term project.

Early and Late Language Start at Private Schools in Turkey

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cepik, Saban; Sarandi, Hedayat

2012-01-01

This study examines the interaction effect of age in L2 attainment. It explores whether success in foreign language learning at early childhood grades varies depending on age. It also addresses the beliefs of foreign language teachers regarding the variables under review. Eighty-three 11 year-old language learners who started learning English at…

Early Markers of Vulnerable Language Skill Development in Galactosaemia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lewis, Fiona M.; Coman, David J.; Syrmis, Maryanne

2014-01-01

There are no known biomedical or genetic markers to identify which infants with galactosaemia (GAL) are most at risk of poor language skill development, yet pre-linguistic communicative "red flag" behaviours are recognised as early identifiers of heightened vulnerability to impaired language development. We report on pre-linguistic…

Mexican-American and Anglo-American mothers' beliefs and values about child rearing, education, and language impairment.

PubMed

Rodriguez, Barbara L; Olswang, Lesley B

2003-11-01

This study investigated the cross-cultural and intra cultural diversity of mothers' beliefs and values regarding child rearing, education, and the causes of language impairment. Thirty Mexican-American and 30 Anglo-American mothers of children with language impairments completed 2 questionnaires, and 10 randomly selected mothers from each group participated in an interview. In addition, the Mexican-American mothers completed an acculturation rating scale. Results indicated that Mexican-American mothers held more strongly traditional, authoritarian, and conforming educational and child rearing beliefs and values than Anglo-American mothers. Mexican-American mothers cited extrinsic attributes as the cause of their children's language impairment, whereas Anglo-American mothers cited intrinsic attributes. Mexican-American mothers exhibited differences in their beliefs that were related to their level of acculturation to the mainstream culture.

Girl child marriage as a risk factor for early childhood development and stunting.

PubMed

Efevbera, Yvette; Bhabha, Jacqueline; Farmer, Paul E; Fink, Günther

2017-07-01

This paper quantitatively examines the intergenerational effects of girl child marriage, or the developmental and health outcomes of children born to women who marry before age 18. The overall objective is to understand the mechanisms through which girl child marriage affects the health and well-being of children in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as the relative magnitude and impact of these mechanisms. We used data from 37,558 mother-child pairs identified through 16 national and sub-national cross-sectional surveys across sub-Saharan Africa conducted between 2010 and 2014 by the UNICEF Multiple Indicator Clusters Survey program. The Early Childhood Development Index was used to measure child development, and stunting was used to measure health. Using logistic regression, we found that the odds of being off-track for development and being stunted were 25% and 29% higher, respectively, for children born to women who married before age 18 compared to those whose mothers married later (p < 0.001). Geographic location and primary education, which were conceptualized as contextual factors, explained most of this relationship, controlling for country fixed-effects. In adjusted models, we found that early childbearing was not the sole pathway through which girl child marriage affected child development and health. Our final models revealed that disparities in advanced maternal education and wealth explained child development and stunting. We conclude that there are intergenerational consequences of girl child marriage on her child's well-being, and that through association with other contextual, socioeconomic, and biological factors, marrying early does matter for child development and health. Our findings resonate with existing literature and point toward important policy considerations for improving early childhood outcomes. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Modality, Infinitives, and Finite Bare Verbs in Dutch and English Child Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blom, Elma

2007-01-01

This article focuses on the meaning of nonfinite clauses ("root infinitives") in Dutch and English child language. I present experimental and naturalistic data confirming the claim that Dutch root infinitives are more often modal than English root infinitives. This cross-linguistic difference is significantly smaller than previously assumed,…

The relationship between the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale and its revised form and child outcomes: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Brunsek, Ashley; Perlman, Michal; Falenchuk, Olesya; McMullen, Evelyn; Fletcher, Brooke; Shah, Prakesh S

2017-01-01

The Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS) and its revised version (ECERS-R) were designed as global measures of quality that assess structural and process aspects of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) programs. Despite frequent use of the ECERS/ECERS-R in research and applied settings, associations between it and child outcomes have not been systematically reviewed. The objective of this research was to evaluate the association between the ECERS/ECERS-R and children's wellbeing. Searches of Medline, PsycINFO, ERIC, websites of large datasets and reference sections of all retrieved articles were completed up to July 3, 2015. Eligible studies provided a statistical link between the ECERS/ECERS-R and child outcomes for preschool-aged children in ECEC programs. Of the 823 studies selected for full review, 73 were included in the systematic review and 16 were meta-analyzed. The combined sample across all eligible studies consisted of 33, 318 preschool-aged children. Qualitative systematic review results revealed that ECERS/ECERS-R total scores were more generally associated with positive outcomes than subscales or factors. Seventeen separate meta-analyses were conducted to assess the strength of association between the ECERS/ECERS-R and measures that assessed children's language, math and social-emotional outcomes. Meta-analyses revealed a small number of weak effects (in the expected direction) between the ECERS/ECERS-R total score and children's language and positive behavior outcomes. The Language-Reasoning subscale was weakly related to a language outcome. The enormous heterogeneity in how studies operationalized the ECERS/ECERS-R, the outcomes measured and statistics reported limited our ability to meta-analyze many studies. Greater consistency in study methodology is needed in this area of research. Despite these methodological challenges, the ECERS/ECERS-R does appear to capture aspects of quality that are important for children's wellbeing

Nonstandard Maternal Work Schedules: Implications for African American Children’s Early Language Outcomes

PubMed Central

Odom, Erika C.; Vernon-Feagans, Lynne; Crouter, Ann C.

2012-01-01

In this study, observed maternal positive engagement and perception of work-family spillover were examined as mediators of the association between maternal nonstandard work schedules and children’s expressive language outcomes in 231 African American families living in rural households. Mothers reported their work schedules when their child was 24 months of age and children’s expressive language development was assessed during a picture book task at 24 months and with a standardized assessment at 36 months. After controlling for family demographics, child, and maternal characteristics, maternal employment in nonstandard schedules at the 24 month timepoint was associated with lower expressive language ability among African American children concurrently and at 36 months of age. Importantly, the negative association between nonstandard schedules and children’s expressive language ability at 24 months of age was mediated by maternal positive engagement and negative work-family spillover, while at 36 months of age, the association was mediated only by negative work-family spillover. These findings suggest complex links between mothers’ work environments and African American children’s developmental outcomes. PMID:23459591

Maternal Employment and Child Cognitive Outcomes in the First Three Years of Life: The NICHD Study of Early Child Care.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne; Han, Wen-Jui; Waldfogel, Jane

2002-01-01

Examined data on 900 European American children from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care to explore links between maternal employment during the child's first year and child cognitive outcomes. Found that maternal employment by the child's ninth month related to lower school readiness scores at 36 months, with more pronounced effects for certain…

Early Childhood Education of Children with Specific Language Impairments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barrett, Emma; Hammond, Lorraine

2008-01-01

Early intervention for children with specific language impairment by teachers with experience in supporting their needs is critical to language acquisition. In Western Australia this small number of children are catered for in designated settings with specialised teachers. The length of time that these children are able to access intensive…

An Ecological Risk Model for Early Childhood Anxiety: The Importance of Early Child Symptoms and Temperament

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mian, Nicholas D.; Wainwright, Laurel; Briggs-Gowan, Margaret J.; Carter, Alice S.

2011-01-01

Childhood anxiety is impairing and associated with later emotional disorders. Studying risk factors for child anxiety may allow earlier identification of at-risk children for prevention efforts. This study applied an ecological risk model to address how early childhood anxiety symptoms, child temperament, maternal anxiety and depression symptoms,…

The Impact of Input Quality on Early Sign Development in Native and Non-Native Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lu, Jenny; Jones, Anna; Morgan, Gary

2016-01-01

There is debate about how input variation influences child language. Most deaf children are exposed to a sign language from their non-fluent hearing parents and experience a delay in exposure to accessible language. A small number of children receive language input from their deaf parents who are fluent signers. Thus it is possible to document the…

A Longitudinal Study of Maternal and Child Internalizing Symptoms Predicting Early Adolescent Emotional Eating.

PubMed

Kidwell, Katherine M; Nelson, Timothy D; Nelson, Jennifer Mize; Espy, Kimberly Andrews

2017-05-01

To examine maternal and child internalizing symptoms as predictors of early adolescent emotional eating in a longitudinal framework spanning three critical developmental periods (preschool, elementary school, and early adolescence). Participants were 170 children recruited at preschool age for a longitudinal study. When children were 5.25 years, their mothers completed ratings of their own internalizing symptoms. During the spring of 4th grade, children completed measures of internalizing symptoms. In early adolescence, youth completed a measure of emotional eating. Maternal and child internalizing symptoms predicted adolescent emotional eating. The results indicated that child psychopathology moderated the association between maternal psychopathology (except for maternal anxiety) and early adolescent emotional eating. There was no evidence of mediation. Pediatric psychologists are encouraged to provide early screening of, and interventions for, maternal and child internalizing symptoms to prevent children's emotional eating. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Pediatric Psychology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com

Preparing Early Childhood Teachers to Work With Young Dual Language Learners

PubMed Central

Zepeda, Marlene; Castro, Dina C.; Cronin, Sharon

2015-01-01

Teacher preparation is clearly linked to the quality of early childhood programs. In order for young dual language learners (DLLs) to be academically successful, teacher preparation should focus on those skills and abilities relevant to students’ particular needs. This article reviews the content of professional preparation for early educators working with young DLLs and briefly discusses the importance of developing the cultural and linguistic diversity of the early childhood workforce. It identifies 6 content areas: (a) understanding language development, (b) understanding the relationship between language and culture, (c) developing skills and abilities to effectively teach DLLs, (d) developing abilities to use assessment in meaningful ways for DLLs, (e) developing a sense of professionalism, and (f) understanding how to work with families. PMID:26500692

Preparing Early Childhood Teachers to Work With Young Dual Language Learners.

PubMed

Zepeda, Marlene; Castro, Dina C; Cronin, Sharon

2011-03-01

Teacher preparation is clearly linked to the quality of early childhood programs. In order for young dual language learners (DLLs) to be academically successful, teacher preparation should focus on those skills and abilities relevant to students' particular needs. This article reviews the content of professional preparation for early educators working with young DLLs and briefly discusses the importance of developing the cultural and linguistic diversity of the early childhood workforce. It identifies 6 content areas: (a) understanding language development, (b) understanding the relationship between language and culture, (c) developing skills and abilities to effectively teach DLLs, (d) developing abilities to use assessment in meaningful ways for DLLs, (e) developing a sense of professionalism, and (f) understanding how to work with families.

Knowledge of Child Abuse and Reporting Practices among Early Care and Education Providers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dinehart, Laura; Kenny, Maureen C.

2015-01-01

This study sought to assess child abuse knowledge and reporting practices of a diverse sample of early care and education (ECE) practitioners. One hundred and thirty-seven practitioners in the state of Florida completed the "Early Childhood Educators Child Abuse Questionnaire." Results revealed that only a minority of participants have…

Persistent Language Delay Versus Late Language Emergence in Children With Early Cochlear Implantation

PubMed Central

Nicholas, Johanna; Tobey, Emily; Davidson, Lisa

2016-01-01

Purpose The purpose of the present investigation is to differentiate children using cochlear implants (CIs) who did or did not achieve age-appropriate language scores by midelementary grades and to identify risk factors for persistent language delay following early cochlear implantation. Materials and Method Children receiving unilateral CIs at young ages (12–38 months) were tested longitudinally and classified with normal language emergence (n = 19), late language emergence (n = 22), or persistent language delay (n = 19) on the basis of their test scores at 4.5 and 10.5 years of age. Relative effects of demographic, audiological, linguistic, and academic characteristics on language emergence were determined. Results Age at CI was associated with normal language emergence but did not differentiate late emergence from persistent delay. Children with persistent delay were more likely to use left-ear implants and older speech processor technology. They experienced higher aided thresholds and lower speech perception scores. Persistent delay was foreshadowed by low morphosyntactic and phonological diversity in preschool. Logistic regression analysis predicted normal language emergence with 84% accuracy and persistent language delay with 74% accuracy. Conclusion CI characteristics had a strong effect on persistent versus resolving language delay, suggesting that right-ear (or bilateral) devices, technology upgrades, and improved audibility may positively influence long-term language outcomes. PMID:26501740

Guiding principles and clinical applications for speech-language pathology practice in early intervention.

PubMed

Paul, Diane; Roth, Froma P

2011-07-01

This article describes guiding principles in early intervention (EI) and demonstrates how speech-language pathologists (SLPs) can apply these principles to best serve infants and toddlers with communication and related problems and their families. Four principles guide the implementation of speech-language pathology services. EI services are services that are (a) family centered and culturally and linguistically responsive; (b) developmentally supportive, promoting children's participation in their natural environments; (c) comprehensive, coordinated, and team based; and (d) based on the highest quality evidence available. Actual clinical scenarios are presented to illustrate each principle. The four principles provide a framework for the wide range of roles and responsibilities assumed by SLPs in EI: (a) screening/evaluation/assessment, (b) goal setting and intervention, (c) consultation with and education for team members, (d) service coordination, (e) transition planning, and (f) advocacy. It is critical that families of infants and toddlers who are at risk for, or who have been diagnosed with, communication disorders receive all necessary services and supports. EI services should be tailored to the individual and the changing needs, preferences, and priorities of each family. The earlier services are provided, the more likely is the child's chance to develop effective communication.

Getting an Early Start on Early Child Development. Education Notes. 30194

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Young, Mary Eming; Dunkelberg, Erika

2004-01-01

The children born this year--2004--will be eleven years old in 2015--the age of primary school completion in most countries. This is the MDG (Millennium Development Goal) generation--for whom the international community has pledged that by 2015, all children will be able to complete primary schooling. Ensuring good early child development is the…

Language balance and switching ability in children acquiring English as a second language.

PubMed

Goriot, Claire; Broersma, Mirjam; McQueen, James M; Unsworth, Sharon; van Hout, Roeland

2018-09-01

This study investigated whether relative lexical proficiency in Dutch and English in child second language (L2) learners is related to executive functioning. Participants were Dutch primary school pupils of three different age groups (4-5, 8-9, and 11-12 years) who either were enrolled in an early-English schooling program or were age-matched controls not on that early-English program. Participants performed tasks that measured switching, inhibition, and working memory. Early-English program pupils had greater knowledge of English vocabulary and more balanced Dutch-English lexicons. In both groups, lexical balance, a ratio measure obtained by dividing vocabulary scores in English by those in Dutch, was related to switching but not to inhibition or working memory performance. These results show that for children who are learning an L2 in an instructional setting, and for whom managing two languages is not yet an automatized process, language balance may be more important than L2 proficiency in influencing the relation between childhood bilingualism and switching abilities. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Factors That Influence Language Growth.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCarthy, Dorothea, Ed.; And Others

This booklet contains four articles that discuss factors influencing language growth. The first, "The Child's Equipment for Language Growth" by Charlotte Wells, examines what the child needs for language learning, how the child uses his equipment for language growth, and what school factors facilitate the child's use of his equipment for language…

Language Brokering and Depressive Symptoms in Mexican-American Adolescents: Parent-Child Alienation and Resilience as Moderators.

PubMed

Kim, Su Yeong; Hou, Yang; Gonzalez, Yolanda

2017-05-01

This study aimed to untangle the mixed effects of language brokering by examining a contextual factor (i.e., parent-child alienation) and a personal attribute (i.e., resilience) that may relate to adolescents' feelings during translating (i.e., sense of burden and efficacy) and that may moderate the association between such feelings and adolescent depressive symptoms. Participants included 557 adolescent language brokers (M age  = 12.96) in Mexican-American families. Results showed that adolescents with a strong sense of alienation from parents or low resilience (a) experienced more burden or less efficacy in translating and (b) were more susceptible to the detrimental effects of feeling a sense of burden and the beneficial effects of experiencing a sense of efficacy, as measured by depressive symptoms. © 2016 The Authors. Child Development © 2016 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Parenting and the Family Check-Up: Changes in Observed Parent-Child Interaction Following Early Childhood Intervention

PubMed Central

Sitnick, Stephanie L.; Shaw, Daniel S.; Gill, Anne; Dishion, Thomas; Winter, Charlotte; Waller, Rebecca; Gardner, Frances; Wilson, Melvin

2016-01-01

Coercion theory posits a cyclical relationship between harsh and coercive parent–child interactions and problem behavior beginning in early childhood. As coercive interactions have been theorized and found to facilitate the development and growth of early conduct problems, early interventions often target parenting to prevent or reduce early disruptive problem behavior. This study utilizes direct observations of parent–child interactions from the Early Steps Multisite study (N = 731; 369 boys) to examine the effect of the Family Check-Up, a family-centered intervention program, on measures of parent–child positive engagement and coercion from age 2 through 5, as well as on childhood problem behavior at age 5. Results indicate that high levels of parent–child positive engagement were associated with less parent–child coercion the following year, but dyadic coercion was unrelated to future levels of positive engagement. In addition, families assigned to the Family Check-Up showed increased levels of positive engagement at ages 3 and 5, and the association between positive engagement at age 3 and child problem behavior at age 5 was mediated by reductions in parent–child coercion at age 4. These findings provide longitudinal confirmation that increasing positive engagement in parent–child interaction can reduce the likelihood of coercive family dynamics in early childhood and growth in problem behavior. PMID:25133754

Parenting and the Family Check-Up: Changes in Observed Parent-Child Interaction Following Early Childhood Intervention.

PubMed

Sitnick, Stephanie L; Shaw, Daniel S; Gill, Anne; Dishion, Thomas; Winter, Charlotte; Waller, Rebecca; Gardner, Frances; Wilson, Melvin

2015-01-01

Coercion theory posits a cyclical relationship between harsh and coercive parent-child interactions and problem behavior beginning in early childhood. As coercive interactions have been theorized and found to facilitate the development and growth of early conduct problems, early interventions often target parenting to prevent or reduce early disruptive problem behavior. This study utilizes direct observations of parent-child interactions from the Early Steps Multisite study (N = 731; 369 boys) to examine the effect of the Family Check-Up, a family-centered intervention program, on measures of parent-child positive engagement and coercion from age 2 through 5, as well as on childhood problem behavior at age 5. Results indicate that high levels of parent-child positive engagement were associated with less parent-child coercion the following year, but dyadic coercion was unrelated to future levels of positive engagement. In addition, families assigned to the Family Check-Up showed increased levels of positive engagement at ages 3 and 5, and the association between positive engagement at age 3 and child problem behavior at age 5 was mediated by reductions in parent-child coercion at age 4. These findings provide longitudinal confirmation that increasing positive engagement in parent-child interaction can reduce the likelihood of coercive family dynamics in early childhood and growth in problem behavior.

In Early Childhood: What's Language about?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mozere, Liane

2007-01-01

This paper argues that in daycare centres in France, where children are cared for from four months to age three, the competence of female staff members is usually denied and unvalued vis a vis the expert opinions. The paper highlights empirical research on early childhood and gender, providing pragmatic access to children's languages of desire, a…

The Effects of Early Language Enrichment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fowler, William; Ogston, Karen; Roberts, Gloria; Swenson, Amy

2006-01-01

Over two decades, six studies evaluated the effects of a home-based early language program on the development of 101 infants. Parents engaged in enrichment activities with their infants over a one-year period that began when the infants were between three and 13 months of age. Participants from families with varied levels of education were…

Mothers' and fathers' support for child autonomy and early school achievement.

PubMed

2008-07-01

Data were analyzed from 641 children and their families in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development to test the hypotheses that in the early school years, mothers' and fathers' sensitive support for autonomy in observed parent-child interactions would each make unique predictions to children's reading and math achievement at Grade 3 (controlling for demographic variables), children's reading and math abilities at 54 months, and children's level of effortful control at 54 months and that these associations would be mediated by the level of and changes over time in children's observed self-reliance in the classroom from Grades 1 through 3. The authors found that mothers' and fathers' support for autonomy were significantly and uniquely associated with children's Grade 3 reading and math achievement with the above controls, but only for boys. For boys, the effect of mothers' support for child autonomy was mediated by higher self-reliance at Grade 1 and of fathers' support for child autonomy by greater increases in self-reliance from Grades 1 through 3.

Early Detection of Child Abuse

PubMed Central

Shearman, J.K.

1987-01-01

Child abuse, neglect and deprivation are more common than was previously thought. Family physicians are in a unique position to help abusers and abused because of their knowledge of patients from the cradle to the grave. They should use this knowledge to observe clues about parenting potential and should make a thorough family history a routine part of history taking in potential parents. They should also observe patients carefully during pregnancy and early childhood to detect parenting problems and to try to prevent all types of abuse, physical, mental and sexual. PMID:21267341

Marginalizing English as a Second Language Teacher Expertise: The Exclusionary Consequence of "No Child Left Behind"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harper, Candace A.; de Jong, Ester J.; Platt, Elizabeth J.

2008-01-01

"No Child Left Behind" (NCLB, 2001) fails to recognize English as a second language (ESL) as a specialized academic discipline in which teachers should be "highly qualified." In this paper we examine the impact of this policy failure on the practice of teachers of K-12 English language learners (ELLs), particularly in the…

Parental and Child Characteristics Related to Early-Onset Disordered Eating: A Systematic Review.

PubMed

Larsen, Pernille Stemann; Strandberg-Larsen, Katrine; Micali, Nadia; Andersen, Anne-Marie Nybo

2015-01-01

After participating in this activity, learners should be better able to: Evaluate the evidence regarding parental and child characteristics related to early-onset disordered eating. Eating disorders are rare in children, but disordered eating is common. Understanding the phenomenology of disordered eating in childhood can aid prevention of full-blown eating disorders. The purpose of this review is to systematically extract and synthesize the evidence on parental and child characteristics related to early-onset disordered eating. Systematic searches were conducted in PubMED/MEDLINE, EMBASE, and PsycInfo using the following search terms: eating disorder, disordered eating, problem eating, anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating, child, preadolescent, and early onset. Studies published from 1990 to 2013 addressing parental and child characteristics of disordered eating in children aged 6 to 12 years were eligible for inclusion. The search was restricted to studies with cross-sectional, case-control, or longitudinal designs, studies in English, and with abstracts available. Forty-four studies fit these criteria. Most studies were based on community samples with a cross-sectional design. The included studies varied considerably in size, instruments used to assess early-onset disordered eating, and parental and child characteristics investigated. Important determinants included the following: higher body weight, previously reported disordered eating, body dissatisfaction, depression, parental disordered eating, and parental comments/concerns about child's weight and eating. The findings were inconsistent for sex, age, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, self-esteem/worth, and parental body weight. In conclusion, characteristics related to early-onset disordered eating have mainly been explored with a cross-sectional design. Full understanding of causal pathways will require good-quality longitudinal studies designed to address the influence of parental eating

THE BIRTH OF LANGUAGE, THE CASE HISTORY OF A NON-VERBAL CHILD.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

KASTEIN, SHULAMITH; TRACE, BARBARA

THE HISTORY OF A CHILD WITH BEHAVIOR AND LANGUAGE DISORDERS IS WRITTEN BY THE MOTHER IN CONJUNCTION WITH A SPEECH PATHOLOGIST. WRITTEN FROM A PROFESSIONAL VIEWPOINT, THE CASE HISTORY PRESENTS MEDICAL, EDUCATIONAL, PHYSICAL, AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENTS AS THEY OCCURRED FROM BIRTH TO 11 YEARS OF AGE. TESTING PROCEDURES AND RESULTS, DIAGNOSIS, AND…

Family Income Dynamics, Early Childhood Education and Care, and Early Child Behavior Problems in Norway

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zachrisson, Henrik D.; Dearing, Eric

2015-01-01

The sociopolitical context of Norway includes low poverty rates and universal access to subsidized and regulated Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC). In this context, the association between family income dynamics and changes in early child behavior problems was investigated, as well as whether high-quality ECEC buffers children from the…

Books, toys, parent-child interaction, and development in young Latino children.

PubMed

Tomopoulos, Suzy; Dreyer, Benard P; Tamis-LeMonda, Catherine; Flynn, Virginia; Rovira, Irene; Tineo, Wendy; Mendelsohn, Alan L

2006-01-01

To describe the interrelationships between books and toys in the home, parent-child interaction, and child development at 21 months among low-income Latino children. Latino mother-infant dyads enrolled in a level 1 nursery and infants were followed to 21 months. The subjects consisted of the control group of a larger intervention study. At 6 and 18 months, the number of books and toys in the home and the frequency of reading aloud were measured by the StimQ. At 21 months, child cognitive and language development and parent-child interaction were assessed by the Bayley Mental Development Index (MDI), the Preschool Language Scale-3 (PLS-3), and the Caregiver-Child Interaction Rating Scale, respectively. Eligibility for early intervention (EI) services was determined on the basis of the MDI and PLS-3. Data were obtained for 46 (63.0%) of 73 at 21 months. In multiple regression analysis, books provided at 18 months predicted both cognition (semipartial correlation [sr] = .49, P= .001) and receptive language (sr = .37, P= .02), whereas toys provided at both 6 and 18 months predicted 21-month receptive language (sr = .40, P= .01; sr = .32, P= .047, respectively). Reading aloud by parents > or =4 days a week was associated with decreased EI eligibility (adjusted odds ratio = 0.16, 95% confidence interval 0.03-0.99). Reading aloud and provision of toys are associated with better child cognitive and language development as well as with decreased likelihood of EI eligibility.

Creatively Encountering Languages in Caregiving and in the Early Childhood Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Madera, Piña

2015-01-01

For years, research has shown that language learning at an early age has great benefits. Most recently, a May 2015 study published in "Science Daily" suggests that exposure to multiple languages in childhood produces better communicators ("Children exposed to multiple languages"). A 2014 study in Singapore showed that infants…

Parental tobacco consumption and child development.

PubMed

Santos, Nadine F; Costa, Raquel A

2015-01-01

To analyze the association between parental tobacco consumption and the prevalence of psychomotor development disorders in children between 6 and 22 months of age. One hundred and nine mothers, fathers, and their babies participated in the study. The sociodemographic and clinical conditions were assessed using questionnaires. Tobacco consumption was assessed using the Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND). Child development was evaluated using the Scale of Psychomotor Development in Early Childhood. There was a significant negative correlation between the father's morning smoking (FTND) and the child's language development quotient; r=-0.41, p=0.005, r(2)=0.15. The children of mothers without nicotine dependence had a higher mean language development quotient than children of mothers with nicotine dependence; F(1, 107)=5.51, p=0.021, ηp(2)=0.05. Parental smoking appears to have a detrimental effect on child development. Copyright © 2015 Sociedade Brasileira de Pediatria. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

Early hearing loss and language abilities in children with Down syndrome.

PubMed

Laws, Glynis; Hall, Amanda

2014-01-01

Although many children with Down syndrome experience hearing loss, there has been little research to investigate its impact on speech and language development. Studies that have investigated the association give inconsistent results. These have often been based on samples where children with the most severe hearing impairments have been excluded and so results do not generalize to the wider population with Down syndrome. Also, measuring children's hearing at the time of a language assessment does not take into account the fluctuating nature of hearing loss in children with Down syndrome or possible effects of losses in their early years. To investigate the impact of early hearing loss on language outcomes for children with Down syndrome. Retrospective audiology clinic records and parent report for 41 children were used to categorize them as either having had hearing difficulties from 2 to 4 years or more normal hearing. Differences between the groups on measures of language expression and comprehension, receptive vocabulary, a narrative task and speech accuracy were investigated. After accounting for the contributions of chronological age and nonverbal mental age to children's scores, there were significant differences between the groups on all measures. Early hearing loss has a significant impact on the speech and language development of children with Down syndrome. Results suggest that speech and language therapy should be provided when children are found to have ongoing hearing difficulties and that joint audiology and speech and language therapy clinics could be considered for preschool children. © 2014 Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.

Is the Prediction of Adolescent Outcomes From Early Child Care Moderated by Later Maternal Sensitivity? Results From the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development

PubMed Central

Burchinal, Margaret R.; Vandell, Deborah Lowe; Belsky, Jay

2016-01-01

Longitudinal data are used to examine whether effects of early child care are amplified and/or attenuated by later parenting. Analyses tested these interactions using parenting as both a categorical and continuous variable to balance power and flexibility in testing moderation. The most consistent finding was that maternal sensitivity during adolescence accentuated the association between child care quality and adolescent academic-cognitive skills at age 15 years when maternal sensitivity during adolescence was high. This interaction was obtained in analyses with maternal sensitivity as both a categorical and continuous variable. Relations between early child care hours and adolescent behavioral outcomes also were moderated by maternal sensitivity, with longer child care hours predicting more impulsivity and externalizing at age 15 when maternal sensitivity during middle childhood, scored as a categorical variable, was low to moderate and when maternal sensitivity during adolescence, scored as a continuous variable, was lower. These findings suggest that some child care effects are moderated by subsequent parenting and that this moderation may take both linear and nonlinear forms. PMID:23937381

MENTAL STATE LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT: THE LONGITUDINAL ROLES OF ATTACHMENT AND MATERNAL LANGUAGE.

PubMed

Becker Razuri, Erin; Hiles Howard, Amanda R; Purvis, Karyn B; Cross, David R

2017-05-01

Maternal mental state language is thought to influence children's mental state language and sociocognitive understanding (e.g., theory of mind), but the mechanism is unclear. The current study examined the longitudinal development of mental state language in mother-child interactions. The methodology included assessments of the child and/or mother-child dyad at six time points between 12 to 52 months of the child's age. Measures determined child's attachment style and language abilities, and mental state language used by mother and child during a block-building task. Results showed that (a) mental state talk, including belief and desire language, increased over time; (b) there were differences between the type of mental state words used by the mother in insecure versus secure dyads; (c) there were differences in patterns of mental state words used in both mothers and children in insecure versus secure dyads; and (d) attachment appeared to exert a consistent influence over time. © 2017 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.

The effect of early child care attendance on childhood asthma and wheezing: A meta-analysis.

PubMed

Swartz, Alicia; Collier, Tina; Young, Chelsea Anne; Cruz, Eddie; Bekmezian, Arpi; Coffman, Janet; Celedon, Juan; Alkon, Abbey; Cabana, Michael D

2018-04-09

Research evidence offers mixed results regarding the relationship between early child care attendance and childhood asthma and wheezing. A meta-analysis was conducted to synthesize the current research evidence of the association between early child care attendance and the risk of childhood asthma and wheezing. Peer reviewed studies published from 1964-January 2017 were identified in MEDLINE, CINAL, and EMBASE using MeSH headings relevant to child care and asthma. Two investigators independently reviewed the selected articles from this search. All relevant articles that met our inclusion criteria were selected for further analysis. Data were extracted from studies that had sufficient data to analyze the odds of asthma or wheezing among children who attended child care. The meta-analysis of 32 studies found that (1) early child care attendance is protective against asthma in children 3-5 years of age but not for children with asthma 6 years of age or older. (2) Early child care attendance increases the risk of wheezing among children 2 years of age or younger, but not the risk of wheezing for children over 2 years of age. This meta-analysis shows that early child care attendance is not significantly associated with the risk of asthma or wheeze in children 6 years of age or older.

Early language impairments and developmental pathways of emotional problems across childhood.

PubMed

Yew, Shaun Goh Kok; O'Kearney, Richard

2015-01-01

Language impairments are associated with an increased likelihood of emotional difficulties later in childhood or adolescence, but little is known about the impact of LI on the growth of emotional problems. To examine the link between early language status (language impaired (LI), typical language (TL)) and the pattern and predictors of growth in emotional difficulties from school entry to the start of high school in a large cohort of Australian children. Unconditional latent growth curves of emotional difficulties were modelled across four waves (ages 4-5, 6-7, 8-9 and 10-11) using data from 1627 boys (280 LI, 1347 TL) and 1609 girls (159 LI, 1450 TL). Conditional latent growth curves estimated the main effects of LI on the severity and slope of growth in emotional problems. Simultaneous multiple regression tested the interaction between language status and the other predictors of the development of emotional symptoms. LI predicted a significant persistent elevation in severity of emotional difficulties across childhood among boys (d = 0.33-0.57) and girls (d = 0.25-0.39) but was not associated with their growth. LI moderated the association between hostile parenting and the severity of emotional symptoms for boys and the effect of socioeconomic status (SES) and temperamental sociability on the linear and quadratic growth of emotional problems for girls but had no impact on the influence of other predictors. There is no effect of LI on the characteristic rate and shape of growth in emotional symptoms across childhood although LI children maintain elevated severities of emotional difficulties. The associations between child reactivity, peer problems, prosocial behaviours, maternal distress and parental warmth and the development of emotional difficulties were the same for LI and TL children. LI enhanced the influence of hostile parenting on a higher severity of emotional symptoms for boys and of lower SES on a faster rate of development of emotional symptoms for

An Irish Cohort Study of Risk and Protective Factors for Infant Language Development at 9?Months

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McNally, Sinéad; Quigley, Jean

2014-01-01

This nationally representative study of Irish infants explores whether the set of child and environmental factors established as predicting language outcomes aged 3?years would also predict language and communication development as early as age 9?months. Associations between infant and environmental characteristics and infant language outcomes at…

Parent and Child Fluency in a Common Language: Implications for the Parent–Child Relationship and Later Academic Success in Mexican American Families

PubMed Central

Schofield, Thomas; Beaumont, Kelly; Widaman, Keith; Jochem, Rachel; Robins, Richard; Conger, Rand

2013-01-01

The current study tested elements of the theoretical model of Portes and Rumbaut (1996), which proposes that parent–child differences in English fluency in immigrant families affect various family processes that, in turn, relate to changes in academic success. The current study of 674 Mexican- origin families provided support for the model in that parent–child fluency in a common language was associated with several dimensions of the parent–child relationship, including communication, role reversal, and conflict. In turn, these family processes predicted child academic performance, school problems, and academic aspirations and expectations. The current findings extend the Portes and Rumbaut (1996) model, however, inasmuch as joint fluency in either English or Spanish was associated with better parent–child relationships. The findings have implications for educational and human service issues involving Mexican Americans and other immigrant groups. PMID:23244454

The Early Maternal Linguistic Environment of Normal and Down's Syndrome (Mongoloid) Language Learning Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Buium, Nissan; Rynders, John

To demonstrate that the child learning language constructs his theory of language on the basis of the linguistic data available to him, this study investigated 21 linguistic parameters that Down's Syndrome and normal children are exposed to in their maternal linguistic environment. It was found that mothers produced certain levels of linguistic…

Early Childhood Intervention Programs: Opportunities and Challenges for Preventing Child Maltreatment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Asawa, Lindsay E.; Hansen, David J.; Flood, Mary Fran

2008-01-01

Due to the destructive impact of child maltreatment and limited available funding to address its consequences, the value of preventive measures is evident. Early Childhood Intervention Programs (ECIPs) provide excellent opportunities to prevent and identify cases of child maltreatment, among other varied objectives. These programs are typically…

Empirically Based Profiles of the Early Literacy Skills of Children With Language Impairment in Early Childhood Special Education.

PubMed

Justice, Laura; Logan, Jessica; Kaderavek, Joan; Schmitt, Mary Beth; Tompkins, Virginia; Bartlett, Christopher

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to empirically determine whether specific profiles characterize preschool-aged children with language impairment (LI) with respect to their early literacy skills (print awareness, name-writing ability, phonological awareness, alphabet knowledge); the primary interest was to determine if one or more profiles suggested vulnerability for future reading problems. Participants were 218 children enrolled in early childhood special education classrooms, 95% of whom received speech-language services. Children were administered an assessment of early literacy skills in the fall of the academic year. Based on results of latent profile analysis, four distinct literacy profiles were identified, with the single largest profile (55% of children) representing children with generally poor literacy skills across all areas examined. Children in the two low-risk categories had higher oral language skills than those in the high-risk and moderate-risk profiles. Across three of the four early literacy measures, children with language as their primary disability had higher scores than those with LI concomitant with other disabilities. These findings indicate that there are specific profiles of early literacy skills among children with LI, with about one half of children exhibiting a profile indicating potential susceptibility for future reading problems. © Hammill Institute on Disabilities 2013.

Piagetian and Vygotskian Approach to Language Acquisition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tomasello, Michael

1996-01-01

Recent research has established closer links between language, cognition, and social life than Piaget or Vygotsky imagined. Connections have been established between object permanence development and acquisition of disappearance words and the quantity and quality of child-adult joint attentional social interactions and children's early word…

Longitudinal Effects on Early Adolescent Language: A Twin Study

PubMed Central

DeThorne, Laura Segebart; Smith, Jamie Mahurin; Betancourt, Mariana Aparicio; Petrill, Stephen A.

2016-01-01

Purpose We evaluated genetic and environmental contributions to individual differences in language skills during early adolescence, measured by both language sampling and standardized tests, and examined the extent to which these genetic and environmental effects are stable across time. Method We used structural equation modeling on latent factors to estimate additive genetic, shared environmental, and nonshared environmental effects on variance in standardized language skills (i.e., Formal Language) and productive language-sample measures (i.e., Productive Language) in a sample of 527 twins across 3 time points (mean ages 10–12 years). Results Individual differences in the Formal Language factor were influenced primarily by genetic factors at each age, whereas individual differences in the Productive Language factor were primarily due to nonshared environmental influences. For the Formal Language factor, the stability of genetic effects was high across all 3 time points. For the Productive Language factor, nonshared environmental effects showed low but statistically significant stability across adjacent time points. Conclusions The etiology of language outcomes may differ substantially depending on assessment context. In addition, the potential mechanisms for nonshared environmental influences on language development warrant further investigation. PMID:27732720

Caregiver talk to young Spanish-English bilinguals: Comparing direct observation and parent-report measures of dual-language exposure

PubMed Central

Marchman, Virginia A.; Martínez, Lucía Z.; Hurtado, Nereyda; Grüter, Theres; Fernald, Anne

2016-01-01

In research on language development by bilingual children, the early language environment is commonly characterized in terms of the relative amount of exposure a child gets to each language based on parent report. Little is known about how absolute measures of child-directed speech in two languages relate to language growth. In this study of 3-year-old Spanish-English bilinguals (n = 18), traditional parent-report estimates of exposure were compared to measures of the number of Spanish and English words children heard during naturalistic audio recordings. While the two estimates were moderately correlated, observed numbers of child-directed words were more consistently predictive of children's processing speed and standardized test performance, even when controlling for reported proportion of exposure. These findings highlight the importance of caregiver engagement in bilingual children's language outcomes in both of the languages they are learning. PMID:27197746

Prenatal and early postnatal depression and child maltreatment among Japanese fathers.

PubMed

Takehara, Kenji; Suto, Maiko; Kakee, Naoko; Tachibana, Yoshiyuki; Mori, Rintaro

2017-08-01

We investigated the association of paternal depression in the prenatal and early postnatal period with child maltreatment tendency at two months postpartum among Japanese fathers. This population-based longitudinal study recruited Japanese perinatal women and their partners living in Nishio City, Aichi, Japan. Of the 270 fathers who participated, 196 were included in the analysis. All data were collected via self-administrated questionnaires at four time points: 20 weeks' gestation and in the first few days, one month, and two months postpartum. Paternal depression was assessed using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. Three definitions of paternal depression were coded based on participants' scores on this measure: prenatal, prior, and current. Child maltreatment tendency was evaluated using the Child Maltreatment Scale at two months postpartum. The associations of the three definitions of paternal depression and child maltreatment tendency were separately analyzed using logistic regression analysis. The prevalence of prenatal, prior, and current paternal depression was 9.7%, 10.2%, and 8.8%, respectively. According to the multivariate analysis, current paternal depression was significantly associated with child maltreatment tendency at two months postpartum (adjusted odds ratio: 7.77, 95% CI: 1.83-33.02). The other two types of depression, however, were not related to child maltreatment tendency. Thus, current paternal depression increased the risk of child maltreatment tendency in the postnatal period, suggesting that early detection and treatment of paternal depression might be useful for the prevention of child maltreatment. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Complex Interaction between Home Environment, Socioeconomic Status, Maternal IQ and Early Child Neurocognitive Development: A Multivariate Analysis of Data Collected in a Newborn Cohort Study.

PubMed

Ronfani, Luca; Vecchi Brumatti, Liza; Mariuz, Marika; Tognin, Veronica; Bin, Maura; Ferluga, Valentina; Knowles, Alessandra; Montico, Marcella; Barbone, Fabio

2015-01-01

The relative role of socioeconomic status (SES), home environment and maternal intelligence, as factors affecting child cognitive development in early childhood is still unclear. The aim of this study is to analyze the association of SES, home environment and maternal IQ with child neurodevelopment at 18 months. The data were collected prospectively in the PHIME study, a newborn cohort study carried out in Italy between 2007 and 2010. Maternal nonverbal abilities (IQ) were evaluated using the Standard Progressive Matrices, a version of the Raven's Progressive Matrices; a direct evaluation of the home environment was carried out with the AIRE instrument, designed using the HOME (Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment) model; the socioeconomic characteristics were evaluated using the SES index which takes into account parents occupation, type of employment, educational level, homeownership. The study outcome was child neurodevelopment evaluated at 18 months, with the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development Third Edition (BSID III). Linear regression analyses and mediation analyses were carried out to evaluate the association between the three exposures, and the scaled scores of the three main scales of BSID III (cognitive, language and motor scale), with adjustment for a wide range of potential explanatory variables. Data from 502 mother-child pairs were analyzed. Mediation analysis showed a relationship between SES and maternal IQ, with a complete mediation effect of home environment in affecting cognitive and language domains. A direct significant effect of maternal IQ on the BSID III motor development scale and the mediation effect of home environment were found. Our results show that home environment was the variable with greater influence on neurodevelopment at 18 months. The observation of how parents and children interact in the home context is crucial to adequately evaluate early child development.

Variation in the Early Trajectories of Autism Symptoms Is Related to the Development of Language, Cognition, and Behavior Problems.

PubMed

Visser, Janne C; Rommelse, Nanda N J; Lappenschaar, Martijn; Servatius-Oosterling, Iris J; Greven, Corina U; Buitelaar, Jan K

2017-08-01

The objectives of this study were to model more homogeneous subgroups within autism spectrum disorder (ASD) based on early trajectories of core symptoms; and to further characterize these subgroups in terms of trajectories of language, cognition, co-occurring (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder [ADHD]-related) traits and clinical outcome diagnosis. Children (N = 203) referred for possible ASD at ages 1 to 4 years were assessed at three time points at intervals ranging from 9 months to 3 years. Assessments included standardized measures for ASD (Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule [ADOS]), language (ADOS-language item), nonverbal IQ (NV-IQ; different tests adequate to chronological/mental age), and parent-reported behavioral problems (Infant-Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment, Child Behavior Checklist). Latent-class growth curve analysis with ADOS total scores led to the identification of three main stable and two small improving groups: a severe-stable group (19.5% of sample)-the only group without considerable language improvement-showed persistent low NV-IQ and marked increase in attention problems over time; a moderate-stable group (21.7%) with below-average increasing NV-IQ; and a mild-stable group (48%) with stable-average NV-IQ and the highest scores on ADHD-related traits, whose ASD outcome diagnoses increased despite stable-low ASD scores. Two groups (each 5.4%) improved: one moved from severe to moderate ASD scores, and the other moved from moderate to mild/nonspectrum scores. Both of these groups improved on language, NV-IQ, and ADHD-related traits. Results support the high stability of ASD symptoms into various severity levels, but also highlight the significant contribution of non-ASD domains in defining and explaining the different ASD trajectories. Copyright © 2017 American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Teacher-Child Relationships and Classroom-Learning Behaviours of Children with Developmental Language Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rhoad-Drogalis, Anna; Justice, Laura M.; Sawyer, Brook E.; O'Connell, Ann A.

2018-01-01

Background: Children with developmental language disorders (DLDs) often struggle with classroom behaviour. No study has examined whether positive teacher-child relationships may act as a protective factor for children with DLDs in that these serve to enhance children's important classroom-learning behaviours. Aims: To examine the association…

Helping Families Connect Early Literacy with Social-Emotional Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Santos, Rosa Milagros; Fettig, Angel; Shaffer, LaShorage

2012-01-01

Early childhood educators know that home is a child's first learning environment. From birth, children are comforted by hearing and listening to their caregivers' voices. The language used by families supports young children's development of oral language skills. Exposure to print materials in the home also supports literacy development. Literacy…

Naturalistic acquisition in an early language classroom.

PubMed

Dahl, Anne; Vulchanova, Mila D

2014-01-01

This study investigated whether it is possible to provide naturalistic second language acquisition (SLA) of vocabulary for young learners in a classroom situation without resorting to a classical immersion approach. Participants were 60 first-grade pupils in two Norwegian elementary schools in their first year. The control group followed regular instruction as prescribed by the school curriculum, while the experimental group received increased naturalistic target language input. This entailed extensive use of English by the teacher during English classes, and also during morning meetings and for simple instructions and classroom management throughout the day. Our hypothesis was that it is possible to facilitate naturalistic acquisition through better quality target language exposure within a normal curriculum. The students' English vocabulary knowledge was measured using the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, version 4 (PPVT-IV, Dunn and Dunn, 2007a), at the beginning and the end of the first year of school. Findings are that (1) early-start second-language (L2) programs in school do not in themselves guarantee vocabulary development in the first year, (2) a focus on increased exposure to the L2 can lead to a significant increase in receptive vocabulary comprehension in the course of only 8 months, and (3) even with relatively modest input, learners in such an early-start L2 program can display vocabulary acquisition comparable in some respects to that of younger native children matched on vocabulary size. The overall conclusion is that naturalistic vocabulary acquisition is in fact possible in a classroom setting.

Naturalistic acquisition in an early language classroom

PubMed Central

Dahl, Anne; Vulchanova, Mila D.

2014-01-01

This study investigated whether it is possible to provide naturalistic second language acquisition (SLA) of vocabulary for young learners in a classroom situation without resorting to a classical immersion approach. Participants were 60 first-grade pupils in two Norwegian elementary schools in their first year. The control group followed regular instruction as prescribed by the school curriculum, while the experimental group received increased naturalistic target language input. This entailed extensive use of English by the teacher during English classes, and also during morning meetings and for simple instructions and classroom management throughout the day. Our hypothesis was that it is possible to facilitate naturalistic acquisition through better quality target language exposure within a normal curriculum. The students' English vocabulary knowledge was measured using the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, version 4 (PPVT-IV, Dunn and Dunn, 2007a), at the beginning and the end of the first year of school. Findings are that (1) early-start second-language (L2) programs in school do not in themselves guarantee vocabulary development in the first year, (2) a focus on increased exposure to the L2 can lead to a significant increase in receptive vocabulary comprehension in the course of only 8 months, and (3) even with relatively modest input, learners in such an early-start L2 program can display vocabulary acquisition comparable in some respects to that of younger native children matched on vocabulary size. The overall conclusion is that naturalistic vocabulary acquisition is in fact possible in a classroom setting. PMID:24860518

Marital Birth and Early Child Outcomes: The Moderating Influence of Marriage Propensity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ryan, Rebecca M.

2012-01-01

Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being Study, the present study tested whether the benefits of a marital birth for early child development diminish as parents' risk of having a nonmarital birth increases (N = 2,285). It was hypothesized that a child's likelihood of being born to unmarried parents is partly a function of father…

Culture and Early Language Development: Implications for Assessment and Intervention

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parada, Patricia M.

2013-01-01

The purpose of this qualitative study--"Culture and Early Language Development: Implications for Assessment and Intervention"--was to explore and describe the perceptions and beliefs of Salvadoran mothers of low socioeconomic status regarding the language development of their young children in order to identify cultural variations in…

Caregivers' Use of Metacognitive Language in Child Care Centers: Prevalence and Predictors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Frampton, Kristen L.; Perlman, Michal; Jenkins, Jennifer M.

2009-01-01

Use of metacognitive language by child care center staff in classrooms that serve preschool-aged children was examined. Staff's use of mental-state talk, perspective-taking talk, and activity-relevant questioning with children were coded in a series of 20-s snapshots taken over the course of one full morning per classroom. A total of 3401…

Starting Early with English Language Learners: First Lessons from Illinois

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Severns, Maggie

2012-01-01

In recent years, a boom in immigration and high birth rates among the foreign-born population has led to significant growth in the number of children in the United States who speak a language other than English at home. This demographic change presents a challenge to the public school system, where English proficiency is central to a child's…

The Cognitive Validity of Child English Language Tests: What Young Language Learners and Their Native-Speaking Peers Can Reveal

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Winke, Paula; Lee, Shinhye; Ahn, Jieun Irene; Choi, Ina; Cui, Yaqiong; Yoon, Hyung-Jo

2018-01-01

This study investigated the cognitive validity of two child English language tests. Some teachers maintain that these types of tests may be cognitively invalid because native-English-speaking children would not do well on them (Winke, 2011). So the researchers had native speakers and learners of English aged 7 to 9 take sample versions of two…

Why Should I Read to My Baby? The Importance of Early Literacy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

High, Pamela C.

2013-01-01

"Early Brain and Child Development" as a strategic priority of the American Academy of Pediatrics recognizes that early literacy and language skills build a strong foundation for healthy development and academic success. Promoting early literacy in the context of pediatric primary care supports early brain development and positive,…

[Types of child rearing behavior of parents during early childhood: Q-methodological approach].

PubMed

Park, Sun-Jung; Kang, Kyung-Ah; Kim, Shin-Jeong

2013-08-01

The purpose of this study was to identify the awareness of child rearing among parents of children in early childhood and to provide fundamental data for parent education programs according to child rearing type. Q-methodology which provides a method of analyzing the subjectivity of each item was used. Forty Q items which were derived from a literature review and interviews with nurturing mothers were classified into a normal distribution using a 9-point scale. Collected data were analyzed using the QUANAL PC Program. Four types of parents' child rearing were identified. Type I was named 'affection-respect type', type II, 'concern-rule compliant type', type III, 'solicitude-model type', and type IV, 'geniality-encouragement type'. For proper growth and development during early childhood, parents should have rational information and awareness of their child rearing type. Results of this study can be used as essential data to develop child rearing education programs according to parents' child rearing attitude.

Left Hemisphere Regions Are Critical for Language in the Face of Early Left Focal Brain Injury

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beharelle, Anjali Raja; Dick, Anthony Steven; Josse, Goulven; Solodkin, Ana; Huttenlocher, Peter R.; Levine, Susan C.; Small, Steven L.

2010-01-01

A predominant theory regarding early stroke and its effect on language development, is that early left hemisphere lesions trigger compensatory processes that allow the right hemisphere to assume dominant language functions, and this is thought to underlie the near normal language development observed after early stroke. To test this theory, we…

Do the early development of gestures and receptive and expressive language predict language skills at 5;0 in prematurely born very-low-birth-weight children?

PubMed

Stolt, S; Lind, A; Matomäki, J; Haataja, L; Lapinleimu, H; Lehtonen, L

2016-01-01

It is unclear what the predictive value of very early development of gestures and language is on later language ability in prematurely born very-low-birth-weight (VLBW; birth weight ≤1500g) children. The aim of the present study was to analyse the predictive value of early gestures and a receptive lexicon measured between the ages of 0;9 and 1;3, as well as the predictive value of receptive and expressive language ability at 2;0 for language skills at 5;0 in VLBW children. The subjects were 29 VLBW children and 28 full-term children whose language development has been followed intensively between the ages of 0;9 and 2;0 using the Finnish version of the MacArthur Developmental Inventory and the Reynell Developmental Language Scales (RDLS III). At 5;0, five selected verbal subtests of the Nepsy II test and the Boston Naming Test (BNT) were used to assess children's language skills. For the first time in VLBW children, the development of gestures measured between the ages of 0;9 and 1;3 was shown to correlate significantly and positively with language skills at 5;0. In addition, both receptive and expressive language ability measured at 2;0 correlated significantly and positively with later language skills in both groups. Moreover, according to the hierarchical regression analysis, the receptive language score of the RDLS III at 2;0 was a clear and significant predictor for language skills at 5;0 in both groups. The findings particularly underline the role of early receptive language as a significant predictor for later language ability in VLBW children. The results provide evidence for a continuity between early language development and later language skills. After reading this article, readers will understand the associations between the very early (≤2 years of age) development of gestures and language (i.e. early receptive lexicon, expressive lexicon at 2;0, receptive and expressive language ability at 2;0) and the language skills at 5;0 in prematurely born

Child Maltreatment and Children's Developmental Trajectories in Early- to Middle-Childhood

PubMed Central

Font, Sarah A.; Berger, Lawrence M.

2014-01-01

Associations between experiencing child maltreatment and adverse developmental outcomes are widely studied, yet conclusions regarding the extent to which effects are bidirectional, and whether they are likely causal, remain elusive. This study uses the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being study, a birth cohort of 4,898 children followed from birth through age 9. Hierarchical linear modeling and structural equation modeling are employed to estimate associations of maltreatment with cognitive and social-emotional well-being. Results suggest that effects of early childhood maltreatment emerge immediately, though developmental outcomes are also affected by newly occurring maltreatment over time. Additionally, findings indicate that children's early developmental scores predict their subsequent probability of experiencing maltreatment, though to a lesser extent than early maltreatment predicts subsequent developmental outcomes. PMID:25521556

Early Writing Deficits in Preschoolers with Oral Language Difficulties

PubMed Central

Puranik, Cynthia S.; Lonigan, Christopher J.

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether preschool children with language impairments (LI), a group with documented reading difficulties, also experience writing difficulties. In addition, a purpose was to examine if the writing outcomes differed when children had concomitant cognitive deficits in addition to oral language problems. A group of 293 preschool children were administered an assessment battery that included measures to examine oral language, nonverbal cognition, emergent reading, and writing. Children were divided into four groups based on their language and cognitive performance. The findings from this study show that as early as preschool, children with weaker oral language skills lag behind their peers with stronger oral language skills in terms of their writing-related skills. Children with oral language and cognitive deficits performed more poorly than children whose deficits were confined to oral language. A child’s cognitive ability also has an impact on emergent writing skills, but it appears to be moderated by oral language skills. These results are consistent with research documenting links between preschool language and emergent reading in children with a history of LI. PMID:22043027

A longitudinal study of child sleep in high and low risk families: relationship to early maternal settling strategies and child psychological functioning.

PubMed

Sheridan, Andrew; Murray, Lynne; Cooper, Peter J; Evangeli, Michael; Byram, Victoria; Halligan, Sarah L

2013-03-01

To investigate whether sleep disturbances previously found to characterise high risk infants: (a) persist into childhood; (b) are influenced by early maternal settling strategies and (c) predict cognitive and emotional/behavioural functioning. Mothers experiencing high and low levels of psychosocial adversity (risk) were recruited antenatally and longitudinally assessed with their children. Mothers completed measures of settling strategies and infant sleep postnatally, and at 12 and 18 months, infant age. At five years, child sleep characteristics were measured via an actigraphy and maternal report; IQ and child adjustment were also assessed. Sleep disturbances observed in high-risk infants persisted at five years. Maternal involvement in infant settling was greater in high risk mothers, and predicted less optimal sleep at five years. Poorer five year sleep was associated with concurrent child anxiety/depression and aggression, but there was limited evidence for an influence of early sleep problems. Associations between infant/child sleep characteristics and IQ were also limited. Early maternal over-involvement in infant settling is associated with less optimal sleep in children, which in turn, is related to child adjustment. The findings highlight the importance of supporting parents in the early development of good settling practices, particularly in high-risk populations. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

(Re)Positioning the Child in the Policy/Politics of Early Childhood

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Woodrow, Christine; Press, Frances

2007-01-01

How a community constructs the notion of childhood and the child is fundamentally implicated in the practices and policies of that community. This article explores the positioning of the child in historical, contemporary and emerging trends in the provision and practices of Australian early childhood education and care. It argues that if left…

Early Pragmatic Differentiation in Japanese and German: A Case Study of a Developing Trilingual Child in Australia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nibun, Yukari; Wigglesworth, Gillian

2014-01-01

While acquisition of more than one language from birth is a relatively common phenomenon, whether children under two years of age use their languages in a differentiated manner has not yet been established. The current study investigates the pragmatic differentiation of a child who lives in Australia and was acquiring two minority languages,…

Fostering Effective Early Learning (FEEL) through a professional development programme for early childhood educators to improve professional practice and child outcomes in the year before formal schooling: study protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial.

PubMed

Melhuish, Edward; Howard, Steven J; Siraj, Iram; Neilsen-Hewett, Cathrine; Kingston, Denise; de Rosnay, Marc; Duursma, Elisabeth; Luu, Betty

2016-12-19

A substantial research base documents the benefits of attendance at high-quality early childhood education and care (ECEC) for positive behavioural and learning outcomes. Research has also found that the quality of many young children's experiences and opportunities in ECEC depends on the skills, dispositions and understandings of the early childhood adult educators. Increasingly, research has shown that the quality of children's interactions with educators and their peers, more than any other programme feature, influence what children learn and how they feel about learning. Hence, we sought to investigate the extent to which evidence-based professional development (PD) - focussed on promoting sustained shared thinking through quality interactions - could improve the quality of ECEC and, as a consequence, child outcomes. The Fostering Effective Early Learning (FEEL) study is a cluster randomised controlled trial for evaluating the benefits of a professional development (PD) programme for early childhood educators, compared with no extra PD. Ninety long-day care and preschool centres in New South Wales, Australia, will be selected to ensure representation across National Quality Standards (NQS) ratings, location, centre type and socioeconomic areas. Participating centres will be randomly allocated to one of two groups, stratified by centre type and NQS rating: (1) an intervention group (45 centres) receiving a PD intervention or (2) a control group (45 centres) that continues engaging in typical classroom practice. Randomisation to these groups will occur after the collection of baseline environmental quality ratings. Primary outcomes, at the child level, will be two measures of language development: verbal comprehension and expressive vocabulary. Secondary outcomes at the child level will be measures of early numeracy, social development and self-regulation. Secondary outcomes at the ECEC room level will be measures of environmental quality derived from full

Normal variation in early parental sensitivity predicts child structural brain development.

PubMed

Kok, Rianne; Thijssen, Sandra; Bakermans-Kranenburg, Marian J; Jaddoe, Vincent W V; Verhulst, Frank C; White, Tonya; van IJzendoorn, Marinus H; Tiemeier, Henning

2015-10-01

Early caregiving can have an impact on brain structure and function in children. The influence of extreme caregiving experiences has been demonstrated, but studies on the influence of normal variation in parenting quality are scarce. Moreover, no studies to date have included the role of both maternal and paternal sensitivity in child brain maturation. This study examined the prospective relation between mothers' and fathers' sensitive caregiving in early childhood and brain structure later in childhood. Participants were enrolled in a population-based prenatal cohort. For 191 families, maternal and paternal sensitivity was repeatedly observed when the child was between 1 year and 4 years of age. Head circumference was assessed at 6 weeks, and brain structure was assessed using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measurements at 8 years of age. Higher levels of parental sensitivity in early childhood were associated with larger total brain volume (adjusted β = 0.15, p = .01) and gray matter volume (adjusted β = 0.16, p = .01) at 8 years, controlling for infant head size. Higher levels of maternal sensitivity in early childhood were associated with a larger gray matter volume (adjusted β = 0.13, p = .04) at 8 years, independent of infant head circumference. Associations with maternal versus paternal sensitivity were not significantly different. Normal variation in caregiving quality is related to markers of more optimal brain development in children. The results illustrate the important role of both mothers and fathers in child brain development. Copyright © 2015 American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[Curriculum analysis and comparison between strategies or programs for early child development in Mexico].

PubMed

Vargas-López, Guillermo; Guadarrama-Orozco, Jessica Haydee; Rizzoli-Córdoba, Antonio; Narcizo-Cenobio, Francisco Javier; Medrano-Loera, Gerónimo; Villagrán, Daniel Aceves; O'Shea Cuevas, Gabriel; Muñoz Hernández, Onofre

Most of the strategies or programs that support early child development in Mexico are independent efforts that vary in scale, services offered and means of providing them. For the evaluation of the quality of these programs, an important aspect is the curriculum content. The aim of this study was to analyze and compare the curriculum content of the different strategies or programs focused on the promotion and intervention of early child development, which are offered by the Federal Government in Health and Education sectors in Mexico. We conducted a review of the curriculum content of the strategies and programs. The qualitative phase consisted of a comparative analysis where 75 indicators proposed by the Inter-American Development Bank were identified. The quantitative phase consisted of a descriptive analysis of the indicators. Finally, the analyses were compared to establish the performance of each one. Six strategies or programs were identified. In the analysis of the presence of indicators, the Oportunidades de Aprendizaje (Learning Opportunities, LO) strategy showed a larger number of indicators. In the amplitude analysis, both PEI-CONAFE and LO were the best balanced. Finally, in-depth analysis of the indicators LO and Skills for life were the best balanced while PEI-CONAFE was the best balanced in the social-emotional area, CeNSIA program for language and LO for cognitive development area. LO strategy showed the closest level of contents established by the Inter-American Development Bank. Copyright © 2016 Hospital Infantil de México Federico Gómez. Publicado por Masson Doyma México S.A. All rights reserved.

Impacts of Teacher-Child Managed Whole-Group Language and Literacy Instruction on the Depth of Preschoolers' Social Interaction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lin, Tzu-Jung; Justice, Laura M.; Emery, Alyssa A.; Mashburn, Andrew J.; Pentimonti, Jill M.

2017-01-01

Research Findings: This study examined the potential impacts of ongoing participation (twice weekly for 30 weeks) in teacher-child managed whole-group language and literacy instruction on prekindergarten children's social interaction with classmates. Teacher-child managed whole-group instruction that provides children with opportunities to engage…

Predicting language outcomes for children learning AAC: Child and environmental factors

PubMed Central

Brady, Nancy C.; Thiemann-Bourque, Kathy; Fleming, Kandace; Matthews, Kris

2014-01-01

Purpose To investigate a model of language development for nonverbal preschool age children learning to communicate with AAC. Method Ninety-three preschool children with intellectual disabilities were assessed at Time 1, and 82 of these children were assessed one year later at Time 2. The outcome variable was the number of different words the children produced (with speech, sign or SGD). Children’s intrinsic predictor for language was modeled as a latent variable consisting of cognitive development, comprehension, play, and nonverbal communication complexity. Adult input at school and home, and amount of AAC instruction were proposed mediators of vocabulary acquisition. Results A confirmatory factor analysis revealed that measures converged as a coherent construct and an SEM model indicated that the intrinsic child predictor construct predicted different words children produced. The amount of input received at home but not at school was a significant mediator. Conclusions Our hypothesized model accurately reflected a latent construct of Intrinsic Symbolic Factor (ISF). Children who evidenced higher initial levels of ISF and more adult input at home produced more words one year later. Findings support the need to assess multiple child variables, and suggest interventions directed to the indicators of ISF and input. PMID:23785187

Developmental Asynchrony in the Acquisition of Subject Properties in Child L2 English and Spanish

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pladevall-Ballester, Elisabet

2016-01-01

Given that L1A of subject properties in non-null subject languages emerges later than that of null subject languages, this study aims at determining to what extent the same pattern of acquisition is observed in early child L2A in bilingual immersion settings where English and Spanish are both source and target languages. Using an elicited oral…

The role of home literacy practices in preschool children's language and emergent literacy skills.

PubMed

Roberts, Joanne; Jurgens, Julia; Burchinal, Margaret

2005-04-01

This study examined how 4 specific measures of home literacy practices (i.e., shared book reading frequency, maternal book reading strategies, child's enjoyment of reading, and maternal sensitivity) and a global measure of the quality and responsiveness of the home environment during the preschool years predicted children's language and emergent literacy skills between the ages of 3 and 5 years. Study participants were 72 African American children and their mothers or primary guardians primarily from low-income families whose home literacy environment and development have been followed since infancy. Annually, between 18 months and 5 years of age, the children's mothers were interviewed about the frequency they read to their child and how much their child enjoyed being read to, and the overall quality and responsiveness of the home environment were observed. Mothers also were observed reading to their child once a year at 2, 3, and 4 years of age, and maternal sensitivity and types of maternal book reading strategies were coded. Children's receptive and expressive language and vocabulary were assessed annually between 3 years of age and kindergarten entry, and emergent literacy skills were assessed at 4 years and kindergarten entry. The specific home literacy practices showed moderate to large correlations with each other, and only a few significant associations with the language and literacy outcomes, after controlling for maternal education, maternal reading skills, and the child's gender. The global measure of overall responsiveness and support of the home environment was the strongest predictor of children's language and early literacy skills and contributed over and above the specific literacy practice measures in predicting children's early language and literacy development.

Sources of Variability in Language Development of Children with Cochlear Implants: Age at Implantation, Parental Language, and Early Features of Children's Language Construction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Szagun, Gisela; Schramm, Satyam A.

2016-01-01

The aim of the present study was to analyze the relative influence of age at implantation, parental expansions, and child language internal factors on grammatical progress in children with cochlear implants (CI). Data analyses used two longitudinal corpora of spontaneous speech samples, one with twenty-two and one with twenty-six children,…

Developing Relationships between Language and Behaviour in Preschool Children from the Early Language in Victoria Study: Implications for Intervention

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bretherton, Lesley; Prior, Margot; Bavin, Edith; Cini, Eileen; Eadie, Patricia; Reilly, Sheena

2014-01-01

Following a biopsychosocial model, the study investigated the role of child factors (gender, IQ), maternal factors (psychological distress, maternal education and vocabulary, maternal distress) and environmental factors (SES) in the relationship between language impairment and behaviour problems in preschool children. Participants were drawn from…

Early Childhood Stuttering and Electrophysiological Indices of Language Processing

PubMed Central

Weber-Fox, Christine; Wray, Amanda Hampton; Arnold, Hayley

2013-01-01

We examined neural activity mediating semantic and syntactic processing in 27 preschool-age children who stutter (CWS) and 27 preschool-age children who do not stutter (CWNS) matched for age, nonverbal IQ and language abilities. All participants displayed language abilities and nonverbal IQ within the normal range. Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were elicited while participants watched a cartoon video and heard naturally spoken sentences that were either correct or contained semantic or syntactic (phrase structure) violations. ERPs in CWS, compared to CWNS, were characterized by longer N400 peak latencies elicited by semantic processing. In the CWS, syntactic violations elicited greater negative amplitudes for the early time window (150–350 ms) over medial sites compared to CWNS. Additionally, the amplitude of the P600 elicited by syntactic violations relative to control words was significant over the left hemisphere for the CWNS but showed the reverse pattern in CWS, a robust effect only over the right hemisphere. Both groups of preschoolage children demonstrated marked and differential effects for neural processes elicited by semantic and phrase structure violations; however, a significant proportion of young CWS exhibit differences in the neural functions mediating language processing compared to CWNS despite normal language abilities. These results are the first to show that differences in event-related brain potentials reflecting language processing occur as early as the preschool years in CWS and provide the first evidence that atypical lateralization of hemispheric speech/language functions previously observed in the brains of adults who stutter begin to emerge near the onset of developmental stuttering. PMID:23773672

Early language delay phenotypes and correlation with later linguistic abilities.

PubMed

Petinou, Kakia; Spanoudis, George

2014-01-01

The present study focused on examining the continuity and directionality of language skills in late talkers (LTs) and identifying factors which might contribute to language outcomes at the age of 3 years. Subjects were 23 Cypriot-Greek-speaking toddlers classified as LTs and 24 age-matched typically developing peers (TDs). Participants were assessed at 28, 32 and 36 months, using various linguistic measures such as size of receptive and expressive vocabulary, mean length of utterance (MLU) of words and number of consonants produced. Data on otitis media familial history were also analyzed. The ANOVA results indicated parallel developmental profiles between the two groups, with a language lag characterizing LTs. Concurrent correlations between measures showed that poor phonetic inventories in the LT group at 28 months predicted poor MLU at the ages of 32 and 36 months. Significant cross-lagged correlations supported the finding that poor phonetic inventories at 28 months served as a good predictor for MLU and expressive vocabulary at the age of 32 and for MLU at 36 months. The results highlight the negative effect of early language delay on language skills up to the age of 3 years and lend support to the current literature regarding the universal linguistic picture of early and persistent language delay. Based on the current results, poor phonetic inventories at the age of intake might serve as a predictive factor for language outcomes at the age of 36 months. Finally, the findings are discussed in view of the need for further research with a focus on more language-sensitive tools in testing later language outcomes. © 2014 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Increasing the odds: applying emergentist theory in language intervention.

PubMed

Poll, Gerard H

2011-10-01

This review introduces emergentism, which is a leading theory of language development that states that language ability is the product of interactions between the child's language environment and his or her learning capabilities. The review suggests ways in which emergentism provides a theoretical rationale for interventions that are designed to address developmental language delays in young children. A review of selected literature on emergentist theory and research is presented, with a focus on the acquisition of early morphology and syntax. A significant method for developing and testing emergentist theory, connectionist modeling, is described. Key themes from both connectionist and behavioral studies are summarized and applied with specific examples to language intervention techniques. A case study is presented to integrate elements of emergentism with language intervention. Evaluating the theoretical foundation for language interventions is an important step in evidence-based practice. This article introduces three themes in the emergentist literature that have implications for language intervention: (a) sufficiency of language input, (b) active engagement of the child with the input, and (c) factors that increase the odds for correctly mapping language form to meaning. Evidence supporting the importance of these factors in effective language intervention is presented, along with limitations in that evidence.